Poland

I just finished another swap - "Poland" for Tarsh in New Zealand. I decided to do some Polish folk art, the background is dk yellow mulberry paper and the rest is predominantly acrylics with touches of different pens. 
The next swap in the series is Belize :) 

I took yesterday off from my trek across the US but felt it was ok since I biked for 22 miles on our rail trail Saturday. I thought I just might not make it back home after I got out there, it was so hot and humid. Funny things start running through your mind when you take solitary trips like that. For instance I started thinking "Well, here you are, the only fool goofy enough to be pedaling away in this heat. Just how long would it take for someone to find me if I had a stroke and was laying there? Would the critters get me first? How long will it take before my husband starts to miss me?" Then I started thinking about the area, what was the underground railroad is all around where I was biking. I started thinking of the slaves that traveled these roads in their search for freedom - kind of blew me away, really. Here is a snapshot of one of the panels along the trail:

                                               This is my updated map (as of 7/24/2010)

I weighed myself this morning after a week of my new exercise program...nary a pound lost :( but I won't let that deter me, I sure hope something happens by the end of this week though because 2 weeks of no weight loss will be harder to get over.
I got a new pedometer that I am going to try out in an hour or so - thankfully it isn't as hot and humid as it has been!

Now for some sunny walkin' music by Katrina and the Waves done by the Soweto Gospel Choir - ya may as well get up and shake it because it doesn't get much livelier than this!
I'm walkin' on sunshine...........................at the Shores

On My Way to Oregon

LOL - not exactly, but sorta! I've decided after hopping on the scale for the first time in more that several years (I'm the one who goes to the doctor, gets on the scale backwards and requests that they do NOT say my weight out loud because I don't wanna hear it!*$%) anyway, I got on and freaked then calculated my BMI and that nearly did me in so I decided action must be taken. I found a website that is a TransAmerican walk from Yorktown, VA to Florence, OR. Yesterday I walked 2 miles and rode my bike for 5 then today I had a brutally hilly 10 mile bike ride which my legs decided "that's it - we AIN'T walkin' too!". The website is pretty neat, it tracks your trip on the map and even gives you a trail photo of where you are:

Silly? Probably! But it sure makes this exercise thing tons of fun! I am now 4 miles outside of Jamestown ;o) Can't wait to see where I get to tomorrow. I just might be in Virginia awhile!

I really, really did I say really? Need a new seat for my bike, lets just say I have numb parts and others are sore.
By the way, the website is here if you care to join in my folly

Dealing with rubbery legs...................at the Shores

Get the Skinny

I've been working with a new medium, it's a very thin matte black metal and Prismacolor pencils and nearly tore all my hair out along with the tearing of the metal for pushing too hard with the pencils but think I may have the hang of it now! This is my first attempt, it's another skinny...I have more material to do a couple more.
It's supposed to be a lighthouse on a rocky cliff but almost looks like a church! Straight lines are next to impossible since the embossing and debossing puckers the metal so much. You can see how dimensional it comes out in the picture below. 

I'll give it another go once my hair grows back in.



Get out your hankies, this is a beautifully done video by a student as a senior project, music by Nickel Creek.

Psyching myself up for a visit with a dear sweet patient...................at the Shores

Bein' Trashy

I made my first "skinny" (3x5) for a That's Trash! swap. You were to make it from things found on the sidewalks, roads etc. This was super hard since I live in a very rural area and I have found it's pretty darn clean out here! Anyway, I did however manage to find a water bottle label, some sort of green wired tubing, a piece of newspaper from July 22, 2009, a parking ticket stub, a Dove chocolate wrapper, a small piece of black plastic and a piece of junk mail. The bottle cap and ribbon was from my stash - hopefully they were ok to use. My partner is into flowers and insects, I did a praying mantis. I cut up the tubing (opened part of it for the body and used the wire I pulled out of it for the legs) cut the plastic for the belly and collaged the rest. It was pretty funny really, I worked on this on the deck and it was the first time my husband actually watched me work from start to finish - he kept saying "let me see, let me hold it!" I handed it over once I was finished, he was pretty tickled....I think it turned out pretty good for what I had to work with!

This video stinks but the song suits my post!

Feelin' trashy..........at the Shores

Still Crazy After All These Years

I just had the most amazing 4 day weekend with the most beautiful people you can ever imagine. We went to high school together in Germany 30 years ago and for most of us this is the first time we've seen each other since. We laughed so hard our stomachs hurt the next day and cried when we parted - after about 5 minutes it was like we were never apart. The guys turned 16 again and the girls never looked better, truly gorgeous! Promises were made to never let 30 years go by without getting together again. Next year: Nags Head, NC in July! I miss them all already.

My traveling sisters Susan & Jamie - I love you both!

Susan, me, Nicole and Laura - just stunning those 3 are!

We all came together to celebrate the marriage of my sweet friend Lorraine and Lynn, they were married in the UK where they now live.

Bobby & Colonel standing by their accomodations "The Great White Whale", Brian also slept in the belly of that whale much to the chagrin of his aching back after one night. The girls of course stayed in the comfort of the local Quality Inn!Jamie & Colonel at the boardwalk

                   Just amazing - I get misty eyed putting up this post! Until next year my beautiful friends XOX 

Still riding the rush...........................at the Shores