ART IN APRIL

Somewhere in the Canary Islands done for Virtual Paint-out.  This painting,  I used only watercolors -- and it was HARD.  I was just itching to get my pen out and outline here and there, but with much discipline I resisted.

 Somewhere in North Wales.  I based it on a photo we took a good number of years ago.  It was a bit ambitious so I had to simplify the scene.  The water was actually green, not as you see here.  Guess I missed that color. Below is the original photo.  You will probably see little comparison, but I am posting the real photo in case any of my friends from Wales can identify it.  It was taken from a bridge on a busy road somewhere on the Llyn Peninsula I believe.

A beautiful little place and I would love to go back again.  But where is it?

 

A yearling lamb -- not new born, he's too fat.  Probably make some good lamb dish!

This is an ATC  (2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches) Watercolor with a touch of pen here and there.

 

Carlsbad Beach.  Another ATC but just a pen and ink sketch done while sitting in the car waiting for MOTH to finish his long walk. I added the color washes later. Those are supposed to be brown pelicans which are quite numerous here and often fly in threes.  Have to try doing them again.  I couldn't remember quite what they looked like.  So this is definitely not my best, but in the interests of honesty...here it is.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK!

VISIT AGAIN. I HAVE MORE TO POST -- IF BLOGGER WILL COOPERATE!

WEDNESDAYS'S WORDS

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS April 7, 2010
Since my previous post was about lighthouses, it has reminded me of Jesus's words, "I am the Light of the World".  John the disciple says Jesus is the light "who enlightens everyman coming into the world."

We need to be enlightened as to what is truth. So often I wish I knew the truth about something.  We get fed so much propaganda  and then we're told "It's for you to decide".  But how can we, when we don't know all the facts and many so-called facts are distorted or slanted?  Personally, I find it very frustrating when I know that so many sources of "truth" have in fact, a hidden agenda.

Jesus also says, "I am the Truth".  I realize that there are many thousands of people who don't believe that He is the truth or the source of true enlightenment (knowledge of truth).  The only thing I can say to them is that in my life, after fifty-two years  of being a believing Christian, I have found Him to be the only source of truth.

You may think that as a pastor's wife I'm probably a bit naive.  Let me tell you about pastors and their wives.  First, they are truly normal human beings with all the same shortcomings as anyone else.  Secondly, they get to see and hear about the seamier side of life much more than the average person because they are out there trying to help those who are suffering or who have gone wrong.  We have no delusions as to what this life is all about for many, many people.

Meanwhile, I am so totally convinced that only God knows the great truths of what is happening in this world and in my life -- and why -- that I am content to let Him lead me into His paths of truth daily.  And if I am to be absolutely truthful, because I am weak and sinful, sometimes I have to wrestle with myself to be absolutely content!

That's me.  Just another sinner-- but thankfully, a forgiven one.

L is for....

LIGHTHOUSES I HAVE LOVED

(AND STILL DO!)

From one side of the world to the other....

Kjeungskjaer, Norway

Kauai, Hawaii

...and in between...

South Stack, Anglesey, North Wales.

And if you thought I'd get as far as this without mentioning Flamborough, you must be new to my blog!! 

So here it comes...

FLAMBOROUGH LIGHTHOUSE

Flamborough boasts not one, but two lighthouses.  The one above built in the 1800's and the one below built in the 1600's.

The old lighthouse is built about half a mile inland from the new lighthouse and I lived half way between the two.  I must be one of very few people left who have actually been inside the old lighthouse. It's all locked up and out of bounds now. It had old steps that spiraled their way up the wall inside -- no railings.  I don't believe I ever went to the top, the steps were too dangerous.  But I do remember looking out of one of the windows. Of course there was no electricity, just a bonfire or torch lit on the top as needed.

And here we are, we two sisters in mid-summer not very long ago,  in our favorite spot.

Do you know what paradise on earth would be?  

Flamborough Lighthouse with Southern California weather.

WE'RE ROCKIN' AND ROLLIN'...

...but we're still here.

You must have heard by now about the 7.2 earthquake just across the Mexican border from us near Mexicali.  It kind of shook up our Easter afternoon nap.  For us, lights swayed, the computer monitor shook and I was a little concerned, but nothing fell and nothing broke. Not even pictures on the wall moved. The cat took off and is still hiding far back under the bed in the spare room and we haven't seen him since.  Even the birds stopped singing for a while.  It was the most we have felt of any earthquake since we have lived here for the past 36 years.

There is still a 5% chance of a 6.0 for about another 24 hours.  Our house is on a solid mesa of granite, so we are 'relatively' safe.  We keep a stock of water and food supplies in all the time for just such emergencies.  I was actually reading the newspaper and I felt the chair shaking so I knew immediately what it was.  It did continue longer than other shakes we have had  -- maybe 30-40 seconds.  The house and large patio windows creaked a bit but not much more than when the temperatures drop in the evening and the floor rolled.  I may be sorry for saying it, but honestly, for us in our particular site and situation, I'd rather have an earthquake than a tornado.  We had plenty of those when we were in Minnesota.

However, across the street...do you remember my post on New Year's Day about the young fellows there who built a balanced rock pile?  This was my blog back then:

These are the pictures I took today:

They were not successful. It is now as you see in the first picture.  They are going to wait until tomorrow, the ground is still shaking every now and then.

You will perhaps note that in my New Year's blog above I mention that they had had a couple of earthquakes over the border back then.  I just remarked today at Easter Brunch with our family that there had been three 4.0's just over the border in the last three days.  So I'm still claiming my rather 'shaky' (sorry, no pun intended!) title of earthquake predictor.  And if you are laughing at me and my title, I've been telling my family one is coming ever since the Chile one. They've stopped laughing but they don't take me seriously. My theory is that they move north (slowly) erupting at soft spots as they go.  Ah well, you can laugh!  I can take it.

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS

I know it isn't Wednesday anymore, but I've been dealing with malfunctioning PC's for more hours than enough.  Thankfully I do think I have them fixed now.

Since it is Easter on Sunday I will share with you something that I think is interesting and something I never knew until last week even though I have been a pastor's wife for more than fifty years.
I've always wondered where the idea of Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny came from.  We never had the Easter Bunny when I was growing up in England but we did have Easter Eggs..  When I asked around about this custom I got the usual replies about them standing for fertility.  But I couldn't see the connection with Easter in that answer.

However, I read "The Raj" by Leon Uris last week.  We've had the book for years but I was never too interested in reading it.  My husband having been to India tried to get me to read it many times.  I won't take time to tell you now what prompted me to finally read it last week, but read it I did.  It is about the life of Ghandi and the British rule in India.

So how does that have anything to do with Easter?  Well, in the book I discovered that in the belief system of the Hindus birds are considered to be twice born: once when laid as an egg and the second time when the chick pecks its way out of the egg.  Now THAT idea I really understand in connection with Easter.  We are all born once when we come into this world.  But Jesus says we are to be born a second time.  Nicodemus didn't understand that comment from Jesus and perhaps mockingly or maybe truly curiously he asked how a man could be born again.  Would he have to be born from his mother's womb again?  

We know from the rest of Jesus's teaching that He meant that we had to shuck off the shell of the old life and breath deeply into the New Life.  The New Life is given when an individual accepts Jesus's death on the cross as the payment for our sins and also accept His resurrection as the gift of our Second Birth, or second life, if you like, which begun here on earth will continue forever more in the New World.

So now I feel better about the whole idea of Easter Eggs but the Easter Bunny???...

K IS FOR...

K is for KOALA

 This photo taken about 4 years ago, and yes, that is a real Koala.  We were in Queensland, Australia on our way home from a conference.  How could I pass up such an opportunity?  Trouble is I got  all of about 5 seconds before they whisked him on to the next person.

I've been trying all day to post this video clip -- literally.  It is of my favorite music group, THE KING'S SINGERS a British acapella sextet that is truly brilliant.  They sing everything from very serious to  the Beatles and the Beach Boys.  The solution to posting it was very simple really, if I'd read the directions.  If you like their music visit You Tube, there are a lot of pieces on there -- some fun ones too.

Better Luck Next Time

I've been out looking for some subjects for photos, but have not been too lucky.

We went to the Lagoon and saw very little that's different.  These two Mallards soon showed me what they thought of my interrupting their pleasant afternoon afloat.

Then this fellow serenaded me but he wasn't about to let me get any closer.  It is a very common bird -- the Song Sparrow, and he does have a very nice song -- and loud.  However you need to get a better shot than this to see the black smudge on his breast that identifies him from other sparrows, (if he isn't singing, that is.) They rarely visit our yard, so I was glad to at least see and hear him.

And that was all I got for the afternoon.  I could hear quite a few water fowl, but I didn't recognize their calls,  and they were hidden deep in the rushes.  As it was a gorgeous day we didn't mind too much.

We had decided to go to the desert on Wednesday this week, -- too windy last week. But now we are to get two days of wind and rain and dust storms in the desert.  It's a good, solid, two hour drive over the mountains to the desert floor and the scenic route is a narrow twisty road and can be very windy  when  the winds come through the canyons.  Since this trip is supposed to be a relaxing day off we will have to put it off again.  I'm afraid the desert flowers will be past their best by the time we do get there.

 But in the mean time I did not give up on my art efforts.  I don't know the name of this plant but it is one that grows all over Hawaii. It is lushly green, dark red and yellow and as I recall can grow to about six feet, with lots of foliage.

I'm looking forward to seeing which city of the world  Virtual Paintout will choose for the month of April.  The ones from Stavanger, Norway were quite varied, and I discovered what a beautiful city it is. If you like to draw and paint visit virtualpaintout.blogspot (Click) and see what others have been doing.  You also need to use Google street view if you participate.  I'm really glad I joined this group.  I was a bit reluctant at first, but it's fun and you learn a lot from many photos of the city you are visiting not to mention the other artists' renderings.

SEE YOU TOMORROW. I'M GOING TO POST ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOS ON ABC WEDNESDAY.