a long and winding...........road

i am slowly finding my way i think,
i did three outlines (see yesterday's post) for the three main projects i am working on currently
and i wish i could grasp how to sort of put them all together if that is at all possible ....if not.... oh well.

in the meantime, i finished the layout of the new nest painting, and started to lay down first washes. (see the layout transferred- that is how i begin working, i transfer it and then erase it!)
i also have now gotten a better way to plan series.
i began to cut all the paper for the series first, so they are all the same size (and type, you would not believe the mess of different papers the bird series is on)
boy it really IS the journey huh?
i've decided first off.....better late then never, and also that when i start the series, the first thing i am going to do is pick and cut the paper!

(*** i put the catalog number of each paper on the back of the paper, and when i cut the paper i also make sure that the catalog number is on every single page back. then i keep a master list of the catalog numbers with the paper manufacturers name, the #, and the surface finish, inside the box of cut papers-now when i go to photograph these paintings, i will take a scrap of the paper it's painted on to set the white balance in the camera with- finally i figured that part out--- for now this feels like the right way to do it) oh and i long for a flat file..... or two, i am thinking now....20 drawers would be about right...to be added to as i continue to paint.

now today started out sunny but it fast became very overcast and threatening. we even brought the ducks in early as they looked miserable out there.
it's not really cold out but raw, so we've kept the woodstove going... i've used pieces of dried bark from time to time to heat it up a bit more then what the log is doing by itself.
it's sort of a lazy day around here.....in spite of my poor overloaded brain.
bernie keeps nodding off in his chair, the cats are laying around like furry little lumps, even the chickens seem subdued, the only ones that seem not to be affected by the day is the budgies.....they are screaming their fool heads off inside.

i want to thank everyone that came to visit me .....i hope you all come back soon.
i am slowly trying to tag the back posts so that recipes, and information on how to do stuff is easier to find, as well as some of the funny stories.
a few posts a day i am tagging with their contents, i am not sure how many i can tag per day but i am doing a few here and there

i spoke to a friend of mine today and read her the post about bernie's angel, i am sharing the link with you folks as it reminded me.... (i ended up crying as i read it to her..) really maybe we aren't alone, even during the darkest times? so since another one of my friends pointed out that this is the beginning of advent if you are a christian, i think putting the link to bernie's angel is ok.

now i am not a religious person at all, BUT, i do believe there is a higher power in the universe. however i definitely do not believe that only one religion has a handle on it-  and i do believe in angels.. maybe not with the whole wing and halo thing though..... (the one dream i had about a winged being scared me shitless for MONTHS)
i also believe in miracles cause we've had them happen to us. anyway this seems appropriate for the current holiday season as well as some of what appears to be going on in my life---

i definitely have had a huge burst of creativity- it's like my brain is getting stuffed to overfill with creative ideas, so very many, and a part of me is trying to enjoy that, because i love when i get a bunch of wonderful interesting and irresistible ideas like that, and a part of me that can't quite see how to accomplish all i want to do yet (despite the project planning lists) throws my hands up and says to the universe, 'well if this is what i am supposed to do.... help me find my way'
somehow that seems to work........ not always fast, although there have been lighting fast responses that i have no choice but to classify as miracles

pyrex oven proof bowl

well folks you'll all read this tomorrow morning, but it's sunday night right now. i'm about to go into the kitchen, we are making sort of pot pies out of tortilla  and leftovers, so we'll do that together (they are actually pretty good and if anyone is interested, i'll tell you how we did it)
oh and rho asked for information on how to dry food and how to use dried foods
so i will get to that too, in a while ( i wrote it down rho)

drape tortilla over the outside

softened tortilla in the bowl

 ok i drape the tortilla over the bowl on the outside and put that in the microwave for about 15 seconds, it softens it up enough to put it INSIDE the bowl then

shaped into the bowl while warm

you can now add your filling, and bake it in the oven. i usually add the filling pre-cooked and hot. you can moisten the edges with water/egg and add a softened tortilla on the top then bake at 350 until the top is crispy (it puffs up)
i'll have to make a start to finish for you on this.
you can make the filling with dried veggies and leftover meats in a homemade cream sauce....
if you want me to run through an whole post on this please let me know


take  good care everyone.....

bernie's angel AGAIN... we are in awe

about 20 something years ago bernie had broken down on the road, and was rescued with a remarkable story (below is the post from november 05 about it on this blog, just after that is last nights story)

Bernie's angel

I love angel stories....
even though I am not religious at all we have a few as well....
my bernie has his very own angel that wears plaid.... we even call this angel, 'bernie's angel'
one night about 18 years ago or so maybe 16...... bernie was coming home from work in jersey....he was late it was winter and pretty cold.
he got up to the andover exit on rt 80 and the car died.
since it was past normal traffic time there literally was no one on the road... there was no exit for miles....it was a dark new moon, no lights NOTHING. that area is still today really rural, hilly and empty.

so quiet and still you can hear your eyelids blink.

he looked under the hood but realized that there was no way he could fix the car as the rotor had gone and he didn't have a replacement. it was an old old chevy...... like a 72 or something....

so he got back into the car and tried to sleep, what else could he do....?

meanwhile I was frantic.......terrified at what I imagined happened to him

Ok he had fallen asleep and was woken up by someone tapping on his window.....
he hadn't fallen into a deep sleep... and was up immediately
there was a man in a plaid shirt that asked him what happened........and could he help bernie....
now it was pitch black out and a NEW MOON...... you can't get any darker then that.... and bernie was slumped down on the seat a bit....

NOW MIND YOU........ he had no lightst on in the car..it was totally dead.

bernie got out of the car and told the man that he'd broken down but that the man could NOT help him as he needed a rotor for this chevy that was pretty old.

the man said....'is that all, no problem' went around back to his car..... opened the trunk reached in and found the EXACT ROTOR with no fumbling or looking at part numbers on the box..................... and handed it to bernie

bernie said to the man, ' I have three dollars in my pocket...it's yours and if you give me a name and address I will send you more money to pay for the part'

the man said to my bernie...... 'don't worry about it...... just help the next guy on the road'

bernie went to install the part and stopped midway.... looking to see why the man hadn't left or if the man needed him......
the man and the car wasn't there....
the car hadn't ever started up
hadn't ever pulled around him.....
THERE ARE NO EXITS THERE
it is a sheer drop off a cliff there
and the road goes on forever...you can literally see for miles...... no head lights or tail lights.. either way......

bernie got chills
he'd only been under the hood a few seconds!

he went back and finished putting in that rotor and came home
he got in at 3am
I was frantic......
he was amazed

he told me what happened..... totally puzzled....
and I realized
he met his angel.......
I bless that angel all the time and know that my bernie is safe out there BECAUSE that angel watches over him

Bernie always stops for folks on the road.....going way out of his way most often to help
he has picked up folks walking in the cold and taken them to a diner to call their families and bought them coffee
he has taken gramma's and their grandchildren home and then went back to help with their car

he has always done this.......

so see we firmly believe in angels around here.

________________________________________________

ok that was the original encounter, and then sometime recently there was an incident where the radio in my truck turned off and he moved over which saved his life and someone else's life as well.

now there is the incident last night..... bernie's angel has returned, same guy, same red plaid shirt

only last night he didn't even attempt to hide the fact that he was not 'physical'

bernie was again driving home on a dark moonless night, (new moon was sunday) again at that SAME stretch of route 80 between exit 12 and exit 19, AGAIN driving way too fast.

this time he had a medical coach from work that he was road testing as it had been sent to the dealership underwarrenty for some heavy motor work, when the radio suddenly cut out.

bernie thought that it was a wiring problem and started to check gauges, when suddenly he heard a calm and quiet man's voice from the passengers side, saying...

'son, you have to slow your speed and move over'

naturally bernie knowing that he was in the unit alone looked over to see who or what was talking to him.

he was surprised to see his angel sitting in the seat!

bernie said that the man looked as alive i am did while he was telling me, right down to his full salt and pepper beard and hair (hair to the nap of his neck, beard about 8 inches long, gray tweed newsboy cap, gold rimmed glasses, red plaid flannel shirt, red suspenders, and jeans

he had one hand clasping the wrist of the other and was sitting slightly turned in the seat (towards bernie) with his hands in his lap.

and he repeated

'son, you have to slow your speed and move over... don't worry everything is going to be ok but you have to slow your speed and move over'

bernie looked up at the road and then looked over at the man, but the man was gone ( and bernie had been doing about 80 miles an hour so i don't think the guy JUMPED)

he still is amazed at how alive and solid the man looked. he is also asking why him?

as just then a car came down that hill and hit the guard rail and spun around at a very high rate of speed...... if bernie had not listened to the angel in plaid, the spinning car would have taken bernie and that van out......the van definately would have flipped over.

bernie's other comment to me was 'he hasn't changed in all these years......he still looks the same' !!

you know, i sometimes let things upset and discourage me, and i often think of us being all alone in a very cold and unfeeling world... this reminds me......we are never alone really, and sometimes when we really need it... miracles happen