Here's my horsy buddy-TREAT!

"Treat"

I just was reading one of my favorite blogs (emilyandjoshashdown.blogspot.com) and read how they have just started learning how to ride horses.  I wanted to put my pic of Treat into my comment but couldn't figure out how to copy/paste it.  It wouldn't work.  So I thought I'd just post my buddy's pic and tell about it with a link to my blog.

So, Emily and Josh, I'm in love with this horse.  I grew up riding horses all the time when I went to my friend, Jane Garff's, ranch.  We had so much fun.  I wanted a horse of my own so badly but with a divorced working mom it could never be afforded.  I loved to go with Jane whenever I could.  I think she probably got tired of me asking when we were going to ride the horses but Jane has always been one of the kindest people that I know.  She humored me a lot.  We even did barrel racing and herded cattle (nasty horse flies!). 

"Deseret Livestock Ranch" - the ranch house (commissioned by Jane)

Jane's ranch was "The Deseret Livestock Ranch"-biggest in Utah-and it was sold to the LDS church.  They use it a lot now for Pioneer Trek, I've heard.

So we grew up and I didn't ride much at all.  I even had a scary experience in college when I was in a horseback riding class where my my saddle turned and I fell off (always always check the cinch!).  I had to get back on the horse to go back to the stables and ride down and up through a gulley first.  The horse knew I was shook up-so he proceeded to try to scrape me off on the bushes (didn't work).  Just keep this place in mind-Dimple Dell.

"Hot Date" (that's Cliff, my son, in New Orleans)

Many years later I was doing a print signing at Granite Furniture in Orem and a gentleman asked if he could trade me an Arabian horse for my painting of New Orleans.  I wanted to cry!  I had always wanted one but didn't know where I could keep it or if I could afford it.  I had to decline.

Recently a friend of mine, Becky, that owns 2 horses asked me if I wouldn't MIND going riding sometime.  I said, "Mind!  You must be kidding me!  When can we go!?!"  So I have become her new riding buddy because her kids are not available to ride and her husband has a bad back.  Wow!  So wonderful!  She's teaching me all the stuff I never learned-like saddling the horse, cleaning up, grooming, etc. etc. and she is so patient.  She's teaching me how to do everything properly.  Best part yet is that I get to ride Treat, a beautiful red chestnut Morgan.  I love him!  But now I'm finding out that Treat has some funny little quirks that I have to learn to work with.  Like he kicks out his back leg when he's first riding and that can be a little unsettling.  So Becky rides him around for a big until he gets his kick out of his system.  I didn't know that when you take the saddle off that horses love to roll in the dirt.  They paw the ground like a cat first. It's so funny to watch.

Now.  Remember Dimple Dell?  Guess where the stable is and the riding is....you guessed it...across the street from Dimple Dell.  You can imagine what I thought when I learned that.  Memories are oh so cruel but I thought, "I don't care.  I'm doing this no wonder how afraid I am".  And.  I am!

Unfortunately I just had hand surgery in September.  So I'm a little out of commission for a while but I'm looking for some riding boots.  So, Emily, if you find a good deal or a second gently used pair in a 7 1/2 let me know.  Because I want them!

Emily and Josh have fun!  If I hear of my horseback riding opportunities I'll let you know.  Horses are so wonderful.  They're one of Heavenly Father's choice creatures.

 

"My Paradise" (mine all mine but I'll share with people I love and I know they'll be there too)

We all love bonuses-right!?!

Gracie just told me today that if she gets 1,000 subscribers to her company blog she'll get a big bonus.  It's very fun and you'll be glad you did.  Who ever knew that office supplies could be this fun and you could do so much with them.  Please subscribe at:  http://blog.shoplet.com/ .  Oh and becoming a follower doesn't count.  Thanks!  It's my bday today and this would be a great present that doesn't cost anything.  She's my daughter, you know.

The Snow Queen takes over the world or, at least, my mosaic

So the theme of this piece is the Snow Queen.  Do you remember that old Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale?  I'm not sure, exactly, how I'm going to tie it in as I'm reading the fairy tale right now.  My son, Charlie, loves that story and since I didn't do a graduation painting for him-it's going to be his.

When I finish all the edges I'll be able to post the final picture and tell how it ties in with the passage from the story.  Until then think of these crystal clear flowers as lilies floating on a pond that's streaming over the earth..........

Oh, just to remind you all of a few of my other heart mosaics I decided to post some.   All are named after famous literary heroines. The 1st one is Becky Thatcher from "Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain.  The next 2 are labeled.  The 4th is Meg March from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott.  The fifth is Olive Chancellor from "The Bostonians" by Henry James.  The 6th is Lucy Manette from "A Tale of 2 Cities" by Charles Dickons.  The 7th is labeled and the 8th is last but NOT least Scarlett O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell. 

9/11-comment, I must

So the 10th anniversary came and went.  I was amazed at how I felt just as bad as I did back then.  It was like it had happened just yesterday.  Even though it has been that long I still have terrifying flashbacks of Chris, Charlie and Gracie and I standing in a room in one of the buildings.  Not to say that we were in that particular room but we could have been since it was only 3 weeks before that we had been to the top of 1 tower.  I have this horrible visualization of us having to make a choice of staying or jumping.  Then I have to tell myself to not "go there" and jerk my thoughts away.  Have you ever had that happen?  When you had something happen or a possibility that is so frightening that you have to stop yourself from thinking about it?  Probably everyone does.  Maybe if I focus on it and wear out the scene I might be able to reduce the power of the bad situation.

Okay.  Time to get out my book on cd and listen.  Distract my thoughts and move on.   Like to the fact that I've got lots to do around here and sitting at this computer is wasting my time..............

Masking tape - useful when you can't wait all day for the glue to dry

Finally I'm at the end of adding petals with shards of glass.  Of course they were slipping all over the place and I needed a way to hold them there.  Only a few more pieces to add when this layer dries.  Then it's on to figuring out what will go on the outside edges of the mosaic.

Building the crystal clear flowers

I had to go back to the D. I. (Thrift Store) to get some clear glass to smash.  While looking I found plates that were a gorgeous violet and a plate that's sage green-all glass.  Anyway, I had a smashing good time (couldn't resist) and filled several plates with my new treasures. 

Building these flowers is not a day project because the glue needs to set for just about each layer.  If you notice that it looks white remember that it dries clear and I worked on it last night.  It's a delicate and dangerous process using razor sharp glass and I should be wearing some gloves (dummy) but haven't.  Anyway, they are going to be like a chrysanthemum type flower.  At this point I'm thinking 5 is nice and I started a new smaller one last night.

When finishing the outside edge it doesn't feel quite right to use more china.  It's busy enough already.  So I think I'm going to see if Chris can get me some kind of copper cording to wrap around it.  It will give some more zing but have the plain surface I want.

You can see from this photo that this is the effect I want-shimmering flowers that one doesn't notice at first glance.  The light will pop them out.  Any colored ones would have been too busy for this.

Excerpt from "Being an Artist" by Lewis Lehrman:  "Even though I'm my own boss, I feel guilty if I'm not painting"(quote by artist, Arne Westerman).  And look at me-here I'm working on this great mosaic but the nearby easels are haunting me!  Time to put pressure on my son and his wife to figure out what they want me to paint for their wedding painting.  I have to move on with that and my brain is already going crazy about new ones for Chris and I.

Grouting is a mess

As you can see I have put the tile on the wood with a tile adhesive.  Now I mixed up some grout with water and applied it to the tile with a Popsicle stick.  As I was doing it a few of the small bits of china came out.  I'll repair that after I've finished grouting.  It's easy to reapply them.  After I was finished grouting I took the same Popsicle stick and scraped off what I could from the broken china and glass surfaces.  It's really a gloppy mess.  So you'll want to wear rubber gloves and not one of your new shirts like I stupidly did.  Duh.  Now I'm going to let it dry for several hours to clean the grouting and make it look tidy.

 Okay.  I let it dry and started the cleaning process.  This actually took me about 3 hours on and off.  When I had sponged it all off I found holes where the grout had not filled in.  So I had to regrout several times.  I enjoy this process because it's so fun to see how it's going to turn out. 

One important thing.  It's not a good idea to just pour the mucky grout water down the drain as it can clog it.  I always flush it down the toilet gradually.  When I worked at a dental lab they had a special trap under the sink that the plaster from the models could filter down to.  Since I don't have that I use the toilet and that works just fine.