Of Florals and Sprouts and Shiny Stuff

       Finished and just in time to enter the FCA Blossoms show! It is like pulling teeth some days but once I get going I'm all right. 

       We lost power again over the weekend for a day and a half and it snowed pretty much non-stop. All the little buds that have appeared in the last week or so are now shivering under icy mantles and thinking maybe they should have waited a bit longer. In the house we are growing sprouts, at least Bob is. He is as excited about this as any kid with a new toy...made a fairly disgusting sprout bread from sprouts left to grow grassy for too long. It actually doesn't taste too bad but looks so hairy I can't deal with it! But we did have a delicious chow mein with our homegrown mung bean sprouts last night so maybe this new project will turn out to be ok. What Bob has to learn is portion control...only grow enough sprouts to be used by us, two people, for a few days instead of enough to feed the whole Sayward valley area.

     Mike the model is doing well again and modeling for a group down in Cumberland so I guess we will be looking, once again, at setting up a new date for our model-in-a-box thing.  I am almost afraid to dare since every other date has been jinxed and I'm not normally superstitious. If I'm going to make use of the little bit of momentum I've worked up from painting these florals then it is important for me to set up some kind of schedule for working. I have some still life ideas that might be worth trying...would like to go for a few shiny things but nothing too complex. My mind just doesn't seem to be accepting  over-stimulation these days. And I have new glasses waiting to be picked up which should help tremendously with my resolve to work more steadily. This old prescription has been causing headaches and misjudgments and all sorts of havoc when I try to look at stuff to draw or paint. Turns out I have the teeniest start of cataracts also but won't have to be concerned about that for some time. Bob has been looking into dietary helps for this. I am taking Milk Thistle every day for this liver thing - and I still haven't heard from the hospital for a date to get the biopsy done, which is ok with me as the procedure is not high on my list of fun things to do (had it once before). Otherwise I am FINE! I feel FINE. I am actually FINE! I have enough energy for most things and not feeling sick at all and my appetite is good. I have dogs and a husband to keep me warm...and my son is now officially engaged to a wonderful young woman!! Hurray! I think this one is going to take!

       Now, to find some shiny stuff to set up and paint...too bad I don't have a suit of armor lying around in one of my closets. I once did an illustration of a jet engine (back in my illustrator days) and that was way shiny but I don't have any of those handy either. I'll think of something.