California To Georgia - And All Points In Between

You have to love California -

Here we are, near Palm Springs, where it'll be in the 90s

and there's snow on the mountain!

We left my house for our road trip, at 9:55 AM, Pacific Time

and entered Arizona at 1:58 PM.

Our son and I ate only healthy stuff - like these deeelicious cashews.

Yeah, right!

But wait...

there's more!!

And we paid the price!!

Mel-Mel, on the other hand, didn't get any headaches!

But she was a real bitch the next day!!

(Sugar can have that effect on people.)

(As some of you know, I'm a raw foodist/vegetarian and am much healthier, following that lifestyle.

But, there are times when something comes up, where I choose to eat 'junk'!

Like a road trip!

But, when I do, my body lets me know that it's not happy with my choices, by doing bad things to me - one being headaches! Oh yeah, I pay the price.

I only do this occasionally - not on a daily basis!

I read somewhere that it's better to just pig-out on bad stuff for 'one' day,

than having "just a little" junk food 'every' day.)

Back to the road -

Here's Mel-Mel enjoying an Arizona sunset.

We entered Abilene, Texas, at 5:02 AM.

Gorgeous lights, as we drove through the Texas night.

More lights.

For miles, we could not figure out what that yellow light was,

so close to the road!

An enormous sign? A spotlight on a huge rock? It turns out that it was the moon!!

Texas suuure is flat.

Lights at a power plant.

A Texas sunrise.

(Which Mel-Mel missed, because she refused to turn her head.)

We spent eight hours driving through that state!

Texas suuure is big.

Entering Louisiana at 11:41 AM. (Still going by Pacific Time.)

Me, covering my face with my hands, as we crossed over the Mississippi River!

I'm NOT a fan of bridges, OR deep water!!

Entering Alabama

(Forgot to write down the time.)

Thousands of dead bugs later (sorry guys!) we entered Georgia.

We arrived at our final destination at 8:35 PM.

Only thirty five and a half hours later!

(Still going by Pacific Time, since that's what was on the van's clock.)

Who needs "TomTom", when you have Mel-Mel?!

And she made a few friends along the way -

A remorseful swine...

An oh-so-cute bovine...

And a poultry dude.

(She can be sweet when she wants to be!)

The van was a big hit!!

(As I mentioned in an earlier post, we gave my van to our youngest son and family.)

Our seven year old granddaughter thought it was just her size!

Our five year old grandson thought it was cool, because he had enough room to be a tough-guy, football player!

And our eleven month old granddaughter

was happy that she had plenty of room to stretch her legs!

It was a wonderful, fun, laughter-filled road trip, except for one little incident -

Who knew that Mel-Mel would break-out in song, hitting a note that my son and I had never heard before (and hope to never hear again!)?!

Our eardrums ached, and the ringing in the ears was awful, BUT...

the windshield got the worst of it!!

Mel-Mel might just be staying home the next time.

I leave you with this picture -

because I love it! :)

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the Moms, the single Dads,

and everyone that also has the role of "mother" in a child's life -

Thank you and God bless you for all that you do!!

Enjoy your special day!!

"Giving birth is little more than a set of muscular contractions granting passage of a child. Then the mother is born."

- Erma Bombeck

"The age of your children is a key factor in how quickly you are served in a restaurant. We once had a waiter in Canada who said, "Could I get you your check?" and we answered, "How about the menu first?"

- Erma Bombeck

"Who, in their infinite wisdom, decreed that Little League uniforms be white? Certainly not a mother."

- Erma Bombeck

"When mothers talk about the depression of the empty nest, they're not mourning the passing of all those wet towels on the floor, or the music that numbs your teeth, or even the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down the shower drain. They're upset because they've gone from supervisor of a child's life to a spectator. It's like being the vice president of the United States."
- Erma Bombeck

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Road Trip!!

I LOVE road trips!!!!

I could easily be a trucker, if it wasn't for the heavy lifting, and the fact that I'm lazy.

But the driving - ohhh, yeah!!

This time I'll be sharing the driving with my youngest son.

Actually, he'll probably do most of it, since he loves to drive too.

I'll just sit and take pictures - and eat! That's half the fun of a road trip, isn't it?

But first he's got my mile long "to-do" list, that he's working his way through!

(Thank you!!)

My feisty little buddy, Mel-Mel, will be going along for the ride.

I've never taken her with me before, so we'll see how she behaves.

We're driving from California aaaall the way to Georgia!

My husband and I gave our son my favorite van (ever!)

which I've had for 15 years and which never gave me a moment of grief!

I was SO sad that I had to part with her, but knowing she's going to a family member,

and that I'll have visitation rights, makes it a little easier. (A little!)

We'll be cranking up the music of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

Especially Willie's "On The Road Again"! And anything by Merle!!

Oh! Merle's got a new CD out! "I Am What I Am"- and we love it!!

My youngest daughter and I had the privilege of meeting both of these entertainers.

What an exciting moment for a couple of huge fans!!

And no road trip is complete without the rockin' sound of Los Lobos!!

OK - I leave you now with the words of The Terminator -

"I'll be back". (In time for Mother's Day!)

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Mac, Bo Bo And The Sanitation Man

This is Mac, my family's pet.

He was a rescued dog - found on the freeway and publicized on TV!

He's a hyper little dog, and truth be told, kind of a pain in the neck!

My son-in-law has a much lower opinion of him, but we love him nonetheless.

(The dog too.)

Mac's favorite spot in the house is on his pillow, or beanbag, by a low window -

Where he sits and barks at anything that drives by, runs by, walks by,

or flies by.

(He has to be chained when someone comes to visit, or he'll lick them to death.)

If someone is in the kitchen, he's always under-foot!

Step right, he's there. Step left, he's there. Step back... well, you get the picture.

I can't count the times I've tripped over him and I can't repeat the words that have come out of my mouth.

Several years ago, one of my daughters gave him a doggie-toy for Christmas,

which she named "Bo Bo".

It's a puppet.

Which, now that I think about it, is kind of a weird item to make for a dog.

Or do some people actually put on puppet-shows for their dogs?!

If so, where are these people and please hide me from them.

Mac loves, loves, LOVES his Bo Bo!

Whenever a family member comes home, he grabs it with his teeth and runs to greet them!

For every "happy-Mac-moment" Bo Bo has been given a slobbery run around the house.

And no matter where he's sleeping, that toy is nearby.

My daughter's been buying that same doggie-toy for three or four years,

but suddenly, they're no longer being sold!

Every time either one of us goes into a store that sells dog-toys, we rummage through them, hoping to find another Bo Bo!

But, so far, no such luck.

I can almost hear him now -

"WHAT?! This is the last Bo Bo?!! I'm never looking at you again!!

I hate you!!

But you'll still feed me, right?"

The last time I went looking in a store, I came across "The Sanitation Man" dog-toy.

You know how some things "speak to you", or "call your name"?

Well, this guy "reached for me".

See! Not kidding.

I was so excited to give him to Mac, but he wanted nothing to do with it!

He gave him a sniff and walked away.

Hey, Mac?! Don't you bark at the sanitation guys when they wake you at six in the morning?!

Don't you want a piece of him?!

Maybe he would have liked a mailman instead.

What will happen when Bo Bo is down to a few fibers?! Doggie dental floss?

If anyone comes across this toy somewhere, would you please let me know?!!

Mac would sure be a happy mutt!

In case you're wondering what happened to "The Sanitation Man" -

He lives at MY house now!

I always did like a guy with a hairy chest. And he's always there with a hug!

In Loving Memory of Buddy -

And Nina.

We miss you and will love you forever.

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Silk Painting - Going With The Flow

I love painting flowers!! This is a detail of a piece called "Blue Poppies".

I love vibrant colors!!

And brushes!!

And dyes!! And art supplies of all shapes and sizes!!

Two weeks ago, I took a few pictures of my neighbor's beautiful Tulips, wanting to use them as reference for a silk scarf I was going to paint.

When I tried to upload them to my computer, the camera's battery was dead!

After charging it and uploading the pictures, the printer wouldn't work!!

Trying not to lose it, I took a deep breath, went into my storage area and grabbed an armful of silk Tulips! (Going with the flow.)

Silk flowers come in handy, if you don't have the real-deal! Aren't they gorgeous?!

I was all set to go! I hand-washed the white silk and hung it to dry.

Then I attached it to the stretcher-bars.

I figured out my color scheme using my silk 'color-chart'.

I made a drawing of what I had in mind.

These were the colors I decided on.

Then I chose my dyes and...

Really?

After cleaning up the mess, I outlined the design with a water-soluble resist.

When it dried, I painted the flowers and leaves.

Later, when I painted the background, I realized that the resist was too thin and the colors bled. Seriously?!!

I had to outline the design with resist again, and when it was dry, paint over the areas that bled.

Then the scarf was rolled in steaming paper and placed in a steamer.

It steamed on the stove for three hours.

I usually have five or six scarves steaming at the same time, but I needed this one for this post. :)

After the steaming process, the scarf was hand-washed and rinsed until the water was clear, hung to dry and ironed. (The colors are then permanent.)

Since I'd decided to paint a pink background instead of the darker one, like in my drawing, the colors just didn't 'pop' enough for me.

I hung it back on the stretcher-bars and outlined the entire design in black, giving it a more graphic look.

Now it had to go back in the steamer for another three hours and be washed and ironed again!

And finally, on the third day -

It's finished! (Oh happy day!!)

Not wanting to waste the left-over dyes, I decided to paint a Poppy.

No muss! No fuss! Just for fun.

Why a Poppy?

Because, in that armful of Tulips, was this single, flattened-out, faded Poppy!

There was just something about it.

So, like before, I hand-washed, dried and attached the new scarf to the stretcher-bars.

But this time, I didn't do any of the sketching and thinking about it, I just dove right in.

(But I made sure to use a thicker resist!)

(I LOVE my studio!!)

Like the other scarf, this one went into the steamer for three hours, was hand-washed, ironed and...

TA DA!!

Not one problem!! And I'm really happy with it.

Sometimes "going with the flow" doesn't suck!

Signing off for now,

gabriele