Jan-n-Me...

"Friendship isn’t a big thing — it’s a million little things."

~Author Unknown

Sometimes...

...the old harvest moon takes me places I need to go...

like back home...

into the warm embrace of long time friends...

many thanks, Jan...

from my heart ...to yours. ;)

A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

“Sometimes

being a friend means mastering the art

 of timing.

 There is a time for silence.

 A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves

 into their own destiny.

 And a time

 to prepare to pick up the pieces

 when it's all over.”

~Gloria Naylor 

Oh! How Long My List...!



"Autumn is the perfect time

to take account of what we've done,

what we didn't do,

and

what we'd like to do next year."

~Author Unknown

Some More Random Illinois Art...

of events documented in my Illlinois Sketchbook...

eating out....

the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics...

...even celebrating with Inboden's award winning Bratwurst.

Squeezing in a recent fashion illo on an old orchard page...

 

...and finishing up with a bit of zen calendar art...

...inspired by whatever catches my fancy at the moment.

My goal is to completely update

my blog

with all my past and present Illinois sketches and drawings

before we head back to the great southwest

this Saturday.

Always good to have a goal...better still to reach it!

"Obstacles

are those frightful things you see

when you take your eyes off your goal."

~Henry Ford

Sending Some Soft-Focused...

...midwest crackling coziness

from my part of the world to yours...:)

I love this time of year!!!

Ahhhh!

"Woo Hoooo!...50 Years...!"

Wishing all our friends, neighbors, and family

a super fantastic time

at the

50th Anniversary celebration

of the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival this weekend

in the beautiful (used to be) small town of

Sycamore, Illinois.

(Festival photos can be viewed here.)

Be sure to

enjoy every single second...every minute of the parade,

every pork chop sandwich,

slice of pumpkin pie, and cup of hot chocolate too!

Mmmm...life is indeed good!

Wish we could be there to party with you. :)

♥

“The nice part about living in a small town

is that when you don't know what you're doing...

someone else does.”

~Author unknown

"Happy Sunday..."

from me to you. :)

It's an overcast, rainy, 57 degree Sunday here in

Sycamore, Illinois.

Some may consider it dreary...but...

to this Arizona girl it is a

perfect prelude to the coming of fall.

It is

a day for warm cozy fireplaces, baking oatmeal cookies,

and having good one-on one time

with my artistic Muse.

Add some take out Chinese sesame chicken for dinner

and the day is complete.

Our past week here has been filled with

visiting apple orchards, walking through pumpkin patches,

playing in corn mazes

and even strolling through a Christmas tree farm.

Fresh apple cider and apple cinnamon donuts have

topped off almost every trip.

I absolutely LOVE this time of year to pieces...

fall is my most favorite season of all.

I feel blessed

to be able to experience even this small slice of it

midwest style...

before heading back to desert and her beauty

by the end of the month.

Our time in Illinois whooshed by so quickly this year.

It has really taken me by surprise...

as I left Arizona dragging my heels...dreading the blast of

humidity I knew was inevitable here.

I sit and marvel at the fact

that I now feel I may be dragging my heels going back to Arizona!

Funny, isn't it?

My blog posts have been few and far between this trip...

sorry 'bout that.

I suppose that is normal when

changing and readjusting one's daily habits occurs.

I thank those of you

who still come back for visits either daily...

or every now and then.

I have lots of art to share...and I promise I will do so...

soon...:)

“Shut the door...
not that it lets in the cold...but that it lets out
the coziness.”
~Mark Twain

"Whew! I Have Decided..."

...that my Arizona lungs do not mix well with with this
soggy, supersaturated Midwest humidity.

Yesterday started off muggy...

I knew that immediately when I awakened

to find the outside windows

dripping wet

and fogged over. Geesch!

Then by 3:00 in the afternoon

the air temperature here in Sycamore, Illinois was

90 degrees...

the dewpoint was 81 degrees...

making the THI (Temperature Humidity Index)

feel like it was 108 degrees!

Say WHAAAAAT????? UGH!
We then ended the day
with a tornado warning and fast moving thunderstorms.

The temps have dropped a bit...but

it's still not time

to open the windows for fresh air.
All is now quiet...and somewhat settled

except

for the classical chatter of crickets

and

the drone of our faithful air conditioner.
Thanks,

but, NO THANKS!!!

This is not

what I expected of August in Illinois.

As of this writing

desert heat is by far more preferable to me.

My Muse decided to

drew her impression of my "sweltering lovliness"

as we were both held captive indoors...the entire day...

again!!!

Whewwwwwwww!!!

Just Sayin'! :)

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.”
~Mark Twain

"Getting Emotional..."

Introducing..."Sensitive"...

card #1 in my new whimsical floral ATC series.

I feel

I am just like her these days...

super sensitive and frail...suffering from

oppressive humidity, heat, swarms of bugs, and other

inevitable Midwest summertime penances.

They are sucking the life

out of my energy...

and are holding me captive in my own home!

At the present time, mid morning, here in corn country,

it is 88 degrees with a sultry dew point

of 81...Amazon jungle levels...

making it feel like a soggy wet 105!!!

Personally, if I am going to be hot and uncomfortable...

I prefer the arid heat and the

dusty brown

powerful haboobs of the desert southwest...

to this rainforest-like mugginess.

Unlike me...

my Muse is having a great time...being held captive inside

she is drawing up a storm of her own!

“We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure
without
being more sensitive to pain.”
~Alan Watts

" I Got Hooked up...!"

...yesterday...many times...and in many ways!!!

Starting...

with a new Verizon "MiFi" Internet connection...

following...with a double visit

to Sweet Dreams for homemade chicken and biscuits...

(BTW...Where were you today, JGL???? LOL)

then...following that we topped off our meals

with the purchase of

a boatload of cookies and the

registering for a frequent buyer card...Geesch!

Then came the arrival of my

art supplies from Arizona

abundant enough to make any Muse dance with delight...

and finally...

a summer explosion of art ideas galore

from my newly invigorated

Muse

is flooding my mind!

We are ready to rock and roll folks!

Yippeeeeeee!

Ooops... I almost forgot to mention...2 THINGS...

We stopped by Kohl's...with our special 30% off coupon

and

found it was Kohl's dollar days too...WooHoo!

And lastly, seriously,

we can now get

Magnum ice cream bars

here "across the pond" in the good ole USA!

OMG...

These are "bestest" yummiest hook ups of all times!

Wheeeee!

"Stuck...!!!"

...in Sycamore, Illinois with sporadic internet connections!

Boy, am I ever one spoiled blogger or what???

Fingers and toes crossed that

things will be smoothed out soooon...

Until then,

I hope you will "Stand by"...:)

There REALLY is a lot more to come!

Happy Blooming Tuesday from the lush green midwest!

BTW, yesterday...

Phoenix 116...Sycamore 76...degrees, that is...
Just sayin...! :)

"Just A Few Flakes..."

...to celebrate the magic of the first winter snowfall

today

back "home" in Sycamore, Illinois.

(I just saw the Facebook photos of JGL's backyard...

it is a wonderland! )

Ahhh...

those first gentle snowfalls...this is a time

I really miss the Midwest...:)

♥

However,

interestingly enough...

a serendipitous southwest snow encounter

occurred as

my brother and sister and their families

drove up to the high elevation

of "rim country"

here in Arizona to cut down Christmas trees

today!

They found gorgeous deep snow, beautiful trees,

and 50 degree temperatures.

(And...I just know...

the little ones were in "snow angel" heaven!)

Me?

I chose to stay down here in the west valley...

at a balmy 75 degrees,

no snowfall...

(just a few (watercolored) flakes...)

fresh rosemary in the air...a chair on the patio...

a copy of Eat Pray Love in hand...

the sound of Gambrel quail chatting away.

Mmm...:)

No matter where

friends and loved ones were today

it certainly seems like

a lovely, magical Saturday was had by all...:)

“Begin doing what you want to do now.

We are not living in eternity.

We have only this moment,

sparkling like a star in our hand...

and melting

like a snowflake.”
~Francis Bacon, Sr

"No Tricks...Only Treats..."

...especially of the ATC variety. :)

(Click on photo to enlarge for detail...)

There is a major Art-athon taking place this weekend

over at Illustrated ATCs.

These are several of the pumpkin themed cards

I made yesterday...

with more to add to the collection today.

I will post the cards I receive

at a later date.

Right now I am pretty much "pumpkined out"!

Happy, Happy Halloween

to those of you who celebrate it...

and a special Happy Pumpkin Festival weekend

to my good friends back in Sycamore.

Have the time of your life...

♥

Miss you!

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin...

and have it all to myself...

than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

~Henry David Thoreau

"All Our Bags Are Packed..."

...and we're ready to go....

the dawn is breaking...it's early morn...

I hate to wake you up to say

goodbye...(so I'll blog it instead.)

Because I'm

leaving on a jet plane...

don't know when I'll be back again..."

Oh my...I hate to go!

Mmmm...:)

Arizona lies 1500+ miles and 3 and a half hours

of velvety violet sky time ahead.

As the sun rises

over my sleepy in-flight shoulder

the question will become..."To draw or not to draw??"

Guess I will have to wait and see...:)

(BTW...

my sincerest apologies for chopping up

John Denver's famous lyrics...

but for some reason

I just couldn't get that song out of my head!)

Next post will be

from the triple digit desert heat of Arizona!

Lastly, a editorial note:

the photo above was taken at Blumen Gardens

yesterday afternoon...

I...L*O*V*E...that place!

"Wordless Wednesday..."

'Wordless Wednesday..."

"Cottonwood Snowfall...!"

...down like, fluffy tufts of seed...they are nestled EVERYWHERE!!!

"The smallest seed of faith

is better than the largest fruit of happiness."

~Henry David Thoreau

"Meet Coral Sunset..."

...a perfectly petaled peony from the infamous Blumen Gardens

(a little slice of gardening paradise) right here

in Sycamore Illinois...:)

Happy Blooming Tuesday y'all!

"Bread feeds the body,

indeed...

but flowers feed also the soul."

~The Koran

"What a Twavelin' Wabbit..."

...and

that would be the infamous Sunset Jack, of course,

out "on the road"

wishing you a butterfly-filled Happy Blooming Tuesday!

(Click on images to enlarge...no cropping options

available for Jack

while away from his "studio"...Dwats! :)

"Ideas are like rabbits.

You get a couple...and learn how to handle them...

and

pretty soon you have a dozen."

~John Steinbeck

"Wordless Wednesday...(#19)..."