fall clean-up

All this gorgeous weather is getting me out and working in the yard. Digging elephant ears and cannas, dahlias. I have never had cannas. I learned they are very prolific. i started out with about 6 and ended up with about 50 or 60. I can understand why i always see a big box of them outside the post office. Every spring, with a sign that reads FREE. The humming birds love them.

let's fiesta

In all the years I've been on this planet, i have never seen this much excitement. I can feel the energy everywhere. I was at work last night and everyone was singing and dancing, high fiving.Some people were saying , I'm so glad it's over, so tired of the ads and the calls. Well, the way i feel about that is. I can't imagine keeping my sanity for this long, campaigning day after day.All the traveling and talking talking. To people that said they didn't vote, shame on you. With ALL this effort, It's every one's responsibility to get off the couch and vote.

Thru it all, Obama was flawless. Eloquent is a word that comes to mind. Someone who won't be an embarrassment.

Hail to the chief

ivan where are you?

We didn't see are or hear anything the first year. I was looking believe me. I had learned that the fellow that lived in our house before us had killed himself. Bill knew who he was . His parents had built the house and There were 2 kids, Ivan and leota.We bought the place from leota.
Very late one night I was tossing and turning in bed. Bill fast asleep.
I suddenly see the entire room filled with small balls of light. They were swirling in a circle, above us.I wake bill up and we both sit up and watch the swirling mystery lights. There were no drugs or booze involved in this siting. Then all of a sudden They all converge to the center of the room and disappear.
After that spectacle, Everyday we would see a single large ball of light flying about the house. Also see a dark figure walking back and forth in the room off the living room. A closet door would open and slam shut.
The dogs were also seeing the flying balls of light. You could see there heads following the direction it was going.Going up the stairs and it would fly right past.Every day and all the time.
A friend told us about a spiritualist convention in Clinton Iowa. She really recommend we go. It a convention for spiritualist from all over the country. They give readings and other interesting things.
We went.
I sat down in front of a older woman at a table. She was fussing with the edge of the table cloth, rolling and unrolling. She just asked my name. Cathie i said. She proceeded to tell me about a man that was standing behind me. "He's not a relative but, a Friend". He telling me he left something for you at your home. He left you a bible. He's saying "If you ever need help to pick up the bible and he'll help me.He had no one to leave it to. But, he's leaving it to you.
I left the room and told bill what she said. "Oh my god Cathie, In the shed i found a hat and a pair of boots and a well worn bible."
From then on we called our ghost Ivan.
I found myself talking to him all the time.
He was a definite presence in the house, but, not a frightening one.
He lived with us about 4 years
Then one day i said to bill, "I don;t think Ivan is here any more"
He said he didn't think so either.
Bill's mom worked at the local funeral parlor. She called to tell us that leota had died afew weeks earlier.Leota was Ivan's sister.
Ivans leaving coincided with his sisters death.
We miss him.

imaginary friend

To celebrate Halloween, I'll write about my own ghosts. I've had 2 houses that were haunted or had spirits residing. But, 1st The story of my nephew jesse. When he was about 3 years old, he was outside playing. He came in the house all animated saying that he was talking to "ouhy". "well where's "oughy now" ? his mom asked. "Well, he's here but, not here and he's crying and he's broken", as he's pointing to his for arm," I told him he didn't belong here." "i told him to go away. "
My sister in-law then realized something, something she had'nt thought of in years. She had a brother that killed himself at the age of 15, he hung himself. but, weeks before he died he had a compound fracture in his forarm. His name was "hughy"
coicidence? i think not.

latest project

Another painting of my favorite subject. "my boy jimi"

This scares me

The beginning of the month brought with it "What Cheer flea market. It's a large flea market that happens 3 times a year. It's located in southern Iowa. I was walking around scoping out all the goodies when i over hear a loud mouthed guy. He was spewing out alot of Crap. He was dragging along alittle girl about 7 or 8 years old. "Those gaddamn demacrates", they wannana put a gaddamn n----r in the white house, spewing hate and ignorance. Going on and on, Then to top it off i hear him say " gaddamned drive all the way up here and they ain't got no guns, I wanna buy some guns"
i really wanted to say something, but, thought he probably would love alittle confrontation. He wasn't worth it. But, the really sad thing about it all was his little girl. Walking behind him, her hair hanging in front of her face. looking to the ground. She' probably a sexually abused by her disturbing dad. A guy like that, my assumption is probably accurate. What chance in hell is she going to have. A bigot and a sex abuse victim.

I live in my little small town, near a larger city that is culturally diverse and a great art community. People are educated and i don't see much bigotry.It's there, i know but, it's not the majority. What scares me is, How many people out there are like that guy. I fear for Obama, if he's elected. McCain and Palin just feed that hate and negativity. I don't think they even realize what kind people they are attracting. The bottom feeders don't get out much. But, there Coming out from under the rocks for this election.

passion flower and hoya

I love old vintage victorian wire flower stands. This one is a dandy. It has a wire trellis right on the stand. It's perfect for hoyas and my passion flower to wind and curl around every thing. I'm not sure of the name of my hoya but, the leaves are huge. Big bannana leaves. I'm hooked. When it's loaded with blooms, the whole sunroom smells wonderful.

prize plant

My Croton has been with us for 24 years. Our old (now deseased neighbors) gave it to us as a housewarming present. I've hauled it in and out every year. It's about the size of a mid-sized shrub. Thank goodness for light weight pots.

inviting couch!

I love to sit out here or lay on the couch out in my sunny room and read. Sitting out there and be surrounded by green leafy plants. I love it. It makes me feel good.

fall is here

Well, i finally got a jump on fall. i hauled in almost all my houseplants before i had to. i now can put them where i want them, and have a place to sit out in my sun room. It's very hard for me to part with plants. But, i managed to get rid of some this year. Duplicates, i had 2 of many plants, so the extras found a new home."Wanted: Plant lovers, plants to Good homes only." I've always had plants in my life. My room as a kid was filled with plants and my mom had magnificent specimen plants.I like trying new things. I just got a clivia. i hope it does well.Hoyas are my newest passion. They do well anywhere. they have glorious smelling blooms. Begonias were a fav for awhile, but my sun room was to cool in the winter. I had 40 different varieties.

current project

Wow, i've been working on this a little while and i'm finially making some head way. I'm making it for my friend jared. She reminds me of a las vegas showgirl. I was going to cover it with beads ,but figured that would take years instead of months.So, part glass and a few beads and the rest shells. Shells are fun to work with because there are so many different kinds.So hang on jared it's almost done.

i'm back!!

Well, i have been off line for about a week. I went nuts not able to get on the computer. My computer crashed. Then my water bed sprung a leak, water leaking thru the floor and down thru the light fixtures and into the kitchen. then the kitchen faucet sprung a major leak and the dryer stopped working. all in 1 week!!!I was afraid to leave the house. What could happen would happen.
My good friend laura, started a blog with my encouragement. She is an incredible artist and i wanted her to show the world her talents. please check her out and give her some words of encouragement. please click Fairy wings in my fav blogs list

clear it out!

We have got to empty out the rented storage shed. i don't know how many times i have told bill that. I have now started to empty out all my stuff. If he wants to keep his junk in there than he can pay the monthly payment.I'm OUT. it finally hit me one day while writing out that check for 47.00. What am i doing this for and add up what we had spent so far. my jaw dropped when i read 7000.00. Let me tell you, there is absolutely nothing in there that's worth over 300.00 and most of it worth less than 50.00. so every day for a week I've been finding new places for my half of the junk. 3 piles, throw out, sell, keep and find a new place. So far I've done pretty good. Bill has a big job ahead of him. Get this, he has not 1 but 2 operating room lights, you know those great big round heavy things. Why would he have 2 of those? i have NO IDEA!!!! There is also about 10-15 50 gallon plastic barrels, empty of course. They were originally meant to be used to float a dock out on a friends lake. Help!!!!!Bill is a real pack rat. He's finding it very hard.

magnolia pearl in all her glory

New Book!!

I am soooo excited about this new book i picked up. "A bit of velvet and a dash of lace" by robin brown of magnolia pearl i'm not even thru it and I'm ready to carpet my walls and tile my ceilings with old tin. and layer layer layer with fringed velvets and old salvaged lace. I can't wait to go scrounging. Some people just have that knack. Not only is the book a great visual ,but her story is a real treat.It makes me wish i knew her she sounds like a wonderful person to be around. Don't walk but, run to your nearest book store. and pick it up.

New favorite shows

Mad Men has been a favorite for 2 seasons now. Gotta love it.It captures the time period to a "T". The clothes the attitudes toward women. I was only in grade school during the 60's. But, i remember it well. My mom always wore a girdle, Oh, how awful that must have been. Wigs were a big thing. Big wigs. The show is great, it makes you glad that we've come along way baby.The other show that has me pleasantly surprised is HBO'S TRUE BLOOD. I love alan ball's work. SIX FEET UNDER. This is going to be a watcher. I'm hooked only after 3 episodes. Ole bill compton drives me wild.

recent art

Nothing special, just fun to do.

collage of bill in europe

I like to take travel pictures and use them in collages.In this one i used a caulking transfer method of a castle over a collage of maps and painted surface and added a picture of bill on a stone wall in Germany. and did alittle paint over.

recent collage

I really have been neglecting my blog. sorry, but, I've been so busy with the yard and getting in lots of bike rides. I've got to get them in while i can. I went to the big fall event at sister's in kalona. She really can put on a great sale. It was stuffed with great antiques and fall harvests of gourds and huge mums. I have never seen so many mums. i didn't find any thing i needed, things i wanted, but, no room in my house.I have been puttering in my little studio, i made afew collages.I experimented with the paint over method. I read about it in somerset studio 's workshop issue. Where you take a picture of choice and glue it down and paint over it.
i can't draw well, so this is great. my 1st one of my mom at 17 with her dog "lady" is Little heavy handed. Oh, well it's my first attempt. hopefully I'll get better. But, it is fun to do.I took a picture of her and tore around it, then tore a picture of a doorway out of a garden magazine and blended the two together.

"be responsible"

Okay everybody, every person out there reading this can do 2 things to help this world to a road to recovery. Start with these 2 things. just the dishwashing liquid alone-- if every person in the u.s. replaced just one bottle of 25 oz. petroleum based dishwashing liquid with 1 bottle of vegetable based product. we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 u.s. homes for a year. i use it and find NO difference. It's fabulous darling. Then get rid of plastic and paper bags. I started using these recycled bags and they ARE fabulous. i bought 15 of them for 99 cents apiece. i keep some in my car and bills truck and in the house. They hold more and easy to carry. But, yet when i go to the grocery store I'm the only one that i can see with recycled bags. C"MON PEOPLE get with it. If i can you can!!!!!Start with this

fall flowers

All the colors of the flowers and foliage seem to get so deep and rich. the coleus seems to jump right out at me. The hydrangeas are in there full glory and my passion flower finally bloomed. my hoya has been full of blooms all month. Summers last hurrah. I'm really not ready to haul everything back in the house. I still haven't seen any sign of my friend the "praying mantis".I've been trimming away in the flower border but no sign of him.

good luck my good friend!

I work at university of iowa hospitals. In central sterilizing. I've been there around 25 years. EEEEEE GADS!!!! The place is all stainless steel and glass and Shiny, very glaring and no windows. Oh, did i mention very boring and dismal.I've seen alot of people come and alot of people go. Thank goodness some go, but more often then not , it's the ones you want to get rid of, never leave. But, once in a great while we'll get some one working there that make it worth going in. THe ones that make you laugh till you cry.Make it a fun place. Jared was that person. i worked with him a year.I think we 're kindred spirits. He can talk to any one about anything,doesn't matter if your 5 years old or 80 yrs. We'd go out and have so much fun, i think he;s an old soul. He left the hospital to get his masters degree in portugese. He's TA in madison wisconson. I will truely miss my little friend, back to the duldrums. People like him, come around once in a blue moon.I have to enjoy them while i can.He'll have no problem meeting people. He's like a little pied piper, always surrounded by people. I wish him all the good fortune he can handle, I also hope he meets a great guy along the way that will make him happy.

what's in your kitchen window?

i was reading my friend Sharon's blog, and she wants to know "what's in your window".Does it say who we are.Is there alittle of childhood home, the way your mother had her window. I'm afraid not. My mom was NOT a nic nac person. Nothing any where. Even now, she lives in a place that's free and clear of anything without a purpose.Her closets are empty. I can't imagine what that would be like~!!! My window has glass bottles we found in a "out house" excavation dig. Also a melted 7-up bottle or something we found in an old burn pile, place it on a fancy pedestal and you really got something. A clay monkey head that bill made in grade school, i thought it was cool.On what's a kitchen window without a beaded turtle shell, or a "green man". Whats in your window?

bees disappearing

i came across this utube video. please click on to this link below. listen to the whole thing .Alzheimer's, autism, ADD, All have tripled in the last 5 years. Read and and make a change. boycott products.I wish i could figure out how to get u-tube videos on my blog!!!! Can any one help?

YouTube - What If The Disappearance of the Bees is Caused By...

YouTube - What If The Disappearance of the Bees is Caused By...

frog band

well, I've completed my frog band. Now for the diorama, a Mexican bar scene. With a stage for the band and frogs drinking beer at the tables. What do you think? I love these guys. I have always been fascinated by them. Thanks to Sharon i got my collection going. Strange but, what can i say. i like'm.

something has to happen!!!

Every day, i read the paper and check out the new blips on my home page. I see and hear some good and wonderful or hopeful things. But, more bad and ugly and hopeless things. Things that have gone on to long and have grown into these global world wide disasters. The dumbing of the world but, mostly the dumbing of America. The world wide rape of natural resources, horrendous crimes against animals and children. The poisoning of our water our air. No one cares. Some people care But, it's not enough. Get off your Ass and do something. Write or email everyone in your senate your government. We will NOT VOTE FOR YOU< You SON OF A BITCH > IF you DON'T DO SOMETHING. THIS MATTERS TO US!!!! I have started with small steps. but, i have started to do my part. You, can sit in your little world, not caring or wanting to hear whats going on around you. Thinking oh, everything is just fine. everybody is good. Then one day, the old rug is going to be yanked out, You'll be left standing there wondering what happened. I for one hope Something BIG happens, Please, Aliens come down and tell to stop the destruction!shake us up. I don't dwell on it, because i would go crazy. But, i don't just do nothing either. I read other blogs and most are filled with beautiful thoughts and beautiful words. painting a Rosie picture . But, i just don't have it in me. I'm a pretty positive person. I hate being around negative people. I have a happy home with my flowers critters and a crazy man at my side. But, it's hard to say whats right any more.

our home in lone tree

I get such a kick out of lou's paintings, we had to get him to do a commision for us. i wanted a scene of our house with lots of flowers and put in all the kids, dogs birds and fat cat.Lou had had his paintings in a few magazines. country living for one. But, i'm very happy with it. bill and i look like thugs.

Folk art

For fabulous folk art, stop by west branch, Iowa and see Lou picek.His own art work has a unique quality. I love his subject matter. But, his shop is alot of fun. Stuffed to the gills with fun and unusual things.I loved the old clown costume. I want it!!! Here are a few pics of his shop.His shop is main street antiques and art.

The Scrap Princess Blog: Obituary for Common E. Sense#links

The Scrap Princess Blog: Obituary for Common E. Sense#links

sunroom mosaic

Wow! i took a week off from work to get this thing done. i did it. i finished yesterday. I still have to grout (just the tile parts). but that won't take long and i think we'll put some sealer over all of it. It will bring out the color of the limestone. I'm real happy with it. i can't seem to find small projects. Next big project, well, let's seeeeeee. The wall above the mosaic needs a touch-up. After a over zealous helper got carried away with mortar, putting the limestone floor in. What a screwed up mess that was. But, the floor some how came out alright.

the raccoon whisper?

We have a friend named Doug, He lives in a commercial building in lone tree(mayberry)in the top level.He also has family farm, that he frequents for firewood or mushrooms or arrowheads. what ever the season. On one of his farm visits he found a baby squirrel. He named her Suzie, She had free run of his place, raised on walnuts and a wide variety of foods. she turned out to be a great little pet. but, she had access to the out side whenever she wanted, she goes out and has raised 2 litters of babies (in the apartment), when they are old enough she hauls them outside and shows them the ropes. Doug never see the babies once the are outside and she won't let them back in.that's her roost they have to find there own place. It's the craziest thing. she's been around now for going on 3 years. She's got the best of both worlds.
this year he found a baby raccoon. eyes still shut. He take little Ralf every where he goes. sits on his shoulder. He follows Doug around like a dog. He also has free run of his place. He goes in a cat box and sleeps with Doug.He's never caged. He will never be. When ever he poops in the cat box he runs over to a tub of water and washes his hands,every time.

mosaic marathon

Well, today i rented a huge water saw. I'm doing a cutting marathon. I've got the saw for 2 days. I'm working on a 12" x 26' space in my sun room. I've been putting it off for some years now. But, i took a week off work and I'm going to get that thing done. I've layed out a design or two trying to get the right look.i want it to look kind of natural. Like a photo of a topography of a river.I've got limestone and marble,river rock and tiles in shades of blue, rust and tan. once i get going and i know what i want. it's alot of fun to do,the hard part is doing all this cutting.
i was checking out Sharon's blog, please check out sweet repose. Sharon is writing some beautiful poetry. i can't even write legibly on my blog let alone write poetry.i tried to enter Shelly shell shock in the staff art show. they told me it was objectional subject matter for a hospital environment. It might offend some one. i get so sick of that. Might offend some one. SO WHAT!!!! What ever happened to "If you don't like it don't look at it".

Black Market - Multimedia - World environment - MSNBC.com

Black Market - Multimedia - World environment - MSNBC.com

MORE FLOWERS PICS

The elephant ear has been a favorite for many years, i have been bringing one potted up ear in the house for the winter,going on 9 years. It's huge! I can get the tropical feel here in Iowa.
i also scored on a gorgeous bird bath!! "the Seahorse bird bath". I've spotted them while on "RAGBRAI" in southern Iowa. i fell in love. So when i spotted it at "SISTERS", i said "SOLD".

Lillies are blooming

My favorite flowers are starting to burst open. i can't have to many lilies. Every year i say, "i need more lilies" When i was growing up in coucil bluffs,my dad had the most beautiful gardens. I remember him out there every morning making the rounds with 2 pekin ducks waddling right behind him, rooting for bugs.He always wore suits, he just wore old suits out in the gardens. He didn't own anything else. white shirts and suits and new and old Florsheim shoes. But, could he tend a garden and grew the most beautiful iris and lilies.

cherry pickin

Ohhhh, the taste of sour cherry pie!!! it make all the sweating and messes of all messes worth while. i try to get most of the worms out, but......The invention of the good good old fashioned cherry pitter was so good that it has never been improved upon. i don't know what i would do without mine. I'm very selfish with my cherries. i freeze them so i can savor cherry pie all winter. the last pie i made, i ate the whole thing. poor bill didn't get a single piece. (better luck next time bill) Does any one know the secret to getting cherry stains off your hands?