NaBloPoMo - Day 25 - Sneak Peek

This is all I'm allowed to show you.

I am pretty much done with the painting that I did for a friend of mine...

My first, hopefully not my only, commission.

It's pretty much done. Just a couple of touch ups

and I'll be ready to put the final coat on it

and give it to my friend.

I am very excited about it.

One of my mentors said it was "the best painting I've done to date..."

Oooh, can't wait for you all to see it...

Soon, very very soon....

NaBloPoMo - Day 24 - Some Things Change

Everywhere I have been seeing the 2009-2019 challenge

with people sharing photos from 10 years ago...

Well, 10 years ago I was in residency and still had about another 10 months

before I would be graduating and starting my career...

So here I am with my hubby in 2009 in New Orleans...

I had been invited to compete in a medical case presentation

so we went since we'd never been to NOLA before...

It was so much fun, and I ate a TON of the most butter-rich amazing food...

The second photo was in 2019 in Olympic National Park in Washington State...

It was in July, and it was the first time away from home since my mother passed in April

and, boy, did I need that trip... 

I just needed to get away from home 

and all the memories 

and all the stresses of dealing with her death.

It was a trip that just took my mind off of things for a while.

I really am more excited about the 2010 - 2020 comparison

because it's just more significant in terms of dates and how far I've come

since completing residency and having been an attending for 10 years...

eek!

Next year will definitely be a time for change and reflection...

And, now it's almost just about 6 weeks away...

eek!!

NaBloPoMo - Day 23 - Bring Out the Best

Not going to lie to you... I love to eat.  And, I love to cook. Momma always taught me to use only the best ingredients I could afford. One that we always used was Best Foods Mayonnaise. No Miracle Whip in our house.

When I moved to the MidWest to go to medical school, I looked for my Best Foods. To my surprise, there it's called Hellmann's! Despite the name change, it's the same fresh flavor I grew up loving.

Oh, so many good things can be made from this lovely jar: sandwiches, salads, salad dressings, sauces, desserts... yummy.

Even more yummy... going to let you in on a little secret....

You know that little lump at the top where the jar was filled...?

It's my favorite part...

As soon as I open up a new jar of mayonnaise, I take a small spoon and scoop out a bit of that luscious little lump... don't know why, but I think it's the best part of the mayonnaise. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the jar will be pretty good... but not as good as that first taste from a fresh open jar...

Any weird food things you like..? Or interesting rituals you perform...? Or is it just me...?

NaBloPoMo - Day 22 - Going to Town

Today was a bit of a run-around day...

I think I've mentioned before that we live in a rural area.

Yes, we have the local store, but I really don't relish paying $4 for

the convenience of the a loaf of bread, 

so every couple of weeks we make a

"trip into town..."

So, the closest big town is only about 15 miles away

but it really seems like a long drive and it

becomes almost an all day event.

It's those country miles.

Starts off with breakfast at one of our favorite cafes.

Then drop Hubby off at the beauty college where he prefers to get his hair cut...

(insert eye roll here)

Then I run various errands from buying some painting supplies,

stopping at the court house to pick up the latest probate form,

quickly grab groceries at the larger chain store,

pick up a bowl from a friend who took home leftovers after our last party

then return to pick up the Hubby.

Together we go to Costco which is where everybody shops around here.

Yep, we have a Kohl's and that about it for department stores.

Well, WalMart and Target, but seriously,

we have Costco so why go there..?

We shop, snack on the food displays,

get our frozen yogurt, gas up the car 

and finally head home...

Welcome to life in a small town.

About the only thing we didn't do was join the people

having their big hot dog or pizza at Costco...

we don't live that far out of town.

NaBloPoMo - Day 21 - Happy Fall Squirrel

My friends know I love squirrels,

so I am constantly receiving squirrel photos and videos

online on Facebook...

Love them, keep them coming...

I got this one a few weeks ago and today seemed like the perfect day

to use it for my blog post...

So, a little haiku for you:

Happy lil' Squirrel

Carrying his winter bed

Sleep warm, lil' squirrel

I'd have given squirrel one syllable but officially it's two...

skwhorl is how I pronounce it...

The interweb says it should be pronounce skwer-el

accent on the first syllable...

How do you pronounce it...?

NaBloPoMo - Day 20 - A Blank Canvas

There's something magical about a blank canvas...

so much potential.

I've been dabbling in oil painting for a few months now,

(having initially started in watercolor then acrylics),

and a friend of mine from work joked about buying my first painting

which was of one of the valleys in Hawaii:

I just laughed...

After all, it was my very first painting in oil...

I've done a couple more paintings since then for fun:

This one I called "Claudia's Rose Garden" for a friend's mother:

I did this one for my husband who wanted a

"Bird's Eye View" of the area in which we

live... including our home which you can kind of see

on the bottom...

Then, during my deepest grief after the death of my mother,

I started painting as a kind of therapy.

I had been going to an art class held by a local artist

and I took a bunch of my acrylic paintings and redid them

in oils... 

So this became

This...

And this...

Became this....

Soon a friend was opening a new business,

so I painted this for her... she loved it!

"Mad Haddie"

She's a beautician...

The writing on her chest is "meraki"

which describes what happens when you leave a piece of yourself

in your work or art.

Then hubby wanted something hang-gliding themed,

so I created this...

It's him hang gliding just above the Mattole River...

My friend kept commenting about wanting one of my paintings,

and a few months ago he said he wanted to commission a painting...

Just had to have me make him something...

So, now I am faced with a new blank canvas...

I have my photo for inspiration...

I've done a preliminary sketch with 

all of the themes and symbolism I want to include...

and my heart and soul are ready...

meraki

Hope I do a good job!

Promise to share my progress...

NaBloPoMo - Day 19 - Another Day, Another Peacock

From this:

To this:

This is Petey... he is a peacock...

He is the one egg that was laid this year out of about a dozen that actually hatched.

They talk about how hard it is to raise peacocks, but he made it...

He's now definitely a young male peacock...

For a while there, we thought Petey might be a girl,

but within the last couple of weeks, his neck feathers brightened up

and he started tail flapping which will help get those muscles ready

when he is full grown and has his train...

I'm hoping I'll get to see it in three years when he fully matures...

kinda like I waited for Prince's train to come in...

If you remember, I wrote about back in April.

Unfortunately, about 3 weeks ago, he didn't show up in the barn

and a couple of days later I found a clump of white feathers.

Another loss to the bobcat...

I was to the point of crying over this loss...

To raise a pet patiently waiting for that final display 

and then losing it so suddenly was too much to handle.

Not to mention that my mother hand-raised him

it really hit me hard.

Now we're doing everything we can to protect Petey...

But, if there's one thing I've learned being on this property,

you can do everything right and all it takes is a single

moment for everything to suddenly go wrong...

Here's to hoping...