ICICLES, ILLNESS AND THE FIRST SIGN OF SPRING

As I reported in my last entry, we were on our way to sunny California. It was to be the perfect time to be there since we had a mini-ice storm and there were icicles everywhere.

Texas weather is so funny ... icicles one day and almost a heat wave the next. We looked out several days after the cold weather left momentarily and we had Robins in the back yard. The poor things think winter's over and it's really only just begun.

My precious husband came down with the flu 5 days before we were to fly out to our sun-filled destination and we regretfully had to cancel at the last minute. This was not a short term illness either as he was sick for over two weeks! Even though we were both very disappointed that we did not make the trip, his health always comes first. I spent nearly 3 weeks in the house preparing meals and my only relief was when I went to the grocery store to replenish the food supply. This was not a fun time, but I did get to watch a lot of wonderful movies. I finally broke down and joined Netflix.

Frank still can't figure out why I joined this since we have AT&T U-verse and access to hundreds of movies a day. There were two significant reasons. #1 - I got 3,000 bonus miles on American (which might get me as far as Texarkana) and #2 is that they have hundreds of Independent films plus all the British series that are shown on PBS available to rent. For only $8.95 a month I can rent as many movies as I want and they pay for all the shipping and handling.

The latest films are as far away as your mailbox and you could feasibly get 10-12 films a month for the one time fee of $8.95! It costs nearly that much for one of us to go to the theater plus you can wear your caftan and eat popcorn while you're being entertained. You can't beat that!!! I highly recommend looking into this if you have a DVD player. It's a great deal, especially if you're a movie buff.
Along with watching movies, I did a little more painting. I really think that I am enjoying painting glass more than anything I've tried in a long time. We always seem to have wine bottles around the house, so I can set up a still life with no problem ;-)
Since I had already painted three bottles with pomegranates that were in my last entry, I decided to paint a Triptych.

I painted the one with the strawberry which is above first and then painted the one with the cherries the complete the "set".

The three can be framed this way or can be used separately. I love the simplicity of these paintings with the clean lines. All I did was reverse the placement of the bottle and glasses in the last two and then added the fruit for a little color.

While we were housebound, we also did a lot of bird watching. There is a great site that I found where I could identify the birds I didn't know. We now have about 9-10 varieties in the back yard at once. Here are a few shots that I took. Some of my favorites are the little Golden and Purple Finches.

My friend and housekeeper, Vera, said that they had finches in their yard, so I bought a feeder and the appeared in 2 days. Guess they can communicate better than I thought they could!
Then there are the Great Tailed Grackles, Cardinals,

Cedar Waxwings

and even a Redheaded Woodpecker showed up.

Thanks to some help from many friends, we finally decided that these little birds were Pine Siskins.

Of course there are the ever present squirrels that we keep trying to encourage to leave the bird seed alone. We wish they would stick to the pecans that fall from our trees!

This one and Frank have an on-going battle and I hate to say it, but I think the squirrel is winning :-( It's wonderful to have these little "pets" in our yard and we enjoy watching them .. especially the birds, so much. I always keep a camera with a telephoto lens in the kitchen so I can keep a close eye on our visitors. We also keep our binoculars handy so we can try to identify the birds. Do you think this is a sign of old age?

Our dear friends from Dallas came to Arlington the end of last week and we went to lunch with them. Papa was feeling better so we really enjoyed our first outing since he got sick. They are the ones who have purchased several of my paintings. The one in this photograph hangs in their bar in Dallas.

We went to one of our favorite places for lunch, Piccolo Mondo and had a delicious meal.

The next day we took our Rector, Father Kresowaty, to lunch. He's such a special person in our lives and we enjoy his company so much.

We have been on the South Beach eating program for over a month and we decided to throw caution to the wind and have a vegetarian pizza. It was WONDERFUL!

Saturday night was the big Gala, "Star Shine", at the Arlington Museum of Art. I donated a black and white photograph that I took in Beijing in the Hutongs when we were in China last year. It was entitled "A Clean Sweep". I usually donate one of my paintings, but decided to do something a little different for a change.

There were 3 tables of us there for the event and we sat with our friends the Ashtons and the Mitchells, along with the Bennetts.

There was a silent auction as well as a live one and Frank spent a lot of time studying the program.

One of the ladies that I used to paint with was one of the volunteers there for the evening and here she is showing a painting that was done by another friend and artist.

It was a good show and a lovely evening and hopefully they made a lot of money for the Museum. It's been difficult for them since we are in a demographic location that makes competing nearly impossible. Both Dallas and Fort Worth have world wide recognized Art Galleries and museums, so our little Museum struggles. I was on their Board and it was like a faith ministry. You have to have faith or it won't prosper. Frank and I volunteered to sample their martinis and wine!

We were in church yesterday morning and then last night we went to another function at the church which was a welcome home for some people who had made their Cursillo this weekend.

Cursillo is a movement of the church. Its purpose is to help those in the church understand their individual callings to be Christian Leaders. The leadership may be exercised in work situations, in the family and social life, in leisure activities, and within the Church environment. Leadership, in Cursillo, does not mean power over others, but influence on others; all of us need to be aware that we can exert a positive influence on those around us.
The goal of Cursillo is the goal of the Church: to bring all to Christ. This is done when informed, trained leaders set out with the support of others having a similar commitment. It helps to renew and deepen Christian commitment. Cursillo is one of many renewal movements. Many people have said Cursillo provides an important learning experience which causes many to feel like newly made Christians with a purpose and with support.
Frank and I have been active in the movement since 1985 and feel that it is very worthwhile.

We don't have any special plans this week but the following weekend we will have a family gathering here and celebrate 3 of our family members' birthdays. I'll write more about this later.

Have a wonderful week, With much love, Pcasso