12 Hours There and 12 Hours Back!

And we're off. At the crack of noon! The plan is to make it to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, two hours south of the Mid Ohio race course.
THIS is for Liz Gunby of JumbleSaleRabbits blogspot in Scotland. She loves VW vans. Joe was speeding by and I was saying, "OH, oh! Where's the camera!" This is the portion I got. The back was equally perfect! Vanagon!
Arriving in Cincinnati and passing over the Ohio River, the border between Ohio and Kentucky.
Are we there yet? We made it to the airbase, had a good night's sleep, then headed to the racetrack the next morning. Andrew was already there with the VW TDI Cup race team.
This is JOe and Drew looking over track diagrams and having lunch in the fabulous huge VW tent which included catering and classroom for drivers and flats screens everywhere. They had waffles with VW on them for breakfast.
A Pirelli poster using Andrew in his car, #32! "Pirelli grips like no other."
Prerace! All the fresh faced and scrubbed TDI Cup drivers doing the celeb thing and signing autographs. That's Andrew signing for a fan.
Andrew (not him in this pic) was also here to work with APR motorsports. He crewed for them in between the VW stuff. He was dead on his feet by the time Sunday night rolled around. This is Erin in black with the little red apron. She makes sure APR drivers and crew are well fed and cared for. APR is known for it's hospitality. I think the drivers want to be on the team just for the food!

Joe took this of me and Andrew just before the race. I stole those pants off of a Revolutionary War soldier. What was I thinking! Blahhh.
Andrew suiting up. It's really buzzing in the VW tech tent. Camera crews for the documentary, race fans and family. Are you bored yet. Yeah, I know. This is an art blog, but I'll get to that.
The picture below is of Andrew careening back onto the track after bouncing off into the grass in this WICKED curve. A lot of drivers lost it on this curve, one smashing into the wall. CRAZY! I love this picture of the blonde lady. Look at her reaction.
The BIG picture after that is of Andrew's car making this same turn after rear ending a car in front of him. Imagine a lot of loud car noise here!

Alrighty then. Are you still here? Now we're back at APR where Erin and her assistant Hippy Mark have done their magic once again. Andrew has lost the VW race and has now switched his hat from TDI Cup to APR Motorsports.
These are two of the APR drivers, Mike Sweeney and Dion Von Molke suiting up for the the Koni Challenge race. Chow down boys, the race is coming up! Learn more about APR (Audi Porsche Racing) here www.goapr.com/race/
The race was near the end when I took this picture. The two APR cars are in first and second place! It was a wild race. Our friend Randy Pobst was right behind them racing for another team. This is torture for me to watch. Three laps from the end APR front runner, Ian Bass (the afore mentioned Erin's son) loses power on his car. Randy takes it to second place!
Woo hoo! I love racing. It's not over til it's over!
Here they are on the podium. APR guys in red and Randy (with his hand up) in black. All great guys.
This is the rowdy APR team after their win. They are truly a family. That's Andrew in blue. They couldn't peel the TDI cup driver suit off of him! He's having the time of his life.
Meanwhile, the race is over and we're on the road for home. This is where we stayed the first night.
JUST Kidding! That's a bomb shelter behind the Commanding Officer's house, Quarters One, at the Air Force Base. We stayed another night at this beautiful historic base. The Wright brothers made their first flight including a flight and "turn" here. Interested in more about this, including historic photos, follow this link:
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Wright-Patterson_AFB.htm
On the road again. Rocky Tennessee here. About now you're wondering,"What about the longest yard sale, Ronnie?" Well, it was too far off the beaten track for this trip, but we did stop at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, Kentucky. So, here's the ART PART! Finally....
Once they were gourds! This rooster was about 4 feet tall!
Extraordinary woodwork. $800 plus for the rocker. Click the pic for a close look at the old bearded men carved on the back. Beautiful work.
Felted hats and bags. This art center is located in a thriving artist community. I MUST return!
The whole downtown is art galleries and working studios and a college. Check out this link to learn more.... Beria, Kentucky
Beautiful wooden hats and bowls.
The end! An Amish couple returning from church on a Sunday morning. I'm glad to be home.
Have a great week, friends.
Love and all good things,
Ronnie

Doing what's important (like knowing about IBC, for example)

It's not always easy to slow down and focus on the present, being really aware of experiences as they happen, but I'm continuing to do my best.

I'm trying to stop and smell the roses.

I'm trying to focus on preparing healthy meals as often as possible,

although sometimes Huevos Rancheros with homemade lowfat refried black beans and homemade salsa are a fun change of pace.

On a health note, if you have never visited my wonderful friend Renee at Circling My Head, you really need to visit her blog to read her post about Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) (click here to connect to the post). Renee was diagnosed with Stage 4 IBC in 2006, and generously shares her wisdom, wit, experiences and struggles with her readers. (She also showcases some of the most incredible art in her posts, for those of us who can't ever get enough art in our lives.)

IBC is not detected by a lump. It is a devastating form of breast cancer that is not well publicized and often misdiagnosed. To find out more about IBC, you could start by visiting the IBC Research Foundation (click here), the National Cancer Institute (click here) or use your search engine to find other sources of information. There are also videos on YouTube, like this one here, which show you what symptoms of IBC look like.

I, personally, am under constant doctor's care because I am at such a high risk for breast cancer, my mother has had it twice, and my aunt died of it. I've lost count of the number of people in my life who have had this horrible disease.

Despite over 30 years of exposure to breast cancer in people I love, I had never heard of IBC until just a few years ago. Many in the medical profession don't know enough about it, either.

Whether you or someone you love has been touched by cancer, and even if you've been one of the lucky few whose life hasn't been touched by it, you owe it to yourself to be informed and be your own health advocate.

I hope you take a look at Renee's blog and the links I've provided, if you don't already know about IBC and its symptoms.

ROAD TRIP!

Joe will be honking the horn soon! We're headed to Lexington, Ohio for Andrew's 4th race. Also hope to catch parts of the longest yard sale! It stretches from Ohio to Alabama. See ya when we return. I'm taking the camera!
If you'd like to have your name or business stuck on Andrew's car, he still needs sponsorships for the remaining 6 races!
Later Gators,
Ronnie

Bliss Bikes in Progress

Whew!
Boy it was tough getting this done. A whole lot of life getting in between me and it!
If you remember my last post you'll see my original design. I made a teeny tiny sketch and then enlarged it on my scanner, added the lettering, and then transferred it to the canvas (18x24).
I slathered a good cover of Raw Umber allllll over it. Edges too.
Design has been transferred and all I've done here is fill in the spaces with flat color.
Filled in everything and added some detail on the blue lady and added a bit of lighter brown to the corner to experiment a bit.
Threw some clouds on the lady, a few bike spoke spin lines, and added more of the lighter gold/brown here and there and some star thingies.
A closer look. If you click on the pic, it'll put your eye out it's so big! And I've painted out the star thingies cause I didn't like 'em.
FINE! as they say at the end of a French movie, which has nothing at all to do with this painting, but it's my blog and I just felt like saying it. This picture is yellow and fuzzy, cause my light was crappy, but I'll take another all Bright and Clear tomorrow.
This painting is in my Etsy shop, but if it just hangs out there it's headed to Naked Art USA in Birmingham, Alabama the first week in August.
Love and all good stuff,
Ronnie - in a small town in Georgia
PS If you're a newbie, scroll down a couple of inches and you'll see my design before it jumped on the canvas.

Balancing Act!

Things are humming along better than expected. At least I got this new thing started!
I had planned to finish "Bliss Bikes" yesterday, but Joe drug me off for a long walk around the lake. I whined while putting on my shoes and whined while plopping my old floppy straw hat on my head, but once I got going realized I was in dire need of the exercise. Joe said if only I'd listened to him alllllll these years just think how different things would be. Yeah. Right.
LATER, I settled in the BB workshop and mixed the most BE-autiful blue, using these colors, for the lady in "bliss bikes".
I'll show you a progression (as usual) when it's all done. Should finish it up tonight.
ALSO, I'll be putting these little books I did in the Etsy shop when I get some good pics. Reminds me, I'll be taking mom to have a sonogram of her heart this afternoon, but everything should be fine. She's a tough little bird.
Other drama...the house did get a new roof last week. This is a shot of a very handsome (looked like Zorro) Mexican man who popped up to the second floor to find me sitting at the computer downloading photos while sipping tea and wearing my pajamas. I smiled at him, grabbed my camera, pointed, shot, but he DUCKED!
Here's the roof in progress. eight guys used pitchforks and snow shovels to get the old roof off. An awful racket from the inside! That's my workshop, the window on the top left behind the leaves. The new roof looks great! Next up, living room paint. I'll see you tomorrow with my finished painting.
Have a great day everybody,
Ronnie - aka JOe's stove operator

The joy of joy

Scatter joy.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every week, every day, has its ups and downs, but I've noticed a great deal of emphasis on joy in many of the blogs I've been reading this week.

Jan at awake is good wrote a post this week entitled "Writing yourself home" where she's asking her readers to join her in beginning a joy journal to help document the little joys in every day. Now, I've tried keeping journals, but have never been successful at it. The closest I've come is this blog.

But as I read her description of a joy journal, I realized I could do this. In fact, I try to do it here as often as possible. I can keep a journal of things, big and small, that have brought me joy on any given day. Some days it may be something very small, but every day there is something that gives me joy. A picture, a quote, a thought, hearing an old song. If you'd like to join in, or just follow along, simply click on the links in the paragraph above. Jan's blog is filled with insight, wise words and soothing images. I know Jan would love to hear your thoughts!

Silke at Metamorphosis is spreading joy, too. In a post this week she's showing her appreciation by having a giveaway (winners will be announced early next week). She a relatively new blogger who just recently discovered that she's a talented mixed media artist! To thank all the people who have supported her in this new journey, she'll be giving away two 5 x 7 archival quality prints of two of her favorite paintings. You should visit her beautiful blog, which is scattered with recipes, her art and lovely photos of her beloved Savannah, Georgia and native Germany. I know she'd love to meet you!

Here are some quotes I found today that gave me joy:

. . . joy and sorrow are inseparable. . .
together they come
and when one sits alone with you. . .
remember
that the other is asleep upon your bed.
~ Kahlil Gibran

We could never learn to be brave
and patient
if there were only joy in the world.
~ Helen Keller

Grief can take care of itself,
but to get the full value of joy
you must have somebody to divide it with.
~ Mark Twain

Find a place inside where there's joy,
and the joy will burn out the pain.
~ Joseph Campbell

We need Joy as we need air
We need Love as we need water
We need each other as we need the earth we share
~ Maya Angelou

Joy is not in things,
it is in us.
~ Richard Wagner

. . . keep knocking,
and the Joy inside will eventually open a window
and look to see who's there.
~ Rumi

One cannot consent to creep
when one has an impulse to soar.
~ Helen Keller

A bit impish

Humor is a reminder
that no matter how high the throne one sits on,
one sits on one's bottom.
~ Taki

My sincere thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's post! I really appreciate everyone's input and advice. And thanks to my dear Mr. C's love of technology, I am now using Firefox and will be back to visiting everyone regularly again soon.

I think I was overcome by an attack of giddiness yesterday (and, today, too - I think). When I was e-mailing, using my Yahoo e-mail account, I discovered the emoticons and used them for the first time.

Since I started blogging, I've found myself using smiley faces and exclamation points rather frequently, something I never used to do. :0) I've been trying to quit, but allowed myself to be briefly tempted by those incredibly cute yellow faces. To anyone who received an emoticon-laced e-mail yesterday, I'm truly sorry. :0)

I think it has something to do with the fact that, when I speak, I tend to use my hands (a lot!), as well as a good number of facial expressions, along with my words. I've been told I'd be a very effective actress.

Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.
The minute it crops up,
all our irritation and resentments slip away,
and a sunny spirit takes their place.
~ Mark Twain

It's funny how life is sometimes. I even found some humor of sorts in our own garden. If you take a close look at the photo below (click on it, if you'd like to enlarge the photo), you can see what looks like spit. It is, in fact, something called a Spittlebug.

This frothy residue is left on plants by this cute little guy:

If you feel inclined to learn more about the amazing Spittlebug, there is probably more than you ever wish to know here.

I find that in times of stress, turmoil, upheaval, or just plain every day, a touch of humor lightens my heart and shines a light in my soul. I hope you find a bit of impishness, a bit of humor, in your day today!
:0)

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing,
moving at different speeds.
A sense of humor is just common sense,
dancing.
~ William James

A bit skitzi

I'm feeling a bit like our sweet, but grouchy, cat Skitzi today. She often walks through the house making grumbling sounds when things don't go her way.

I'm having a few issues with the new computer, because Internet Explorer is constantly aborting all my attempts to look at any other blogs. I click on and - POOF - I'm kicked off. My dear computer- and engineering-genius husband, Mr. C., will have to solve this problem for me. In the mean time, our old computer has become even slower, so that's not an option anymore. I won't be able to visit any of my Blogland friends or leave comments until this is resolved, but hopefully it will only be a day or so. (I can still receive comments, though! . . . :0) . . . )

In the mean time, I took this picture of myself (sorry about the goofy smile, I think my arms are too short to do this!), showing how happy I am when you stop by for a visit.

This IS an art blog!

With Joe's retirement came a whole new "to do" list:
Get the annual physical, apply for long term care insurance, do repairs on the house so we can put it on the market next Spring. So, I went for the physical and doc says, "Looks like your shoulder's still messed up. Time for a trip to the bone and joint man."
I haven't been able to lift my right arm above my head for way too long. I suspect it happened here at the farmhouse. The old windows had to come out and then...
I carried and heaved them in here. Then there was the painting and scraping...

Yep, that's me, on the ladder....
Here too, pulling up three layers of flooring to get to the wood. But alas, good news came today. After steroid shots and several weeks of physical therapy, I'm good to GO!
Yep, this is an art blog and it's back to the drawing board.
Joe has roofers scheduled next week and the living room to be repainted shortly after. I guess he'll be handling that. He's retired now!
YeeeeHaHHAHAHAHsnortHaHAAA! I'll keep you posted. It's a laugh a minute around here.
LOve you all,
Ronnie - struggling to stay an artist in a small town in Georgia