Family Has A Lot Going On!

I listened to this book called Mars by Ben Boba, who actually worked for NASA. It is the  story of an international crew that went to Mars. They end up having a crisis, but they were more supportive of each other after it.  The story is a little old, because they talked about floppy discs, but it does not take away from the story.   

My niece Kerri posted this cartoon on Facebook which fit the sentiment i have been sharing about colored pencils and stress. I love it!

My daughters Shelley and Jennifer went to see their Uncle Brian (my husband's brother). He told them about working with a friend of his on a pit crew for car racing , loving the experience. We are hoping to get together at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Perhaps Jeff and his wife Stephanie will join us. I also hope they bring their daughters Cassadie and Meagan.

Jennifer, Brian and Shelley

I let Shelley take my car and she got this great picture of my grandson Kevin.

Kevin Enjoying the Ride

We are anticipating the arrival of Alyssa's son any day now.  I'm sure Alyssa's ready too!

A sweet picture of my granddaughter Crystal and great granddaughter Nylah.

Nylah with her mother Crystal

I took the picture of the hearts from last week and added designs throughout the picture. All the colors used are Tertiary. Primary colors are yellow, blue and red, secondary colors come from these and tertiary colors come from mixing secondary.   I did some blending.  The hearts were burnished to give them some shine. 

My brother sent me an email saying he was heading to Eastern Europe. I think he is going on his own. Paul and I took a tour.  Ben took classes in Polish and Swedish, so perhaps he can do it without being on a tour.  He left yesterday. I look forward to hearing about it. 

Yesterday was my daughter Ronda's birthday. She is 46 now.  Her family took her out to eat.  They got some beautiful pictures of her with her daughter Kathryn. So lovely!

My Granddaughter Kathryn and My Daughter Ronda

A good week!  I hope yours was goods and the next one better!  I'll see you next Sunday!       Rachel

Learning More about Using Colored Pencils

There were 5 students in Carol Bradshaw's class.  A couple of them got very creative in how they did their flip-flops. So Carol said we can do more with our pictures such as filling in the white space with designs. It was fun seeing what others had done. This week we are doing a picture of hearts. She stated we could add more, put in a design, but this time with tertiary colors. These are colors using secondary and primary. So these are going to be softer colors. She told us which colors we could buy rather than mixing them. I went to Michael's and Aaron Brothers, but I was only able to get two of the colors.  So what I will have to do is mix them directly on the color wheel and on the hearts picture.   I sent an email to Carol about not getting the colors she asked us to get.  She will not be here this next week and said she would pick them up at another art store when visiting her daughter in Nevada.

When I did the color wheel, I used three colors to do the whole thing.  I did not use a blender.  Of course, the colors would have been truer if I just used one pencil which was already blended.  With the picture of hearts,  I had several of the tertiary  colors I needed (it is all done in tertiary colors).  I did use a blending pencil and a blending marker on some of it.  My plan is to do a design around the hearts.  I am also working on laying at the colors down on a color chart that I can refer to later with it in light, medium and dark.  That one is a work in progress.  I have to say that doing this is relaxing.  It really helps me deal with stress.

Color Wheel Using Individual Colors and Layering

A way to practice drawing flat color with tertiary colors

I met Janet at Mexcali's.  I had found a coloring book with owls in it last week and gave it to Janet. Janet loves owls and collects them, so I thought she would enjoy it. I just bought a 12 pack of colored pencils so she could get started.  Then, because our teacher Carol has told us of other tools to use, I went through what I had and was able to give her duplicates of most of what I had.  She had not started coloring yet, but I hold out high hopes for her doing it and enjoying it. 

I'm sure there are other sites that do this, but I found Memoryglass.com and their Facebook site. I have a girlfriend who said she wanted something on a necklace. She said it would be giving a little piece of me to her.  Here they put human or pet ashes in art and jewelry.  I also like the idea of pet ashes going here.

Memory glass.com

A wonderful saying I found on Facebook. I don't know who to give credit to, but it is true.  

Here are a couple of pictures of two of my great-grandchildren, Conner who is two and Nylah about 9 months old.

Conner, age 2, Meagan's and Billy's son

Nylah is about 9 months.  She just woke up!

Well, that is it for the week.  I hope your week went well and that next week will be good too!  See you next Sunday!            Rachel

Vicki came back! More People are Coloring.

Labor Day was very pleasant. It was in the mid-eighties (which is unusually low for this time of year).  The food, company and weather were perfect.  Nylah is growing like a weed! She has a good disposition, so sweet!  My grandsons, Devin, Kevin and Christopher "are taller than me!  Heather's boyfriend Jake along with my grandson Christopher and Kevin fixed my hammock so it was more comfortable to use.  Alyssa will have her baby (a boy) on the 26, (at least that is the date they have told her).  The family is excited to welcome a new one in less than a month!   Nylah's father,  Lorence polished up the barbecue.  It was also my granddaughter's Kayla's sixteenth birthday which we celebrated with brownies, ice cream and whipped cream.  We had a lot going on.  Didn't get Devin in pictures.  He ran off when picture taking was going on.

Shelley and Kayla

Heather and her Boyfriend Jake

Christopher and his Cousin Heather

Great- Granddaughter Nylah, So Cute

Shelley and Kevin

Two Sisters, Jennifer and Shelley

Jennifer, Shelley with Me

Shelley and Kevin on My New Hammock

Sisters Crystal and Kayla

Alyssa who is Due toward the End of
September with her Cousin Crystal

I Think This is the First Picture of Just Kevin and Me

We had our first class using colored pencils.  There were six students.  Linda and I sat next to each other and Linda kept saying, "I'm going to love this class!"   Well I agree with her. We worked on how to make an even, flat layer of color.  We looked at varying the intensity of color by pressure. Of course, I have used pressure to make it darker, but she also talked about putting layer upon layer to make it darker.  It is hard to do the basics when you are anxious to be further along. But I do need to work on this.

The Secondary Colors, Green, Purple and Orange are
Actually Blending the Primary Colors to Make Them.
I have not done this before.  The idea is to make
it look like it was painted.  I'm a little sloppy and I need
to get a good brush to get the crumbs off my work.

We've started on a color wheel, with the
inside point the lightest and working outward
to make it darker.  I didn't blend it.

Shelley and I went to our Red Hat dinner held at Cafe Med. This a great group of women.   We were all so happy to see Vicki.  Her husband had died 5 months ago (it doesn't seem that long ago!).  Several of us have lost husbands, so I think that was a draw for me, but I like all of them.

Shelley is talking to Vicki

Evelyn, Judie and Jo

At head of the table is Vicki, I'm on her left, then Evelyn,
Judie,  Jo, Stephanie, Pamela, Chrysta and Shelley

Stephanie, Pamela and Chrysta

Barbara let me know that the Sierra Club was sponsoring a film that was shown at The Maya called Blue Gold; World Water Wars.  A very worthwhile movie that talked about corporations trying to buy all the water in the world.  Some people have fought back and won.  Much more needs to be done.   I joined Barbara along with her friend Chris.   Two of her friends, Doris and Cindy, we saw right after the movie.  They had gone with us when we went to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy earlier this year.  This synopsis came from Wikipedia on the movie we saw:

Blue Gold: World Water Wars examines environmental and political implications of the planet's dwindling water supply, and posits that wars in the future will be fought over water.^[4]The film also highlights some success stories of water activists around the world. 

At Chemo, I saw how they set up the coloring books and colored pencils. It was placed in a nice basket by the coffee. There have been several people who have used them. I'm happy about it, because it is a good stress reliever.  Some people have already decided to buy their own to do at home.

My Donation being put to Good Use

I met my friend Janet at Mexicali's.  I had gone to one of the art stores to replenish some of what I need.  I saw a coloring book of owls and this store had a sale of up to 60%.  Janet loves owls, so I bought the book and a set of 12 color pencils to get her started.  She does get stressed sometimes and I think this could help.

So that is it for the week.  It was a good week.  I hope your week went well and I will see you next Sunday.                         Rachel

First Friday, What a Night!

I was talking with Marc on the phone and reading some of the recipes I get when they bring the organic vegetables and fruits every two weeks. As I was reading it, my mouth started watering. I decided to buy the ingredients I didn't have.  I made stuffed bell peppers that evening fairly late, but it was a good meal, and I had leftovers for three more days. This recipe was different in that the pepper, hamburger, onions, tomatoes and cheese were cooked before putting it together and then baking it. Really delicious. I was too full to eat the salad - butter lettuce tossed with a light oil and vinegar  then top with sliced strawberries and 2-3 ounces of crumbled feta cheese.  Delicious.  And, the final recipe, I haven't roasted cauliflower yet.  I think I will do it tonight. 

I got a call from my primary MD saying I needed to see her soon. I felt I have been seeing her.  I wonder if they increased the number of visits to twice a year.  So I saw her Thursday.  Though I don't have a bicuspid valve (which I had thought for years), I do have aortic stenosis.  She said normal was 2 mm.  Mine is 1.5 and we talk about surgery when it hits 1.0   Ugh.   Let's just call it old age and leg it go!

I also went in for my sixth month Prolia injection ( makes bones stronger) on Friday. 

I tackled too much that day and had a pretty bad backache.  It settled down after taking my pain medication. 

The Cedar Fire is very close to being contained.  The mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted.  Thank goodness!  It has been particularly bad for the people that live in those areas, and, some of them lost their homes.

I saw my pain doctor and asked him about the reaction I have when I don't take my meds- cold and hot flashes and I feel so tired I can sleep a long time!  I saw this as addiction, but he describes it as eating. "You get used to having, like a steak. The next day at that time, you'll have an urge for the steak if you don't get one."  Okay, I would call it addiction, even if I don't want to use it recreationally.  When I saw my primary doctor later in the week and told her about it.  She said "If you use it illegally, then it is an addiction.  If you are using it prescribed by a doctor, it is a dependence."   I am stuck with this pain if I don't take my pain medication.   Then I just want to stay in bed.    I am miserable and it doesn't seem like a quality life.  That is not acceptable to me, so I will continue to take my pain medication.  I am quite functional when I take my pain medication. Last summer I had cortisone injections in my back.  That helped a lot. I don't have that level of pain anymore. Now the government requires a pain doctor's evaluation every 6 months. They  said I had to have the second (and last) pneumonia shot also.  I didn't feel the injection, but where I had this injection became sore for a several days.  

Shelley, Janet and I went out for first Friday.  We were so lucky because the high was 92 degrees!  That may sound high, but it is not bad when you are having over 100 degrees most days.  We went to the bar at The Padre Hotel.  Their snacks were very good.  They had beer and I had wine.  We went to the Art Center which was jam-packed.   We wandered and  Shelley found some neat beach wear that was an incredible deal.  I found a great deal in a knit top and a red knit cap that looked fabulous.  Anyway, it was a lovely evening!  When the weather is good, this is a wonderful event!  This one classified as excellent!

By the Alley Cat, A Legend in Bakersfield

Janet and Me

Shelley and Me

Shelley in her beach scarf dress and foot decoration

We did not have art class this last week, or the week before.  But I did work on three that I had already done.  Also I did a little more on the roller skate shoe.  We will have class this Tuesday and we are going to focus on colored pencil.  So the skate I did was with no instruction.  I am really looking forward to learning about what I am doing.

Peacock Feather

Snake

Peacock

Shoe Skate

So tomorrow is Labor Day.  We are having a barbecue.  It is also Kayla's 16th birthday.  So there is a lot so celebrate.  Her mom is baking her a cake!  The rest of us are bringing different food items to the table.  We always have a good time when we get together, so it should be good.

So that was it for the week.  I'm glad I will have an art class this week.  I am looking forward to seeing how you blend it all in. This last week was a lot of medical and there will be some more this week.  That is okay.  I really am doing quite well.  I hope your week went well and I look forward to you next week.                Rachel

Playing with Math and Fires Continue in the Mountains

For years I have worked on solving math problems in my head- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I've never shared this until recently when I got on this site called Math and Mind.  I find it relaxing and fun. One time my husband and I were playing a game of cards and I was keeping score. At the end of the game, I add it up with my way of doing it which is fast. Paul asked "How do you know that is the answer?"  I said "I added it up and if I'm off, it would be by one point."  He started checking me and realized it was correct.  Later, our friends Ron and Janet came over and we played a card game. I was the score keeper and did the same thing. I guess Ron was about to say something about it and Paul said "She gets it right."  Ron said "Really?"  And Paul said "Yup."  That just tickled me. I don't talk about it. I just do it. It can really throw people.  The one area I have some trouble is going into the negatives. I want to find if there are short cuts doing that. I'm sure there must be, but I didn't work on those in the past.  The reason I brought it up is that I signed up for a site that sends several math problems a day and I have really enjoyed it.   I bought a couple of books on this to play to do further games (that is how I see it).

I have two people I know Carol and Lori who's homes are threatened by the Cedar Fire. Ugh!  I know that several homes have been lost. But when you know the people involved, it makes it personal.  Precautionary evacuations started Wednesday afternoon in Kernville which is close to Carol's home.  I never thought they could be affected by the same fire.  It is quite big!  

Janet and I got together at her home to watch a couple of movies, have pizza and wine. I stayed overnight so I wouldn't worry about driving. I brought over two Disney movies I loved thinking Janet would also like them.  They were Wall-E and Alice in  Wonderland (with Johnny Depp).  Both excellent!   Great time with Janet!  That was fun!

So no art class this last week or this week. I bought a couple of young children's coloring books so I can work out doing flat coloring and also variable to give a sense of form. The reason for this type of coloring book is because the spaces are large to allow me to do this.  I bought them  at a dollar store.  I only worked on one, and it isn't very good yet.  It is a shoe skate.  The paper has a lot of tooth.  I wonder if I should have done it on smoother paper.  I really can't wait until Carol can help us in understanding what we are doing.  I know I'll appreciate it.  I know from having used graphite, that I will get the hang of it and the quality will improve.

Shoe Skate

I got my handicap license plate.  My niece Shannon changed my plates out.  I don't need a handicapped parking all the time, but when I am really hurting, I'll appreciate it.  Though, I have to say, most of these spots are taken.  I didn't notice this when I did not need them. Now that I have it and can use one, most of the time I can't get one. 

I'm heading off to the store to get a few items to make dinner.  I am using my organic fruits and vegetables.  They include a few recipes to use these.  I have most of what I need.  

Well, that is it for the week.  It has been slow, but that is okay to me.  I do feel okay.  I just need slow periods.  I hope your week went well and this next week is good for you too!                  Rachel

Bad Air

My niece Shannon contacted me about her daughter Erica who is in a mountain area where a raging fire is going on. If she heads this way, would I be able to take in her, her grandmother and daughter. Of course I would take her in until she could return. My daughter-in-law Stephanie had a situation like this as did my daughter Shelley. I can't imagine saying no in a situation like that with fire edging up the front door. It is so scary. I do worry when they stall in making the move that life is also at stake.  Then my friend Janet's daughter Lori's family were to evacuate on Thursday afternoon. Her husband's boss was expanding their home for all the extra time he has put in to the boss's business.  As far as I know,  Lori's house has not been hit yet.  These fires are not just in one location. These are all in the mountains.  There is a question that at least one of them may have been started by an arsonist.  It makes it  less stressful if they know they have a place to go to when they are in a bad place.   There is so much smoke in the air that the air quality is very bad!  I am staying inside as much as I can.  My friend Barbara has not being feeling well, which she thinks is linked to the smoke.

Janet, Barbara and I went to see Florence Foster Jenkins (played by Meryl Streep- an excellent actor) a true story of a woman who saw herself as an opera singer. Those close to her hide the truth from her that she was a poor singer  which caused an amazing situation where the audience saw this as comedy. It reminded me of the beginning parts of the season on American Idol, when people who have been told they were wonderful singers by family and friends, but with the feedback, especially from Simon Cowl who is so blunt and often times cruel that they need to do their singing in a basement alone so no one else has to put up with it.  I find it so painful to watch and hear the comments, that I have to leave the room.  I have a hard time seeing people make fools of themselves. 

At my art class, Carol critiqued our drawings. She gives such useful feedback that I am anxious for her to see what I do. Linda, my classmate feels similar. Linda did say I could show the picture she did of a lizard's eye. She also sent a picture of a snake that is also excellent, so it is here also.  We also discussed changing to color pencils which will start in September.    We won't have class for two weeks and Carol said we really have to get down shading with colored pencils. So I will work on that. The pictures are Linda's.  I still need to work further on my peacock and snake.  I'm ready to frame the lizard and peacock feather I did.

Linda's Lizard Eye

Linda's Snake

I had been talking with the social worker Robin at Kaiser where I get my chemotherapy telling her how I found coloring in the adult coloring books to be stress reducing and very relaxing.  I had so many coloring books, I donated them to her to use for the chemotherapy patients.  Some of them are also in a lot of pain, and this can be helpful in reducing it.  So this last Thursday at Chemotherapy, I took in the coloring books.  I had some color pencils.  They still need pencil sharpeners and perhaps even erasers.  I have several of the little pencil sharpeners and a couple of erasers I will take next time. 

Janet and I got together catching up on the week's events.  She spent several days there with a friend. I would enjoy that, especially because of the heat and smoke here. 

Here are a couple of pictures of my great grandchildren, Conner, Kason and Nylah. Two more are on the way, one in September and one in January.  They expect boys. 

Conner holding Kason.  They are about a year apart.

Nylah is a very happy baby.  She will be a year in December 

So that is my week. I have spent a lot of time drawing in adult coloring books. It is very relaxing.  I hope your week went well and this next week is good too.     Rachel

Alyssa's Baby Shower

I was pretty excited about the work I did on last week's pictures.  It was like I had a breakthrough in what I am accomplishing.   When I went to class, my teacher Carol even noticed this. I really don't know why.  I had thought why would it be when I'm drawing lizards?  No reason.  If we were working on something else, I think it would have shown with that. So this week it is snakes.  I had decided on one snake, and I liked it.  But, it was too distant to give detail, so I decided to do another that was a close up.  My classmate Linda has gotten on to working on eyes. Her pictures are amazing!  She is very detailed and top-notch n shading!  Very good!  I'll ask her sometime for permission to print one of her pictures. Such talent!   Carol mentioned at looking to move to Las Vegas.  I would sure miss her as Linda has said also.  But she said we could stay at her home if we came to Las Vegas. Then she said she might do classes that could be extended weekends to have classes and then time to gamble, or do other activities.  No immediate plans, but it is something we needed to be aware of. 

Snake

Further work on the Peacock

Further work on the Lizard

Further work on the Peacock Feather.

I had gotten an email, not specifically to me, but asking for readers to write reviews of books they want to advertise. So they listed four books and asked that one be selected. They stated it wouldn't be a guarantee that you would get one. So, I filled in the form and the book I selected, called The Vegetarian by Han Kang.

What a fascinating book! I have never read a book like this.  It is about power, the position and treatment of women. The writer is from South Korea and was translated by Deborah Smith.  She has to also be good, because it reads so well. In this story the protagonist is a housewife who is in a relationship not based on love, or anything really positive but that her husband feels he can control her. She also refuses to wear a bra because it is uncomfortable.She has a regular nightmare that show lots of blood. She decides from this to become a vegetarian though that did not stop the nightmares. She will not eat dairy or eggs too. Her husband catches her tossing all the meat in the freezer and becomes very upset with her. Her emotional tone is flat in responding to him.    All she will say is "I don't eat meat". 

They go to a management dinner for work. She is not wearing a bra and she refuses to eat anything with meat. Her husband is embarrassed by her.   He even exerts support from her side of the family to get her to eat meat using violence by her father and  what everyone sees as her sense of duty to her husband and father. She refuses. She appears non- responsive to all attempts for her to eat meat. In the mean time she has become very thin,  This book came from Pelican Random House Books. I don't know where they got my name, but I'm pleased I got the chance to participate in this. The book is around 200 pages. The sentences are short and there are no extra words used in the whole book. I recommend it for the unique style of writing and the excellent story where the theme could fit for all countries and the issues as to treatment of women.  This country perhaps has a stronger sense of need to control women, though I see it a lot. 

My niece Shannon asked about coming up this weekend. I told her that Alyssa, Shelley's oldest daughter's baby shower would be on Saturday.  She had to make arrangements to get a car rental. They do this for out of town visits.   I'm glad Jordan and Shannon were coming here for lots of reasons but the one that comes to mind was to put the shower present (a stroller/carseat combo) into the car and then into the restaurant. 

I had never been to Agave Grill and Cantina. There are so many Mexican restaurants in town. Janet and I go to Mexicali not for the food, but for the Margaritas.  And, as I have said, for both Janet and I, each of us went there with our husbands (both of our husbands have died).  It offers a kind of comfort for both of us.  The food was very tasty and the margaritas were okay, not as good as Mexicali's, but not a bad drink.  Jordan spent the time with his cousins so this was the first time Shannon and I spent time without others.   Very pleasant!  We went to the Red Pepper for fish tacos. She made breakfast Saturday morning which was delicious. Mainly, we just lazed around.  And, on Sunday, we Christened my new waffle maker.  We made enough so I could freeze them and take them out one at a time, putting them in a toaster to get it nice and hot. The baby shower for Alyssa went well and my son Jeff and his wife Stephanie were there.  It was good to see them.  It has been several months since I last saw them.  I got wonderful reports on their two daughters, my granddaughters Cassadie and Meghan.  They are doing very well.

Shannon and Me

Alyssa holding Nylah

Shelley and Alyssa

The back room in the Agave Grill and Cantina

Heather and Shelley

The parents to be Alyssa and Issac

Nylah with her daddy Lorene

Alyssa, the mother to be!