Sunrise behind my school last Thursday. It helped me do bus duty...I have such a wonderful job.

My cousin, who lives in Nashville TN, goes to hear a local band quite frequently. It's not unusual for Vince to show up for some picking, and joking around. He took this photo and posted it on Facebook just for me.

I jokingly call him Cousin Vince!

I just wanted to share his contagious smile!

NOTHING LIKE FAMILY!

SEE SOMETHING YOU WANT?

These are not the best photos, 

but all I have at the moment. 

This is my new booth at the 

Big Peach 

Antique Mall.






 It's called...

I am having a wonderful time 

stocking and playing,  

but I am having some 

difficulties with

the arranging of my *stuff*. 

I took these pictures so I could sit 

and ponder all my plunder. 

I do not enjoy seeing all the other booths through my booth, but really there is nothing that can be done about that since there are over 160 booths side by side in this huge building.

It is difficult to tell what belongs to my booth and what belongs to the superhero booth behind me, or the many, many dishes lady beside me.

And then there is the stacked to the top antique furniture booth on the other side. 

In fact, after I first put the booth together and took a few snapshots, 

I was confused by some of the things I saw. 

I nearly had a fit while looking at the photos and seeing a sign that said 25% off in my booth.

I yelled to my husband that someone had slipped a sign in my booth! 

(see the sign?)

The sign was actually in the superhero booth behind my booth, and it only looked like it was in my booth in the picture. 

All in all, however, I am so pleased to have my booth. 

I have already made several sales and it is so much fun gathering, plundering and trying to decorate this tiny little spot in a big, big place.

Suggestions taken and greatly appreciated!

ALREADY GONE!!!!

I LOVE  MY ART SHOES

I LOVE  MY ART SHOES

I LOVE  MY ART SHOES

I REALLY DO LOVE MY ART SHOES!!!

I ALSO LOVE MY ART STUDENTS!

What a wonderful job they did on their ART shoes 

for Pete the Cat!

Tomorrow we have the author of this precious children's book 

coming to our school. 

We wanted to make Eric Litwin feel welcome, 

and show off a bit too so...

 we made ART shoes for Pete.

We made Pete a bit more artsy too!

FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

We traveled back to the town of the street chickens Sunday. We needed a road trip and wanted to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. On the way back home we saw these haystacks all lined up in a field. They were almost in a perfect line.

Time to use your art eyes...to me they look like cinnamon rolls, someone else said bubblegum...what do they look like to you? 

They are a little different from Monet's haystacks...wonder if they would have caught his art eye like they did mine. The aesthetics of these stacks caused us to stop to take pictures. 

Side story here...In South Georgia we share our air space with tiny little gnats. They are a constant in the summer, just part of our everyday lives. I was born and raised in South Georgia so I have mastered the gnat blowing technique that all South Georgians learn at an early age...it's an upward blow, and we can blow and carry on a conversation without missing a beat. Now I live in Middle Georgia, above the gnat line. My husband ( a Yankee) and son (Middle Ga born) are not as accustomed to the gnats as I am. When we go to South Georgia, they usually hold up in the house away from the gnats. In the haystack field there must have been a gnat convention taking place. When we pulled into the field and opened the car doors we were covered with swarms of gnats! I have never seen my guys in such a frantic frenzy! They were swatting and fussing, rolling down car windows and fanning the gnats out. There were even yells of gnats flying in their ears. It was quite hilarious to me! I'll admit...shhhh...that the gnats were "bugging" me too a bit. Sadly, because of the gnats we didn't get the photo I wanted...a straight on shot of the haystacks. Oh well, witnessing their frantic gnat dance was worth it. Funny how something so small can cause such a big commotion. Kind of like life, isn't it? They say don't sweat the small stuff. Maybe that should be don't swat the small stuff.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

LAND THAT I LOVE...

HE STANDS BESIDE HER 

A friend of mine, Miss Charlene, lost her nephew in the Twin Towers on 9/11. 

Another friend had a daughter who worked in the Towers, but she did not go to work that day. 

And yet another friend received a call from her husband telling her that their son was okay.

They had no idea that he had decided to travel from his home in Michigan that day to visit friends from his days of living in New York City. 

He was afraid they might have heard, 

and be worried down in Georgia. 

He was only a few blocks away 

and saw some of the tragic events of the day.

My family had toured part of the Twin Towers

with my son's high school band 

less than 8 months before.

It could have easily happened on that day with our group.  

I was teaching an art class of high school students that day, and one of the teachers came in and told me...a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers.
I turned on my radio to NPR just as news came of another plane crash.

I remember turning cold and wanting to see my family. 

I also remember walking through the library and seeing the faces of the students as they watched the events on TV; and thinking their lives would never be the same. 

I also thought of John F. Kennedy and the day he died. 

That day is still with me, 

and this day would always be with these children. 

I left school early, picked up my son from school and went home.

It amazes me how small the world is, 

how everything that happens touches home in some way...

sometimes just by touching our heart, 

sometimes by actually breaking it.

This Middle Georgia back roads store, showing it's patriotism with it's simple painted flag,
is posted in the honor of all of those 
who lost their lives that day;

for Miss Charlene, and the others.

.

Our lives, hearts and our country changed that day.

Just a chicken box, but it makes me smile. When I found it at a thrift shop, I knew it had to go home with me. After loving it for quite awhile, I have now reluctantly put it in my booth at The Big Peach Antique Mall. 

My booth is called PlunderJUNK 

and that's just what it is...junk I've plundered from here and there.

I've had a booth there for awhile, but I was sharing with a friend, now I have  my own, larger booth.  

Sure hope the chicken box is gone when I go to check on my booth, if not it may be coming back home with me.

I hope it makes you smile too.

I had a gremlin tonight...

it's name was probably Vicki, 

but I prefer to think it was Blogzilla...

my whole blog went haywire and I deleted my Fall post trying to correct the mess that the gremlin created. 

The comments went too, and I am so sorry...they are in my email though, so all is not lost. 

I had those beautiful acorns for a background, but was trying to change something...header and background disappeared but I still want to say

HAPPY FALL!

Hopefully, I have caught that gremlin and squished that sucker flat!

I'll try to repost when I am not quite as frustrated...night! 

Don't let the gremlins bite!

ART TEACHER GIRL'S, ART TEACHER FRIEND AND... MIRACLES

Where there is great love there are always miracles. Willa Cather

This quote was posted on facebook by one of my dear, sweet, much younger than me, art teacher friends. Her older sister, who is in her early 30s, has just had colon cancer surgery...yesterday. This sister also had her first baby a few months ago. My friend posted the quote in response to all of the love, prayers and thoughts poured out on facebook for her family during this frightening time. 

This is a bit of a side story,

but my heart is hurting for my sweet 

art teacher friend, 

and it helps to explain why her post 

touched me so much.

 

My friend and I grew up in the same hometown,

but several decades apart...sigh.

In fact, when I lived in my hometown, my art teacher friend was not even born yet. I did know her sister, however, and the rest of her family. In fact, I spent many happy days at her Grandmother's house. Her sister was around 5 when I married and moved away. When I met my art teacher friend for the first time, she was fresh out of college. I knew instantly she was from my hometown, just by her maiden name. 

We became fast friends in spite of our age difference. 

I have always had to remind myself that she is only a few years older than my son.  

We've helped each other with art projects, attended art conferences together, met each other for lunch, laughed, and  gossiped together as friends do.

She called me when she had her first born, and her second child. 

I have never seen her little girl because she moved back home, and though it is only a short ways off, time ,and work have interfered. 

She is now the art teacher at the high school where we both graduated from years apart. She replaced the art teacher who had been there for close to 35 years...he had been a student teacher in my art class way back in the 1970s. Though I miss her working in the same system with me, I am so proud she has such a fine position, especially now that she is home near her family.

Aging has many blessings...you get to see how things turn out 

along the way, 

and I love that about it.

The quote is beautiful, 

though I think she edited a word or two

from the original 

Willa Cather version, 

but the power is still there. 

This is a weaving my art teacher friend did, I believe she told me she did it in high school.

One version I found online replaced miracles with wishes. Whatever, the true quote the feeling is the same. We all have wishes for her sister and her family and the miracles are already appearing. 

For all the bad things you hear about in our world, there are good people, good friends and miracles to witness. It's up to us to bring the good to our lives. We can even use facebook as a tool for blessings, for loving our friends and sharing their sorrow.

Please pray for Macy, 

my art teacher friend;

 her sister, 

SuAnna;

their families, 

and

for miracles.