PHOTO SHOP

...and speaking of playing around with folk's photos...

always nice to have a little fun now and then

When Mr. PV and I married my mom made everyone a mouse pad for Christmas

because I am somewhat older than Mr. PV...she thought it was pretty cute to

put his first grade photo in...she's gotten better at it :-)

other examples

before

(A Million Ways to Die in the West)

starring Charlize Theron 

or is that

our own hat-less blonde?

before

...the inventor of the head scratcher happened to be in Taos

this Thanksgiving our family spent there...

and so were the Obamas

some of us are obviously Republicans

can't make the trip?

not to worry...

also kind of funny to make fun of the poor souls who had to wear glasses...can you tell which ones were shopped in?

oopsie...we forgot someone's glasses!

yes.....hilarious

I was kind of thinking this would be funnier if the dog's face was shopped

there we go!

THE OLIVE CART

Today was her last day of  "real" school...she walks out the door to graduate into 

first grade at Gus Birdwell Elementary

on this day her mother had a 7 am meeting, so I took her to school

her mom is a health nut and a very doting mom who has packed a plentitude of healthy lunches

all. year. long.

but today...she is so excited because she 

gets to eat, finally...FINALLY...today

she will be allowed to eat

at the

OLIVE CART

when she got home I asked her what she chose to eat

chips? salsa? cheeze dip? hot dog?

NO...there was no more olive cart...it ended last week 

Talk about a huge lesson...she didn't fuss, cry, plead or moan...

she just said

"the olive cart ended last week, so I ate spaghetti"

.

(period)

Today we will begin our 2nd Annual Me N B N Betty Vacation

we had planned to go to OKC

a perfect vacation that is only less than 4 hours from our house with lots of fun and historical things to explore and do for a youngster...

Needless to say...we are driving a different direction

but we live in tornado alley too...so

as you begin this summer my dear friends...please take care, because we are all in some sort of peril in our crazy world...no one is immune...

take a bit of time to feel the sun on your face

count your blessings

and have the attitude 

"so what about the 

OLIVE CART

when you can eat spaghetti"

MY VERY OWN O'KEEFE

The Polo House Favorites on the 1st-June ART!

When I had my art gallery, I had a 12 x 12 show where 20 artist friends graciously donated their work to benefit our local museum. It was a smashing success…live music, good food, huge crowd of art lovers, and a nice sum of money raised.

In the years that I was an art gallery owner, it never occurred to me to not invite the artists that I came across to have a show in our small in the middle of nowhere town. Several prominent artists expressed to me that our show was the best they’d ever had in both attendance and sales.

Thank you town where I live!

That’s how I met my very own Georgia O’Keefe. Her name is Marilyn and her work is exhibited in several very exclusive galleries in the US.

If you were to meet her on the street, you might think she’s a grandmother (she is) who drives a farm grain truck (she does) whose aging hands have held a shovel (they have) rather than an artist’s brush(they do).

The first time I walked into her home and studio, I saw this picture and fell head over heels in love with it. I never forgot it. And crazy as it seems, thought about it often.

Recently, we were fortunate enough to purchase two of her pieces and visited her studio to choose them. I asked about the birdbath and she told me it had never left her house and it was not for sale.

I understood.

But later, this is the email she sent me.

Gina..... Upstairs as I am painting..... I keep getting drawn to the little birdbath from Ramon Kelly's garden at his old Church/Studio....... It is as if for some unknown reason...... it needs to live at your house. This is really unusual. It was an early fall day, first snow the night before, about 5 artists were just really doing a fun paintout complete with wine.... That's what came out in about 2 hours or less..... never touched it again..... It is again, one of the pivotal pieces, where shapes are strong even though the values are close. It is 18"x14" image size. It has sentimental attachment, as I said, I really don't want to sell it, it has never been shown.

She gave it to me as a gift for purchasing the other two and it now LIVES at my house.

I don’t know if you have ever had the fortune to be in the presence of something or someone greater and bigger than you will ever know. But that’s how Marilyn is..larger than life.

Her work is wonderful today, but she will be known long years from now and this little birdbath picture will hang in someone’s house who I dearly love and may not even know yet myself.

I’m sure it will find its way to where it wants to live next. But for now, it belongs to me.

MEMORIAL DAY IN SANTA FE

Even the road to this wonderful state is filled with a certain beauty

it truly is 

The Land of Enchantment

and I feel so fortunate that I can drive not much more than 5 hours and be in another world

The full moon setting outside our back porch

This time our  family (missing a few but they were still there in spirit)

stayed in a home

accommodations in Santa Fe can be quite pricey so really 

when you have a large group and divide the cost it's not much more expensive

to rent a house

and fall in love with the things there!

HELLOOOOO GREEN POTS!

and have all the space in the world to chop and slice and eat and drink and be merry

I love the architecture of New Mexico 

both inside

and out

always a visit to the square and the Governor's Mansion

where the Native Americans lay out their wares

(this is done by lottery)

my mother has been lucky enough to "win" that lottery 3 times and be able to show her jewelry

it's quite a fantastic thing

we also got to go to the movie set where they are currently filming

A Million Ways to Die in the West

(lots of pretend weddings going on in the little chapel...I love that Mr. PV wore his mustard shirt to our wedding)

when someone is unable to make the trip

well...we just photo shop them in

:-)

green chile something is always on order at the 

Tesuque Market

never enough time while there

and home again home again

jiggity jig

PASHMINA

(all images are via google as my photos are still in boxes)

I love to bring back "sussies" to my friends and loved ones when I go on a neat trip

The first time Mr. PV and I traveled to Paris the 

Pashmina Shawl was all the rage!  And I was majorly seduced by them!

they made the most perfect and elegant gift to bring home

easy to pack

light

pretty 

fun

no longer are Pashminas

hard to come by...in fact I can buy something very similar at

my local Alco store (not a REAL one of course)

They are inexpensive enough to wear as a swim suit cover or to a little league game where you might drip chili dogs and sno cones on them...

...and to have one in every color for every occasion!

Pashmina refers to a type of fine cashmere wool and the textiles made from it and was first invented in India. The name comes from Pashmineh (پشمینه), made from Indian pashm ("wool"). The wool comes from changthangi or Pashmina sheep, which is a special breed of sheep indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayas in Nepal, Pakistan and Northern India. Pashmina shawls are hand spun, woven and embroidered in Nepal and Kashmir, and made from fine cashmere fibre.

So?  How did they end up all the rage in Paris?

I'm not sure, but they were and still are!

and I still want one in every color...love the paisley!

HERITAGE DAYS 2013

I have been far removed from my upstairs office these past weeks

enjoying(finally) warmer weather...

we went from 28-99 in two days

a very strange spring so far and what my sister M refers to as the

blow torch

we will have to hurry and use this mint in our mojitos before it burns up!  

Have you ever smelled burning spearmint? 

 It is very fragrant, we used to have a  mint farm outside of town

Nothing and I mean nothing better than a small town parade

where we don't shy away from God and country

Sibling Day 2013 just happened to fall on Heritage Days

which was great as it gave us all fun activities to do

"the sisters"

"the brothers"

"the children"

waiting on the parade

boy scout hamburgers on the courthouse lawn

a perfect day that just sort of lends itself to 

relaxing against a big old oak tree

waiting for the dance on the old brick streets of main street

after the sun goes down

DIVIDED BEDROOM

May 18 is

SIBLING DAY!!!

!whoop!

but this anticipation also brought on a slight

bedroom 

curmudgeon

when we removed this window to connect the house to the other house (view right)

it created what one of my artist friends called a 

"pass through bedroom"

future plans are to install french doors that slide open

and then this room will probably become the

nursery as we anticipate lots more babies at 822

I don't need another sitting room or office or even another bedroom

BUT

my precious Mr. PV bought me this antique sleigh bed 

before we got married and there's just no way I will ever give it up

 it's very old and not the roomiest thing in the world

so it will make a great bed for the little ones

but I have no time for building in doors so what's a girl to do?

find some inspiration of course!

oh my goodness!

whispy fun white and fresh!

and did I mention 

EASY?

curtain rods from the ceiling

sheers to puddle on the floor

close for privacy

peek out for fun

looks kind of dreamy

and sweet

the kind of room I don't mind putting a loved one in

I have three brothers and one sister

so that makes three sisters and one brother too....if you know what I mean!

so the question is...who gets the pass through bedroom with the antique sleigh bed?

we shall see!