Cloudy with thoughts of…
cottony comfort
feathery fluffiness,
delicate dreams.
Cloudy with the opportunity to…
embrace the breeze,
find comfort in the shadow,
feel the freedom to fly.
Cloudy with a chance of…
clear thoughts,
a bright future,
a sunny attitude.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The Old Porch Swing
The Seasons you have endured…
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
The Generations you have supported…
Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, Parents, Children, Grandchildren.
The Conversations you have held…
Politics, religion, love and hope and promise, arguments unresolved and resolved.
The Moments you have cherished…
First kisses, proposals, joys and heartbreaks, celebrations and sorrows, announcements and secrets.
Memories of a family.
Memories of an old porch swing.
Harmony.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Practicing painting trees….
while waiting for leaves
to fill the bare branches
and brighten the landscape.
Spring is beckoning.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Shake your tail feathers!
It’s #DrawABirdDay again with my WordPress friends.
This little wren is shaking it’s tail feathers in honor of Spring approaching, as am I!
This is a very simple 5-minute “study” of sorts in brush strokes using my BRANDY NEW Rekab 320S #2 squirrel hair brush! Oh what a glorious, lovely brush it is! This brush came on the recommendation of Debi Riley as her “go-to” brush, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, the only place I could find it was in an art store halfway across the world in Australia (where Debi happens to live), called Art Scene.
So order it I did, and then I waited, and waited, and waited. Patience is not one of my virtues. It really only took about ten (loooooooooong) days. I practically hugged Cliff, our mailman, when he brought it last week. Between my excitement and Charlie’s leaping out to see him, Cliff got the greeting of the prodigal son. He laughed about my paint brush coming from the other side of the world and my excitement over it, and he spent a minute or two giving Charlie some pets and scratches and a morsel or two of his lunch pretzels (yep – Charlie has weasled his way into Cliff’s heart too!).
I can’t wait to have more time to play with this lovely, wonderful brush, but I am traveling this week for work, so it must wait. What I was trying to do, however, with this, was to be very deliberate with my brush strokes and create an impressionistic version of a wren. I love the freedom with this brush to create swooshes and thick washes as well as the tiniest of lines like the feet and beak and even a small dot of an eye. One brush for every stroke, line, dot, and splash! Swoon!
Wishing you the simple joys today – like the chirping of a bird…
Springtime weather…
or small gifts like a paintbrush brought by the mailman from the other side of the world…
or nibbles of pretzels and ear scratches from a thoughtful mailman to a loving dog.
Cherish the moments!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Mondays….
’nuff said. 🙂
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I’m excited to share some of the new things Colleen and I have been creating for our new Etsy shop! We are having so much fun with this, and we are pleased to have had over 25 sales already in our first month!
To show our appreciation to our friends here at LifeinBetween, we want to offer a little gift to you. If you refer someone to our shop who makes a purchase, we would like to thank them AND YOU with a free card of their and your choice. Each of you can choose one of any of the cards offered in our ETSY shop for FREE! (Simply have your friend let us know when they order that they came here from LifeinBetween and mention your name.)
Have fun perusing the photo gallery of our newest Spring things.
You can visit our shop here: McKinneyx2Designs on ETSY and follow us on Facebook and Instagram too if you like.
Happy Spring Thinking!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Here’s my ballot.
Anyone want to join this party?!?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Although I am a wonderful typist/blogger/communicator of the written word (as you know from my regular guest posts here),
there really is truly no better way to get a point across than using….
Puppy Dog Eyes!
Can you tell what I am telling Mom here?
I’m certain it is perfectly clear.
Happy Friday friends!
The wonderful weekend is almost here! Woofy wahoos for weally wong morning walks, warm fires and snuggles, and welcoming whatever the wind wishes.
Woofs & Wags,
Charlie
Spring one day –
Winter the next.
Impressionistic landscape
62 degrees at dinner –
26 degrees at breakfast.
Impressionistic feelings
March in like a Lamb –
Out like a Lion?
Impressionistic life
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
5×7 watercolor on 140 lb. cold press shizen professional grade rough texture rag watercolor paper.
Have you discovered the amazingness of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter yet? (It’s quite similar to Biscoff spread, which I also absolutely adore!)
I knew there had to be an EXTRAordinary cookie to make with this magical spread, so I went a googling and discovered a great recipe to start with at the wonderful Averie Cooks blog.
These cinnamony, gingergread biscuity, ooey-gooey brown sugary in the center, crispy crunchy on the outside little gems of deliciousness may just be my new favorite cookie ever!
Bake them if you dare!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Cream the egg, Cookie Butter, butter, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 4-5 mins.
Add flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 min. Fold in cinnamon chips.
Make 1 ½ inch balls from the cookie dough, place on a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter. Chilling the dough is a must.
Preheat oven to 350F. Place cookie balls on baking stone or sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart, and bake for 8-9 mins, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. Do not over-bake.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5-10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 