Month: July 2018

Hope is the Thing with Feathers…

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

Abstract Feather 1 – 11×14

Hope is the Thing with Feathers.

Do you think
every feather
is uniquely different?

Just like
snowflakes…
and leaves on trees…
and blades of grass…
and grains of sand…
and people.

Abstract Feather 2 – 11×14

As I was playing around one day
with pouring paint
and creating feathers,
they sure were!

Abstract Feather 3 – 11×14

Instead of pouring on canvas,
I poured these abstract feathers
on 300lb cold press watercolor paper.

They are all so very different,
even though I used the same exact colors and same paper…
yet there is something I uniquely like about each.

There is something so magical about feathers…

What bird is it from?
Or did it perhaps fall
from the wings of an angel?

Hope is the thing
with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tunes
without the words,
and never stops at all.

– Emily Dickinson

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Overflowing Abundance

/ Jodi / 42 Comments
Fuchsia Flower – The Symbol of Overflowing Abundance

Overflowing Abundance.

Love abundantly.
Laugh abundantly.

Give abundantly.
Receive abundantly.

Work abundantly.
Play abundantly.

Live a life of overflowing abundance.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

There are some that believe the fuchsia flower symbolizes overflowing abundance.  Looking at the abundantly-blooming baskets hanging on my front porch, I couldn’t help but be inspired to feel the overflowing abundance life has to offer.  I hope you will think about it… if only for this moment…. and choose to live a life of overflowing abundance.  Abundance because you choose to love and laugh and give and receive and work and play abundantly.

Daylily in Watercolor

/ Jodi / 51 Comments

Loving Lily – Daylily in Watercolor 11×14

Daylily in Watercolor.

The daylilies are in full boom
this time of year.

Along the edge of the woods.
Along the sides of roads.

Varying shades of oranges
and yellows and pinks and reds.

I have Lily fever!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

#WorldWatercolorMonth

PS  Congratulations Lynn at Lynz Real Cooking for being chosen as the random winner in the drawing of the #WorldWatercolorMonth Yellow Canary Souvenir Pouch!  Lynn – please email your mailing address to mckinneyjodi@gmail.com so I can send it your way.

Old-Fashioned Classic Stuffed Peppers

/ Jodi / 46 Comments

Old-Fashioned Classic Stuffed Peppers.

People stuff peppers with a lot of different things and prepare them many different ways.

But there is one classic, old-fashioned way I sometimes crave.
The way Grandma used to make them.

Simple.
Hearty.
Lots of tomato sauce.
And served with a side of mashed pototoes.

Last Sunday, I made them for dinner.

Here is my recipe – like Grandma made.

Old-Fashioned Classic Stuffed Peppers

  • Servings: 4 stuffed peppers
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 4 large red or green peppers (best if you use the one with 4 lobes – or bumps – on the bottom as opposed to those with 3, so they stand nicer)
  • 1 lb. “Meatloaf Mix” (a mixture of ground beef, pork, and lamb)
  • 1 cup cooked rice
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 large can tomato sauce
  • 1 large can condensed tomato soup
  • 1/2 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meat, cooked rice, onion, salt, and pepper.  Combine with your hands until evenly incorporated.

In another large mixing bowl, combine tomato sauce, tomato soup, and water.  Whisk until evenly incorporated.

Add 1 cup of sauce to meat mixture.  Combine well.

Cut tops from peppers and remove seeds.  Stand pepper “cups” in a deep roasting pan.  Stuff peppers with handfuls of meat packed and mounded.  Pour remaining sauce over all.

Cover and roast peppers for 1 – 1 1/2 hours until meat is cooked, sauce reduces, and peppers have softened.

Serve with mashed pototoes and ladle additional sauce over all.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

A Bucketful of Love

/ Jodi / 42 Comments

“Bucketful of Love” Watercolor 11×14

A Bucketful of Love.

How much love can a bucket hold?

When it’s holding a little girl, who happens to be your granddaughter, it is definitely overflowing!

Last weekend, I was “helping” one of my daughters-in-law and her sisters get ready for the upcoming wedding of one of the sisters.

As we worked in the barn where the reception will be held on a sweltering hot day, I had the “job” of entertaining my granddaughter so the girls could work.

Once we found a couple buckets of water, we were busy for hours, made a huge mess, and had a bucketful of fun!

I am not a great portrait painter, and I didn’t do my little cutie justice, but it was fun to try, and since it’s #WorldWatercolorMonth, I thought I’d share.

Bucketsful of Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Let’s Make the World More Colorful

/ Jodi / 47 Comments

Let’s Make the World More Colorful Watercolor 11×14

Let’s Make the World More Colorful.

Let’s make the world a happier place.
Let’s make  the world a kinder place.

Let’s make the world more loving.
Let’s make the world more peaceful.

Let’s do it one person at a time.
Let’s do it one act a time.

Let’s Make the World More Colorful.

#WorldWatercolorMonth

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Another Day

/ Jodi / 43 Comments

Starting a New Day in Mars, PA – June 29, 2018

Another Day.

Another sunrise.
Another beginning.

Another chance to smile
and make someone else smile.

Another chance to give
and also to receive.

Another chance to win,
but also learn to lose.

Another chance to change
something you didn’t do well yesterday.

Another chance to speak kindness
to someone who is lost.

Another chance to do something for the first time,
or maybe for the last.

Another chance to see and smell
and listen and taste and touch.

Another chance to hug
and say, “I love you.”

Another day.
Another chance to embrace the beauty of this life.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS – It is July 1st, which means World Watercolor Month begins today!  I haven’t had a chance this past week to do any watercolor painting, but sure plan to do some this month (and hopefully today!) to share.  Don’t forget you can support #WorldWatercolorMonth and The Dreaming Zebra Foundation by purchasing one of these Limited Edition WWM Souvenier Zippered Pouches with My “Terry’s” Yellow Canary Watercolor Design on it.  100%  of proceeds on this product goes to The Dreaming Zebra Foundation! These flat pouches vary from small to large and can be used for pretty much anything.  I’d like to give one of these away to one of my faithful followers and friends here at The Creative Life in Between.  If you’ve read this far and would like entered in the random drawing, which I’ll announce the winner of next Sunday, just add a comment saying “Enter Me in the Drawing!”  If you’d like to purchase one, simply click on the photo below.