A little wiggle please!

"A little wiggle please"

Wiggle indeed!

These beautiful creatures are not only pretty, they're also pretty nasty.

Case in point, July 4th early in my marriage to Chris.

We all decided to go to the beach for a fun day.

I had bought a new one-piece bathing suit and was looking forward to body surfing in the waves.

I no sooner got in the water and surfed a couple of waves when I felt an intense burning inside my suit.

My chest was absolutely on fire.

I ran out of the water and told my mother what was going on.

My brothers, and husband kept bringing water to try and flush it out to no avail.

My mother and Chris had to hold up two beach towels so I could strip down on the beach.

I found pieces of tentacles in my suit.

I never saw the Portuguese Man of war.

I spent the next hour after washing my suit in an ice chest on my back with ice packs.

Definitely not a way to go to the beach. 

We never saw the jellyfish.

The tentacles can detach from the jelly but still sting!

They have something called a nematocyst and when it comes in contact with something they fire the barb like a harpoon into whatever it hits.

Not a pleasant experience for sure.

I still love painting them though!

Chris started stretching the canvases he built today.

I have precut all the canvas and laid it out in stacks.

He stretched; I painted.

Even with headphones and music I find it difficult to concentrate on painting while listening to the constant popping of the staple gun.

At least the new compressor I bought is not as noisy as my previous one!

"A little wiggle please!", Acrylic on canvas, 4 x 12 inches

Day 48 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2026

 

On the 100th day....

Today began normally with me reading my Bible and sending messages. We then rushed headlong into the day with last minute packing, and a sewing project.

We couldn't find the rain gutter I made from before, so I took part of a wall and rebuilt a gutter for between the booths.

We then hit the road and grabbed breakfast on the way. 

We stopped off first at the Chamber to get my packet. Then we headed to the campground on the way to the show. We dropped off the camper, then headed into the chaos that is set up for the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores. 

We spent a while setting up both tents with their roofs and walls. We then began the daunting task of putting up the new Flourish walls with the French wall opening in one tent. The entire set up took 3 hours to get done. I really believe part of this is because of me sustaining an injury with first pole I picked up. As I lifted the pole, the bracket slid down and caught the edge of my index finger. An almost immediate blood blister popped up and it was rather large and painful.

I took a bandaid to put pressure on it and kept working. Finally everything was in place and we could start hanging art. So many bags! 100 paintings are a lot, but we didn't bring that many with us. The response has been very favorable so far,with several people coming in to look while we were setting up. We took the longest we ever have to set up. Five hours total. Most everything is done though, even price tags in place. Tomorrow we set up the Christmas ornaments and straighten before we open.

We also went to dinner with our son and his girlfriend at Sunliner diner after hot showers and setting up the camper.

After dinner we went for some quick groceries and to relax. 

I then painted the 100 th painting in the camper this evening. 

I'm really happy the 100 paintings are done! Tomorrow morning I'll draw the winner of the painting valued at $295.

Thank you for following this journey with me!

Headed to the show! As usual Chris looks injured! I love him so much!

Tentacles, tentacles everywhere! Acrylic on canvas, 6 x24 inches

Day 100 of the 100 days-100 paintings 2025

Do you know how to make God laugh?

I love rollercoasters!

However, the one I'm on currently is a little too much for me!

Do you know the answer to the title question above?

Do you know how to make God laugh?

Got it?

Read on for the answer to this query.

We should all remember God's plan is perfect.

 We don't always understand it.

We don't always like it. 

But HIS plan is perfect!

Case in point.....

When you last read the blog, I was on target to finish the 100 paintings in the 100 days 2023.

I was rapidly completing the sewing drawers and they will help reach the finish line.

I was caught up and confident I would complete the task.

Those were MY plans.

Then God stepped in and said here ya go!

My dad is quite elderly, and his health is not the best.

He does alright but insists on living alone.

He doesn't get enough exercise and his diet is well, not so great.

My brother and I were calling the house, and he did not pick up.

I live an hour away, so my brother drove over to check on him.

He found him in a sorry state, unable to stand or walk.

He had a similar health scare in March and April.

He told all of us to never call an ambulance again.

We said okay back then.

Then Sunday happened and it took two hours to convince him to call 911.

He did, and we got him to the hospital.

He was dehydrated, very weak, and upset at the time things were taking.

CT scan of head clear.

Chest Xray clear.

Blood work not so much.

Infection somewhere, bilirubin elevated.

Abdominal ultrasound clear.

Brought back to ER room.

He then had a seizure, apparently caused by his pacemaker kicking in because of tachycardia.

Nonresponsive for a few minutes.

Now he's admitted to hospital to figure this out! 

Cardiologists are now involved again.

Scary!

Needless to say, I have spent the last few days at the hospital with him.

He is now getting better, but still needs some surgery for his heart as he has not one, but two blockages!

Hopefully tomorrow will take care of his problem while in surgery.

More pelicans!

Dolphins!

Humpback whales!

Meanwhile, I'm trying to pack for the Shrimp Festival starting on Thursday.

So, as you can see, I am close to completion of the 100 days.

We were supposed to set up on Wednesday.

Bad weather moving in with high winds and heavy rain.

God's plan, Let's do Thursday instead.

So, show is delayed.

I can go to my dad's surgery.

We don't have to set up in the wind and rain.

God's plan, is PERFECT!

The answer to the question:

Do you know how to make God laugh?

"Tell Him your plans...."

Kinda funny, right?

Multiple days, Acrylic on Wood panel, each about 5 x15 inches

Days 80-91 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2023

 

Jellyfish party

The photo is slightly askew I know.

It has been a long day for sure.

I woke up at 3:30am and could not go back to sleep.

I started reading my Bible and other readings for the day.

Today was Share the beach day.

I walked about 1.25 miles just as the sun rose over the Gulf of Mexico.

The volunteers for Share the Beach do this every day from May through August.

I did not find any sea turtle nests, but I did find a cup pretty well 

buried in the sand and being washed over by waves.

There was no evidence of people other than this cup.

So, I picked it up as it was getting washed out to sea.

A Yeti cup, a big cup, a brand new cup!

I am so happy to have kept this out of the waters of our ocean.

The cup is really nice too!

Jellyfish party, Acrylic on wood panel with sewing drawer, 5 x 15inches

Day 9 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2022