Art- Crayolas, torch, hot glue & Texas sun
A few weeks ago my husband & daughter worked on a very creative art project. And it turned out to be even more interesting by the time I get to the state of the piece of art now!
Daddy & daughter purchases a blank canvas and some Crayolas. Then with my low heat hot glue gun they attached the Crayolas across the top of the canvas vertically in the color pattern progression. Then they used a lighter to begin to melt the Crayolas so that the color would run down the canvas. When that didn’t quite get the melt they were looking for my husband got out the small propane torch. The end result was very cool looking defined lines of color melting down the canvas. (of course, had I been home for the torch my momma freak out would have been going!)
We took the canvas with us to Arlington, TX where we had the family outing planned at Six Flags. Unfortunately, the canvas didn’t make it from the truck to the hotel room. Instead it sat in the 118 degree truck while we were screaming & laughing on the rides. Did you know that Crayolas can explode? Yup. So the canvas was hastily moved to the bed of the truck. A sad little lady was a bit disappointed.
After our little girl returned to her other home with her mother, my husband rescued the canvas from the back of the truck. The Texas heat had melted the Crayolas down to empty paper shells! But the artwork was now a colorful blending that, I believe, no artist could replicate with a propane torch or lighter. So now we have a beautiful & whimsical piece of art created by daddy & daughter & the hands of nature (specifically Texas nature). A treasure!
Muskogee Blackbird With Power Plant Stacks In Background
Found this photo quite by accident. I was trying to capture a blackbird with red wings in Muskogee, OK where my husband is working at the local power plant. I really like that you can see the power plant stacks in the background. 
These are two of my favorite things…
A great time – spending time with our daughter and Amy’s Ice Cream (Austin, TX based ice cream chain). Nothing beats smiles and laughs from Lu and the fresh and creamy taste of mexican vanilla ice cream with strawberries. Just bliss!!!
Fort Worth Stockshow
Our family recently spent a great Saturday at the Fort Worth stockshow. I wanted to share some of my photos from the weekend. Most were those types of capturing the moment photos instead of the more “artistic” photos.
Hotel Principe, Venice, Italy – picture from yesterday
This weekend my husband and I had quite a philosophical discussion about the choosing of vacation destinations. My point was that with all the places known to a person as “must sees” and all the places to be found out on those rural roads it was hard for a person to choose where to spend the oh so valuable vacation time. His point was that there was always something to be found along the rural roads, preferably on the back of a motorcycle. Now, I do agree and he does love riding our motorcycle. Then I also pointed out to him that there were few places I would like to revisit. Venice being one of them. That brought me to trying to remember the hotel that my friend and I stayed at when I traveled to Venice. Alas! I found my photo of the hotel!
Chevrolet 4400 1954 model in a pasture
Today, while driving around thru rural AR (Gentry) my hubby spotted this old house, barn and a gem of a truck. Of course, I LOOOOVVE old stuff. The history and the stories that live in them….!!!! So after looking over the pictures and doing some research I found out that it appears to be a 1954 Chevrolet 4400 flatbed truck. (here is a link to a restored model - courtesy of Wikipedia) To add more to the story, there is a knob that reads “MUNCIE”. Come to find out this is a power take off more than likely added to it for driving machinery not on the truck – typically on tractors (another link to Wikipedia telling you about power take offs).
So enjoy a little bit of history and mystery!!
My miracle cat – pictures from yesterday
My cat Tori is really my little miracle. She certainly has proved that cats have nine lives. I picked her from at least a dozen other kittens in the late summer of 2004. She weighed 1/2 lb. She already had an attitude. While sitting in the room with all the kittens she was one that seemed to not care much if you paid her attention. She showed curiosity but that was about it. She did keep a watch on me the entire time. I have to admit I chose her because she intrigued me and she was cute. So on that Saturday I took her home with the help of my nephew and sister. By Tuesday she wasn’t eating or drinking so off to the vet we went. He diagnosed her with tapeworms. The problem was that she was now down to 0.3 lbs and they didn’t dose that low of weight for the treatment of the tapeworms. So the vet adjusted to his judgement and then it was a waiting game. For the next 24 hours I fed her wet food and water with a syringe, minus the needle. She slept on my chest in between feedings. All went well and she was back in action by the end of the week.
Tori's baby picture
my nephew Nicholas and Tori watching TV
Her next encounter was an eye infection that scared the vet and I both. With some antibiotics and about 48 hours of patience it was cleared and we were all relieved.
In the meantime, Tori was enjoying life in her usual Diva way. She loved to play with toys and feather and we spent much time with feathers under the door and her paw chasing them. I have several videos of her playing with what can only be described as a chicken bird toy – tossing it in the air and stalking it.
Tori on cabinets
We made the move to a house in 2007. She quickly declared it her house and I just the person who paid the bills. I was gone during the week with work and so she had her Aunt Becca, my sister, to feed and play with her. I usually paid for being gone by being ignored for the first 15 minutes to 24 hours depending on her mood.
Then in September of 2008 we had a horrific experience. On a Saturday I just had a gut feeling that she wasn’t healthy – perhaps sick or such. I didn’t think it was anything severe but she had lost a little weight – barely noticeable. So off to the animal ER. About 20 minutes after they took her back the vet comes out to talk to me. She was in renal (kidney) failure and her BUN was off the measurable scale while her creatinine was at the max of the scale. The news was that she might not make it thru the night. I was shocked and devastated. They let me in the back to see her. It broke my heart to see the IV in her and her sitting in the little cage while they treated her. I visited her every couple of hours and sometimes got to hold her in an empty exam room.
The next news was that the vet would ask a specialty vet to accept her for treatment on Monday morning – we would have to wait until then to see if that was a possibility. So I picked her up and got the news that she was accepted. Then we had a late morning appointment at the specialist. They kept her in the ICU there for 7 days. I could go once a day and visit which included me holding her for up to two hours at one point in an exam room. I brought a blanket for her to curl up in and try to sleep. Only one of the days could I not get her to calm down and sleep. Finally, she got to come home with her BUN and creatinine at a high average. I was amazed and thankful. She slept in a basket for about 3 days – I guess catching up on all the sleep she likely missed and just recovering. We changed her diet to one with little to no protein.
Today she is fat and happy and has done extremely well. Her prognosis when she came out of the hospital was 2-3 years of life. We are over 3 years now with diet change. I pray every day that she continues to be healthy. She is my miracle. She’s certainly still the Diva but has adjusted well to the move we made and my marriage and family. She loves my husband and children.
So that is her story so far! Every day is a blessing!
sleeping in basket after hospital
Christmas 2008
Tisha Clinkenbeard
