Home and Health

When I saw the latest 2 things challenge I knew I had to participate because above all I love my humble home. It is the place where my spirit is renewed and the place where I can be me and even jump for joy whenever I see a butterfly.

I'd love to hear your comments and critiques, so please take the time to write as it will be so appreciated.

Deconstruction: The house is one of my photos, as are a couple of the butterflies. The woman and the peacock came from dreamstime.com ($2). The remaining butterflies came from Wikimedia Commons using mayflower search. There are were an incredible number of layers (29); most for butterflies but some to correct some distracting areas. It finished out at 18 layers. One filter, dry brush, was used on the house layer to soften it. Lighting effects were used on most of the objects to brighten them.

Memory of The Good Shepherd Home IV

This post is about Lupe. I did not know Lupe, but was assigned her bed the day I arrived at Good Shepherd. She had died and was resting outside my window in the cemetery. She had spent most of her life at this home and sadly knew no other life. When I went back there some years later, the nuns had sold the home and some developer turned them into condos. When I asked about the cemetery the manager told us that it had been moved elsewhere. Strange, but true.

Deconstruction: The cemetery, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and window are all vintage images. There are six layers, with one layer mask for the window/cemetery. It is Grayscale. There was one filter, accented edges.

I've been tagged by Sue O'Kieffe
Here are THE RULES:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

• I was raised in the beautiful Pecos Valley of New Mexico
• I am recently retired (again) after a few lifetimes of writing computer programs
• I love animals, all kinds of animals!
  
• My best friend, Linda, had a liver transplant about 10 years ago and is doing great.
  
• Spring is my favorite season and I am eagerly awaiting the first violets.
  

I tag Lisa Sarsfield, Belinda (Bell's Nook), Rima (Marazine), Neda (Papiers Colles) and Nita
(Red Tin Heart)

Memory of The Good Shepherd Home III

This 3rd memory of the Good Shepherd Home represents the celebration of Feliz Navidad, the Mexican Christmas season. I wanted to post this on Christmas Day but my memory of Christmas took awhile to recall the details, after all it was over 50 years ago :)

I will be very happy to read your comments so please share! I'd also like to thank Sweet Irene for the Courageous Blogger Award which is posted in my siderbar. I really don't feel very courageous but do feel a sense of healing when I make art from these old memories.

Deconstruction:
The digital collage was made using photoshop 5.5. There were 17 layers and one "apply image, difference" was used to give the building a bluish cast. It finished out with 5 layers. The image of the building comes from dreamstime.com ($2). The little girl and the pinata came from the Library of Congress, the other girl and the nun were vintage images as is the blessed virgin who came from an old holy card.

If you want to know more about Feliz Navidad there is a good article at mexconnect.com
while you can find out about the pinata at wikipedia.com.

Memory Of The Good Shepherd Home II

This memory is from the days I spent at Good Shepherd Home in Mesilla Park, NM in 1955-56.
One of my jobs was to fetch the meals every day. This was a job I liked very much as my friend, Maryjane, and I got to go to the kitchen and bring the food back to our dormitory's dining room where other girls would have jobs setting the table and dishing up the food. The kitchen nuns were Little People and very fun and we loved to talk to them and watch them work. They would fill our pot with pinto beans mostly, but sometimes with carne de cabeza with vegetables. For breakfast it was always oatmeal.

I'd love to hear your comments about this digital collage, or about this memory or one of yours if you would care to share.

Young Woman Memory (Hold/Value)

I can't think of a better subject for hold/value than a mother holding her darling child in her arms. There is no love which can compare to the love a mother feels for her children, it is a love that transcends all. I'd love to hear your expressions of love for your mother, or for your child.

If you haven't done an art project for for 2 things challenge, you still have until Dec. 19th to do one and get a free bonus charity donation through the generosity of two bloggers. Click here to find out more and see what it is all about!

Spring Wind Memories

When I was a child I used to love to put my pillow on the window sill and listen to the wind howl over the prairie through out the night. I still love the wind. I love the way it lifts and blows my hair, the way it feels so fresh on my skin. The sound it makes as it whistles around the house and the way the trees bow down to it. I'll be thrilled if you'd leave a comment and tell me about your memories of wind.

Memory Of The Good Shepherd Home

In the courtyard stood
The lonely cottonwood
Bare branches chattering in the wind

Except
For one small twig
Nestled beneath the eaves
Giving forth the first yellow green
leaves of spring

~Bobbie Wideman 1955-56
Good Shepherd Home, Mesilla Park New Mexico