T Stands for Cholita's again

Please note.  My internet has been offline since Saturday.  Apparently it affected over half the city.  I'll be by to visit everyone as I can.

Once in awhile my foodie friend Sally and I enjoy good Mexican food.  We come here a lot.  This restaurant is in a strip mall and it's really hidden from the street.  Regardless, it's always busy.

I've mentioned before the decor is old and shabby.  It needs Robert Irvine to come in with his Restaurant Impossible show.  For my international readers, it's a reality TV show that begins with "Chef Robert Irvine has 2 days and $10,000 to do the impossible!"  He cleans the restaurant, gives it a facelift, and often changes or updates the menu.

The menu is not too bad, but this day, instead of ordering a chili relleno dinner, I ordered a Mexican omelet.  I'll never do that again.  It was flat and tasteless, or maybe I was just having buyer's remorse.  When I said something to the waitress, who was super sweet, she brought me some peppers.  They turned out to be too hot for me, so I just dumped the mild sauce on everything except the beans, and decided I had learned my lesson.  Obviously, Sally had a taco salad and we both had water, mine with lemon.

Now it's your turn.  I'm sure by now you know the "rules," but in case you don't, please show something drink related. It can be photos, a place you visited, movies, tea cups, coffee mugs, tea or coffee service, postcards, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, tags, ATCs, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink.  Please share below and Bleubeard and I, along with the rest of the T gang will be by to visit.   Please link only your T post and not your blog in general.  Old photos are acceptable because they may be taken any time, not just on Tuesday, and not just this year. 

California's Seasons

Since I have a few hours between Monday Murals and T Time, I thought I would share another Art Journal Journey entry using Jo's from Let's Art Journal theme which is Something New.  Unlike many of my mixed media and art journal friends, I only received two Christmas gifts that I can use in my art (the lovely postage stamps I received from RO! and the lovely napkins Yvonne sent).  However, I DO have a few items I've never used before

and one of them is this brand new washi tape.

The first thing I did was find the center of the page by leaving marks at the mid-points of both the sides and lengths of the page.

Then I laid down the washi tape following the lines I drew previously.

All my friends who live in or visit California (a state on the west coast of the U.S.) tell me how great it is.  Some admit there are no seasons, though.  Granted in Southern California, it feels like spring all year long.  Day times are sunny and nights are cool.  After all, it IS, or once was a desert!  I, on the other hand, see the various seasons of California in a rather different (dare I say irreverent?) light.

Fires engulf the land,

much like parts of Australia are experiencing right now.

Of course, when it rains, there are the mudslides, because people build on the sandy sides of mountains and fail to reach bedrock to shore up their properties.

Along with the mudslides, there are floods.

When it's not raining and flooding, there is drought.  Remember, this is a desert that doesn't accept water well.  Of course, there is always the San Andreas Fault that runs through most of the state, which causes many earthquakes.  We (as scientists) are still not able to completely predict when one will occur, only let people know as it IS occurring.

I realize this is a rather cheeky look at California's seasons.  I definitely don't want to offend any of my friends who live there and call it home.

For this page, I first partitioned the page (110 lb card stock) into four sections using the washi tape.  I was determined to use only paint chip samples on this page, along with the four houses I stamped and fussy cut.  I was so proud of myself.  I only had one house mishap.  It wasn't that it didn't stamp well, it was because I dropped the clear stamp onto the paper and I had to re-ink the stamp.  I decided to add the bird because it was sitting on my table.  A bit big for the house, but I'm calling it a large sea bird.  All words and decorations were made using various metallic gel pens, which I learned didn't dry well on the paint chip samples I got at various local home improvement stores.

I am so happy that you stopped by today.  I hope to see you at Art Journal Journey, too. 

Monday Murals: How things change

I'm once again joining Sami at Sami's Colourful World and her Monday Murals. Although I post at my regular time, please be aware that Sami's mural linky won't go live until 10:01 a.m. my time.

In July, 2018, I photographed this mural and shared it.  The story was the artist who painted it had died and there was no one who could repair it.  The owner of the building wanted it replaced, but the son of the deceased artist petitioned for it to be saved.

I found this image on the internet of what it looked like when it was first painted.  It was stunning back "in the day."

This summer I was a passenger when we drove by and I spotted the new mural.  It was obvious the son had lost the petition.  Needless to say, the photo left something to be desired.

Fast forward to about three weeks ago when I was at the post office and remembered I wasn't too far from this mural.  I took several close-ups.

I never found who painted this new mural, but I personally preferred the previous one.  It's located at 29th St. North and Arkansas (it's pronounced Ar CANS ass, not ARK an saw) in Wichita, Kansas, USA.

If you enjoy murals, please don't forget to visit Monday Murals at Sami's Colourful World.

Inspire

Today I'm foregoing Saturday Afternoon at the Movies because it takes as long to write a movie post as it does to make art.  Instead, I'm joining Jo at Let's Art Journal who is our host this month at Art Journal Journey with her theme Something New.

I did something new for me.  I deconstructed three collages I had made previously and added a few new elements, too.

First time seen was this girl I added, along with a piece of card stock I colored using my handmade shimmering mists.

I decided to add the letters of the word and used a felt tip pen to outline them. I also did a bit of doodling around some of the letters.  This was to help bring the left side together with the middle section.

When I deconstructed what is now the right side of the page, I had to replace part of it with a piece of checkered napkin.   It was at that time I also added the bird.

I changed much of the left side and added the punched circle and button at that time.

I think you can see all three sides and how I assembled them. 

I added the fabric and the flowers at the bottom that I had removed from what had originally been the spread from the left side of the original collage.

I stamped the word "Inspire," (the name of the mixed media entry) five times, once upside down (my mistake).

Finally, I had three piece of gold in my embellishments basket, so I used them on the top, middle, and bottom right side of the page.

For this page, I deconstructed three previous collages, added letters, stamping, changed the flowers, and added the fussy cut angel to the bottom left.

I can assure you, this was definitely something new for me.  I think it would might have been easier to start from scratch.  I appreciate you stopping by and following along on this adventure with me.  Please also join Bleubeard and me at Art Journal Journey with your own art inspired by Something New.

Friday Smiles 353: back to the Eisenhower Museum

After a two week hiatus, I'm once again joining Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and the wonderful ladies at Friday Smiles.Today we'll be returning to the Eisenhower Museum.  In case you've not been here or forgotten, we visited Ike's boyhood home, then went to the museum where we saw his early days in Abilene, Kansas.  Although he was not born or died in Abilene, he still called it his home.  We met his five brothers, his mother, and his father.  We learned how he got a free scholarship to West Point and how he played football, leading his team until his knee was injured.  We learned the following year, he began coaching undergrad West Point students in football.

After graduating from West Point, Ike returned to Abilene to spend the summer.  In September, 1915, he reported to Fort Sam Houston to begin his career as an Army officer.

While at Fort Sam Houston, he was preparing for the possibility of the war in Europe, but more so with Pancho Villa in Mexico.

His job was to train enlisted soldiers for the war overseas.

He was ordered to set up training camps, first in Texas, then Kansas, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  With each move, Ike drew attention to himself and his organizational skills, as well as his ability to see the big picture.  He was good at administration and planning on a large scale.  Working under several superiors, he was exposed to various personality types and leadership styles.  He adapted well to all and received an enviable reputation.  

Needless to say, the Army was so impressed with him, he was too valuable to be sent to the front lines, like many of his fellow graduating class had been.  Most were leading troops in France, which is where Ike wanted to lead, too.  Each time he was promised he would go with the current group he trained, at the last minute the orders would be rescinded.  Finally, he was to be sent.  Just as he was preparing to head to Europe on November 18, 1918, the armistice was called on November 11.  Ike felt cheated.

Although he was frustrated in is military career, his personal life was going well.  He had met Mamie Doud and he couldn't have been happier.  Mamie felt the same way.

As you can see, although the couple planned to wait until after Mamie's 20th birthday, with war looming, they decided to marry in July, 1916.

Mamie was quite popular, but she fell for the 25 year old Ike.

Even when he was disappointed with not being called into service in World War I, he was thrilled to be dating Mamie.  He proposed to her on Valentine's Day, 1916.

It's really hard to see the displays since it's all behind clear plexiglass, especially since it reflects everything.

This is also where we meet Ike and Mamie's first son, Doud, who was nicknamed Ikky.

It was good to see the actual dress Mamie wore on her wedding day.

For most of the first three years of their marriage, Mamie lived with her parents because there was no family housing available on post.  When they were together, Mamie was the perfect army wife because she was a great entertainer.  Although she was never taught to cook, her mother told her she shouldn't ever have to cook if she never learned how to cook.  Consequently Ike cooked whenever he was home.

Despite Ike's frustration with not being sent to the front lines, once Doud was born, he devoted much of his free time playing "family man."  Ike was in Georgia training men when news arrived that his son was born.  Nicknamed Ikky, he became the the joy of both the Doud family and Ike and Mamie.

This was one of the Doud family cars, but it's so hard to see because of the reflections.

Mamie's father was big in new technology and had several cars.  This one he purchased for his wife, Mamie's mother.

Next time we will see how the Eisenhowers spent time between the two world wars.  Unfortunately, this museum is convoluted and you have to follow the path exactly or you find yourself in a new era before you realize you have missed one.

Now let's see what others are smiling about this Friday.  Please don't forget to start your weekend off right by visiting Annie for a few Friday Smiles.