Good blustery winter morning to you!
We are getting hammered this morning with a winter storm with high winds and freezing temperatures here in Western Pennsylvania. Good day to stay inside cozied up with a book and hot cup of tea. I just
couldn't resist taking this picture of a tufted titmouse on our peanut butter feeder getting some food fuel to keep warm in this nasty weather.

Have a blessed day all!

It has been pretty chaotic in this household since August and it is just now letting up or at least I thought it was until I received an unwanted letter in the mail yesterday. We had one more incident here that has just about put me over the edge and yanking every last hair out of my head. If I didn't have the Lord in my life, it probably would have pushed me off the cliff and I'll leave it at that.

I decided in November that I would do my Bible reading in 2014 out of my "Change Your Life Daily Bible" and do my devotions from "Sacred Obsession" by Becky Tirabassi. I had used these together two years ago and really enjoyed it, not to mention the impact it had on me. The other devotional I love to spend time in is "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers—very power, very life changing!

I don't often share my very personal preferences here but I really feel that it is the time to do just that. So over the course of this year I will attempt to share myself, my insights, the powerful changes that take place in me. After all, this is why I paint.

The Bible is my life's survival manual, it has all I need in it to live each day. It answers all of life's questions. As a matter of fact this verse says it perfectly: "There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." 2 timothy 3:15-17 The Message

Friends are another very important part of my life. I can count my treasured friends on both hands, each one brings a special gift to my soul and well being. I would love to name each here individually but I won't embarrass them—you each know who you are and I thank you for the blessings you bring to my life.

With each post I will include a photograph I've taken or one of my watercolors with hopes of brightening your day, to encourage and uplift you. May God's blessings wrap around you today!

I have a new painting to share with you that was commissioned by a friend as a Christmas gift for another friend. It was such a fun painting to do. It took several enjoyable hours to complete. I say enjoyable because of the challenge in painting something I have never attempted.

God is so good to me I could not do these paintings without Him. It is He who has given me the talents and gifts and I want to honor Him with them.

It is a beautiful Saturday morning! Just wanted to share more of the fall flowers from Phipps Conservatory with you. Enjoy!

There was also electric trains and village scenery set up, it was fantastic. I will do a post with photos of those also as well as some other fall flowers.

We have lots of work to do around the house today. We are getting ready to have some painting done and will be scraping old paint off that has started to peal. I also have a painting I need to get started on today as well. Busy, busy, busy. It seems that's how our weeks are these days; all work no play. But that's okay it has to be done and I always feel good when its finished.

A dear friend surprised me with a wonderful birthday adventure today. She arrived at 7:50 a.m. to take me out for breakfast at another friends home, it was delightful! She had the table all decorated with fall colors and special treats. In the center of the table was a beautiful yellow mum with deep red stripes in the petals dressed in pretty fall wrappings, there were tiny (real) pumpkins all decked out in hodge podge, and a tiny camera necklace. We had tea, almond biscotti, quiche and hot homemade applesauce, it was sooooo yummy! We left from there and headed to Pittsburgh for the fall flower show at Phipps Conservatory. I got some beautiful photos to share with you below. So enjoy! It was a fantastic day!

My hubby and I have gotten back into bike riding; we both loved it as kids and younger adults and haven't been on them in several years, since my early 30s. So we decided to invest our anniversary
funds in new bikes and try out some of the rails for trails in our area. We would like to do some traveling over the next few summers to some of the places on our bucket lists and having bikes along with us would be a great way to enjoy a few of those spots.

The first trail we tried was the Butler to Freeport trail, it is pretty nice but I would advise starting on the southern end and head toward Butler. In doing this, you're biking the slight incline first, then its down hill pretty much all the way back. These pictures are on our favorite trail from Foxburg to Parker which is a beautiful 5 mile round trip trek along the Alleghany River (2.5 miles up and back). Eventually we'll have an opportunity to do the Emlenton trail which we're saving for spring.

The top picture on the left I took just before we headed down the trial. Below that, Daryl is riding down the trail a head of me. About a mile from the trail entrance we pulled over a short distance past the bridge so Daryl could make an adjustment to his new seat and I took some pictures. You can't really see it too well, but my bike is parked just in front of his. Behind me was the bridge, the photo of it to the right.

It was really windy that evening and that we struggled against it on the way back. It was tough riding. I enjoyed the ride, it was a beautiful evening in spite of the wind.

White Balloon Flowers

It is hump day! I just had to say it, I love that commercial that GEICO put out, it is one of the better ones that I've seen on TV lately. I don't know what is going on with advertising companies these days, but most of the commercials are just plain annoying. I would love to hear from anyone out there how you feel about the poor quality advertising commercials on TV.

The sun is shinning here in western Pennsylvania but it sure is going to be one humid day. Thunderstorms will be in the picture for tomorrow and Friday. I have a very busy day today.

I'm working on the final sketch of a 3-painting project. Each one is very detailed and unique. I just love doing these types of projects; intricate and challenging.

During the beginning of Summer I did some sketches that I will be working on during the winter months. I was hoping to have had them finished before mid summer but unfortunately that didn't happen. My plan was to have some birds painted and ready to go press but it will have to wait until next Spring, which is much better actually, rushing things can sometimes cause mistakes and we don't want any of those.

I'm gearing up to take some fall foliage photos to share with you when the time comes. It seems as thought the leaves are changing early this year, I'm hoping they will slow the process, I'm not looking forward to the cold of winter ahead. I love the snow but the cold that goes with it is not so nice to the body and the bones.

Have a blessed day all!