IN THE TIKI, TIKI, TIKI ,TIKI, TIKI ROOM!

There are Tiki's all around the Peninsula, thought I might share a few with you:

MY FIRST ALL DRIFTWOOD PIECE!

I have been collecting and collecting driftwood trying to find something to do with it.  I finally hit on an easy piece today and this got the creativity ball rolling.  In the next few weeks I will be driftwood crazy!

BEACH SHELFSITTER

BEACHCOMBED WOOD

FROM BOLIVAR FLATS

5 HAND PAINTED LETTERS GLUED TO DRIFTWOOD

10 INCHES X 5 INCHES

$20.00 PLUS SHIPPING

MORE OF MY CRAZY FEATHERED FRIENDS!

 I take pictures of the birds for the composition..  Hopefully, I will be able to incorporate them in some art here in the coming weeks.  I love these crazy birds!

BACK TO THE FLATS!

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Salty and I have fallen in serious love with Bolivar Flats.  Here are a few pics, we took 152 in all, that shows you why.  We just sat still and the birds where everywhere!  Salty took the bulk of the pics.

There were hundreds of birds all around us.  These were just a few of the variety around us.  It was clear this was their home and we were just visiting.  I have some serious research in my future to be able to identify all of the birds who enjoy the relative privacy of Bolivar Flats.  if you can readily identify any of these, let me know!

ON ISLAND TIME, ALL THE TIME

If you follow romantic musings, the beach life will get into your bones and you change.  Island time becomes the way you view things on and off the island.  I follow romantic musings.  This first year at the beach has replaced the need to get ahead, to rush, to know what the next big promotion is with a comfortable this is enough feeling. I now weigh the worth of something against how much of my beach time it will eat up.

Instead of crabby employees taking up space in my mind, I now just think of crabs.  Tall, lanky employees look like Egrets and those with a slower work ethic...turtles.  All the hustle and bustle just seems like a flock of Seagulls screaming over bread thrown at the end of the ferry.  Salt water is coursing through my veins.

After a year without television, I now enjoy the sunsets instead.  Finding the perfect place to view them has become our evening passion.  Libation securely tucked away in the trunk, camera in hand, Salty and I are off to the beach to find a perfect "pic" spot.  Our current favorite?  Bolivar Flats.  Even the name sounds cool.

This evening, as we pondered the meaning of life on our beach deck,  we were rewarded with a fly over of Egrets.  There was about 75 of the large majestic birds circling overhead looking for a place to stop for the night.  Salty and I sat in awed silence as they circled and finally settled into a stand of trees right outside our door.

Tonight we will once again sleep with the windows open enjoying the breeze.  I will once again thank God for the opportunity to have this adventure. I'm living on island time!

Sunset At Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary

Salty and I have been driving down the shore a little way from lee's Landing to watch the sunset.  Bolivar Flats is owned by the Houston Audubon Society and is really beautiful.  The swimming isn't that great but the wildlife is crazy awesome!

A BEACHCOMBER LIVES HERE

It would be pretty obvious to any passerby that I pick up junk on the beach.  Shells, driftwood, the large pieces of wood that I find and paint on all have a place on my beach deck.  I recently found a large piece of a door panel that would be suitable to proclaim my beach addiction:

Paper mache letters by student artists

WHAT EXACTLY DOES TALENT MEAN?

I  never know how to respond to people who tell me I am talented.  Well, uh, yeah...we all are in one way or another.  If you are a bible believer, we are supposed to take our talents and expand on them.  I come from a family of multitalented individuals, so what some see as talent, I see as normal.

To me talent is just a willingness to try and fail.  Sometimes in the process folks snicker or outright make fun of the effort, but this part of the process.  Will this work? I dunno, let me give it a shot.  More often than not my worst critic is me.

It makes me very happy to see my children and now grandchildren work through the process of creating.

Here is the work of my granddaughter Jasmin, recently shown at her school art show.  I am very impressed and think you will be too.

Here is the stunningly beautiful artist herself, Jasmin.