Another bitter cold day here in Minnesota but tomorrow will be better. Our temperatures have been bouncing around lately. Just when you brace yourself for the frigid weather it turns downright balmy, well if you can call 20 degrees balmy!
I love when the mail arrives at this time of year! You might find some cards, a package or a huge tin of three flavor popcorn on your porch! Joy, Joy, Joy! I was especially glad for the latter so that the hubby would stop eating all the Christmas cookies out of the freezer!
Back to the mail, one item that gave me great JOY was a package from my blog friend
Stacy - Magic Love Crow! I had ordered this cute little Baby Crow painting from her titled "Winter Blessings". Isn't she adorable!!
To my surprise she included another darling baby crow titled "Waiting for Santa". There he is, tucked into his little "nest" all cozy and waiting for Santa's arrival. Soooo.... Cute!! Thank you Stacy, you are the best!
I was surprised and pleased that the beautiful card that Stacy sent with the kitties on the front,
is from a painting called "Decorators" by Persis Clayton Weirs. The art is courtesy of Wild Wings,
Lake City Minnesota! How ironic! I'm not even sure she noticed where the card was from! JOY!
Guy appreciated the artwork too as you see in the photo below. He is an avid bird watcher and here he is also cozy in his little brown nest! These photos took place on a day when our temperature only got up to -2 degrees, for you celsius people that is -18. BrrrrrrrrRR!
So what does one do when it is too cold to venture outside for more than a few minutes, well finish the decorating for one. I of course get sidetracked easily so when I was rummaging about and getting the house ready for house-guests, I found this painting that my husband brought home from an estate sale. It was leaning on the side of the dresser in our guest room. I had kind of forgotten about it and that brings us to Edna, another woman who has brought me great Joy ....
The daughter in-law told my husband that Edna had started painting in her later years. Being the frugal woman she was, she had not invested in a bunch of expensive materials. If you look closely, you can see that it is painted on cardboard. After looking at it a bit, I decided it was actually kind of a neat folk art piece.
I think Edna did pretty darned good with her perspective on this one! I love her choice of bright colors for the house and other buildings. Snow can be very difficult to paint for new artists and I think she did a nice job. Edna thought so too, and she signed and dated this original piece of art, which I am now the proud owner of. The painting is now hanging in our basement family room.
Edna E. Johnson, Red Wing Minnesota - 1963
As I said before, this was from an estate sale, so dear Edna has passed on to her reward and I hope she has an unlimited supply of paint and canvases she can use to creative some stunning work.
So there you have it, a story about two creative and interesting women who bring Joy to life! Thank you Stacy for your Joyful and Creative Spirit, and bless you Edna for your frugal but Beautiful Soul!
Joy and Peace ~~ Diane