This is to mother you,
Thank you , thank you Clytie for this cute Neno Award and your very kind words. I am honored because this award is given I am told to those who love blogging and love to encourage friendship through blogging.....that would be me alright. But where would I be with out all of you....You my blogging friends are the very best and I share this award with all of you (because we are all in this together...and no one is getting out alive) LOL, I love ya!!!
Richard Curtner http://www.curtnerart.com/
Malen Pierson http://www.recycledvisions.com/
When I was a kid I used to love to sleep outside at night. I would grab my dad's old 2 ton army green canvas sleeping bag and a silly girl friend or even my little brother for company. We would climb in the bed of our good ole International pick up truck and sleep out under the stars.
The furious storm cloud raged across the valley raising his angry fist and shaking it at the heavens. 
Then lifting his mighty foot in a final act of vengeance, he stomped the mountain flat.
I have taken up thy gauntlet RANDOM & UNEXPECTED, and the end is in sight, so I lay before you the sorry results of my quest. For indeed both my camera and myself have been slackers and ne'er do wells in this great challenge. But forsooth I have not at least arrived at the end empty handed. The cloud picture being entitled "The Thinker" and the mountain called "The Dowager Duchess" I had hoped to get out and about more but alas it did not happen. Aah but next time thou art toast!
I believe that our lives are our own, to make of them what we will, and every decision we make leads us in the direction we have chosen to take ourselves. However several times in my life, I have felt the hand of fate move me in a different direction, wheels have turned, gears have shifted, cogs have fallen into place, to set my feet on a different path.
Happy Flag Day to the beautiful icon of our freedom. What joy fills my heart when ever I see this proud and unique emblem of our country waving in the wind. I thank God everyday for the privilege of calling this, my symbol of home.
" When we look at a statue of someone great,
It is cold and 40 shades of grey here today the skies are dark, low, fingers of rain reach down from the clouds across the valley. I am alone and the grim weather only serves to exaggerate the solitude. Wandering room to gloomy room like a bebe in a boxcar, even the lights seems to be consumed by the oppressive greyness.
My son has taken umbrage with the quote on my blog title picture. When I told him that he should "Leap and the net will appear." He looked at me and said "Mom I'm still picking stalagmites out of my a** from the last three times I did that." After I quit laughing I thought about that for awhile and remembered the good old axiom "Look before you leap." What a conundrum...I put the quote up to motivate me to move forward, now I don't know what to do!!! What would you do, look or leap? 
Art by Oblinsky
I spent the best part of yesterday with my Husband and my Mom hanging out in graveyards, remembering those loved ones who made my life what it is and thinking about how lucky I was to have had such kind and good souls to help start me out in the world. It's good to think about the good old days when in my child's eyes things were so straight forward and simple, I marvel at how many life things got so complicated and out of control, and all the truths and things I believed and held in my hand as a child seem to have scattered like a dandelion in the wind. 
Working at my kitchen table, a low rumble draws my mind to the view outside. The sky the color of cold ash, the pond like a mirror set in the grass, no life, no motion, still, like the world holding it's breath, the calm before the storm. I feel it creeping up my back, the dog moves to sit by my side, dark Jurassic cloud shadows loom over the house and across the lawn and on. The surface of the pond breaks into hundreds of pebble tossed rings then suddenly erupts into what looks like violently vibrating marbles. The trees are whipped into a frenzy of reach and recoil, the reeds and grass flattened against the banks of the pond, the winds howl and strum the slats on the porch railing, the windows rattle and the dog snuggles closer to my feet.
Where there is a challenge there must be an award. After giving it some thought I decided this award should go to all those who participated in the challenge because in addition to their obvious creative talents they are all worthy to be called members of the L'Ordre de Coeur (The Order of the Heart). Just like the expression of their bliss, each sister brings their own special kind of "Heart" into the world.
Here is my most recent cloud painting. I was so inspired by the spirited challenge from Painted Garden, that I finished this cloud painting lickitysplit, and since it's been done, I've been chomping at the bit, to post it! Here you see the cloud which portrays My Bliss. If you look closely, there is a faery hidden nearby. You may have to click on the drawing to see....Below is the original cloud which caught my fancy. I took this picture of a stormy sky out over our back fence. Since then the trees have unfurled all their leaves, and it does not look the same.
Don't miss Beth's extraordinary Cloud Art, Photography and Artwork at Beth Niquette Fine Art & Expect the Unexpected. 
I love black and white artwork and thought you might enjoy a couple of beautiful pieces I own. The first is an ink on Mat board by my beautiful Daughter Leslie. She has a gift a beautiful talent. She made this drawing (This is only a portion of it) when she was in college. It is a collage of things she knew I loved. It is 16X24 and framed in my living room. I chose to show you this portion because it is of an Old Butter Churn that I painted Grapes on. It belonged to my Great Grandmother Cronk and I cherish it. Leslie also threw in a bit of Nature which I also love.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY EVERYDAY
