"Basket Kases"

No.  I'm absolutely not being mean.  They gave themselves that name!  April Biggerstaff and Charlene Bitter, that is.  I'm just kinda thinkin',.........well, you can take it up with them if ya really wanna know! 

Okay - truth is, they make gift baskets.  With all the awesome merchandise in their little shop.  "Talented" doesn't quite get it - these ladies just have a knack for making the ordinary special.  Very special! 

Blessed am I to have my artwork on display (and available for purchase) there.  I hadn't been in since I dropped off my inventory a few weeks ago.  My friend, Cindy, told me I really needed to see it - so, obediently, I stopped in.  Check out the beautiful presentation April created!!! Love it, love it, love it!  Don't you??  

Okay - so, it's not just about me.  But, y'all really should check it out.  (2009 Lincoln Avenue, Evansville, Indiana · Phone (812) 491- 9799.)  Their little shop packs a big punch from the street with their window display, only to be upstaged by the menagerie of unique gifts and original art inside.  AND, when in the market for gift giving, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS buy something for YOURSELF!

I know I said it's not about me, but my little 6" X 6" mini oil paintings are a great "one-of-a-kind" personal gift for Mother's Day - or for any other special event!  (FYI - real flowers, beautiful as they are, wither and are thrown in the trash within a week - oil lives forever!!!)  


And, if you don't mind, may I suggest a little "girlfriend" or "mother-daughter" excursion:
     1)  Browse Basket Kases.
     2)  Browse Barefoot Cottage, next door.
     3)  Cross Weinbach and visit UE's art gallery on the corner (Tell Mr. Brown I sent you!)
     4)  Go back across Weinbach and lunch at Coffee Cottage (chicken salad, cornbread  
           salad, salmon sliders - just a few ideas!) and say "hey" to Jill.    And if you have the  
           willpower to pass up the desserts ........
     4)  Step back around the corner and stop in Jeannie's Gelato for some superb "lite ice 
           cream".  (Or have lunch there in the 1st place - salmon soup, tomato bisque, paninis)

THEN

     5)  STOP BACK in BASKET KASES and make your purchase(s) - you know, those items
           you just haven't been able to get out of your mind over lunch :)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

"Entwined for a Time"

“Entwined for a Time”

8" x 24"
SOLD

Having waited for 20 minutes in inclement weather, dressed for sunny and warm, my husband and I grabbed the opportunity when the hostess offered two chairs at the breakfast bar.  Not what we had hoped for, yet we enthusiastically approached our seats.  I quickly realized that I would be sitting shoulder to shoulder with a young lady I had never laid eyes on.  Awkward, I thought, but that uneasy feeling was trumped by my growling stomach and frozen feet. 

Within minutes, Julie initiated conversation.  We limped along for a little while – chatting about routine matters like the weather, the food, and the masses of people.    Then she mentioned why she was in Chicago – just a stopover while job searching.  Prefacing my question with a “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want ”, I rather apologetically asked her if she was a spiritual person.  (I knew we were either “done”, or just getting started.  She was finished eating by then, so she could have made a quick get-away if she wanted!)  And then it got personal.

Turns out, it was just the beginning.  And, because she knows the Lord, total strangers suddenly knew a lot about each other.  Now I know you absolutely cannot wait to hear what we talked about – you want all the juicy details, don’t ya?  Well, that’s between me, and my new BFF.  But, what I will tell you is that we both agreed that it was a “God thing”!  She just so happened to need to hear what God just so happened to equip me to say, not to mention the blessing our meeting had on me.

Our lives are nothing alike – she is at least 35 years younger than moi, is outgoing, and has a passion for animals.  Her lifelong ambition is to work in a zoo, and she’s brave enough to move to another state - alone!  

Polar opposites.  She – from the north (Michigan), and me – from the south.   Next to each other at Tempo on East Chestnut in downtown Chicago.   Indulging in a scrumptious breakfast.  At lunch time.  Today.  And our hearts met and our lives “Entwined for a Time".   (BTW, Julie’s the poppy at the top – the one reflecting the Son  – uh, I mean sun!)

Oh, and prayers answered – she WILL be moving to Nashville for the job of her dreams.  Praise the Lord and congratulations, Julie!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

 plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a futurel”

                                                                                                                   Jeremiah 29:11

“Crucified”

6" X 6" Oil on Canvas Panel

Available

It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we can see Jesus for who He truly is.

 In this somber remembrance of Jesus’ crucifixion, let us surrender our lives –

our sins, our failures, our inadequacies, our will – at the foot of the cross.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slave to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”   (Romans 6:6)