“Birds gotta fly in the sky, fish gotta swim in the lake. Miss Toni’s gotta cook, and she’s also gotta bake.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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Today was an enchanting enchilada kinda day. I found that I have some friends and neighbors that love to eat but they hate to cook. Well, it just so happens that I love to cook and bake. What a perfect combination.
Today, Miss Kathy across the street was the lucky recipient of my OCC…Obsessive Compulsive Cooking. Chicken Cheese Enchiladas, with a side of salad, chips and Bernard’s Salsa.
After taste testing a full plate for quality assurance, dropping off my Super Uper Eats delivery across the street, I went for a slow evening stroll. The sunset wasn’t colorful, but rather a windy misty hazy blur. Still beautiful.
My equine Neighbor friend was enjoying his dinner while I soaked up the sunset.
“I always see weird shapes, animals, people and designs in the clouds. Does that mean I’m a little whacko, or just a little creative? All in the perspective, I guess.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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I went for a very short slow evening walk tonight. My right knee has been acting up, but my neighbor asked if I could take his dog out For a walk if I was out walking tonight. He was going to be out for a while. I hadn’t walked in a couple of days, but I knew I could limp along for a little bit so my little canine friend wouldn’t have to hold it all night, and maybe a little movement would help my knee.
Bella was happy to see me and she pranced along while I limped along. I always appreciate the sunsets, but tonight, there was a weird formation in the sky.
From a distance, you don’t notice the formation, but I found it intriguing. On closer examination, I saw Noah, parading the animals out from the ark, parked way at the back end. In the front there are two little birds, with a dragon turning back to talk to the birds. Mickey and Minnie Mouse are standing on the back of the other dragon, and Noah is leading the rest of the crew. He’s wearing a turban (do you see him?), followed by a couple of bears, then two alligators, (or are they crocodiles?) two giant turtles, (one behind the other) and a couple of elephants bringing up the rear.
I know, I know, you don’t think that dragons or Mickey and Minnie Mouse were around during the time of the great flood and Noah’s Ark. But guess what! These are my clouds and my vision. And I haven’t even started on my Black Russians yet…🤦♀️ What do you see?
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” ― Helen Keller
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Well, I really didn’t throw any clay around, but my good friend and talented artist, Steve Macias did. Our local McKinney artists and friends were invited to participate in the upcoming Empty Bowls fundraiser by adding their 2-talents glazing Skills on a beautiful hand thrown clay bowl made by local potters like Steve, Minda, Alex Macias and Other awesome potters.
Last week, I went over to SPARC, to pick up my bowl and glaze, but decided to just sit alone in the back room and glaze/paint Steve’s bowl with my signature roses. I only needed three color, red, white and green, and a little time. And even having to do two or three coats, I finished in less than a half hour. It would have taken me longer to drive home. It saved me a trip back. I think it turned out pretty good. It will be a lot more colorful once it’s fired.
Empty Bowls McKinney is an annual fund-raising event that brings together artists and the community to “fight hunger one bowl at a time.” The premise is simple: professional artists, student artists, and amateurs create handcrafted bowls, and guests come to share a meal of soup and bread. In return for a donation, guests take home an empty handcrafted bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the local community and of children and adults who go to sleep hungry. Empty Bowls McKinney is modeled on the grass-roots Empty Bowls effort that was created in 1990 to make a difference for hungry people in the local community. Each Empty Bowls event is unique to the town or city it serves, and reflects the commitment of artists and others to feed the hungry people who live there.
“Nothin’ says thank you like a freshly baked batch of brownies.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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I was at the grocery store today picking up some great sale items for myself and some for Holy Family School. They had some cool 99c sale items. Baby wipes and Mickey Mouse Goldfish crackers, can’t pass that up. I noticed three McKinney firemen in line, paying for their groceries. Of course, I went over to say hi and asked if they were able to accept my homemade brownies yet. Well, they said yes. They just started accepting items from friends and neighbors. SAY NO MORE! I went home and made a batch of brownies and drove over to Station 9 while they were still warm. I added a note… “Thanks for all you do. You guys are looking pretty skinny.”
“Creating is just playing with ideas in your head until they become real.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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It’s always such fun to come up with an idea for my Tuesday Time-lapse video. NOT! It takes me all day to think of a project. I watch videos, go through my ideas file, and rummage through my art supplies until I think of something. Then, I just give up and settle for the last idea in my brain. That’s call PROCRASTINATION IMAGINATION.
“Creating is just playing with ideas in your head until they become real.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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It’s always such fun to come up with an idea for my Tuesday Time-lapse video. NOT! It takes me all day to think of a project. I watch videos, go through my ideas file, and rummage through my art supplies until I think of something. Then, I just give up and settle for the last idea in my brain. That’s call PROCRASTINATION IMAGINATION.
“The rain has stopped, and the sun came out. And that my friends, is what it’s all about. PATIENCE.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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Finally, the rain has stopped. I was going to sing “Rainy days and Mondays,” today, but no need. Maybe I should sing, “Here comes the Sun.” It’s a good day to sing.
I’m usually pretty patient, but I’ve had about enough rain to last me till…. well, until summer, when it’s 100° and dry as a tumbleweed in Texas.
I’d start building the ARK, but it’s too rainy to go out to Home Depot to get all the lumber, not to mention looking for the animals two-by-two. So, I just stayed in the house most of the day, except for a few short walks with the dog in the park across the street.
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This morning I watched Mass on TV, it was dry and warm. Life is good.
Today’s Gospel was the story of Jesus preaching in Galilee and finding a few of his apostles…
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” 16And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb’edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb’edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.
My take on it…When you get the call, you get the call! Drop what you’re doing and follow.
The highlight of my evening… a FaceTime call with my little grand-babies.
“On this dark dreary Saturday, I discovered there is NO beautiful sunset without a sun. But, there’s still beauty all around.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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Yuk! Another drab and dreary day here in North Texas. I hadn’t poked my nose out of the house since Thursday, not even to get the mail. So, today, I mustered up all my mustard… (play on words) and dragged my sorry butt out for a walk.
It was dark and misty at 5pm, usually my amazing sunset photo time. But, I didn’t let it get me down. I decided to see what other beautiful and glorious sights and sounds might lift my spirits. I was not disappointed.
Across the street from the pond, two beautiful horses were out grazing in the pasture. Maybe it’s a pasture, or maybe it’s just the front yard of the old farmhouse where a recently constructed road skims across the once open field. I remember seeing these horses when they were just newly born, romping around, then flopping down in the tall grass next to their mommas.
After making around 5 or 6 loops around the pond, I stopped at a bench to just breathe in the misty air and appreciate the birds flying by. Then, up again for a few more loops.
This bare tree was an inspiration for a few lines of a poem that rattled around in my brain. (TBA)
I even reveled in the artistic beauty of this rusty storm sewer cover that I cross paths with hundreds of times on my walks. There is beauty every where if you only open your eyes.
A couple of days ago, Helene and I stopped at Holy Family School to drop off our donations for the children. Just about every week, we find great bargains and sales at the grocery store that we think the little ones at the school would enjoy. Then, about once a month, we drive over to the east side to share our treasures. We are always greeted with grateful smiles.
This beautiful non-profit Christian School has been serving the McKinney community for 70 years. Such a blessing. Here’s a pre-Covid photo of the adorable youngsters.
Family is not a certain group or house or thing. Family is everyone in your heart.
Toni Andrukaitis 