Westie Rescue Garden Roots

Westie to the Rescue

Painting

We have been away from computers for a bit.

My dad went into the hospital for a few days, we thought,

and ended up staying two weeks.

He is home now and very happy to be there.

One nice thing is that on Thanksgiving Day the hospital

cafeteria gave us a full on Thanksgiving Day Meal for free.

Sweet potatoes, squash and apples, turkey, mashed potatoes...

you get the picture. We thought that was very nice of them.
Then later we had a lovely Thanksgiving Day dinner
that my daughter cooked. I ended up not doing very much
in the kitchen this year.

I did get a few paintings done today.  One of my westie boy

who probably thinks we have been off on vacation every day

the last few weeks. Not.  Outside he usually is at a running pace

everywhere he goes. And I tend to be slower with wellies on.

So our westie boy is the scout.

More about paintings here.

Handcrafted Westie Wood

This beautifully handcut Westie trivet comes from Dach Crafts, a small Scottish company from Aberdeenshire. I saw this and just had to share it. Such a sweet face.

You can visit their online shop.

Cleaning up After Hurricane Irene

Last night the purring outside later turned to a soft roar. The sound was like someone had turned on all of the water faucets in the house. Our westie would growl every now and then mimicing the wind. He was a little restless pacing around the house.

This giant hickory tree (above) went down along the fenceline. It popped the metal gate high above it and knocked a fencepost down. What you see is the tree roots---just like Alice and wonderland disappeared down under. We were very fortunate to just have this one tree down. There were small branches scattered around the yard and fields. Our electricity held strong. As we were driving today we couldn't help but notice all the trees that could have went down and toppled the electrical lines. I will tell you this healthy looking hickory tree had a rotten center that we couldn't see, of course, until it was sawed off at the base. Good thing it went down during a storm when everyone was inside!

Westie Pet Portrait and Boy ACEO painting - Summer Woohoo

JUMP FOR SUMMER


Summer is leaping and running with your westie dog. Sir Salty needs a trim as he looks a bit like a beardie or sheepdog (okay, a miniature one). He is always a flutter of activity and runs with his nose high in the air when he is racing us.

I guess he knows he is going to win and he rarely, if ever, looks back.

But if we sit down he always races back to check on us. Like he thinks he will find a bundle of treats that have fell out of our pockets. I think it's because the only time we really sit on the grass is when we are having a picnic or playing with him.

Aceo original painting is available on etsy.

Edible Heart Treats

Dress up your breakfast for your Valentine.



Instead of a just a slice of bread use your heart shaped cookie cutter for a perfect heart. I then put some delicious apple butter on top in a heart shape...and now I feel like a princess!



Here we have the westie who is the Queen's Food Taster. These hearts are very cute too and tasty. An watercolor 2.5 by 3.5-inches aceo I have for sale.

Anthropologie Dress- Merry Christmas

Sir Salty is a good egg collector, but doesn't always want give up the eggs. A little snow on the ground and an anthropologie dress make the day even merrier! How many eggs did you use for your holiday treats and Christmas day breakfast? My daughter made the best breakfast this morning. Cream brulee french toast......lots of eggs and heavy cream, oh my, but they were delicious.




So many beautiful flowers to choose from for the holidays. This bouquet had asian lilies, peruvian lilies and mums. Loved the color combination.

Really the best part of Christmas is being with your family and counting your blessings. I have many to count. Thank you bloggers for stopping in to visit and for all of your lovely blogs as well. I see and read many beautiful things daily that touch my heart. May your holidays be warm, cheery and filled with family.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours,
Candylei and Sir Salty

Scandinavian Mixed Media Westie Scottie Paintings

These colors are so soft and sweet like new fallen snow. I lightened up in my colors in these two mixed media originals and I feel like I am in Europe with the brightest lights and soft pastels. But I'm really here in Maryland at 44 degrees and no snow on the ground...yet! See the westie racing down the hill. That is exactly what our westie does when our son sleds. They have energy and then some. Both little boys and westies.




I put westie's cousin, Scottie, in this painting. A sweetheart. Karina is ice skating in Sweden! We are going around the globe here. Both of these will be on ebay for sale. 5 by 7 inches each and on stretched canvas with collage papers and acrylic paint. Pink colors are so restful and calm.

Antique-ing Volleyball Girls Folk Art Painting

Volleyball Girls

You have to love a slight vintage look with folk art or even childrens paintings because it makes them look like they've been handed down a generation or two. ("..and look how well this old piece looks" you say to yourself even though it's as new as the just bought morning pastries.)

I find for me it works to put one coat of varnish on your finished painting. Then I add the mixture of paint and antiquing gel where I want it and then wipe some off. After that coat has dried well, I add another few coats of varnish. Some artists apply it to the whole painting and then wipe off selected areas. Some only apply it to their background painting before they put the painted figures on. There is no one right or wrong way to use it that is the beauty of the product. Experiment away.

Volleyball Girls is an original painting up for sale on my etsy shop.

Fall Days Westie

We're loving theses fall days where everything is still green and the weather is perfect during the day. Sweaters are necessary in the evenings unless you are a westie. I did an aceo size oil of a westie (our boy modeled) in the shade, but with the warm sunlight still reflecting on him. He looked lumunious like a lantern. An agile running lantern I might add!

Up for sale on ebay.

Christmas Westie Dog in Cool Holiday Colors

Christmas colors in cool tones. While I was weeding amongst august moon (lime green) hostas and african hibiscus (red/plum) the other day I marveled at the colors. It was Christmas colors in warm tones and 98 degree weather. I came in and used those colors in this painting but in totally cool tones. You don't see any yellows in westie, just cool shadows. Red colors can either be warm reds or cool reds. We gardeners work with colors all of the time. Sometimes to amazing achievements and other times a few disappointments, but we learn from each combination we try. Too much fertilizer can almost change a flower color from warm to cool or vice versa. Amazing. (Really gardening is the hardest art of all.)

Westie's other eye is hid from view because of the lush hair and head turned just so. Plus all westies love to roll around and fluff up their facial hair to the max!

We love to dress westies in red for the holidays. The great part about red is it's for both boys and girl westies dogs. And it stands for L_O_V_E.

For sale on ebay titled, HAPPY IN RED.

MARIE ANTOINETTE Versailles Original Folk Art Painting

Did you know that young Marie was quite the artist herself? A princess artist. You can see her drawings online and her sister painted as well.

I finished this folk art painting and it is listed for sale here. It's titled DANCING WITH PUPPY. As you can see she is dancing with cupcakes as well! I am in love with a hint of pink old fashioned roses and the french seem to have many, many of them.

Westie and Girl Art Collage Painting

Soft romantic linens that have that washed slightly faded look...well I am in love with them. They say, summer in the country, in such a sophisticated-romantic way. So if my clothes are like that so are my girls in my paintings this week. When you live in the country, are a gardener and raise sheep, have quite a few linen dresses lined up for a day so you can change when:

the lambs jump up to say hi and soil the front

puppy jumps up to say hi and soils the front

you spill coffee

you spill orange juice

you start painting and forget to change

you snag it on a rose bush

you get the idea... ironically sometimes all three happen at once when you are carrying orange juice and coffee

The title of this painting is "Sharing a Walk." It looks like she is sharing her hair bows, too! Walking with a dog is like having a listening friend who never questions or berates what you are saying. I remember reading about Robert Pattinson practicing, telling his westie what he was going to say to his girlfriend the next day....and Patti, his westie, was very patient and a good listener.

For sale on ebay.

Westie Oil Portrait Painting

I had to paint our sweet clean westie again! He is loving the warm weather today and drinking lots of water. After how many days of rain (which was great because I didn't have to water any of the potted perennials outside that need to go somewhere in the gardens) he can roll and run in the grass and not getting soaked and dirty.

The title of this painting is ''CHEERS.'' Westie is toasting the arrival of summer. I am happy too, but my metabolism needs to hike up a couple of gears to keep up with the greenery and garden outside. But I say "Cheers", too, just like our puppy.

Learn more about painting here.

Westie Dog Voted Best Model of the Year

Hopefully you've not eaten too much Easter candy by now. Our west highland white terrier, Sir Salty, has been voted BEST Model of the Year, by me. He wasn't always fond of sitting still for the camera. No, too wiggly. Sometimes he couldn't control his emotions and would jump to my face for the speediest kiss... which by the way would be only two feet away. Get a cat involved, see gray paw in foreground, and he is super competitive. He can outsit the cat even though squirrels are scampering about. Add some lambs to the photo shoot and he turns into a total show off. Stop by tomorrow for more cute pictures.

Happy Easter Weekend!

Barns, Flood Waters and I Have a Dream

This is what our barn could look like with some money, a permit and hard work. As of right now there are sheep where the diningroom is in this photo and the second floor is stacked with hay bales. If only... This photo is of Mr. Johnson's renovated barn-house in New York state and is one of the homes on tour at Martha Stewart's website. And our barn is still keeping feed and hay dry and keeping mother to be ewe sheep safe, too.

Do you remember when I said Spring had gently and quietly arrived at our place? She has taken away all of the snow now. Hooray. But she is cleaning furiously with heavy rains night and day! Our sweet gentle, gurgling creek has turned into a raging roaring lion. Can you see all of the trees under water? The noise does not faze our westie as he is focused on finding squirrel trails. I have not seen the deer around for two days. It's impossible to cross these waters. I wonder how many trees will go down?

Westie Paintings and Art Prints

Capturing the westie spirit is easy to do when you have a puppy (once a puppy always called a puppy) as a shadow. Ironically, once we get outside he is never a shadow he is always ahead of me continually turning around adjusting where he is going so that he is in a straight line ahead of me.

This painting is titled "Meadow Music" and puppy has dropped his ball and is listening to the crickets sing their songs. I've made some prints of this one and will offer them on ebay.

Westie Dog Blog East Coast Snow Report

It is I, Sir Salty, over my head in snow. My mind is in overdrive and my feet are spinning in the 30 inches of snow we have. There are places I have to go and things I need to see! In the picture above I am saying to my mom parent, "Look me in the eye and tell me that you are getting the shovel." And be quick about it. We couldn't find the shovel.

Here my dad parent had the shovel on the roof of our house! Of course that is a place we all need to walk; right? But my dad parent did not want the porch roof collapsing. It didn't. Mom parent got the shovel for me.

I am a rip roaring take charge westie and jumped ahead of the slow pokes for about 30 seconds. Whew! It is hard work being in charge of someone with a camera. They take one step and take many pictures. They turn and take more pictures. The shovel is not moving.

Sigh. I am very patient with my parents. I think I will go inside and look for my santa suit. I know if I had that coat on in the snow they would be chasing me faster with the camera.

Westie Dog Blog Editorial/Writer

I've always wanted to tell the world that I love where we live in the country. Tonight my parents are busy so I'm going to tell you about my life. We've had lots of snow which I love to romp in. The picture above is me standing down by our creek in my show dog style last night at sunset. Actually I'm listening intently for birds and squirrels and other animal whispering. You must stand very, very still...even if your parents ARE calling you.

I love this wooded section that looks bare in the winter. I can stand tall and erect just like a tree. There isn't much that I can't do if you ask me. I am actually listening again to hear the trees talking. Normally the deer camp out here and eat all of the leaves. The deer like the music the creek makes and with the leaves clapping their hands and the birds chirping...the bullfrogs bass notes... it's like a full orchestra. I like all the music makers.

Sometimes I can sound like a harmonica when my human brother plays his fife and stays on one note too long. I try to correct his timing and his notes by jumping on him until he stops. Then I know he has learned his lesson from me and I walk away.

I have always wanted to be a garden editor because I see alot here in the gardens and also in my parents catalogs and magazines. It smells so good to walk into a greenhouse. I love that earth smell. All the letters form wonderful words in my head when I am in there, but I never have the laptop handy to record them.

Just this for now because I need to babysit the cats who seem to finally wake up after 20 hours of sleep at night.

Growing and Feeding Topiary

Let the snow fall. We will garden indoors with an outdoor attitude! We garden in our imagination, in our waking hours and in our sleep. We garden on paper and canvas, we garden on cupcakes! It is a passion. Even our westie dog has caught the gardening fever.

Topiary standards are little living green works of whimsy. They are fairly easy to grown and maintain. If you don't have a green thumb you could always have a moss covered topiary form instead. I like the real living plant myself.

I would love to have a stainless steel covered table like the one above for gardening. Wood tables are okay, but I guess it European-ish to have one like this. Even in the kitchen. Say like the kitchen in Julia and Julia where Julia Child's in this stainless steel kitchen in Paris. Cook like a pro and garden like a pro.

My yew shrubs that I bought last year are extremely hardy and still in their pots outside. I have not yet figured out how I want to shape them. They are a wonderful deep forest green. The mercedes and bentley's of hedges and garden topiaries.

The title of this painting is "I Heart Gardening" and is for sale on ebay now.

Valentine Westie Dogs Art Daily Painting

Westies are the cutest dogs around even when they are full grown. They are like white clouds that run as fast as the wind. My westie boy is wondering why I have not painted him lately. He is such a good sport and always looks at me with the cutest fluffy face. So, I sat down this morning and painted these two valentines. I have to keep the valentine chocolates way up high because Sir Salty has a nose for chocolates. He can't have any because it is not good for dogs! But he can find some for me that my husband might have hidden. He likes the dark chocolate and I like the light chocolate.

Two little bluebirds are sweet on each other too in the painting. Soon it will be spring and we will see the real bluebirds when they come back. Yay!