Starry Night

The painting shown above was painted by me.

So, the other night I was enjoying the stars as I was swinging in my back yard enjoying a late evening breeze.
I wonder what and where Vincent Van Gogh was thinking/and exactly where was he,  when he was painting his famous painting "Starry Night."

I have a Theo in my life; her name is Becky, my sister. I play around with my drawings and my amateur paintings, and Becky praises everyone of them.
I know they aren't great, but to God they are because He inspires me to have the nerve to try.
Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, he died on July 29, 1890 at the age of 37.
He was known as the greatest Dutch painter next to Rembrandt.
He painted 900 paintings in 10 years, and 1,100 drawings.
Van Gogh was bi-Polar and eventually committed suicide.
He had very little success with his art during his lifetime. He only sold one painting, "The Red Vineyard."
On March 30, 1987, his painting, "Irises" sold at Southerby's in New York; for 53.9 million dollars.
On May 15, 1990, his portrait of his physician, Dr. Gachet; sold at Christie's auction for 82.5 million dollars!
Theo, Vincent's brother, was Vincent's greatest admireror and advocate.
Vincent lived with a Prostitute and her children, whom he claimed to love very much. His family discouraged him marrying her, so he did not.
Vincent lived a short time in Paris with his brother Theo, there he met Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and many other artists. He discovered impressionism and he liked it's light mixed with colors. He also grew to like/ use Pointillism: dot painting. He was considered a Post Impressionist.
He was depressed and cut off part of his ear which he gave to his prostitute friend.
Van Gogh only sold ONE painting in his lifetime! "The Red Vineyard" which now resides in Moscow at the Pushkin museum.
In 1889, Van Gogh put himself in a mental institution because of depression during a painting frenzy.
He enjoyed the gardens there and he began to draw with spiral curves.
He saw a Dr. Paul Gachet , a physician to many artists. He drew Dr. Gachet.
On July 27, at the age of 37, Vincent Van Gog shot himself in the chest. He died a few days later. His last words were: "La tristesse durera toujours." meaning: "The sadness will last forever."
Theo, Van Gogh's brother died  6 months later. He could not deal with his brother's death.They are buried side by side.
Vincent's mother threw away many of her sons drawings/paintings, but she lived long enough to see her
son 's  art become famous and world renown.
I could have told you Vincent, thank you!

A little tribute to you Vincent. Please press play. :)  

A Comedy of Errors!

I spent Labor Day in San Clemente, helping my daughter move to Camp Pendleton. What a feat that was!
 I no longer have youth's energy. It was all worth it to spend time with our darling Robert!
We came home to my $1,800 May Tag 5 1/2 year old refrigerator burnt out! Just a week prior to this, my Neptune Maytag top of the line washer and dryer quit on me. The washer and refrigerator have both been rebuilt since we purchased them 5 1/2 yrs. ago.
Sarah found a great refrigerator on Craig's List. We bought it, and her dad helped me bring it home. As we were unloading our trip to San Clemente, we were also bringing the new refrigerator in the house. I cannot do any lifting because of certain surgeries. Ray was on his own, he and a dolly.
As Ray was on the second front porch step, a wasp stung him right on his jugular vein. He kept right on moving.
My salmon, chicken, and a bunch of frozen casseroles were all ruined inside of my pooped out refrigerator! Yuk!
Well, the refrigerator didn't fit through the kitchen threshold. After removing much molding from my door frames, and after adrenaline rushing while watching Ray carry in a refrigerator up three narrow steps by himself, I cleaned the refrigerator and made us something to eat.
That evening, I went to my garage to get a screw driver. I always walk in through the small door. Unannounced to me, Sarah's dad had opened the large, heavy, wooden door. He left it opened. I was in the dark and slam!! I rammed my forehead smack into the uplifted door salvage. I saw stars and tripped to the ground.
 I went inside to give Ray a piece of my mind, and there he was icing his big old swollen wasp sting. I just went and made myself an icepack for my forehead bump and said nothing. Whew!
The next morning, I decided to wash my filthy car before marketing for new groceries. I am outside in 100 degree weather with my phone in my pocket; washing my car. All of a sudden, no kidding! Over 100 wasps circled me. I had a hose in my hand , so I squirted them and ran inside the house. I went to call my friend, but my phone was ruined from squirting the wasps. I left through the back door to run my errands. As I drove down the street, a huge U-Haul darts in front of me without blinking and THEN!! they stopped dead in front of me to read a street sign. I had to swerve over and hit the curb to avoid hitting them UNREAL!!!
I commenced my way to Sears to pay a bill with adrenaline pumping still.
 By the front entrance into Sears, there was a homeless, schizophrenic man eating out of the trash.
He was speaking in a very high pitched woman's voice and answering himself back with a low, low Baritone man's voice. It made chills down my spine. I had my hand on the door and froze for a second. When he started waving his huge arms around, I ran inside Sears and reported him!
I had a wonderful lunch with a very wonderful friend on the way home from my strange morning.
She shared some easy, wonderful recipes with me. I will post them very soon. I want her permission. I made them today already for dinner!
To end this comedy of errors day, I decided to finish some curtains I am sewing for my daughter. I was ironing the fabric when an Ant, God knows where it came from! It bit me on the white of my eyeball. Screaming, I ran to the bathroom and flushed him out with cold water. I looked with a magnifying glass and part of him was still in me. I got tweezers and pulled it out. I spent last night with a bump on the forehead and tonight with a swollen eye!
I thank God that I still have His peace. But my flesh thinks: "What in the HECK is going on?"
With fires Earthquakes, Wars, and the terrible economy, my cares are minute. It somehow feels better to share them, and to LAUGH at them!
Have a great upcoming weekend.
I enjoyed the stars last night . I have a painting of them I will share this weekend!
Be well, and God Bless us all!
Robinbird :)

BEAUTIFUL MOON TONIGHT!

As I was outdoors watering my plants around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, I sat down and just stared at the beautiful  moon. It was so glowingly brilliant; it made all of my plants glisten with shadowy hues.
There was a faint breeze and I just started thanking God for His majesty. How still was the night!:
I was reminded of a scripture from the book :   (Romans, Chapter 1, verses 20-21) "For since the beginning of creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,/ so that men ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE for although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images..." 

I was meditating on how magnificence the moon is!
How could anyone question the existence of God? He constantly speaks through His glorious wonders and creations! So faithful is the moon, like a loyal friend, /lover/teacher/presence of a sentinel. Thank you God for tonight's moon!
I would like to share a painting that I painted from a view of the moon from my front porch.

In Genesis Chapter 1, verse 14,
God made 2 great lights.
The greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night.  He also made the stars. He set them in the expanse of the sky to separate light from darkness.

On July 21, 1969, man set foot on the MOON!
The moon has been called Earth's natural satellite.
It is the brightest object in the sky; second to the sun.
It is called the night's sun.

The Moon's gravitational influence produces the ocean's tides and the minute lengthening of the day.
We get Lunar calendar from studying the moon.
There are cultural influences from the moon: language - art - mythology - calendars - poetry- prose- and music -  the body's monthly cycles, and Religion also.

In 1380 the noun, moon was developed from the word mone (from 1135 from the pro-Germanic word of moon= "maenon"
The English adjective pertaining to moon is Lunar derived fom the Latin = "Luna"

The Moon's inner core is iron-rich. It's outer crust is "anorthosite" = moonrock; developed through factional Crystallization of a global  "magna ocean formed 4.5 billion years ago.
The kind of pools or craters you can see with your naked eye are called, "MARIA" Latin for "pools" they are solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. The moon does have a magnetic field.
It orbits completely around the earth every 27.3 days. It appears to be locked in place as it slowly rotates about it's axis which is about the same time it takes to orbit the earth. It use to be faster, but now it is "tidally locked" associated with the deformations caused by the earth.
The moon is about 1/4 the size of the earth.
The moon has small "moonquakes."
There is a 5,000 year old rock carving of the moon in KNOWTH, Ireland which is one of the oldest civilized depictions found there.

In ancient cultures, the moon was personified as a deity or as something supernatural.
Astrological views of the moon continue to propagate today.
The moon has a long association with insanity and irrationality: the words: "LUNACY, LOONY" are derived from the Latin (LUNA) meaning moon. Lunatic

Philosophers: Aristotle and Pliny, the elder, argued that the full moon induced insanity in susceptible individuals, believing that the brain, which is mostly water, must be affected by the moon and it's power over the tides, but the moon's gravity is too slight to affect a person's brain.
EVEN TODAY: some people insist that admissions to Psychiatric hospitals,
Traffic Accidents,
Homicides,
Suicides, and
Births are closely associated with a full moon!

"That's Amore" one of my favorite songs, sung by Dean Martin; mentions how the moon hits your eye like a big Pizza Pie. Also, one of my favorite movies, "Moonstruck" equates love happening with a full moon!


Listed here are some songs about the moon:
Whole Of The Moon
Moon Shadow
Moon Dance
Moon River
Eclipse
Drunk On The moon
Bike Ride To The Moon
Climbing To The Moon
Spidery Moon
Cajun Moon
Moon On My Shoulder
Moon Rise Blues
Bark At The Moon
There's A Moon In The Sky
Sisters Of The Moon
Mr. Moonlight
Moon
Yellow Moon
Pink Moon
KikioAnd The Lavender Moon
Walking On The Moon
New Moon On Monday
Bad Moon Rising
Moon Over Bourbon Street
How High The Moon
Blue Moon....and may more.


Moon Quotes:

" I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it."... Albert Einstein

" Three things cannot be long hidden:
1.The Sun 
2. The Moon 
3. and the Truth..." Buddha


"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." ... Mark Twain

"See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...
We need silence to be able to touch souls." ... Mother Teresa of Calcutta

" And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." Genesis 1 verse 14.

**********We need to be prepared with the Lord for Matthew 24:29 will occur. ************
The good news for Christians is: Isaiah 60 verses 19 to 22.
***************************************************************************



Scriptures mentioning the MOON:

PSALMS:  ...72 verse 5  
89 verse 37   
104 verse 19    1
21 verse 6

GENESIS:...1 verses 15 - 16

DEUTERONOMY ...4 verse 19
17 verses 3-6
33 verse 14

MATTHEW ...4 verse 24
24 verse 29

JEREMIAH ... 8 verses 1 - 3

ISAIAH ... 60 verse 20
13 verse 10

SONG OF SOLOMON ... 6 verse 10

1 CORINTHIANS 15 verse 41

JEREMIAH ... 31 verse 35 and 36

1 SAMUEL ...  20 verses 5 - 6

Hold hands with someone you love and gaze at the stillness of the moon together: I dare you !
You WILL feel the presence of God!
Love, Robinbird
   

Pass it forward...

...So, I have this friend who has started a blog! I am a pretty seasoned Christian, and I have become selective about what I read these days. Sometimes, when you have heard one story, it seems that you've heard them all (so similar) not THIS blog!
Julie makes you believe that you are sitting next to a dear friend who's life and experiences are there to teach you! I am speaking of "anointed."
I find myself looking forward to being blessed on a daily bases from reading her blog: www.wingsoffaithdevotionals.blogspot.com
I am sharing the gift of her blog with you all.
Please become one of her followers. I want to encourage this humble writer to keep on writing. You will be blessed!!!!!!

Refreshing Grape Salad

I enjoyed this absolutely GREAT salad at my friend's home on several occasions.
Sorry, this picture does not do it justice. I wasn't at home to put it in a beautiful crystal dish, but oh! it was DELICIOUS!
She has prepared it with green grapes only, and with red grapes only and once with mixed grapes. Every time was scrumptious!!!!!
I have a sweet tooth so I add a little more brown sugar and a little more nuts when I prepare this recipe.
It is the talk-all at every single function I have taken it to!
I would like to share this recipe with you ONLY, LOL! if you give me feedback (please) and tell me how you made yours?

GRAPE SALAD
4 pounds of seedless grapes
1- 8 ounce cream cheese
1- 8 ounce sour cream
1/4- cup of brown sugar
1 cup -regular sugar
1/4 cup -of mixed nuts

Soften cream cheese at room temperature
wash and DRY the grapes (important not to have wet grapes)
Put white sugar, sour cream, cream cheese, in a large bowl and mix together, then mix in with the grapes
Separately mix chopped nuts together with brown sugar, just right before you serve this; sprinkle this mixture on top (generously) of grape salad, kind of like a loose crust
I used a cup of cashews instead of walnuts, I also used 1 cup of brown sugar
you may chill this salad without the topping until you serve it for a cool, crisp and crunchy dessert!
I promise, you will enjoy this one!
Bon Appetite! Love, Robinbird :)

DEATH

Hello Dear Readers!

Did you all have a nice day?
Each morning, before I get out of bed, I say this prayer: "This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad." Psalm 118:verse 24.
There are days when I am not feeling glad, or days that I really do NOT want to rejoice! Yet, I continue praying that prayer day after endless day for over 40 years now! You could say "RELIGIOUSLY."
When my sister was born, our mother embroidered the most beautiful picture of little children all dressed in different little nighties. The boarder of this picture has embroidered flowers all around the prayer. I am almost certain that you will all be familiar with this prayer. When it hung in my room as a child, the words scared me. I also hung the same picture over my daughter's bed when she was little, and now I am getting ready to offer it to her for her new baby's bedroom. How weird is that? Maybe it can scare him too?
I never asked her if the words bothered her. I used to kneel down with her and we would recite the prayer together along with asking God to bless our families and to prepare my daughter's future husband to be a man of God. Here is the prayer:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray Thee, Lord, to guide my ways.
Amen."

I equated bedtime with; If  I fell asleep, it was like Russian Roulette; I might die in the night if I didn't keep vigil.
Like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, I wouldn't dare break tradition.
But why do we follow tradition? Is it for loyalty to our mother who embroidered the picture? or is it because I feel good knowing that my sisters eyes, my eyes, Sarah's eyes, and now baby Robert's eyes will see the same picture that history has shared?
I have learned since; that fear cannot exist with faith, and that truth cannot exist without God.
I can now explain where that soul will be taken, (from the children's prayer) I will teach my grandson of the eternal life that heaven offers and to be ready each day for that journey, and to live each of his days seeking God in his life. It is a choice which needs to be guided and taught and ultimately chosen by free will!
Recently, I have been told of many deaths in my friends lives. I recall when those winds of death were tugging at my own hem. In two years time, I attended  12 funerals and 2 others, which were my own parent's funerals. I have lost a baby, a very dear friend, many relatives, and my most precious parents all before I turned 40.
Now, I am observing my best friend as she is preparing for her very ill husband's transitioning period.
Just yesterday, my other friend was telling me all about her cousin's funeral and how he knew, and prepared for his death. When I hung up my phone from listening about her cousin's funeral, the phone rang once again; another friend of mine called me and she was very, very shaken by the death of her 50 year old epitome-of-health friend; who came home from her morning walk and dropped dead a few days ago.
She was beautiful, thin, the picture of health, an Interior Designer, a Bible study leader, a wife and mother, gone now ;and her funeral is right now as I am writing this.
My next-door neighbor was riding his bike to our neighborhood gym which is 3 blocks away. On his way home a car hit him, broke his neck and after being on life support a few days, he died. I remember saying "good morning" to him that morning as he rode his bike down the driveway. The very next day I was scheduled to have a serious surgery at USC Norris hospital. I was so concerned about if I would make it okay, only to come home 5 days later to hear that my neighbor had died.
To make a long story even longer...
...I URGE you to be ready!!! I don't want to proselytize, but I need to share with you, because I love and respect you. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that the ONLY way to be right with the father, is through the SON who paid our ticket back to GOD! What is important to you right now?????
It used to be that house, or that dress, or my child, or that raise of money, or if I could just be thin, or having someone to love me, or a clean bill of health, or food or..or..or........
If you have the time, or if you will please make the time, Please read: John 3:16 to live forever.
John 10:10 To be aware of what the thief wants.
Mark 13:34  To be watchful.
1Corinthians 15:55 Jesus conquered death for you, believe and receive the gift while you are still alive!
The entire chapter of ROMANS 5 reveals the crucial importance of finding peace through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:23 says that "not all who call my name are mine. I do not know them."
Matthew 12:11 states : that the door will close one day.
Today could be your last day, you have absolutely NOTHING to lose and ETERNITY to gain through confessing Jesus as your Savior!!!
Please consider it. This could be the last day the Lord has given you to rejoice and be glad!
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you WILL be saved. "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in Him will NEVER be put to shame." ROMANS 10: verses 9-11.
By the way, I came across this scripture today as answered prayer. Psalm 4:8: "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety."
I have learned as an adult; that whatever kind of sleep God has in mind for me is just perfect, whether I sleep until morning, or until judgement, I am sealed by my confession of Jesus Christ as my Savior!
This truly is the day the Lord has made for you and me. Let us cherish it and be grateful no matter how it may seem!
Love you all!  Robinbird