Category Archives: Fun Times

Oil Painting

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Country Scene

no water in this one but the clouds are building up, maybe a shower tonight~

This landscape is 24″x36″ and has always been my favorite size to paint, it is the right proportion. It works well on a wall above a fireplace or over a large piece of furniture. This size canvas takes about four days to paint, with a couple of days drying time in between. I have always kept three paintings going at once, that way when I have gone as far as I need to on one, I can let it dry while I work on another one. Painting  wet on wet ends up a dull grey picture, bright highlights will pop out if the paint under it is dry.  I have never used an easel, it  is awkward and makes my arm tired. I had rather stand over the canvas with it lying flat on the table or sit with it propped up in my lap. When paintings were finished, Dan framed them for me. A salesman came twice a year from  Brownwood to show me the samples. They have beautiful ready made frames with elaborately finished corners. Even a small 5″x7″ painting in one of these frames turns it into something special. 

Bluebonnets Near Llano

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Beautiful lush pasture

this is another scene around another curve in the road, breathtaking

Another pasture with bluebonnets, this one near Llano. Take your camera, go early to get the perfect shots. An overcast day, with no bright sunshine is best. The colors are brilliant, so mornings make stunning pictures. You can take off down country roads where there is no traffic and take your time. Ask around Mason and they will tell you where to get a map of the good places, these roads loop around and get you back to the main roads. Get going, the time is now!

World’s Smallest Office

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This is  Jitter Joe, Marci and Missy, trying out one of the new office chairs~

Here are three of my dogs, this picture was taken in 2006 in the world’s smallest office. I got T4C to build me a little 6′ X 8′ building, I painted it barn red, trimmed it in taupe and the roof was hunter green. It was an exciting project.  I built two desks out of 1″ birch plywood and it had insulated windows, a ceiling fan, and also an air-conditioner. It had a small heater  but didn’t need one since the computers kept it warm. 

Almost finished except for the screened door and the deck, three more days and all done

When it was finished, there was space for two people working in there with         two computers, printers, scanners and 19 feet of shelving on the walls, enough storage room for all their business.This project took about two months but was one of my favorites. It was like building a play house. My dogs liked it too. 

I get tired sometimes, this was that time. And it was worth it~

What a thrill the day my kids moved home and saw it for the first time. It was sitting at our camp on the South Concho River near Christoval,  they used it until they were able to build their new home. Now it has been moved to it’s permanent place in the middle of Chickie Town and the Peacock Palace and the Bean Barn and the orchard. I never get over the feeling of excitement going inside that fine little place. Wonderful memories live here.

West Texas Chuck Wagon

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The Camp Cook

I would think this was the best job around~

Harold Wood, who was in charge  of the LBJ Park near Johnson City once sent me an old  photograph of a camp cook with his chuck wagon and wanted me use it as a subject for an oil painting. I really enjoyed painting it and it hung in the Library and Conference Room at the park for several years. It reminded me of far West Texas and the Culberson County Ranch. Hunting camps still have camp cooks, usually one of the hunters takes on the job and does it year after year. Sometimes a real cook comes and gets to hunt for free. I can only imagine the men starting out early on a cold  morning with a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, boiled coffee and biscuits cooked in an old Dutch oven on the open fire, then heading out for the big hunt. This is where fathers bond with sons, brothers with brothers. This is where friendships are made that last a lifetime.

Country Boy

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Today I have a few pictures of one of our friends who spent a lot of time with our boys when they were growing up. One of the nicest things about having children is you sort of adopt their friends as your own and enjoy them, it is just an added bonus.

here is Matt at the place at  Huldale, the boys liked to trap varmints out there.

This is Matt Bumguardner, he was raised on a ranch with three brothers, they lost their mother at a young age, but they had a wonderful  daddy who raised them by himself and sent them all through college. They were fine boys, gifted and talented.

I asked him how he got his lip smashed, he said a headlight blew up in his face and cut it. That is the only time I remember anyone getting hurt~

Matt liked to fish and hunt, camp out, and build things

 We were closely connected to Matt. He knew how to fix things and make things, and  didn’t mind hard work. He liked fixing up old cars and pick ups, rebuilding motors getting them running. One day Daddy went to town and was gone for quite a while. I heard the fire whistle blow in town and wondered where the fire was. Then here came a truck down our road, towing Daddy’s completely burned Volkswagen. While he was going down  main street  the gas line came loose, and with a loud pop the car caught on fire. It looked like a total loss. Sometime later, Matt traded him out of it and completely restored it. When he was finished, it was probably the only Volkswagen anywhere that was painted in Texas A&M University’s  maroon and white. Matt lives in Arizona but we were able to visit with him last year at his daddy’s funeral. It was like he had never been away and it has been over 25 years.  His kids will like seeing these pictures~

he was a cowboy, he also spent summers between college semesters , working in the oil fields, blowing air for Ingersal Rand

I always worried about the boys, they weren’t reckless but there were things out there that could hurt them. I heard some scary stories later on.

here is just one of the trucks he fixed up, he had several. Believe me, he needed those spare tires in the back~ 

the boys and Daddy in the Delaware Mountains, they spent lots of good times out there and always were happy to have Daddy come along ~

Mother’s Day

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My Sweet Mama

1913-1972- what a joy to remember her, she is always in my heart~

Sunday was Mother’s Day and what a special day! This was my  mother Elizabeth Elder, she was a wonderful mother and grandmother. We were best friends for all those years and almost everything I ever learned came from her, creative in  every way, but her greatest talent was painting. To watch her paint was an inspiration, she taught art for most of her life. She introduced the world of art to this part of West Texas. There are many  people who come into our lives who mean everything to us  but there is only one mother, mine was smart, pretty, creative and so much fun to be with. She was special~

 

Favorite Arm Chair

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Favorite little chair

I have had the real chair recovered three times in 45 years. It is my special place to read the morning paper. This miniature is 8″ high. Yes, that is the Standard Times on the table~

This armchair is 8″ high and a copy of one in my living room that I have had for 45 years. We bought it from Bennett Brother’s of Chicago, a wholesale place that put out a wonderful catalog every year. They carried nice furniture, as well as jewelry and almost anything you could think of. The prices were ‘wholesale’. The miniature chair was easy to make, upholstered furniture didn’t take as much time to make as the wooden pieces. The lamp table was a copy of a real one I had. The books are a little block of wood, covered with pictures of books from a magazine, just cut out the  picture and fold it over the wood. One book is True Women by Janice Woods, I scanned the book jacket and then reduced it down to the right size for the miniatures. No matter how tiny these things are, you can recognize the covers and read the titles. It is the same with photographs, I scan, then reduced the size and frame them in something like an ear screw that  has the the stone taken out. Jewelry makes perfect little frames. This chair is like the one I sit in every morning to read the paper. I have said before  how much I enjoy the morning paper~if I am not liking the way a story is going, I just turn the page. The TV news turns into a loud debate, Breaking News! Then the rest of the day, each commentator giving their  take on it and explaining it to us dummies~I like the Standard Times and our wonderful local paper, The Eldorado Success~

 

Bingo Singers

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Gig at the court house

Here are Dale, Leonard, Rita and Jim  singing at the court house square, our group changes often, just who ever is available and willing~

The Bingo Singers~this little group has been active for at least 19 years. It started at the nursing home when I was helping with the Bingo games. Willie Johnson was singing one day and I told her I had a guitar and brought it the next time and we were off and running. She knew every song there was, I  made copies of the lyrics for everyone and we sang for an hour before Bingo twice a week. We sang everything from old ‘he done her wrong songs to hymns’. Through the years we have had some great singers, some of the guys like Jack , George , Claudie , and Wally  to name a few, and volunteers  like Jim , James , Mary , Norma Lynn  and a group of women who love to sing . We’ve played a few gigs at socials on the court house lawn. A nice comment was, “you don’t mess around tuning guitars or warming up, you just get up and sing“.  It has been fun being a part of this sweet nursing home family, some of my best friends ever, it is nice having a good audience~We meet every Friday at 9:00 and sing our hearts out for an hour. Everyone is invited.

Ranch House

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An old home place

This wasn’t an actual place, just a scene from memory. There is something appealing about old houses, they all have an important history~

Here is an old ranch house I painted in about 1968. It seems like all of these old houses were built from one of  two house plans. This one had one front door (sometimes two) and a wing built out in front. (there was usually an add-on shed in the back). Then there was the house with a long porch across the front and two or three front doors. You would wonder which door to knock on. Most of these old places had an out house. The better ones had a pit toilet with a modern looking oak seat  and a metal floor. (home for granddaddy long leg spiders.)  Others were two and three hollers and a trap door in the back.The yard had a picket fence to keep the stock out. The barn was usually finer than the house and there was almost always  a windmill, the sound of the mill turning is something we always remember. There is something cozy about these old houses. A nice place to come home to. When my granddad retired he and my grandmother moved to their farm at Grit. Before they finished fixing up the old house, it was  primitive but it did have running water inside. I loved being there, it was wonderful, the kerosene lamps smelled good but they didn’t put out much light. What I missed was a refrigerator, they had an ice box and things were never very cold. Granddad built a big cement tank and we waited all summer for it to fill up so we could go swimming, when it was time for us to come home, there was about  nine inches of water in it. I had to save my new blow up water wings for another year.

Baked Chicken Breasts

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Sunday Company Dinner

this recipe came from my friend Pat Pfluger, it makes a delicious company dinner

This is one of those really easy to make dinners. It is great with hot rolls and a fresh fruit salad. For my Sunday company dinner yesterday I served it with Debbie’s green beans and a corn dish, dinner for eight, everyone enjoyed it. ~in the oven when I left for church, ready for the table when I got home~ Always a good anytime meal but makes a special dinner for company too, simply delicious~

Baked Chicken Breasts
8 or 10 chicken breasts
1 8 oz. can mushrooms
1 can mushroom soup
1 can Pet milk
1 8 oz. carton sour cream
1/4 c. sherry
paprika 
Split breast so they will be serving sizes
Lay chicken breasts in a large baking dish, mix all
other ingredients except paprika and spread over
chicken, then sprinkle top with paprika. Do not cover.
Bake at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours

Model T Ford

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Paul and Patrolman Don Thomas

Paul passed his driver’s test with a perfect score.

On March 24, 1924, Mr. E.L. Hoover bought this new Model T Ford Roadster from Watkins-Inks Motor Co in Llano, Texas and paid $346.70 (filled up). Years later, in the early 50′s, Bob McWhorter bought it from him and completely restored it. He enjoyed taking kids for rides, showing it off in parades or just driving it to the drug store for coffee.  He had two Model T Ford cars and later gave one to each of two nephews, Dan and Paul McWhorter. The boys loved their cars and took great care of them. When Paul was 16 years old, he was going to take the test for his Texas Driver’s License and asked the patrolman Don Thomas, if he could use  his old car. Mr. Thomas said, “sure thing! I have never ridden in a 54 year old car”, so off they went! Paul passed with a perfect score. Several pictures were taken that day that ended up in the newspaper, and later in ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.’ It was the oldest car ever driven for a Texas Driver’s Test. (licenses were not required until 1936). The boys have had their special cars for over 35 years, they are parked in a fine barn near Chirstoval behind Paul’s house. Getting the cars was one of their biggest thrills ever, and seeing the piece in Ripley’s was fun too. Nice surprise~

The Roughneck

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Jack with the goats

Daddy was a good subject, he would go along with anything I needed and was always willing ~

This is a painting I did of my daddy, Jack Elder at the Hulldale barn. He was always good to pose for me. He was not a cowboy, or a sodbuster or a plowboy, he was a roughneck. His usual dress was coveralls, steel toed boots and a hard hat. He worked full time in the oil fields until he was 68 years old, he liked it. He liked his coffee shop friends, his fruit trees, and liked being in charge of everything around him, including me.  We locked horns many times through the years. Daddy  would do things without thinking. He would have a mess on his boots and scrape them off  with his pocket knife, and a few minutes later be peeling a pecan or a peach with that knife for one of the kids. He liked to cook.  His peach cobbler recipe was original, it went something like this~                                            

Peach Cobbler
Take a loaf pan, fill almost to the top with sliced peaches
Add at least 3 times too much sugar and several sticks of butter
Bake in 450 degree oven until it boils over and burns
Scoop out the center and eat that
The last one who takes a serving had to clean the pan
Thank you Daddy~