Blog Posts

A Painting A Day...Keeps The Gloomy Days Away

1/16/2020

My goal for 2020 is to paint 1 watercolor a day. Sorry if I've been absent, you know a girl has to have priorities!

I'm still a beginner and SO grateful for all the wonderful teachers on YouTube! My favorite is an old fella named Alan Owen from Great Britain. His accent is SO thick, I can only decipher 1 out of 10 words. I love the loose style he uses. I'm learning to mix my colors and feel more confident each day.

So here ya go....I think there are 16.

I missed a few in my stack...but I hope you can see my progression. I'm feeling more comfortable with shading and color values and even with composition...however, I still use most of Alan Owen's paintings to copy composition.

No. 5 is the composition of a pic I took down our country road when Hubs and I went for our daily 2 mile walk.

The artificial lighting does not give an accurate description either....but, I usually just snap a shot to send off to my mama in California.

My Mom spent a couple days resting in the hospital this past weekend. She had the flu and on top of COPD, she needed oxygen. Thankfully she didn't have any other complications and went home with my sister Jackie after 2.5 days.

And I am ever so grateful that I haven't been sick this winter!

Be Sweet,
Diane

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Merry Christmas!

12/24/2019

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I do believe our little pumpkin is as happy as my kiddos were! Her Mama says she's this happy at 4AM too!

We wish you the happiest of Christmases. Although we know this is not the birth date of our awaited Messiah, we celebrate him tomorrow. It truly was the worlds greatest gift!

"For God SO loved you and me, He gave us His only son, that whosoever, believes in Him, will have eternal life." (my paraphrase) John 3:16. He did it out of pure unadulterated LOVE. That kind of love messes me up....it just makes me weep.

Our Messiah has come! And now we await his coming again.

We will reign with Him.

Look up! Our King is nigh.

Love,
Diane

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An Act of Love

12/3/2019

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Our church is doing a fundraiser for a Winter VBS. In Texas each Independent School District (ISD) pretty much sets it's own vacation dates. Our ISD has a very long Winter break well into the New Year. So a few ladies decided to offer a Winter VBS for the kids during their vacation. We have a very small church on a very small budget.

The fundraiser is a very unique Christmas photo shoot. Guess who sorta volunteered to shoot the pics? Our daughter is a professional photographer and she taught me enough that I'm dangerous!

I pulled my Nikon D80 out of mothballs and snapped 4 pics and it proceeded to die! Not only was I extremely sad because my Nikon was dead but in 3 days, I was suppose to shoot pics! I didn't stress too much over it....many people have some kind of digital camera today....but I was used to shooting a Nikon and I love my lenses. So, that night I went to church and mentioned it to a friend and she said....

"oh I have a camera you can use. My daughter is a professional photographer and she gave it to me to learn how to use, but I've never had it out of the bag. I have no idea what kind it is, but you are welcome to come by and get it."

To God be the glory! It was a Nikon and I did a little happy dance!

Jehovah Jireh! God our Provider!

I've been shooting pics every Sunday afternoon for 4 Sundays. Then I spend a few hours each week editing and sending them by email...in East Texas high speed internet....leaves a lot to be desired! The Lord keeps reminding me to serve with gladness and joy.

It's been fun....but I'm pooped after standing on my feet all day and doing squats. After I come home and edit them during the week, I'm filled with joy and you might hear me telling a few adults in the pics....keep your eyes on ME! heheehee...never fails...they have ADHD!

Not only was this the best $20 people spent for a fundraiser....they got awesome pics!

Here are a few. Don't ya just love the Texas touch!!! :)

Humbly His,
Diane

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Bread Making...YUM!

11/30/2019

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I've been a real food foodie for a very long time. I first began my healing journey in 1993 after a terrible car accident that left me with torn cartilage in both wrist, 8 surgeries on my arms/hands in 6 years, severe stomach pains from the NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) which ate holes in my gut, severe PTSD anxiety about getting in a car again, allergic reactions to all opioid Rx and a jury trial to sue State Farm.

I'm pretty sure after my last surgery, Good Friday, 1999 and a 2 day trial in Baltimore City with 12 of my peers (all black males) against MY insurance Co since the driver at fault was uninsured (which by the way I won!)....that's when EBV and Lyme & Co. came out of remission. Hey, why wouldn't they....they are both very opportunistic!

I remember starting out slowly with simple things like making our bread from fresh ground wheat, keeping sourdough starter, buying bulk beans, grains, rice. I worked my way up to juicing and cooking everything from scratch. I haven't started grinding wheat again...but I probably will since it's cost effective. But for now, buying bulk bags from Bread Topia works in Nowhere Texas!

In the late 90's I started taking cooking classes from a country "neighbor", Gloria McAdams who taught bead making and plant based cooking. She told me that juicing cabbage would heal my gut. When I saw incredible healing....that's when my interest was peaked to eat plants. She was/is a Seventh Day Adventist so is a plant based eater. It was my earliest exposure to eating just plants. I had a lot of opposition from my family, but here we are making a full circle with WFPB eating!

It's kinda funny, Gloria is now my country "neighbor" in Texas too!

Who knew...God was the creator of Tie-Dye!!! Juicing is so beautiful!

I use a clay oven to get a nice crusty bread.

I use the no knead recipe on Bread Topia. Einkorn Whole Wheat Flour is the only NON Hybridized wheat! It's thought to be an ancient original wheat!!! It is absolutely our favorite and makes a very light and almost white type of bread!

We love sweet potato flat bread called Roti! It's so simple to mix a cup of sweet potato and flour. Roll them out and then cook them until they puff!

You can start making simple changes in your diet to begin seeing big changes!

Blessings for Health!
Diane

Hubs finally fixed my S L O W internet connection in The Shepherd's Studio...SO, I should be able to be more active here!

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My Ongoing Health Crisis

11/27/2019

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If you've known me for any number of years, you know that I've battled for my health...practically my entire life. I believe the enemy knew God would choose me and he tried to take me out early and often.

I was only 18 months when I swallowed a bottle of furniture polish my sister opened for me. :/ Of course I don't blame her anymore than I do for my broken left foot when I was 8. Those are my earliest memories as a child....being rushed to the ER and having my stomach pumped out. Before age 2 I fell into barbed wire and split my chinny chin chin open and had stitches. Age 2 I fell off the back of the sofa onto a floor with a concrete foundation playing cowboys and Indians with my sister and broke my arm (do you see the pattern...keep reading), then proceeded to fall down the steps in that same house with that same cast on my arm...all the way down! (no she didn't push me!) I was around 2 when Mom left my sister (her again!) in the car and ran into the house for something....Mary put the car in neutral and jumped out (she was only 3!) and I was in the back seat as the car rolled into the street! Thank the Lord we had a whole lot less people living on this earth back then! In third grade my sister and I were playing cowboys and Indians again....you'd of thought I would have learned my lesson when I was 2!....but I didn't and she chased me around a tree and I broke my left foot and multiple toes.

When I was 13 I found a lump under my right arm, the size of an egg. I showed my mom and of course we all know what she thought. Cancer. I was very sick. We spent 4-6 months going from doctor to doctor. I'm sure it was then that my dislike (that's putting it mildly) for doctors began. I heard repeatedly....it's all in her head. Right. I missed a good quarter of school. The kids in school voted on who was sicker, me or Mary Ellen Ruffing. They voted me. In 11th grade Mary Ellen Ruffing died of Leukemia. :( If that doesn't put life's gravity into perspective I don't know what does.

Thankfully Mom wasn't a quitter and she finally took me to an old doctor in town. He knew immediately what was wrong. I had the Epstein-Barr Virus....mono...herpes virus....just like chicken pox/shingles. I remember him telling Mom that I could of picked it up off a glass in the cafeteria....it's a very contagious virus. In fact nearly 90-95% of the population has the virus. It never leaves the body. For some it stays dormant and for others it is very opportunistic and comes out of dormancy to attack...yet again. And again!

Of course in all this I also was infected with tick borne disease; Lyme, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis and Bartonella. Healing from that seems like it was a piece of cake compared to other things I've battled. But of course we know it wasn't....it took years, but by God's grace I did heal.

This summer, I began searching for health reasons why I'd often feel EVERY nerve in my body vibrate. I'd ask Hubs if he could feel the bed vibrating....he said no, he didn't put the quarter in! ;) The worst was when it was just my brain vibrating. Disturbing. It would wake me at night. Vibrating. I thought maybe I was developing MS. Something had to be wrong....you don't just feel all your nerves vibrate. I searched and found that EBV affects the nervous system among many others...it's also the reason for the horrible rash on my chest this past year.

The lightbulb went on! CLICK!!!! EBV!!!! I had it when I was 13 and was tested positive again in college when it was reactivated and I had to drop out of a semester.

EBV had reared its ugly head during my very stressful year in 2016 (Hubs had 3 surgeries in 4 months, we had our daughter's wedding, and I packed and purged and said good bye to all I ever knew in Maryland as we drove to Texas and Hubs retired) and it has pretty much stayed active since. Especially last year when I went off the WFPB diet (whole food plant based). I gave it an opportunity to attack and it did!

I've gone to 5 primary care providers here in Texas trying to find someone I can work with. FIVE! I FINALLY found one!!! I saw on the internet that she wrote an article on EBV! FINALLY someone to address the root of my problems! She listened to me and knew immediately that I had EBV and it was active. After 2 weeks on an anti-viral I was back to my old self!

My head is clear, no more brain fog, no vibrating, no rashes, no aches and pains, lots of energy! I'm so grateful that I found Zana! She is very much my tribe! A little weird but passionate about helping people.

I'm working HARD to keep my immune system up. I take a slew of supplements everyday. It gets a bit cumbersome but necessary.

The plan now is that every time I travel and am under a lot of stress, and am exposed to sickness, start the anti-viral ASAP and it should lessen the severity of the illness....and hopefully no more pneumonia and upper respiratory infections! And hopefully I can bounce back much quicker!

I believe eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet will give my body all the antioxidants and phyto-nutrients to assist in keeping me in prime condition. I do believe the year of experimenting with meat, dairy, etc set me back and made me vulnerable.

Knowledge is power!!!

"Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine thy food." Hypocrites.

Gratefully,
Diane

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Giving Thanks!

11/27/2019

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Psalm 100
A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

This is my favorite Thanksgiving song.

I pray that no matter where you are or who you are with, that you will lift up a hymn of grateful praise to the Lord.

This has always been my very favorite holiday made special to me by my Grandmom Hamilton who was an immigrant to America is 1904. It was the first holiday they celebrated as a family after she arrived with her mother and siblings to join her father who came first to secure a job and housing. Every year Grandmom made it full of food, fun and family. I will always treasure those memories.

Bob and I are 1400 miles from our families but it doesn't stop us from giving thanks and sharing a meal with someone. We're having a fella (or 2) from our church share our table and the Lords bounty to us. We are blessed among men. Truly blessed!

As always we will list the 5 things we are most thankful for, just as the Pilgrims who survived that first year with only 5 kernels of corn.

1. I'm so thankful that God chose me in 1971 to be His daughter and for the blood of Jesus that bought my redemption.

2. I'm thankful for my family near and far.

3. I'm thankful for our 2 new grandlittles who arrived this year to bless our lives.

4. I'm thankful for my church family at Percilla Community Church and the love that abounds there.

5. I'm thankful for The Shepherd's Studio and the hands that built it! (even with it's S L O W internet connection!!!)

Blessings,
Diane

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The Shepherd's Studio

A Life Well Lived For Yehoshua!

A Painting A Day...Keeps The Gloomy Days Away

Be Sweet,
Diane

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Diane

An Act of Love

Humbly His,
Diane

Bread Making...YUM!

Blessings for Health!
Diane

My Ongoing Health Crisis

Gratefully,
Diane

Giving Thanks!

Psalm 100
A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Blessings,
Diane

Archives

Categories

The Shepherd's Studio A Life Well Lived For Yehoshua!

A Painting A Day...Keeps The Gloomy Days Away

Be Sweet,​Diane

Merry Christmas!

Love,​Diane

An Act of Love

Humbly His,​Diane

Bread Making...YUM!

Blessings for Health!​Diane

My Ongoing Health Crisis

Gratefully,​Diane

Giving Thanks!

Psalm 100A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Blessings,​Diane

Archives

Categories

The Shepherd's Studio

A Life Well Lived For Yehoshua!

Be Sweet,
Diane

Love,
Diane

Humbly His,
Diane

Blessings for Health!
Diane

Gratefully,
Diane

Psalm 100
A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Blessings,
Diane