HAPPY BIRTHDAY,M🧡🐾🐾🧡🎃

HAPPY BIRTHDAY , M! 

LOVE, MOM, DAD ,TY, MAGGIE AND BAT 🧡🧡🎃🧡🧡 🐾🐾🐾🐾

HEART'S EASE

HEART'S EASE

HEART'S EASE

I dream of a house in the country surrounded by a wildflower field and a forest beyond. The quietness and tranquility of the countryside, the absence of mental stress and anxiety, is my happy pill.

Heart's Ease is such a place I seek. 

My Joy Within.




Florence has lived at Heart's Ease with his cats for a long time.

The outside world is far and away.

MAKE A TINY SHEET GHOST FOR HALLOWEEN

FLORENCE BLUME THE GHOST , BAT AND MAGGIE, OSGOODE AND PUDDING

"I look around me, and, lo! On every visage, a black veil! Pleasant is a rainy winter's day, within doors! The best study for such a day, or the best amusement,---call it which you will,--- is a book... "

TWICE TOLD TALES

FLORENCE BLUME THE GHOST

A night enjoying Perry Mason and studying my painting

The pitter-pattering of the rain on the window pane had made Florence fall asleep. It only had been a minute, although it felt like hours to Florence.
Waking in a clouded daze, he found all four cats still in the Spirit room. Osgoode was climbing up his lap while Pudding snuggled under his chin. They had come for a sleepover with Bat and Maggie. Florence had promised them some spooky stories before bedtime. Unfortunately, the little kittens had given Florence such a workout he fell asleep during Perry Mason in The Case of The Wary Wildcatter" and missed the ending. Now Florence was awake, he couldn't wait to read them the stories. Bedtime would follow and Florence could catch the ending he missed.

CLOUDY DAZE 2023

NIGHT GALLERY

NIGHT GALLERY on Etsy Original Painting

Rod Serling's Night Gallery, The Art of Darkness. Back in the late 1960s, one of my favorite shows I loved watching was Night Gallery. Rod Serling would start the show by presenting each horror tale in a painting he had in an Art Gallery. Artist Thomas J. Wright was the artist behind all of the spooky artwork. Rod Serling would introduce each story of every episode with one of Wright's eerie paintings. The Cemetery was one of my very favorites. I painted over a painting I did some time ago inspired by Night Gallery's The Cemetery. Adding Florence the Ghost and Bat to The Cemetery just seemed perfectly haunting. This Original Painting, Night Gallery will soon be available on Etsy. Mixed Media ORIGINAL PAINTING "Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost ♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ © 2023
a Mixed Media ORIGINAL PAINTING
"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.” 
― Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost
♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ 
© 2023 @batandmaggie

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK - FLORENCE BLUME - 👀🖤

Florence didn't have a wife keeping count of his ever-growing collection of old things. However, it did come at a cost. He had successfully filled his house to the rafters, in the attic, in the basement, in the garage, and in the small cottage at the back of the property. 

The other day, Florence found an old book at the thrift store someone had painted inside of. 

One of the paintings was of a woman sitting with a cat on her lap: I wonder who she was, Florence uttered out loud, no one there to hear him.




Excerpt from the book - FLORENCE BLUME👀🖤 




*ALL OUR VISITORS BRING HAPPINESS

SOME BY COMING AND OTHERS BY GOING *




"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." - Happy April 1st 

And A Happy Caturday🐾🐾🐾🐾


A mother/daughter Ghostly Adventure, writing together for the first time about their favorite subject, the supernatural.

♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ © 2023

DO NOT STAND BY MY GRAVE , AND WEEP

Florence Blume - A Ghost Story {Merrickville} Annabelle&M © 2023

Do not stand

By my grave, and weep.

I am not there,

I do not sleep—

I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints in snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle, autumn rain.

As you awake with morning’s hush,

I am the swift, up-flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight,

I am the day transcending night.

Do not stand

By my grave, and cry—

I am not there,

I did not die.

-Clare Harner 1934 

When words and music touch my soul...listen

Mariage d'amour - Paul de Senneville

@batandmaggie @hauntedwalk @rideau_walkingtours @painteral613 @writerswarmth 

#painting #blackandwhite #catart #spooky #halloween #storypainting #bookstagram #instagood #beauty#beautiful#merrickville #haunted #afterlife #supernatural #cemetery #graveyard #Annabelle&m #love #moon#moonlight#florenceblume #trees #ghostadventures #spookyseason #blackcat #picoftheday #instadaily #art #poem#donotstandatmygraveandweep 

BAT TUB

Bat, bathing in the moonlight, at midnight, in the dark, in the woods, alone. 

My daughter hijacked my painting; no stars, no flowers, no more cats, and no ghosts. Maybe, Halloween? She named it Bat Tub.




“The moon can never breathe, but it can take our breath away with the beauty of its cold, arid orb.” 

― Munia Khan




"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see."

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! ☘️

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! ☘️

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! ☘️

Sometimes, you have to believe in ghosts, fairies, and the luck of the Irish.

This little black pussy cat was rescued early this morning on Saint Patty's Day. Florence picked up the tiny creature who wasn't quite ready for upstairs with some help from the fairies. They lent Florence their Fairy's ladder made of Lily of the Valley. The fragrance was heavenly. Now, Florence had a new kitten to name.


Happy Saint Patrick's Day! ☘️


This is a very old Irish poem written by a monk in the 8th or 9th century.

"Pangur was a common name for cats at that place and time and the word “Ban” means white in Gaelic." 




Pangur Ban - THE IRISH CAT POEM (vulpeslibris.wordpress.com)

I and Pangur Ban, my cat,

'Tis a like task we are at;

Hunting mice is his delight,

Hunting words I sit all night.




Better far than praise of men

'Tis to sit with book and pen;

Pangur bears me no ill will;

He, too, plies his simple skill.




'Tis a merry thing to see

At our task how glad are we,

When at home we sit and find

Entertainment to our mind.




Oftentimes a mouse will stray

Into the hero Pangur's way;

Oftentimes my keen thought set

Takes a meaning in its net.




'Gainst the wall he sets his eye

Full and fierce and sharp and sly;

'Gainst the wall of knowledge I

All my little wisdom try.




When a mouse darts from its den.

O how glad is Pangur then!

O what gladness do I prove

When I solve the doubts I love!




So in peace our tasks we ply,

Pangur Ban, my cat and I;

In our arts we find our bliss,

I have mine, and he has his.




Practice every day has made

Pangur perfect in his trade ;

I get wisdom day and night,

Turning Darkness into light.'




Translation by Robin Flowers 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! ☘️

AN AFTERLIFE TO LOVE

An Afterlife To Love

What's not to love? A quiet wild where your home is a little cottage secluded in the wood no one knows exists. Alone, with your cats and your books.

In life on earth, I was never one for being a social butterfly. I found it such a chore and so exhausting being in company. I preferred retiring home with my cats; they were my favored companions. Don't get me wrong, I do like, some people. I like some ghosts: they never really change when they die. But living quietly with the sound of my cat's purr on my lap, a good book to read, my 8th cup of coffee, and the birds singing in the garden makes an afterlife to love.

"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see."

As I mentioned before, these paintings are almost complete. If I feel something I've missed in the process, I will return to it and add in hopefully, removing nothing else from the illustration. Editing not only the writing but the illustrations as well. Some may never make it into the book.

A mother/daughter Ghostly Adventure, writing together for the first time about their favorite subject, the supernatural.

♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ 

© 2023

MY HAUNTED HEART

Becoming old isn't all bad. There are perks like spending your retirement years searching the beyond and wondering about your next life. 👀Will we have a home like here on earth with a willow tree and a pond? A pet or two, maybe a cat and a dog or more? Will the afterlife be the heaven God promised us? One day will have the answers.

BAT @batandmaggie

MAGGIE @batandmaggie

When I was very young, I was unaware of death. And when I did discover the sad truth about life ending one day, that we didn't live forever, the afterlife started haunting my heart. Since then, I've fallen in love with ghosts and cats, the living ones. Of course, books about ghosts/ cats are a favorite. Why not write one of our own? So, here is the next installment of our Ghost Book illustrations. 

Bat, Maggie, and their ghost are in their Victorian cottage hidden in the secret woods no one knows.


"Maybe, we do go home, finally " - Anne Rice


"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see."

As I mentioned before, these paintings are almost complete. If I feel something I've missed in the process, I will return to it and add in hopefully, removing nothing else from the illustration. Editing not only the writing but the illustrations as well. Some may never make it into the book.




A mother/daughter Ghostly Adventure, writing together for the first time about their favorite subject, the supernatural.

♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ 

© 2023

The Road So Far iWIP

The Road So Far ... WIP oil painting ... still some details to add.

Remember I did say it takes me forever to do a painting but In the end I have to be happy with it. 

This painting has been a long time coming. My aunt who lives in Little Rock loves wolves and asked me to paint her one like 2 years ago ; the wolf happens to be her spirit animal. Anyway, I finally tackled the project. Never painted a wolf but so far I like him. I didn’t like the witch in the cloak so I removed it and gave her a dress. Still need to work on her hands ( a first again for painting hands) and shade her dress , face and shading the baby wolf and papa wolf. Hope you like the painting so far, Pat. Oh, and yes , Supernatural has inspired me in many ways as well as my daughter’s stories she is writing for Supernatural Fan Fiction. So proud of her. My writer in residence🎃♥️@BATANDMAGGIE

Watching the last season with my daughter and husband. Amazing show🧡🎃🧡🎃

THE HALLOWEEN TREE

THE HALLOWEEN TREE

   A Song I discovered this morning

I love it!

Cemetery Trees - Valley of The Bears

and A Poem 

Teeny Tiny Ghost

A teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most,
lived in a great big house

It's hard to haunt
a great big house
when you're a teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most.

He did what he could do.

So every dark and stormy night
the kind that shakes the house with fright -
if you stood still and listened right,
you'd hear a
teen tiny

Boo!

Lilian Moore

 : )

 I finally got around to making a Christmas Tulle Tree, well not exactly, I made a Halloween Tulle Tree. Since I didn't have the supplies for the Christmas Tulle Tree I decided to make one for Halloween. There are many tutorials for Tulle Christmas Trees online and I decided on using THE HALLMARK CHANNEL - TULLE TREES tutorial.

I used a vintage metal pot I found at the Manse garage sale in Kemptville, a woodblock for the inside, drilled a hole for the tree trunk recycled from a paintbrush. To make the trunk straight I used coffee stir sticks jammed in the edges of the woodblock, no glue was needed except for the top of the tree to cover the top with tulle. The bat top is made of two bat stickers and of course, the sparkly tulle I used was from an old Halloween costume I cut up into 12 x 3 strips and decreased their length by an inch when I was halfway up the tree trunk. 

Maybe my next tree I will try making rosettes of varying sizes and see what that will look like. I do like this one with its very own little tree skirt. Too adorable!

TO CATCH A GHOST

Do Cats See Ghosts? 

Well, I think they do.

Bat and Maggies' New Year's Resolution: To Catch A Ghost and bring it to me. Be it, mouse, bird, bat, or human. : ) 

ANY FRIENDLY GHOST WILL DO, CASPER, GUS, OR MAYBE EVEN THE GHOST OF MR. CHICKEN : ) 🐾🐾.                🐾




👀Remember, these cats have Supernatural Spooktacular Senses: they can hunt anything down, even ghosts!




FOR JANUARY HAPPY CATURDAY THEME: YOUR CATS NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION




HAPPY CATURDAY ❤️🐾🐾          🐾  



Have you seen this movie?

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN 

Inheritance

There's a house in Kemptville which has a fireplace under the stairs.
I fell in love and, I saved the realtor's brochure in my book box of art I someday would like to paint. 

Summer came and went in a flash. My mood was in a shadow and, then, Autumn arrived and October. The chill in the air, the trees turning beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds, the beautiful moon at night all filled my senses. It's the month of October that always stirs my spirit, of course, our cats as well. "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."If only more months would do the same for my mood as October does.

It's almost four years now, on October 27th, 2017, when Bat and Maggie, our two little rescues, showed up at our back door on M's birthday and Black Cat Appreciation Day in the UK. Bat is a black cat, well, a brown-black Nordic cat; imagine the coincidence. Magical! Because of them, our days are busy with photoshoots, paintings and, stories. M loves doing the photoshoots and, I love painting the two little Gremlins.

"Inheritance"- my latest painting, began with the Fireplace Under The Stairs and Halloween. I can't help it. I'm bewitched by October.
Bats, cats, pumpkins and, ghosts are purrfect for a Halloween Night in Uncle Herman's old cottage. Oh, did I tell you? I almost forgot to mention Bat and Maggie inherited Uncle Herman's estate, " Bat Cottage ".

"MAPLE SPIRIT " -The bLUE aRTIST, A Moon, and Cloud Study, and Then Inspiration Strikes!

"MAPLE SPIRIT " 

The Blue Artist - I'm afraid I haven't grasped hold of color mixing skills, or, for that matter, painting clouds, water, trees or the flowers, the birds and the bees, cats and dogs, just about everything there is to paint, but that's ok, part of the journey is learning the art. 
A few weeks ago, I went for a country drive along the Rideau River to look for pussy willows. I make it a habit to take a particular route home passing through Burritts Rapids, a tiny hamlet I love. Right before I turned onto county road 2, I noticed a few of the maple trees at Christ Church had buckets placed on them to collect maple syrup. Not wanting my coffee to get any colder since I had already left it earlier while picking the pussy willows I found, I opted to skip taking their photo. It was only yesterday I told my husband and daughter of the maple trees at the church.
Stan chuckled at the thought of collecting maple syrup from maple trees surrounding the church. He asked me, " Is that the same church with the cemetery at the back where we went for a walk last year"? 
"Well, he had the name already picked out, and my daughter, the picture in her mind; I just had to paint it. 
"Maple Spirit"; sort of sounds like a brand of maple syrup. Don't you think? And so, the moon and cloud study I was working on got a landscape below. Love how inspiration strikes.

"What would you not have accomplished if you had been free?"💡 HAPPY CATURDAY!🐱‰🐾

Happy Caturday Theme for October 17th /2020 

~ "CATPHABET ~Your cat's name & persuade your cat to pose for a photo with an object that starts with the same letter."

"This year I'm going to be Batman, said Bat"! 

And I'm going to be The Cat of Monte Cristo, said Maggie! 

“Ah, lips that say one thing, while the heart thinks another,” 
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

"Oh, how I wish I could fly like the Bats on the Clock, said Bat!"

Combine the two, cats and a pandemic and, what have you got? Infinite time to think! 

Ah, captivity, house arrest, hours spent in barred boundaries between four walls, and if you are lucky, a garden to soak in the sun while the weather is still warm although now a little too chilly. Nothing like being an outdoor cat! I miss having no boundaries, so what do we do?

Well, we join groups, cat lovers group, art group, writing group, music group, garden group, you find yourself pretty much forget you're living in a pandemic, almost. I still miss visiting family, thrifting, shopping, movies, and eating out. So for the time being this will help some.


THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

“What would you not have accomplished if you had been free?"

"Possibly nothing at all; the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasures of the human intellect. Compression is needed to explode gunpowder. Captivity has brought my mental faculties to a focus; and you are well aware that from the collision of clouds electricity is produced — from electricity, lightning, from lightning, illumination.” 

― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

Until life returns to normal keep focus on the treasures at hand. Stay safe♥️

DORMIR SOUS UN CYPRES

"Dormir sous un cyprès, or “to sleep under a cypress” means to be dead."

I left it for dead.

When I was inspired to paint The Quiet Garden, it was after I had come upon a beautiful garden behind The Saint John the Baptist Anglican Church in Richmond, Ontario, next to the church graveyard. But, I failed in capturing the serene landscape of The Quiet Garden and tossed the painting into the woodpile.

Sometimes, what I have in mind does not always turn out the way I conceive it in my mind. Now, I have arrived where the road leads to though not so sure how to go on. I will need to give it some thought before I make my next brush stroke.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


~Robert Frost