Quiet Farm

“True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.”
– William Penn

 

Quiet Farm
4″ x 6″ Watercolor Postcard

This was a fun little card to do.  I wanted the buildings to be kind of off kilter and playful, but I got a little too mired in the detail and forgot the whimsy.   I seem to only have succeeded in making the buildings a little crooked. 


Funny thing, my husband likes my realistic paintings a lot better than my normal (ha ha ha …normal???) style.  When he sees my bright colored fun paintings, he gives me the fake smile and small nod that many of us recognize.

Lesson #4 in my flying adventure last night.  The storms stayed away long enough for me to get a lesson in, so off I went.  I did a bunch of multitasking last in my 1.3 hour lesson.  Okay, here’s an example of one of my touch and go operations.  Are your seat belts fastened?


Accelerate to 55 knots then pull back on the yolk to take off, but don’t pull back too far or you’ll stall.  Get your altitude to about 1500 ft,  while keeping the plane straight and level.  (keep the nose up, keep climbing,  rudder, ailerons, rudder *sigh*)  Then make a 90 degree turn and proceed to about 1800 ft,  (keeping the nose up and plane level and straight) then turn 90 degrees left, while taking out some power, keeping the nose down or up (to keep the horizon line in the right place) and decrease power to about 2100 rpm, aiming for a 90 knot airspeed.  When you are level with the end of the runway, add carb heat and slow to 85 knots, flaps at 10, and turn 90 degrees left for the base leg.  Then, flaps at 20, keep the nose down (putting flaps in makes the nose rise), reduce airspeed some, make 90 degree turn into final, flaps at 30, reduce airspeed, keep the nose down,  (not too far) center up with runway, keep it at the right altitude, after going over the highway, pull the throttle almost all the way out and head for the landing, keep the nose up, full flaps, throttle all the way out, let it kind of settle above the runway then pull back the throttle and land, pull back, pull back, pull back… whew! ….. carb heat in, flaps all the way up, yoke in, full throttle to 55 knots and pull back to take off again……

I think I did that (or something like it *giggle*) about 6 times.  I did have to go around once, because I was too high.  (no… not on drugs, just in altitude. he he)  All in all, it was a very good night and I was exhausted when I got in my truck to go home.  Then a 45 minute drive home.  Whew!  How much fun is that? 

About William Penn

William Penn is remembered as the founder of Pennsylvania; the democratic government he set up became the model for the United States Constitution. He was born in 1644 in England. After he was arrested several times for preaching Quaker ideals, he decided to found a settlement in America. He drew up the “Great Treaty” with the Delaware Indians to ensure they were paid fairly for their land and toured Europe marketing the new colony. He died in 1718.

Strawberries and First Flight Lesson

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
– Booker T. Washington

 
Strawberries
4″ x 4″ Watercolor

This was fun to do.  I painted the little seeds with yellow acrylic, before I painted the watercolor.  I just am not any good with masking fluid.  It’s too gummy.   I used a wax resist one time and didn’t do much better with it.  I like the control I have with acrylic and an itty bitty brush. 


What an experience I had last night! I definitely need to journal about this experience. If I could draw my first lesson, I’d draw a giant, complicated instrument panel and a 2″ female student pilot. I haven’t been in a plane since my intro flight on Dec. 9 and it was amazing how much stuff they pack in to that Cessna 172 that I am supposed to remember.   I aced my FAA written test, but I felt like my brain had gone blank when I looked at all of those dials, gauges, knobs and switches.

But beyond the sense of being overwhelmed by the cockpit instruments, the experience was so cool! My brain retained things about flight that made maneuvers and their corresponding reactions feel right, if that makes sense. I wasn’t even scared when my CFI stalled the plane, because I understood how to get out of it. Steep turns are a little spooky and I taxi like a drunk driver, but I’ll get the hang of those things. 


When I got back to my truck and started to leave the airport, I heard myself say, “I just flew an airplane.”  But nobody was there to hear me, so when I got to the WalMart checkout person, 30 minutes later and she said, “How are you?” I heard it again.  “I just flew an airplane.”

I just had to tell somebody!
.

About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.