There Be Ghosts

There are no ghosts to see, just a feeling of loneliness in the stillness of the woods. The faint chirp of a single bird echoes in the lonely grove.
First coat of paint. I shall take my time with this painting.
I love watching Columbo and Perry Mason while I paint. There is something magical about my old favorites; they help me focus on my work. 

WIP 20 X 14 OVAL STRETCHED CANVAS

ANNABELLE AND M 🖤

Annabelle and M OUR ETSY SHOP

ANNABELLE and M - NEW ETSY SHOP NAME

 A New Etsy Shop Name:

ETSY SHOP > Annabelle and M 

ANOTHER GHOST OF A CAT - GENTLEMAN X 👀🐾🐾🐾🐾🖤

ANOTHER GHOST OF A CAT - GENTLEMAN X 👀🐾🐾🐾🐾🖤

He felt someone's eyes on his face. He looked up, across the room, on the top of the picture shelf; the portrait of a gentleman cat in a smoking jacket, wearing an Ascot around his neck, looked back at him. Immediately, Florence didn't waste time and headed straight for the cat. Another painting for his collection he wanted: that's what an art collector does and doesn't worry about where it will hang. When a cat dressed in human clothing, especially when wearing an ascot, becomes available, you don't let it escape you, very rare indeed! It's what you call Anthropomorphism, animals wearing people's clothes, and in Victorian times, it was very much in fashion. Florence grabbed the painting and checked the artist's mark: as he'd suspected, a Neuville, a Mitsou Neuville.

The gentleman cat had no name, for now. There was something mysterious and captivating about the tabby cat with the pronounced M on its forehead, and the more Florence looked at him, the more he couldn't look away. It's his eyes he thought. They want to speak to me. 







Another little share 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." 




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

♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ FLORENCE BLUME -MERRICKVILLE

© 2023

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

A GHOST OF A CAT 🐾🐾🐾🐾

A GHOST OF A CAT

Maggie and Bats' mom, Shy, came for her dinner and then left.
How's that for gratitude?

She was never a mom; she hated her job and chose to abandon her three kittens in our backyard. After all, she was just a cat! A cat who was overwhelmed by the enormity of parenthood to three kittens.
Maggie was left to take care of her little brother, Bat. A sister and now his mother; she protected him and did a good job.
After all, she was just a cat - with a heart!
Good thing Maggie turned out right. Bat certainly, would not have faired well outdoors.
I wish we had done more to keep Shy and tame her: maybe she would have cared more for her babies. She is only a memory now and a screen saver.
Early mornings always remind me my cat Maggie has never forgotten. She will come and sit on my lap, snuggle, and purr, and the minute I open my computer and the screensaver comes on, she perks up and stares. She remembers.


“Mother is a verb as well as a noun. We all, male and female, have the capacity to mother others.
And we can each, always, mother ourselves.”
― Orna Ross

 

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

“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper.”E.B.WHITE - WRITING A GHOST STORY

WRITING A GHOST STORY 👀

I am a romantic for ghost stories. 

Spooky, mysterious, and entertaining spooks on tv always trap me for an hour or two in telling their scary tales. I believe many people believe in ghosts. I never was one to keep a bucket list, although I do have a few things on a list I would like to achieve before that time; writing a ghost story is one. I wish I could write, and I wish I could paint, I wish I could play the piano. Unfortunately, I do none of those things well. My writing is atrocious. If not for Grammarly and my daughter, I would be lost. Still, I have the desire to write a spooky story. A couple of quotes by E.B. White, one of my favorite authors, inspire me to keep writing. “I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.” And ... “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper.” ― E.B. White. So true. M, my daughter, is my ghostwriter. We are collaborating on this ghostly tale. I recently watched Eugene Levy's, 'The Reluctant Traveler. He met up with a gondolier in Venice and talked about working with their kids. Mr.Levy mentioned how much he had enjoyed working with his son Daniel for seven years. So now, mother and daughter are working together on a ghost book. Today is my birthday; I turn 66. I was born on March 10th, 1957, a wonderful year. And the year I die, well, hopefully, be just as wonderful. No matter how difficult, I want to reach my goal; write the ghost book with my daughter. In the end, I leave behind an artistic legacy for my children. When one has a will, there is always a way. ♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ © 2023 @batandmaggie

MAGGIE

BAT

STORMY, STORMY, STORMY WEATHER

A perfect stormy night for a good sleep, the old ghost thought.

It poured and rained, such a sweet sleep filled with dreams of his earthly life and memories. Stormy, stormy, stormy weather was his favorite weather.

And then, the sounds of the thundering storm were interrupted by the breaking of glass. Ghost got out of bed and went downstairs to investigate who had disturbed his sleep: a baby owl; perched on the broken window pane. Maggie and Bat were wondering why he was there.







The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.




My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.




Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A mother/daughter Ghostly Adventure, writing together for the first time about their favorite subject, the supernatural. ♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ © 2023 @batandmaggie (Daughter's instagram account)

THE WOODS ARE LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP BUT...BEWARE OF THE GHOSTS

"BEWARE OF THE GHOSTS"

OIL ON CANVAS

ANNABELLE / 2022

THE WOODS ARE LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP BUT...
"BEWARE THE GHOSTS"
The beauty of working with oil paint is it allows me to fix my mistakes or things i dislike about the work. I wasn't fond of the toadstools so I repainted them.I believe I can move on to a new work.

 

A LITTLE PEEK A BOO GHOST

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🧡🖤🎃🎃🐾🐾🐾🐾🎃🎃🧡🖤

When Witches Go Riding and Black Cats Are Seen: The Moon Laughs and Whispers Tis Halloween 🧡🖤🎃🎃🐾🐾🐾🐾🎃🎃🧡

BAT AND MAGGIE ON INSTAGRAM

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🧡🖤🎃🎃🐾🐾🐾🐾🎃🎃🧡🖤

A VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS CAROL OF TWO CATS

2017 was the magical year of the cat or I should say cats. A brother and a sister duo magically appeared at our back door on my daughter's birthday October 27th. It actually was Black Cat Appreciation Day as well in the UK and one of the little ones happen to be black. My daughter, M, and I knew just then we had our story. 

"When a star is born They possess a gift or two One of them is this They have the power To make a wish come true" 

This was January Post for Happy Caturday

Something New and Something Old Theme for Happy Caturday


Bat and Maggie are now 4 years old and today they are making a wish for the New Year.


May our world be a safer place than yesterday.♥️🐾🐾♥️🎄
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year🌹




WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR


~ CLIFF EDWARDS


When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt, out of the blue
Suddenly it comes in view
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
When a star is born
They possess a gift or two
One of them is this
They have the power
To make a wish come true
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longings, ooh
Like a bolt, out of the blue
Suddenly it comes in view
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true


When You Wish Upon A Star

Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians 

Vocal Chorus by Carmen Lombardo

Time to write that little book of ours.📕🐾🐾🎄in 2022

Not much else to do these days 😊

A few art pieces I painted for the storybook and some of the photos M took of Bat and Maggie and the rest of the gang that will be characters in the story. Our golden girl, Grace, our garage sale cat, Elliott, Karson the church cat, 

In a Safe Place

I Miss You

A Mostly Ghostly Night

Haunted Chateau 

All in the Family

Old Quebec

Portrait of Uncle Herman 

Little Bat

Ghost, Spooks, and Boo

 The Spider and The Cat having a Midnight Chat

 Little Bat and his Witch

When you look like a Little Bat, I guess the name fits

Beautiful Little Bat

Green Eyes ~ Bat and Maggies' dad

The Three Amigos 😇😇😇

 

Maggie a purrfect Ballerina

Grace

Bat under the table

Swinging Elliott 

Grandma Elliott

The Little Bat 

Maggie and Bat

MORE CHARACTERS TO COME