The Lion and Lamb Studio

Watching someone fade....

2008-07-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Irvin Banta did everything in his life large---large family (seven kids, and that's not counting the ones Mom lost), large house, building it all by himself, never asking for a handout. He served in Europe during WW II, fed troups in training during the Korean War, was in the Army Reserve as a much appreciated mess sargent. He is one of the fast dwindling "greatest generation."

But he's fading by bits and pieces. We.ve noticed him slowing WAY down, missing stuff, sleeping lots. Then a month or so back, he got up and couldn't get up, and my Mama in law had to holler for Tim, the son who lives next door. They picked him up off of the bathroom floor, and it was obvious something was very wrong. Off to the hospital they went, and the Dr's said he had had a stroke. He lost the use of his left side, and was getting it back(feeling good enough to make a break forit with the little gocart we borrowed for him; the nurses were hanging off the back before they got him stopped. They had to take the keys away from him, LOL!), when he had another mini stroke last week. Now, he can't talk, can't swallow; he's fed thru a feeding tube.

We visited today, and he's pale and not smiling at all now, except for when their pastor told him that the reasonhewas laying in that bed was because he rooted for IU instead of Kentucky at their basketball games. THAT got a grin and a thumbs up from Dad.

Mom is a wreck, and very depressed. She is blaming herself, but it wasn't HER fault Dad stopped taking his blood pressure meds. She's doing everything she can to deal with him with loveand care....but I have found myself doing the same thing at times....wondering if MY Hubby was sick because I didn't feed him right or SOMETHING. She's spent her whole life spoiling the man rotten, and I think he realizes it now. He signs "I love you!"to Mom, grabs her hand and starts to cry......

There are a few positive signs; we're hoping for a miracle.

Hubby's B-day present.....

2008-07-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hubby's birthday was this week, and he just found out he has the new job he has been trying out for!!!! he's been out of work for a month or so, so this is very good news. They already have a new name plate ("Chief Charlie Two Hats") and I wanted to give him something to make his office more "him." The frame and glass came out of my Brother's trash (the faded landscape print had seen better days, but the frame was still sturdy); the design is the Native American Medicine wheel, with it's four colors symbolizing the Four Directions (and some say, the four races of the earth---remember the Sunday school song, "Red and Yellow, Black and White...they are Precious in His sight"?). There's and eagle feather and medicine bag, and I tried to make the backgreound look like a brain tan deer skin that we have (only for use on very special projects), with "pictographs" showing a hunter, the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash), a wigiwa, a simple clay pipe and a cedar tree. It's hard to see the details, but he REALLY liked it. It'll go to work tomorrow. I wanted everyone to know a Shawnee Indian worked there. He has worked hard for ther ecognition that the tribe is beginning to get, and I am very proud of him.

Let's try this again......

2008-07-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

I am very new to the blogging thing. I thought that blogs were supposed to be happy and uplifting and this lastmonth ahs been a really hard one. I didn't feel like I could offer anyone anything uplifting or happy.

About a month ago, my Father in Law had a stroke; he got up in the morning and couldn't walk. Dispite his freaking out, they tookhim to the hospital. A few day's later, a tornado ripped thru a several county area, damaging my in-laws roof, putting a 2by4 thru my daughter and son in law's home. It tore thru Camp Atterbury, the Army instalation that Hubby has been helping with, causing millions of dollars of damage. Then a few days later we got nine or ten inches (some say 11) of rain in just an hour or two, and places that no one ever remembered flooding flooded, including my Mother and Father in laws house. We got by with no flooding.....thanks to Divine intervention and thefactthatthe County had installed a culvert across our road just last year. My bil and his wife weren't as lucky--their house and garage flooded, their neighborhood a lake. Things started to get back kinda sorta to normal, when Hubby and his boss went to lunch, stopped at Boss's house for a few monutes ; when Boss didn't come out, Hubby went in and found the man dead of a heart attack. The Medics managed to restart his heart, but they just kept him alive long enough for his family to see him. Hubby was very upset---He and Dick Scott had been good buddies.

Then---FIL had another stroke, and all the progress he had made before was gone. No talking, no swallowing, andthey had to insert a stomach tube so he could eator drink.
But our tribe was able to sign a treaty with the Southern Cherokee of Kentucky---and a new baby was born into the tribe yesterday. And Dad is feeling better.....

What I did this morning!

2008-05-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

The last time I tried to make yeast rolls, I had old yeast and had to be in a hurry. Church pitch ins wait for no baker! The result was REALLY bad bread. More like yeasty hard lumps, really. So Iwas a bit nervous when I started out mixing. This time I started with a brand new jar of yeast, and it sure made a difference. Hubby's gonna be a happy man when he comes home tonight!

Adapting to the Times

2008-05-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

I listened witha bit of shock as one of the local news channels yesterday evening announced that there were some stations in the Indy area that were selling gas at $3.95! GULP! Almost $4.00 a gallon! It's a good thing I have a job that keeps me close to home. I am very appreciative of a Hubby who doesn't push me to get a job outside the home and takes the ups and downs of my income fluctuations with good grace.

I drive an early 90's Chevy Blazer. While admittedly it's not the most fuel efficient, it's very practical for the sometimes rough rural roads we live on, and the available four wheel drive can be a must on hilly, icy winter roads. So I try to run as many errands as possible when I make my once a week pilgramage to the chiopractor in Greenwood, a 45 minute drive from here. I try to cover as many errands as time and money allow. Today I scored at Goodwill--I found a nice leather briefcase ($3.99!) to haul originals and prints to the printers and a big ole' food storage jar.....and then to the printer, where I got two pictures printed up. A fast stop at Walmart for some supplies (and to catch up on abit of family news with my SIL who works at the Pharmacy there!) , and I was on the way home. The more I make the trip count, the less I have to go back out again.

So much of the country's financial status reminds me of the late 70's, under Carter's administration. Our children were tiny then, and it was a rough few years. Hubby would work all the time trying to make ends meet, and I took care of little ones and tried to keep up with a garden and the chickens, rabbits, and goats. We livedin a tiny rented farmhouse. The kids were kept clothed with yard sale and thrift store finds, and we heated with wood (still do, in fact). It was an interesting time. We're much better equipped to handle the hard times now--the kids are on their own, and we have our own place now. We survived those early years, and many times I've told myself I never wanted to do that again. But ready or not, hard times are landing on our plates. And more and more I am thinking about getting back to the basics, and adopting a more creative (figuring out ways to adapt to changing times!) and thankful heart (if youhave family around you, you have ALOT to bethankful for!).

Reality and clotheslines.....!

2008-05-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

My sister in Law used to live in a new subdivison in a ritzy side of town. She had a beautiful house with a pool in the backyard, and longed for a clothesline to hang her damp towels. I was confused; a clothesline wasn't any big deal, especially after a pool! I said as much, and she told me they COULDN'T have a clothesline. The neighborhood association had them sign a covenant forbade clotheslines (among alot of other things, I am sure!). It would mar the beauty of the neighborhood, or so they thought.

I've been thinking about that recently. Barring things like clotheslines are a symptom, it seems to me. Clotheslines are a good practical, eco- friendlyand economical way of drying wet clothes and linens. But some neighborhoods think they are unsightly andforbid them, like they forbid veggie gardens.

We have gotten away from our roots and what is real. We sit in front of "reality TV", drinking soda's with artificial sweetening, eating jusnk food with MSG (artificial flavoring!), admiring models that have been purging themselves to get an unreal slender body. Video games allow us to lead a virtual life, as do online games.

Sitting on the porch is real. Weeding the garden is real, and eating the veggies you grow. Hugging is real, and cuddling a baby, or giving your dog a tummy rub. And YES, hanging your clothes out on a warm spring day is real. We need to get back to real and simple and clean and loving and yes, holy.

Jesus doeth all things well.....

2008-05-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we get in a rut, and things don't really seem to ever change. Like this February, when winter seemed so long and we sometimes dispaired of ever seeing spring again. But Spring came, and it has turned green again. That's a very pleasant change!

But sometimes change is really uncomfortable. Last Wednesday night, our Pastor of years announced that he was going to resign from his position, and we sat in those pews in shock. It took some prayer and thinking to come to peace with the idea. He was tired and needed a rest. So change is coming to our church, and it could be the start of a new season.

Or another change--the 83rd birthday party of my FIL, two weekends ago. He has gotten tired recently, and sleeps alot and stumbles often. It's hard to see the father of seven --who built several houses and wasn't afraid to tackle any project-- slow down. It's been the same with my folks. When you are growing up, you never think of them as growing old. But they are---and it's painful. And you wonder what the future holds.

I've been singing this old hymn under my breath since Sunday service; I hadn't heard it for years, but the old words came back to my mind....

All the way my savior leads me; What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who thro' life has been my guide? Heav'nly peace divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell! For I know whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well; For I know whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well

All in a days work.....

2008-05-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

The recent changes in the economy have caused us to do some rethinking about how we have been doing things. We'vebeen planting lots of garden things (potatos, onions, spinich, herbs) andwe have lots more to plant (tomatos, peppers, and I JUST ordered some heirloom corn to try to plant a patch of the three sisters. Indians call corn, squash, and beans thethree sisters; the corn gave the beans something to climb on; the beans put nitrogen in the soil; and the prickly stems of the squash helped discourage the racoons from the corn. And BOY, do we have racoons!!!) .

I've been working on the studio, too, trying to get it ready for the possibility of visitors after the Early American Life Magazine publishes their Craftsman list. But with Hubby laid off, there's not been much money for paint and such. But more and more I am discovering how much you can get accomplished with some left over paint, mixing your cans and colors if you need to, and just getting 'er done. I'm really happy with the results. The whole makeover cost me all of $27.00---one quart of white enamel, and two cushions from Walmart. OH---and about $10.00 forpetunias and two empty hanging baskets. And my porch looks clean and comfy and a nice place to sit and watch the world go by. It's one of Hubby's and my favorite places on a warm summer's evening.

And so it begins----!

2008-05-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

I've been told that I needed to blog.....and I am VERY new at this! I just hope that I can make it interesting enough that someone would want to read it!

My name is Leann Banta, artist and wife of Charles Daniel Two Hats Banta (we call him Dan)....and we've been married for thirty years! We have four children, two girls and two boys. Naomi is in Indaho Falls Idaho, workingat a Christian school. Valerie andher Hubby Aaron have two little boys, ages five and two; Matt and his wife ahve a little boy, ALMOST two, and Our youngest, Aaron Moses and His wife Sam have just had their first little girl and our first granddaughter. (And the perfect excuse to linger over sweet pink baby things at yardsales, LOL!) Hubby and I live in the country, in Beautiful Brown County, Indiana. Brown County was a mecca for artists all over this part of the country in the early part of the 1900's, and still drws alot of creative souls. It's hilly and rocky, with lots of forested areas, very beautiful to see, but hard to earn a living as a farmer, so the settlers were known as being back-woodsey. It's not that way so much anymore. But in the southern part of the county, especially, you can still find little farms with large gardens and fields of corn and tobacco and clotheslines full of clothes. And it beats living the the city all hollow.

Hubby is a heavy equipment operator, and a vet. He is the chief of our tribe, the Platform Reservation Remnant Band of the Shawnee, one of the two federally recognized tribes in Indiana. His Mom was raised for the first eight or so years of her life on Platform Reservation, part of Lawrence Co. Ohio. There is also Cherokee in his background and Miami. Tribal stuff keeps him pretty busy, and we look forward to powwows and other gatherings to meet and share ideas and enjoy the music.