Summer wind up

 

I hate to think of summer winding up, but the signs are there.

 

Tonight we had a hot coffee drink on the deck.

The apples are getting large.

almost ready to pick.

I made a batch of blackberry jam.

 

There are some things I love about Fall.

I think I'll list them for therapeutic purposes in my next post.

Football Season

 

The Hillsdale Chargers play against the California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans on Thursday

 

I guess this is a "practice" game.

 

They aren't in the same division

 

I am fascinated with the schools Walker gets to go to, as filmer for the football team.

Beautiful campus.

 

 

This one is 35 miles South of Pittsburgh, where my father grew up.

 

It's 300 miles away from Hillsdale

 

How can Michigan and Pennsylvania be so close?

 

I better study my map.

Feeling Irish...

 

 

 

There is an Island in Ireland

Achille Island

They say they dye their sheep for identification purposes

I think its just to look beautiful against the beautiful blue sea.

 

 

This is unbelievable! 

 

 

What a beautiful place!

I hope my grandaughter Tirzah enjoys this little visit to Ireland.

 

She has submitted an essay for a $25,000 scholarship and she needs your vote!  If you go to facebook you will see the link, can read her essay, and vote if you want to support her dream.

Port Townsend Treasures...

This is a page from my art journal during our trip.

I saw no Hot Air Balloons, although I did see there was an event coming up.

I just was having fun drawing and painting hot air balloons. I added a few details to remind me of some of the fun we had and I know looking at this page later will bring this nice weekend back to mind!

 

We visited many garage sales, and I found this cupcake plate at a garage sale for $1.00.  

It is about 6" across, and perfect for one beautiful cupcake.

Did I mention we visited a cupcake shop in Port Townsend? 

 

This is my favorite purchase! 

A map of Ireland.

one dollar

 

 

beautiful images

 

 

so colorful!

And although I have lots of vintage music pages, I couldn't resist these children's piano books with the darling images in them!

 

I may frame this one. 

Can you see the Forest of Poor Music and the Swamp of Jazz?

 

And the Birthday cake song.

appropriate!

 

I was pretty restrained in my shopping but did find some goodies!

 

 

What happens in Port Townsend stays in Port Townsend (not)...

Room 48

a room with a view

pedicures

feet are the view

shopping

coffee

walking garage sales

wine tasting

sipping

go girl wines

eating

gourmet quiche

Midnight in Paris

sunshine

walking downtown

celebrate

tiramisu

birthday candles

decorations

estate sales

thrift stores

farmer's market

Lady in the Lake

a walk to the dock

nachos

lunch on the balcony

sunset

go sisters

the end.

 

 



irresistible

At the park,

Wyatt found this basketball irresistible!

He had to have it, throw it, carry it around,

sit on it, roll over the top of it.

 

 

I think I better save this one for his high school senior annual. 

 

Today I am off on a sisters event. 

We are celebrating Claudia's birthday,

and enjoying getting away from all responsibilities for a few days.

Eating out.

Shopping.

Sight-seeing.

talking

laughing

recharging our batteries.

 

Gingerbread man and a pinwheel

This is a photo I took of Phil's big leather chair after the kids went home today.

Does this tickle you as much as it does me?

I'm babysitting extra this week because its daycare's vacation week.

today I took both kids to the Farmer's market to pick up my vegetables.

Tori loves to borrow my camera. 

Here are some of her shots

giant radishes that made her laugh

she liked the shadows and reflections on these plums.

Gotta get a cookie at the market!

Tori wanted a gingerbread man (not the girl, grandma).  I told the seller and he said "do you want your gingerbread man in a dress or in pants? " ... I've never seen Wyatt as meticulous with a cookie as he was with his pinwheel. He didn't waste a single crumb!

We had a great day. 

Grandma's getting tired though. 

One more day this week with just the baby.

squeezing in a little art

I think its time to let these girls rest a while.

I like how they look in the Rhododendrons

On these pages I used graphite pencils, colored pencils, acrylic paint, acrylic glaze, glued on ephemera, clear gesso, rubber stamps and ink, and I think when its good and dry I am going to spray hair spray on it for a fixative. 

 Mixed media. 

I would like to throw a little more stuff on it, but I'm kind of afraid too.

Maybe in a week.

Things to do with grandkids...

Make home made play-dough.

We played with this for hours today!

 Introduce your grandson to the love of his life...

and the other love of his life...

 ice cream!

He didn't really care about the sugar cone. 

He was after the ice cream!

 More play dough fun! I think the sculpting was lots more fun than the cookie cutter stuff. This is a family on a big bean-bag type chair, a lamp, a flat screen tv, rugs, and a baby in a cradle with a teddy bear.

Tori actually thanked me for making play-dough with her!

Tell me if you want the recipe. It was fun and easy. from my daughter.

We also made peanut butter cookies. 

My recipe: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg. so easy and fast.

Suzi Blu, art teacher

A few things from my latest on-line art class...

 Above is not something I am crazy about, but there is something about it I like. . . like not too bad for a first try.

Here is a face I sketched and shaded. 

Still needs paint and background. 

I will probably do it over the weekend.

and another face, sketched and shaded.

 I can see if I keep practicing these could be really fun to do. 

 I can imagine sketching all my granddaughters...

The lovely lighting comes from my back yard at about 7:00 p.m. in the evening.

Watch for the finished pages in a couple of days.

Suzi Blu is kind of a wild and crazy character.  Her videos show a slightly wacky side of her personality, but once she gets down to the ART she is a fabulous teacher who explains everything and she does tons of videos so you can see her "at work" on her projects.

A grandma kind of day

I spent the day with Tori and Wyatt. 

Tori is getting to be quite the photographer. 

she took these two rose photos.

and the next three photos at her great grandma and grandpa's house...

This was a sweet moment -

the first time Wyatt allowed great-grandpa to hold him in his lap.

Then we went grocery shopping - bought lunch, and went to the park to eat it...

I wonder if Tori and I have been watching too much "next top model" programs...

 Why is it all the kids want to go up the slides backwards???

Wyatt was afraid of the little kids' playground,

but felt totally at home in the bigger kids area.

siblings on a tricycle.

We found blackberries to pick. 

Wyatt LOVED them!

I've never seen anything like it.

Better than his binkie!

Queen Anne's Lace - the most beautiful wildflower.

and Tori "mountain biking.

We had such a great day. 

I only posted a small portion of the pictures Tori and I took today.