The saddest of news

It is today, with great sadness, that I blog about our dearest Dolly being put to sleep on Monday. I didn't have the heart to write about it before, I still don't really have the heart, but the fingers can type - so that will have to be good enough.

Dolly was thirteen and a half years old, and we had recently discovered she was suffering from advanced liver disease. We did the things we could to help, but after several months of very frequent bloody poop, we felt it was time to make the hardest decision of all. The final straw came last week when she started to poop every hour, 24-7. We were exhausted, and she was distressed, so we booked an appointment for Monday.

The weekend was special 'Doll time'. We took her to Carmel beach, out for lunch, curled up on the bed with her, and gave her so many treats and snacks that she has been unable to have for months. It was time well spent, but didn't make Monday any easier.

Now, my heart is broken, but I know it will mend, and in it's place shall be so many memories and thoughts of a truly loyal companion.

I'll probably post a few pics of Doll over coming posts. Ones which make me smile and remember all the great things. Many have probably been posted before, but all are worthy of posting again.

Moments and muddles.

My yard is a pile of wood and mess at the moment, as I am having a deck and fence project done. Thought I would share a picture of the pile as it strangely reflects the contents of my head! That too is damp, disorganised and really quite a muddle.

Then we have the gawd, color and plastic 'survive the Apocalypse' exersaucer. Which, whilst horrific to look at, and even 'have' in the house, brings so much joy and pleasure to one (now six month old) Peanut. So - an honorable mention for you.

Next, we have a shot of some sketches I am doodling for a project I am working on with a friend, to illustrate some educational material about Grammar. I am working on A4 printer paper with an IKEA pencil. Yes!! I did say printer paper and an IKEA pencil. This is what I am resorting to as I realise the baby is asleep and I have a moment to do some work. Then - oh, my sketchpads and pencils are in the closet in baby's room (the room formally known as my studio).

Still - I am drawing!! hurray! AND - I am blogging about it, to boot. It's a good day!

Hark! the sweet sound of an awake baby, oh, and a dog just threw up. I'm not joking.

The view from here

It was nice to take some time out to decorate the tree, and of course, the dogs were there to share in the experience. My husband took this picture of Pixie, from her perspective, and it made me realize what a big and scary place the world is from down there! Pictures are rather blurry, but who cares!

Also - the finished tree. Happy Holidays everyone!

Good reason led her West

Oh how time flys! I have been creative more than this blog shows, and in ways that I would not previously thought of as creative. But I am learning that art and creation come in many forms and it's important to recognize that.

On the visually creative front though, I have managed to finish this simple painting on canvas called 'Good reason led her West'. It's acrylic on canvas, and has detailed little bird, a Junco a believe, in the corner. I actually painted it for my own bathroom, which we have recently remodelled. I really prefer original art rather than prints, so reluctantly set myself the task of painting a picture for the room. (reluctant, as it was just one more on the already enormous 'to do' list) I am very pleased to finish it, but mainly as I can cross it off the list as completed!! So now I can start on other jobs.

The holidays are looming, and a whole new year is right around the corner behind it. I am not much of a swimmer, but find my head just above water, thankfully. Hopefully, even if I sink I can muster the imagination to be able to breath underwater, and embrace that as a peculiar adventure instead. In the new year I will, at some point, roll to the one hundredth post - I'd better start thinking about how to celebrate? perhaps a give away or something?

The Golden Butterfly (part deux) - color!

Here she is - finished in color, I've included a detail shot and one with me in the corner - mostly so the scale can be seen, as it's a large piece of work!

The Golden Butterfly

This is a drawing I did for a stained glass window. I completed it at least two years ago now, but the window has only just been finished so It's taken this long to blog about it!

The image is taken from an old 'Kellar's' magician's poster, and depicts the 'latest wonder' known as the Golden Butterfly. It's hard to tell from this, but it is virtually life sized, and the drawing took a good week of full time work to complete. This was work I have been doing for John Forbes of 'Bonny Doon Art Glass', as my traditional glass painting skills are unusual here in the US, so I occasionally work for other studios.

Tomorrow I will post the pictures of the finished glass window. The colors are quite beautiful, and it really is a very good copy from the original poster!

An orange time of year

I was really rather shocked to see that it was September when I last posted, so decided to do something about it! Whilst it may appear that there has been no creativity - in fact there has been rather a lot, which probably contributes to the quiet front!

I have recently been designing for a few glass projects, and am working on one of those currently. Other creative endeavors have included curtains and pelmets for Peanut's room, and I even managed to leave baby at home with husband, to go and blow glass for a grand total of three hours (whoop!) Life has certainly changed, and I am realizing that creativity comes in many unusual forms, and I need to appreciate each bit - no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

I will try and post images of the various works in progress, as I can, but for them meantime I thought these were appropriate pics for the time of year. This was actually taken a couple of years back - this is me and Lil miss Pixie-Stix, choosing Pixie pumpkins for our local 'Magical Glass Pumpkin Patch'. Pixie likes to check each one (as they bear her name) as she will only endorse the best!!