Fall colors at last

Seems the change of season is so late this year; still in the 8o's most days, apple tree still in leaf (very odd), & butterflies still in the air. Autumnal colors inspire me to continuing my painting efforts , and so when an assignment of an Old Masteres dark underpainting style painting was given to me, a pet portrait of our new pup Sherlock was in order. 

time flies...

Hard to believe our one & only child is off to college at the ripe old age of 17!  Not only has she decided to attend Northeastern U in Boston (the opposite side of the country), but her first semester will be in Dublin, Ireland. Having gone on our "womenfolk" tour of Eire & to Usk, Wales this past summer,  I'm pretty comfortable with her being so far from home (it helps to have cousins just an hour away by plane). Even though we'll miss her terribly, I know it'll be a great adventure for her.

Mid-Winter nights

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At least we are now past the winter solstice and the days are growing increasingly longer.  This is the time of year for a rash of winter concerts in Claremont beginning with the Claremont Symphony Orchestra this weekend, the CSYouth orchestra in 2 weeks after that, and in another 2 week span we hold the the Claremont USD concerts. I begin to wonder how I got so involved in all of this!

To take my mind off of present things and create some light at the end of the tunnel, it seemed like a good idea to plan a "womenfolk" tour of Ireland next summer with my sister and daughter. Since Xandie will be headed of to college next fall I thought this would make for a memorable grad present and create some lifelong memories. More on that as it develops...