Making Progress

 Charlie Brown is looking better now.. Lights are on and a few ornaments even....
My Christmas cactus is looking good too...
This is some of what I have gotten up to,in between work and pre-paints and a small amount of baking....
I made about 45 of these little paintings as ornaments and am very pleased with the results....
I have another full day at work today, we have had three people out with the flu,so more hours for me.... Also on that same subject..I found the two paintings I thought someone took from the studio...Thank You!!! Thank You!!! They were filed in the wrong place....Yeah...I am so relieved....
Thank you Ben for the help in the yard, It is definitely looking better already....
Hope all is well,Have a great weekend everyone.....

Charlie Brown Tree

I finally took time to go look for a tree before work yesterday...I got one of the last 10 trees they had around here and had them cut it down to make a table top tree...poor thing ...
but hopefully it will look better with my favorite ornaments and lights on it...We shall see... Anyway that is what you get when you pay $12.50 for  one the last ones on the lot.... Half off....
At another lot the man offer to cut one down , of his last few, for me for only $40.00.... What???? no way....
I have lots of pre-paints to do before work so the lights and all will have to wait...
Some one this week took two of my pre-paints, so I have those to repaint too.... that is the first time it has happened at our studio.......
 I will be sending No Christmas cards again this year... Just not enough hours in a day for all I have to do so something has to be cut from the list... Merry Christmas to all and if you rather then Happy Holidays to you......

HO HO HO Here We Go

I had so much fun teaching an off site event on Wednesday, this week for CAMLS , a beautiful state of the art,training facility in down town Tampa...We painted "Paradise Palms" and everyone did a really nice job of it too...
Sixty people took part and this was my first time to teach an off site event..I have assisted many...
The fish I painted because,Painting with a Twist is considering maybe offing these to paint in our two hour classes, and they wanted a sample to see how it might go..What do you guys think of it????
I have been a very busy little beaver, making many Christmas gifts, of which I can show none yet,It would spoil the surprise, but one day soon I will share pictures...
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with cool sunny weather and beautiful people to share in the yummy food and fun...
Thank you again,Amy and Eric for being wonderful hosts..but shame on me for not taking any photos of such a nice day...
Now it is on to the next holiday to get ready for...hope all is going well for everyone ...
Have a good weekend...

Moving right along

Many things happening during this month,to make me feel like I am moving at lightening speed....it will only keep it up from now until Christmas.
 Which is a good thing ..I would much rather be busy....
Thursday this week I visited Pat's classroom for the Great American Teach In, and we painted the Aztec suns.. The children seem to really enjoy hearing about my job, and even more,getting to paint, and having a painting they did, to take home... Thank You Pat for the opportunity to share what I do with the Children...
On Friday Raf came to stay with us for a bit,and man did that get the dogs undivided attention....
I had no baby gate so had to use what I had to keep both safe... They are not paying him any mind any more, The newness wore off pretty quickly...Thank You, Thank You....
I am madly making some Christmas gifts,in between painting pre-paints for work and working, so no time for dragging my tail feather....
I had the best group of people in my class last night.. They were with us to celebrate their Holiday party for the employees.
It was a great to see everyone having such a good time,painting Ybor At Night....
All of the paintings turned out so nice..
Wonderful to have such a positive group...
Anyway I wish all a good Thanksgiving Holiday ......

Right, It's November

I don't even know what to think about this year going by so fast...
Work, as usual has kept me very busy and I have even had extra home work. We are up dating our storage system and I had to label all of my paintings...All 28 boxes with 18 paintings in each box... I have not done that much writing in so many years,OH my aching hands...
We had a very nice birthday dinner for Wy, Monday night  ,Yummy Steak and mashed potato...for a milestone birthday...You made it Wy... I love you!!!!
I just have a hard time seeing it here and gone already.
I did finally take some better pictures of my paintings and have been playing around with arrangements on pic monkey to make a poster for my Fine Art America web site.
I am not sure if it will work for that but I am going to try it....
I AM PRETTY HAPPY WITH THE ONE I CAME UP WITH NOW...
I must have hit caps on with that last sentence..oh Well!!!
Anyway I have to go to work early today so I have got to cut this short
Bye for now,have a great week all !!!!!

A Day Off

                                         Morning At The Raggs

                       Marvin[my boss] and Clara [She taught this one.]

                                       U.S.F. Off Site Painting Class

                          P.W.A.T. painting I am teaching this week...Won't you join me???


It's my first day off since we got home so, much to be done ....
I was lucky enough to get to assist with the off site class this week and it was a lot of fun...
The weather here has been beautiful....I have been able to have the windows and doors open most of the last few days, and those who live here, know of what I speak ,when I say this....
I can't wait to teach this painting class..[see picture above]
I hope I will have some time to paint for me today but,I still have work paintings to do first...We shall see.
Yesterdays class went well and we painted the silly gold fishy, always a big hit and so cute....
I guess I had better get busy,so much to do, so little time ....
I just wanted to check in ...Have a wonderful week y'all.....

Last of the Days

Big day for us here in the mountains..
We are having a group of friends over for lunch and I am making home made Pizzas and pasta salad...Yum, I hope...
Also it is time today to clean and pack up to go home tomorrow...
Four of these pictures are of my peonies ,the way they look in fall colors.
Sorry I keep putting the color change photos up day after day, but I live in Florida, where there is no real fall and I have loved seeing it happen right before my eyes....

Travel Day

                                         Doug and Don

                                         Peg

                                         Mark, Wy, Don, Doug and Peg

Doug,Don,Mary Ellen and Wy

                                       Woody and Doug

Monday we had a beautiful last day in the mountains..
It started out rainy, but then cleared by noon and temp went to 74 degrees..
We had these folks over for lunch and it was fun to get together on such a colorful afternoon...
I made four kinds of pizza and some pasta salad. Doug made apple pie and we had cake and ice cream...Yum..
Thank You Jenn for skyping with us, so M.E. and Woody were able to meet Aidan and see your beautiful home...
Tuesday however was a completely different story...It poured down rain from before we got up at five A.M.,all the way through the complete drive from North Carolina to Tampa, most of which was rain so hard you had trouble seeing the car ahead of you....No fun and very stressful...But Thank You, Thank You,We made it home safe.....I have been up since five A.M., and of course it has been pouring rain all night here too... It is supposed to be bringing in cooler weather here, so we shall see...We do need it a bit cooler here .....
All is well here and it is back to work for me today.. Back to the old routine as they say...
We had a very nice break,so I am ready....

We are going to miss this when we go....

What a great home we have here...
It is Sunday and almost time to pack up again, BUT WE HAVE ENJOYED THE TIME SPENT...
Really have to make an effort to get back more often.
Amy says "Every things better in the mountains"
I guess I am taking all these picture for a reminder to get back here soon.
The antique frame I thought would look nice on this picture that Amy did of she and four friends,
maybe I can get it put together next time we are up here..
Time for me to get moving and do a few more things around here..
Times a ticking...
Rain is coming down and they are calling for it right through to Tuesday..
Oh Well, That is what has made everything lush and beautiful.

Saturday,Moving right along

I really thought we were going to be here too early to get to see the leaves turn and fall appear...
Thank You so much ,that we have been able to watch it happen one day at a time again....
The days are going faster and faster as we are nearing the time to go home, but I have so enjoyed the break and being able to be up here for this long a period...
Many a thing happening around the area today,and I am not sure what we will get up to ....
I am ready and willing for what ever it might be....
The temp is, right now 60 degrees and it is a bit cloudy,preparing for some rain..
We have been so lucky as to have really only had one pretty cold night ,and that was for Mary Ellen's Birthday bash.It seem to have put everyone in a very happy mood and really added to the party..
I wish everyone a great weekend ahead and will write again soon...

Yesterday's Progress

We are still wall to wall furniture, but a little more open space in the middle so feels a bit better to me...
All the pieces we had in the rental house got moved up here to our place so .......
My studio space has gotten much smaller these days, but at least I still have it....
I am a little sore this morning from all the lifting and moving but am quite happy with the progress...

Too Quiet Now

Teresa and Mike headed home today and it is quiet around here..
The day started out so beautiful,The sun was out, the temp was 70, and I got a whole lot of chores done before ten a.m.[.Laundry,beds changed ,upstairs cleaned and straightened].
Doug came over about ten and he and I loaded his truck with stuff we do not need and he can sell at the flea market,and then he helped me move furniture around and get the basement in better shape...Thank you again Doug,for all the help...
These are some of the pictures I took at his house yesterday...What a great home he has made for himself....
By about four o'clock today it started to thunder and blow and pour down rain...It did that for about two hours and now has settled down .
And it was  a very good day...