I am so far behind now with my bead journals, I haven't done anything since May. I am going to have to work really hard to catch up, hope I can do it. The rain has finally let up here, over 30 days straight of rain........then 3 days of sunshine and now its really foggy this evening, I suppose it will rain tomorrow. But it is supposed to be nice again the first of the week. I sure hope so, because we haven't had much of a summer so far and Fall is fast approaching. As a matter of fact it is only three weeks away from the Burning Basket for Equinox. This year the basket will be named "Imagine". I am looking forward to working on it again, but it seems to have come so soon. I did manage to get a small 5x7 picture painted for the Watercolor show next month, and am working on a Triptic for the Invitational show titled "Serendipity" that is also being held at the Gallery. The Triptic will be a mixed media piece, along the lines of an altered canvas.

I so enjoyed all of the Grandchildren, they all got along so well the whole time we were there, it was just great. They are so much fun to be around. They all enjoyed wading in the water and the two oldest boys enjoyed their boogie boarding. The girls were so silly and so much fun. The little boys stayed on the go from daylight until dark. We went for long walks to see the seals that had hauled up on the beach quite aways away from where we were staying, but it was such a nice walk. Our wonderful Daughter-in-law brought goody bags for everyone with all kinds of fun things in them, as you can see from the silly picture of the girls. What a wonderful time we had.

Well, its the 21st of August already. The month of June was terrible the first half. So much stress and worry, but we have moved on from that now. The last half of June was wonderful. Against my better judgement, I went to Oregon to see our Children and Family. I hated leaving Jack, but he pushed until I finally agreed to go. Once I was there, I was so happy that I agreed to go. I really didn't realize just how stressed I was. What a wonderful week that was. I missed seeing our oldest Granddaughter, her husband and our beautiful Great Granddaughter, and our Nephew John, but those that were there were such a blessing. How much I miss them.

Christina from the Gallery just called to tell me that "Seala" the beaded mermaid doll that I had in the Gallery just sold to a woman from Arizona. Thats the second doll that has sold, its......wow, silly as it seems, there's always a feeling of....loss. Each doll has her own personality and grabs you in different ways. How silly...its just a doll!!!! Funny but certain pieces of my beadwork make me feel the same way. Some I don't have feelings one way or the other, and then....certain pieces just make you feel differently. I guess its the time that you put into them. Oh well, back to painting the front door. I was really hoping we would be able to buy a new one this year, but with all that's happened lately, paint will just have to do for a couple more years I guess. Maybe I can get in some beading today..maybe.

Well, so much has happened since my last entry, and I am now two months behind on my bead journal pages and so much more. Spent four and a half wonderful days with our Children and Grandchildren on the Oregon Coast. My Mother, Nephew and two of my Sisters were also there, along with their families. What a wonderful time we had, I can't wait to do it again next year, only with Jack going along also. If it be Gods will. I haven't been able to do any beading since I've been home, due to Jack's health issues, but things will soon be better I am sure and then I can get back to beading with a vengence. I did do a small painting to make a thankyou card to send to all who made the family gathering, but thats as creative as I have been. I am really wanting to get into my beads....soon....soon....I hope.

I am enjoying learning to watercolor. I don't know if I'm doing it exactly right, but so far it seems to be working. I love my little birdhouses, so I found a driftwood pole to hang the houses on in the yard. It looks a little weathered, which is what I was hoping for. The birds sit on it, but not in them. I took a picture of it when the fireweed was blooming in with the raspberry bushes. This is an edited version of the photo I took.

A young friend of mine named Miriam took this photo over in Seldovia on the boardwalk. I loved the photo so I purchased it from her with the plan to do an oil painting, however, since I am trying to learn watercolor I decided to try it that way...I think it turned out ok.