IS IT A DECK YET?

There were several relatives here this week. They came to help build me a deck for an outdoor kitchen. There were nephews, son-in-laws, grandsons, friends. I thought how lucky am I. All these guys in the family coming to help their ole auntie and grandma out. There were a lot of guys here but the funny thing is none of them knew how to build a deck. What I ended up with is a very expensive, high off the ground, something that looks like a cross between a launch pad and a bandstand. It is going to be very interesting when I try to set things up on it. Oh well, I can always build walls that are half screen, put a top on it and call it a sleeping porch. At least the kids will have a lot of fun camping out and playing on it. It is also very close to the pool so I can always put a board from the bottom step of the deck,bandstand, launch pad, to the pool for the kids to jump in the water.
They tried and they all meant well. Lucky me.
Have a wonderful day!

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

We are having a new show at our gallery in November titled What's Cookin'? It is all about food. The artist's can paint still life's, or they can get really creative and paint all kinds of crazy foods. I'm going to paint Beets sitting on a piano and call it, Off Beet. I think it will be funny to have an enormous beet sitting on a piano. My other painting I think will be a pond with Lily Pads, however, instead of flowers on the lily pads I'm going to paint fruit on the lily pads. Maybe I'll have some melting bananas coming out of a goblet sitting on a lily pad. Then maybe I'll paint a bunch of grapes hanging around another lily pad. Then maybe I'll paint a giant tomato sitting on a tiny little lily pad. The ideas are endless, and this is going to be one fun show. Oh, maybe I'll have a cupcake with a fish on top on one of the lily pads. Well, I better get busy and start getting all these ideas on paper. Oh by the way, the fish tacos we had the other night were incredible, absolutely delicious. Let me know if you want the recipe.
Have a wonderful day!

THERE IS NOTHING BETTER!

I have friends who live in Alaska. They go fishing. They sent me 200 lbs of fresh caught Halibut! My whole family thought they were in heaven. We have always loved our friends from Alaska, now we love them a little more, if that's possible. There is nothing better, than eating fresh caught fish, especially Halibut.
Tonight we are having fish tacos with lots of fresh veggies in the tortillas. Most of the time I grill it on our outside BBQ and baste it with a little lemon butter and fresh basil, right from the garden. It is absolutely delicious. I did share a package with my sister and a package with a very close friend, but if anyone else asks me if I have any fresh Halibut, I will take the 5th. I will be guarding the rest of my stash with my life. I actually moved a small freezer into the room where the dogs sleep. No one will get into that room without me knowing it. The dogs will let me know if someone is trying to sneak into my freezer. They have been told to bite first and ask questions
later. Fresh Halibut is like gold, it cost almost as much if you try to buy Halibut in the stores. Well, I better go, I have lots of fish to guard. Hope I haven't made you too hungry.
Have a wonderful day!

SATURDAY AT THE GALLERY

Today I will spend half a day at our gallery. I just know we will not have any visitors because the weather is much too hot for people to drive around gallery hopping. We do an Art Hop every second Saturday and we have a lot of visitors, however, we serve food, drink and sometimes wine. Today there is only tap water and no goodies. It will be a good day for me to catch up on my reading. I started a new book but haven't been able to pick it up but today I will.
Stay cool and have a wonderful day!

PINE CONES, PINE CONES, $.25 FOR PINE CONES!

Today my little grandson Dominic wants to earn some money so he is going to collect all the pine cones all over my property. I have six acres. He wants to be paid by the pine cone. So we have decided on 25 cents for each pine cone he collects. There are hundreds of them so he has a good chance of making some money here. He can get approximately 25 pine cones in his wagon. The pine cones are everywhere for the picking so it's not like he has to climb or scale trees or cliffs to get these pine cones, my property is pretty flat for the most part. The way I see it, one wagon full could be as much as $6.25 If this little kid fills his wagon 15 times, like he says he can, that will be $93.75 he will earn today. I think I better make a trip to the bank so I can have the cash on hand for him when he is done. I think he'll do it, he is a very enterprising young boy. We have also agreed on a spot in the far back of the property to dump the pine cones. It is so much better to mow when we don't have to walk around picking up pine cones first.
Have a wonderful day!

30 30 ARTSHOW

Today is a good day to be in the house. It is very hot outside and everything is sort of frying. So, as long as I have to be indoors, I thought I would do a little catching up on my blog. I posted a picture of what our 30/30 show was like, I mentioned it in one of my other blogs a while back, and it was a big success. We had tons of people and lots of positive feedback not to mention several sales. Everyone's work was spectacular. I posted a couple of mine so you could see what they look like up close. They are just little tiny tiles, actually hard boards but they do frame up very nicely. I'll post one that I had framed and you'll be able to see what I mean. I posted a bunch on my Etsy site too. I always love these kinds of shows, they are really a challenge but lots of fun.
Have a wonderful day!

30/30 Show - Study of Pollock

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Today is going to be another hot day. The family is coming over for a BBQ, swimming, the usual stuff. The kids will swim all day and tonight we will all go and watch the fireworks. Some of the kids will fall asleep because they are so exhausted from the sun and swimming all day and then they will wake up on the way home and cry because they missed seeing the fireworks. Life is tough. Remember, put your animals away before setting off any fireworks. Fireworks really scare animals, they panic and run. Some have gotten hurt and even killed by running into traffic or through fences, etc. I plan on painting today for awhile before everyone starts coming over. I plan to get at least two paintings started before I have to begin entertaining and chasing kids.
Happy 4th everyone and have a wonderful day.