Week 52

 "Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else."

~ Mr. Rogers

Happy 40th Anniversary to us, adios 2022, and Happy New Year!

Made some art before breakfast, while on the phone with my eldest.

Some Christmas tree bokeh right before I took the tree down and put all the decorations away.

A New Year's Eve Atmospheric River brought us a LOT of rain. 

The Walnut Creek looking north at mid-day. This is not normal.

The "Falls", as the adults that grew up here, call it. Hubs says it's the second highest he's seen it. 

This wonderful gift was delivered to us by our middle child and her Fiance.

Gotta love that you can door-dash something from Florida to California!

Cheers to the rain and our 40th Wedding Anniversary!

The Walnut Creek looking south.

On our way to dinner and thankfully the rain was about done for this day.

Tiramisu and Limoncello cake for dessert.

A tasty way to end the year.

Week 51

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance. 

~ Eckhart Tolle

This week I got in a few walks in between the rain. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the 4T's, had our favorite neighbors over for cocktails, and watched the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Christmas Day. 

It was a little too quiet but also nice.

Happy Solstice, Happy Winter, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. 

A Great Egret that let me get this close and didn't fly away.

Always look up. My favorite kind of sky.

This Egret again, the next day. He flew away this time.

. 

Christmas morning and all my snow...beings.

Our little Christmas tree for our little house.

Christmas Eve at the 4T's.

She insisted the whole family get in her new tent. 

Family Lego session before dessert which was Dr. CynCyn's famous Mixed Berry Crisp.

Inspired by my Christmas cards, I played around on my iPad.

Week 43

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, 

is a way to make your soul grow. 

So do it."

~ Kurt Vonnegut

I was so surprised and giddy by all the goodies I received with the watercolor set that

I ordered from Josie Lewis Art. EVERYTHING Rainbow!!

Couldn't wait to try out these beauties.

My experiment failed, but the colors are pretty Note; kosher salt does not work for this project. 

Also, I had too much water on my brush. 

She is electrifying!

Hey there, cutie!

Purple ball-type Dahlia.

A Trader Joe's bouquet in the morning light.

First costume of the night - Sulky Spiderman. 

Second costume for the block party - Fiesty Dilophosaurus.

Mamma Snake plant and her third offspring.

Week 40

In to the great wide open

Under the skies of blue...

~ Tom Petty

We went camping on the coast! Finally. There is nothing like being on the edge of the continent with the

wind in my hair, the waves crashing on the rocks, and the endless view - unless there's fog. Even the fog was beautiful! It was worth the short trip and very much needed. I have hundreds of photos that won't all fit here so, here is a sampling.

An Anise Swallowtail entertaining me while we were stopped on the side of the road.

All set up just before sunset. View from the door of our trailer.

We didn't get any epic sunsets due the fog bank off-shore.

Picked up a few of these awesome sturdy mugs.

The view of our campsite from the cliffs. 

Standing on the edge of the continent.

Had to get an "Usie".

He doesn't want me taking his picture.

Headed down to the cove for some exploring.

The ice plant colors during sunset!

She was not ready to leave and wasn't moving from that spot.

These two are too cute.

They found "chairs" to sit in.

Rock climbing.

I asked him to pose like a super hero. I'm not sure what he was going for here.

The mouth of the Russian River.

Week 39

"We are rare, not perfect...we need to soothe ourselves, not blame ourselves." ~ Mark Nepo

Walks, bike rides, art in the backyard, leaves changing color, clear sky in the west, Hurricane watch on the east coast, and these adorable grandchildren of mine. All is well and we're all okay. Thank you.

I love watching the Liquidambars change. 

Out for a morning adventure with this cutie.

Noticing.

I gave him a new pad of paper when I picked him up from school. 

He walked into the house, gathered his supplies, and went straight to work on his masterpiece.

My heart!

Straight out of my camera (phone).

Burn baby burn.

As we watched the weather channel all evening, I  made a little graphic from a screenshot.

Then we watched again the next night as Ian headed towards Melissa in SC.

Thankfully, all of our family made it through okay.

Paisley highly recommends this book. 

It is eye-opening. 

She liked my happy face Sun.

Got all three of them together. 

More Liquidambar (aka Sweetgum) leaves.

Those are some big eyes staring down at me - like I'm prey. 

This is one of the White-tailed Kites that has been hanging out at Hub's office.