Holiday is over

All holiday plans got changed here at the last minute but it ended up to be a very nice Christmas. My old dog Buddy got to wear the Santa Suit, and he sported around in it very happily all day. I think it helped keep the chill off his old bones. I baked for a couple days, and kept the house smelling wonderful. Now, I'm back to painting again. I hadn't wanted to start anything new for awhile, knowing how obsessed I get with it. Here is a work in progress and a pic of Buddy and Lulu.

Recent artwork

You can see recent artwork on my other blog: http://bookartsandalteredbooks.blogspot.com/

Tis the season

I've got decorations up, nothing extensive as my living quarters are small. But I sneak in bits of Christmas wherever I can. Mostly I group things on surfaces that the dogs can't reach. I'm not sure what Lulu or Nikki might think is a chewable toy. The poinsettias are at Susanne's house where we had the annual holiday tea for the Mixed Media Artists of Northern California. The steampunk image was taken in the Dicken's Faire Oddities and Curiosities booth.

Dicken's Faire

After more than three decades missing this wonderful event, the family and I made it a point to get there on Saturday. It was my gift for them, instead of buying presents. And what a good time was had by all. They loved the costumes, and the whole atmosphere. It was magical. Here are a few pics from the faire. It was held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Goodness knows San Franciscans will dress up at the drop of a hat, and they went all out on this. Men, women, children all in such interesting costumes. Maybe we'll dress up for it next time we go. There were long lines waiting to buy tickets to get in, and once inside it was crowded - but it was such a special treat to be there, I could overlook that. I always found a seat to watch the performances. To keep track of each other we used cell phones. I used the phone more there than I have all year. If you have a chance to go to this sometime - I'd recommend it.

Sheepish apology

For those of you who pop in to check the blog periodically, I apologize for neglecting you. I've had a really busy time lately, as probably most of you are too, with the approaching holidays looming ahead. Baking, shopping, decorating, partying, and trying to use up dental insurance before end of year. Those are my excuses, not in any particular order.

The Mixed media group had the annual Tea yesterday in Sacramento. Tomorrow is Candis' holiday concert, but first I'll be painting at the Senior Center in a.m. and dental appt in afternoon. The whole week looks like that.

The best thing that happened all week is that Amazon delivered the new piece I needed for my computer and my son Matt got it installed this a.m. Now, I should be able to stay online for indefinite periods without the network connection overheating and turning itself off. This makes blogging a lot more fun. I'll be posting more pics of recent work soon. Hope you are enjoying the blessings of the season.