random things that make me happy

…brownies under glass…. ..spices that come in old-fashioned tins… …enticing a rose branch clipping to sprout into a whole new plant…

painting: bay horse

While I was on vacation I stopped to take photos of horses in a field, and their very kind owner took the time to show them off for me and let me get some close-ups. There were two Arabians, a black horse and a bay. The bay horse was 31 years old, and I had

paintings: goats

I have quite a few photos left of this pair, and every time I paint them I try to make the colors different so they’re always substantially new. This time I used broad brush strokes and little blending, and I think they turned out terrific! Aren’t the highlights in that fore-goat fantastic?

thrifting: stylecraft cups

Can you believe I found a whole set of these cups, and they aren’t chipped and the handles aren’t broken??? I’m not 100% sure they really are Stylecraft because they aren’t marked on the bottom; they say only Japan. But wow–I find one of these cups every six months or so, and now a whole

home canning: salsa and pickled carrots

After a short vacation, life has been pretty slow. So plenty of time to start canning the extra produce from the garden! Today, I made a batch of salsa from the Ball preserving site. Last year I had to use the mix they sell at the store for water-bath salsa, but this year they put

At the fair

I took tons of photos at the fair, so there will be lots of new paintings this year–hooray! Here’s some pics of E having a good time.

at the zoo

Still on vacation, and we went to the Portland zoo. I’ve been hoping to replenish my photo stores, so success! The zoo itself was disappointing, but there were a few animals out and about. Here’s a few of them…

letter fabric

We didn’t make it to California for my vacation (big ole drat) so I didn’t make it to the Britex fabric store in San Francisco like I’d planned — four glorious floors of fabrics like you really just don’t find at Joanns. BUT I did go to the Boersman fabric store in little McMinnville and

crafty time: Wednesday towel

I’m still technically on vacation, but taking a little internet time. I had a morning (or was it an evening?) to finish up my birdy Wednesday towel. I think I have 3 done now, but maybe 4. When I work on these while at the park watching the kids, sometimes a kid will come ask

Painting: dalmation and airedales

This pretty dalmation was for a commission. He turned out great! Sometimes playing with white is hard…because it’s so…white. But I don’t talk myself out of paintings as much as I used to, and usually I’m happy when done. Tah-dah! And I finished up these Airedales, from a photo from a lady who let me