Summertime...

My daughter and her friends usually end up doing a little ballet on playdates... in princess dress, naturally :) This woodcut is unfinished.

Mr. Darcy and I pausing in the perennial gardens... on one of our long, blissful weekend walks.

My son's drawings always make my heart sing.

I want to plant some of these in September!

Summer is in full gear around here and we are loving every minute of it. The kids are doing dance camps, vacation bible school... and lots of swimming. I'm trying new yoga classes and it is such a rich, satisfying experience. More woodblocks are in the planning and making... and a painting or two will begin this summer as well - itching to get out the brushes and dive in. Hubby is super excited to make his first batch of beer :) I'm going to come up with a lable and he can begin his dream of becoming a brewmeister!

Our Visit to Farmington... to the Farm

Meeting the horses... there were 5 total. They were so sweet and gentle (I can say that because we did not ride any :). They LOVED my husband who is not a horsey person at all. He was charmed by them. Abby, the horse was besotted with our little girl... I think she must have smelled extra sweet.

Colby the fat cat (20lbs) - he's a lover.

A beautiful sprig of ? mini cotton?

Over yonder in the neighbor's spread.

Bo the rescued dog... he was sweet but still a little scared.

Yesterday we had a great time visiting a little town nestled in the hills of the Palouse. (Eastern WA). My husband's cousins live out in the country and we had the pleasure of getting out of dodge and soak up the beautiful countryside. Most of the day was spent meeting all the animals - mostly dogs, cats, horses and more barn cats. After visiting in the house for a while, we drove to a park while the cousins visited an elderly aunt and on to Moscow, ID for dinner. The winding country roads at dusk were beautiful and soon very dark without all the city lights. A great adventure for all of us:)

Happy Father's Day!

Dala Horse Quilt

Loving this CD right now... his voice just vibrates in my head all day long. (in a good way ;).

There's the quilt I have been working on lately. I just fell in love with the Dala horse fabric and had to buy it! My mom found the pattern online, made by the fabric company (I want to say, Michael Miller???) But oh my, what trial it has been. You see, I do not do well following patterns and measuring. But, I thought after a VERY long time, I'd try. The horse squares were smaller than the fabric used on the pattern photo - so I added a border... but more complications. Like the space between the rows of horses vary on the fabric. Who knew?! So, it made the sizes of the blocks a bit wonky. Even though I thought I trimmed them all to the correct size, guess I didn't. I've put it away for now because I just shudder every time I see it. UG. Someday I'll take it apart and try to fix it when I'm not so emotionally involved. Sounds a little psycho, no? This sometimes happens with paintings too. What can you do? It's all a process, I suppose.

Praying for sun today so I can head out for a long walk with Mr. Darcy. Woof.

A Fresh Print or Two...

 Here is a lovely little boy, Porter.  He's a commission for a sweet friend and was so much fun to carve.  I haven't done many animals as portraits but he has me interested in doing more!  With just a little left to go, I should be done with him this coming week. 

Big Brother... can't decide on a title for this one but, it's drawn from a photo last summer.  There's a magical, beautiful trail through the woods to the ocean beach at Salishan, OR.  We're going back again... probably next year.  This year it's all about Cannon Beach :)  I'll be painting this one as soon as the ink dries and have another new ballet scene ready to carve.  Plus another little girl ballet scene.  I've got my carve on now :)