Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Where does the time fly!!! My husband and I spent the day taking down the Christmas trees and nutcrackers. Although I am always a little sad when packing everything away, I look forward to the coming year. This will be the first winter I will go through without surgery in 3 years!!! I have been spending a great deal of time in my studio and enjoying the solitude. This year I decided to begin a new tradition by creating pendants for gifts. Below is one example of several I completed. Everyone seemed to like the results. The image size is 3/4 inch x 1 inch.

We had a great Christmas with the family. Both my kids and their boyfriend/girlfriend spent the day with us. Due to really bad weather some of our family was not able to make it. It rained Christmas eve and day and froze. My son's girlfriend fell twice. A possum that lives in our backyard somewhere must have gotten flooded out. He spent Christmas under our back deck attempting to stay dry. Poor guy.
We all spent the afternoon playing pool and Wii bowling. As you can see my son was really getting into it. I am the worst bowler ever.

The kids weren't the only ones having a good time. Our golden retriever LOVES pool.

Well, now its January-hard to believe. We will be heading out in a couple of weeks to Florida and while there, will be attending the MASF miniature show. Till then, you can find me hold up in my studio. Can't wait

Till next time,

Gail

Winter Wonderland

Well we are almost ready for Christmas! Decorating is done as is the shopping. I took this picture this morning of our backyard. I really liked the dark blue snow clouds coming in from the North over the lake. According to the weather forcaster, I had better fix this firmly in my mind as it might be raining here by Friday. I never considered the possibility of not having a white Christmas as we have been slipping and sliding here for weeks.

While taking this picture the squirrel games began. We have four birdfeeders in the yard and the squirrels are busy chining themselves on the hangers robbing each feeder. While I don't mind their antics, they did cross the line today. Storing birdfeed has become a problem at our house. If we keep the seed in the garage, it attracts mice. Uck! Well, we decided the only thing to do was to buy a rolling trash can to keep outside and place the seed inside. To discourage the squirrels from investigating, we placed it right under the living room window. Much to my surprise, today I was met with two beedy eyes staring at me through the window. Mr. squirrel was busy destroying the hinge on the trash can. By the time I got the camera, he was gone. His buddies were still around though. Anyone with ideas for storing seed, please let me know!

I have been spending quite a bit of time in my studio this week. I started a new tradition this year and have painted bird pendants for some special people in my life. I will show them after Christmas. Besides pendants, I finished a painting of the Grand Hotel entrance on a hazy day. I am currently working on a portrait-my first of a Cherokee Indian that lives on the island. I had intended to show my WIP, but cannot as my dog ate the power cord to my scanner, and the new one has not arrived yet. No kidding-this was a $45.00 snack. You see, Jasmine, our 10 year old Golden, believes she should NEVER be left along. She gets quite angry and tends to snack on the first thing she can find. I am surprised she has not been electrocuted by now. Its animal house around here.

This will probably be my last post till after Christmas. I wish everyone a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas and a healthy and profitable New Year!

till next time,

Gail