What's Up?

Yeah, I know. This blog is getting stale! Here's where I've been for a few days.

1. Out in the garden, enjoying the sunny days. I put in gravel walkways behind my new solar fountain, planted a bunch of flowers for color, and put a bark/mulch on all the exposed dirt. Now I'm working on pulling up weeds in my so-called "lawn", which is itself a weed haven, not much more. But I'm on my way to a better looking back yard. Yahoo!!

2. Having a party. It was Daniella's birthday, so we had a "Clashing Patterns and Pie Potluck", a repeat of a party we had about 10 years ago that was a big hit. This year about 50 guests arrived, dressed in the most clashing outfits they could put together. Everyone brought either a sweet or a savory pie, and food was great. My niece, Amy, from New Hampshire flew out for the weekend - the best treat of all! Daniella posted several photos from the party on her blog. Here she is, in her clashing outfit, out in the back yard with the red dot fountain.3. Back to School. Last night was my first class for the spring semester at Cabrillo College. I'm taking life drawing and beginning painting (starts this morning). I'm as excited as a little kid about these classes. The life drawing class, taught by Noah Buchanan, will be based on studying a lot of anatomy and classical art, with a nude model in almost every class - I'm sure I'm going to love every minute. My painting class will be taught by Tobin Keller, who was my teacher last spring when I studied Color and Design. I already know he is terrific.

4. Spending time with our little Zuma. She has definitely been impacted by the death of our older dog, Lola, so we're trying to give her extra attention, lots of walks, hugs, and spoiling. Here she is this morning, snoozing on the back of the couch.This past week hasn't left a lot of time for blogging!