End of the Year Thoughts

Those year end newsletters are good for updates, and they make everyone else’s life seem so sparkly, happy and fun, just like Facebook (Nope, not on, and not going to join). Life is a balance of both good and bad things, but who wants to put the sad, bad and hard stuff in a newsletter?

Here is some of what I remember about 2016, but not all of it. I want my life to look sparkly, happy and fun too, but realistic. The list could be longer, but I want you to stay for the photos at the end.

Personally:

  1. Lost neighbors on three sides, all for different reasons (We aren’t lawn-parkers, don’t have barking dogs, don’t have loud parties or lights that stay on all night – what’s the deal??)
  2. Lost Perkins, the kindest-hearted cat of 17 years, and gained Samson, the fiercest little feline I’ve ever met
  3. Visited Israel (still in shock – did this really happen??)
  4. Took very long road trip – Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada
  5. Hit 30 years in the marriage department
  6. Walked the Lake Tahoe Marathon

Professionally:

  1. Edited a novel
  2. Edited, designed and published Trail of Promises
  3. Painted 5 murals (2 in someone’s Events Room and 3 in the Three Rivers Museum)
  4. Designed and published 4.9 coloring books (#5 is completed but not printed yet, waiting customer approval)
  5. Did all the other normal work stuff – lessons, oil painting workshops, speaking to groups, oil painting, pencil drawing, blogging, bazaars/festivals/boutiques/shows
  6. Received an award, Women in the Arts, from the DAR (Not sure why, but appreciative all the same!)
IMG_2879
Sweet Perkins

strawberry IMG_1733

Trail of Promises

img_3197

The cover of the next "Heart of" series of local coloring books for grown-ups.

img_4502
Somewhere in Idaho

botkin-2

T and I were cold, excited and ready!
T and I were cold, excited and ready for our 1/2 marathon in Lake Tahoe
img_4419
A long bridge into Sandpont, Idaho
img_4381
Bridges, always bridges. . . what is it with the Central California artist and bridges? The answer is that a bridge picture is the perfect combination of scenery and architecture. This one is in Oregon, not in Central California. I don’t know if California has any covered bridges except for one in Wawona near Yosemite.

mineral king coloring book Heart of the Hills

DAR award

IMG_2362 IMG_2484

1-c-seq-cover

Samson
Samson
Mineral King mural in Three Rivers Museum of Empire Mt. mining area.
Mineral King mural in Three Rivers Museum of Empire Mt. mining area.
2 more murals in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers Museum
2 more murals in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers Museum
img_4913
Take that, 2016!

Thank you, dear blog readers, for sticking with me through 2016.

Happy New Year!

P.S. Am I always standing by people I love with my arm thrown over their shoulders?? Nope. Couldn’t stand to be touched in Israel because it was always too hot.

Save

A Random List – Learned in January

While away over the weekend, I learned many new things. Here they are as they pop into my head:

  1. Google Maps can be used to see photos of the road and Carol showed me how!
  2. Single plied yarn knits up visibly different from multiple plied yarn (I always thought I was doing something wrong but it was the yarn – thank you Mendocino Yarn Shop!)
  3. Acrylic painting has many additives available to layer and mold and make relief type paintings. (How could I have never known this before? Because I am an OIL painter!)
  4. Seaglass is much more abundant after a storm. I read this; now I know it experientially.
  5. Finished seaglass is rounder and translucent; the differences are subtle but they matter to the collector.
  6. Most hot tubs are set at 104 degrees but 100 is still comfortable.
  7. My cell phone is capable of texting but it isn’t necessary nor convenient in my life.
  8. There is a new kind of dimmer on light switches that is so tiny one can (and did) miss it!
  9. A song I love, Gabriel’s Oboe, is from a movie called The Mission.
  10. The center of California is delineated on Hwy. 99 (already knew this but now know how to find it!)
  11. ALWAYS have a map with you when you are on a road trip because there might be a traffic problem that will negate your Google directions. I knew this but was ever so grateful to have followed this wisdom.
  12. ALWAYS have simple knitting in the car with you, even when you are driving alone, because you never know when the freeway will transform itself into a parking lot.
  13. NEVER drink too much coffee. (see #12) (I sure felt badly for the woman in the white sedan.)
  14. There is a specific (and odd) way of walking to increase one’s speed; Carol and I got a great laugh out of experimenting with this (easier to do when in a place where no one knows you.)
  15. Abstract art causes me to think of yarn. (Many things do this for me.)