It was a year in the planning, but we were able to surprise Don for his birthday. Yes, we did it AGAIN. What helped was holding the party at my sister’s house (which is absolutely gorgeous, about 8 km south of Golden, perched on a height of land overlooking the Columbia river). On the way home from our motorcycle trip, I just casually said, “Hey, why don’t we visit my sister on the way home?” and Don said, “Okay.” So we stopped in for a cup of tea and had a surprise birthday party instead, with all our family, as well as his siblings from Ontario! Bingo.
Back on the road
If one holiday wasn’t enough–I got a second! We left right after WWC for a motorcycle trip around the Olympic peninsula (Washington State) and down into Oregon. Beautiful country. The highlight for me was camping at Ozette Lake (we were very lucky to get a campsite–there were only fifteen, but we arrived on a Sunday evening and actually had a choice of 3-4 sites). We hiked the 3 miles to the beach, the 3 miles along the beach and the 3 miles back on the triangular path through the rainforest. Very inspiring. And–as a prairie girl, I never get to see/smell/feel/hear the ocean, so that was a real treat. And–so much to tell! The twisty roads our motorcycle ate up, great food, wonderful camping, friendly people. Very relaxing.
Critiques done!
Love holidays, but sometimes it is hard to find time for commitments, like critiquing for the upcoming workshop with Adrienne Kerr. However, as I didn’t have to do the driving myself, I was able to get 3 days’ worth of critiquing in the car. Of course, I had read all the submissions ahead of time, so it was just the second read and putting together my comments. Done!
A Day for Painting
We have decided to stay in Prince George for a day as we wend our way back from a holiday in the Yukon, as Don wants to see the railway museum here–so I am taking a day to paint! I have made probably a dozen sketches in the last couple of days and it will be wonderful to paint again. A couple of weeks ago, I had a painting day and completed 3 small paintings!
Sketching
Not sure how many sketches I did today–we drove the Cassiar Highway and boy, is it beautiful. I think I must have done about 15 sketches. Can’t wait to paint again!