A Day at the Beach with Emma

Kellie and Emma came over today and we went to the beach. It was a very low tide and we were there to enjoy all the sealife that is usually under water. There were many sea stars and urchins, a tidal pool was full of fish (baby bullheads?) and the sand was scattered with moon snail collars. There was lots of seaweed, too, and Emma surprised me by being willing to wade through quite a deep patch of it barefoot. It came up to mid-calf on her, but she was game and seemed to enjoy the seaweed squishing between her toes. She buried the bag of ducks in the sand, I buried her feet, we buried Kellie's feet and a fine time was had by all. The most amazing thing was that both Kellie and I forgot to bring our cameras! So, no pictures of Emma. Boo hoo. I'm a bad grandma to forget the camera! I have posted a few photos I took a couple of weeks ago during an equally low tide. But how I wish I had a picture of Emma and the multi-legged sea star! Next time I'll remember.


I get to babysit tomorrow. It's a lucky day for me.

Connie leaves tomorrow night for the state shoot. He'll be down in Centralia for the weekend. I hope he does really well. I leave for Vancouver Island and my retreat on Thursday morning. I need to catch the 7:10 ferry. I have to be at the Black Ball dock in PA by 11:15. I told Anna I should be out at Sooke about 3 or so. The car is stuffed with her art supplies. Hope I don't have any problem with customs! All of it is coming back with me again, so it shouldn't be a problem. I am so excited about this retreat. I only wish I was up to date with my personal journal. Must work on that as time allows tonight and tomorrow. Maybe I should take it when I babysit in case Emma is napping? That's a thought.

Big Day in Edmonds

Nonie's real estate agent called last night and arranged to show her a condo today. The long and short of it is...she made an offer. The offer has been accepted, pending financing. Nonie will have to make arrangements tomorrow with Tom, but it looks like a done deal. The price was right, the location was more than right, there is enough storage for even all of Nonie's boxes and treasures and the view is stunning. She wants to be closer to her family and we are certainly all down in this neck of the woods, not up north where she is all alone. Since she's retired, for all intents and purposes, it seems like the right time and the right thing for her to do. Please keep your fingers crossed for her. It's everything she wanted, and more.

The shoe photo that opens this addition is something I did at Anna's, the last time class met. We spent most of the day doing drawings of shoes. Anna had each of us bring at least one pair of shoes, and she added quite a few of her own so we had quite a collection from which to choose. I had gotten rather bored with repeated attempts at drawing the shoes with graphite sticks so when we switched to Caran d'Arche watercolor crayons I was much happier. It was a very hot afternoon and we were working in Anna's backyard and my crayons began to melt and fall apart in my hands as I used them. Instead of getting frustrated and anal, which would be my usual response when my tools weren't working properly, I just went with it and worked very fast and very loose. I am quite pleased with the result. I find that they look more like Dutch wooden shoes to me than the Moroccan slippers they really are, but since I was at Anna's and Will's presence is so strong there now, perhaps I was feelilng Will more than I realized.

Still waiting for all the tests to be done on Will at the medical center in Kelowna. Once the results are in I gather that a decision about treatment options can be made. At least Will seems to be feeling very positive. Bernice is holding up well, too. I am keeping them in my heart. What a sad, sad thing this cancer diagnosis is. As it always is, for anyone.

I did a little six by six portrait last weekend while I was up at Grant Creek. It was fun and I'm (moslty) happy with the results. Fun to do and fast. Well, fast for me. It took the better part of a day, I guess, spread out over two days of actual painting. I am still fine tuning it, but it's pretty much done. It amazes me that I can do this. As Connie keeps saying, "Who knew?" Who knew, indeed!