Welcoming Chris

My darling Jen and her fabulous intended, Chris, will be married this weekend in Napa. DH, his mother and I will leave tomorrow for California for the festivities. Daughter Annie and her Chris (this is going to become confusing, I'm afraid!) will arrive on Friday with their two children in tow. Alex will be a flower girl and will be joined by her cousin Emma, son Don's daughter. Don & Kellie and Flower Girl Emma also arrive on Friday. Friday night is the rehearsal dinner, Saturday the wedding and Sunday we all return home, with our family newly expanded and enriched. I would like to publicly declare that my children have excellent, EXCELLENT taste in spouses. Annie has her Chris, he of the wicked sense of humor, beautiful brown eyes and gentle heart. Don has Kellie, the beautiful and kind, who makes him light up whenever he mentions her name. And now Jen will have her Chris. Our newest Chris is very handsome and very smart, funny and fun, and the apple of Jen's eye. He enters into our family with a seamless and perfect fit and we know now we've always been waiting for him to join us.

DH and I are blessed with our children-in-law. They make our children happy and fulfilled. They helped bring us our beloved grandbabies. Each has made our lives richer. Now we have one more darling man to add to our family and we couldn't be happier, or prouder. He is a keeper.

Welcome, Chris! Welcome.

Day Late, Dollar Short....

Yet again, I forgot to post my self-portrait on Friday. Considering the last two weeks, I'm just glad I remembered at all!

A Good Thing

That's my DH. And he IS a Dear Husband. Dear, dear and oh-so-dear. And also home from the hospital.

He had to have emergency surgery last Wednesday. It was serious and time was a factor and we just had to do it. It was very scary. The surgery went well. His recovery went very well. DH was released from hospital on Monday and is now home, recuperating.

I am profoundly thankful. And relieved. I am also reminded of just how very dear he is to me. It's good to be reminded that those around us are as precious to us as they are. I wouldn't recommend using emergency surgery for this reminder, that method not being particularly gentle, but a little push to remind yourself how 'dear' and precious your Dear Whomever(s) is to you is a good thing.

I am singing my song of thanks, loudly!

Save Betty White PSA

Really. Save Betty White!

Saturday at Fort Worden

My friend Lise is visiting for a few weeks. She now lives in Haugesund, Norway, but for many (and many and many more!) years was my neighbor in Shoreline. Our children grew up together and our families have shared many experiences and good times over the years. She is here now for her son's 40th birthday. Here she is pictured above with darling Nonie. (Lise is the one in the red jacket.)

It was a beautiful afternoon and although a jacket felt good, so did the sunshine.

Some unknown beach goer had amassed a large collection of flat stones into a collection of cairns, all stretched out along a piece of driftwood. It was really quite beautiful.
We spend a happy few hours just beach combing and strolling. I got to get my feet wet and dig my bare toes into the sand for perhaps the last time this summer. Nonie scored the big find of the day when she discovered a whole chiton.

Fun with FishBoy

Last weekend I was lucky enough to take two classes from Fred B. Mullett. Fred has become a friend and a fine (and exceedingly funny) friend he is. He calls me silly names and I call him FishBoy. I can't claim to have coined the phrase, my friend Bee did that, but it fits him well. Fred manufactures some of the most intriguing rubber stamps available, in my humble opinion. As a member of the Nature Printing Society, Fred has fine tuned his talent for Gyotaku, or fish printing (thus explaining his pet name, besides the obvious). Many of his beautiful rubber stamps are of fish and they all have the beauty of Gyotaku.


We learned a lot of very simple but extremely effective ways to turn a rubber stamp print into something much more interesting. With watercolors, embossing powders, colored pencils and a little patience, you, too, can turn your rubber stamp into a wonderful tool.


These are examples that I made during class. I was only trying to learn the techniques, not to make a perfectly enhanced print. (Process rather than product, as my ceramics instructor always said!) I know they are rough, but you can get the idea of what can be achieved with Fred's techniques.


It was really fun to take a couple of classes from Fred, and wonderful to see him again. (He recently moved from the Northwest to the Midwest.) If you get the chance, don't hesitate to sign up for anything Fred might be teaching.