Giving Thanks

My middle child, my Annie, lives in north San Diego County. She and her family are fine, their house is unscathed, their neighborhood escaped the fire and the wear and tear and stress of having to evacuate did not cause her (throwing salt and knocking wood, Annie!) to go into premature labor. I am so grateful, so thankful and just plain relieved that words fail me. And guilty. My family is fine but so very many families are not that I find the guilt growing day by day. I don't know why I feel guilty at reveling in the joy of having my loved ones safe and having their home safe, but on some level I do. To be honest, as great as the joy I feel at their surviving the last few days intact and unhurt, my ache and hurt is as deep for those who did not escape the ravages of the fires. How do you explain one house surviving the wild fire while the other six on a cul de sac are burned to the ground? At least, as I write this, the Santa Ana winds seem to be shifting to an on shore flow, which should bring some help to those amazing people fighting all the fires. I did hear a very scary fact on the news yesterday that more firefighters are hurt fighting wild fires with an on shore wind than when the off shore winds are howling. I certainly hope that is NOT the case this time.

I was reading my friend Bee's blog the other day and saw the following quote by William Henry Channing that she had used in one of her postings. I thought it was so inspiring I decided to copy it here. How lovely to read these words, and how hard to live up to them! Hope you don't mind me using this quote, Bee!

" To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, burry never, in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony."

I have been working hard on gathering images for my Caffeine Chronicles journal. I could say it has been such difficult and hard work, but hey! It is a project involving coffee shops! I get to go to a different coffee shop every day and try out my favorite drink at each place, as one must purchase something at each one, as a sort of users fee! I love coffee shops! Each one has a personality and each one's vibe is different. some are cozy like a well-worn pair of slippers, some are hip and edgy, some are utilitarian. There are country style coffee shops and urban ones, slick and sleek ones, frumpy ones, cold and uninviting ones and some even feel more like art galleries than a place to grab a cuppa joe. This is turning out to be a lot of fun!

The leaves are turning, the air is crisp and autumn is well and truly here. My dad always said he loved autumn best, of all the seasons, and I have to admit that as I grow older, I am more and more fond of it, too. There is something about a blue sky in October that is especially beautiful. Perhaps it is because I know that I might not see another for months at a time as the weather in the Pacific Northwest is almost as dreary as folks from other parts of the country claim. Whatever the reason, an October sky with brilliant-leafed trees in the foreground thrills me more deeply than even a pear or cherry tree in full bloom in the spring. I have never outgrown the joy of wading through piles of leaves on the sidewalk, listening to the rustle they make. I love the smell of autumn. For someone who is not all that partial to the color orange, I sure do love to see a tree in blazing orange and yellow!

Post Portland

Art and Soul in Portland was a week filled with classes, new friends and time with "old" friends. I had a ball. Best of all was seeing Bee and being able to catch up with each other a little. I haven't seen Bee since ArtFest last spring and for one reason or another, emails between us have been few and far between, so having time to just be with a dear friend was especially lovely. She's just as funny, insightful, creative and nice as I remember. And she doesn't even snore! (Too bad the same can't be said of me.....it's a good thing that the one night we shared a hotel room that Bee was so exhausted that she fell asleep long before I did and didn't move for several hours after I got up the next morning! She was way too tired to hear my snores...I hope

I took two classes from Anne Bagby, the human dynamo. Anne always manages to pack her classes with so many techniques and creative ideas that I emerge mentally zonked. So much Anne stuffs into your brain in such a short period of time that it's amazing any of us are able to speak after class! I learned a lot, as always, and enjoyed so much seeing the work Anne is currently doing. Watch her explain her design process is as informative to me as the actual techniques. I guess I learn by watching as much as anything. One of Anne's classes, the stencil class, has given me a couple of ideas for framing some of my South American photos from the summer that I am really looking forward to trying. Anne suggested that we all sketch faces daily and while I haven't turned out a sketch a day yet, I am working in a sketchbook more often and can see the value in working more consistently. I like the idea of a face a day, but I just don't seem to have the drive to force myself to sit down and do one every single day! Another thing I should try to add to my list of things to accomplish daily, now that I've got this tooth brushing and hair combing thing down pat!

I also took two classes from LK Ludwig, another artist I greatly admire. LK is a good friend of Bee's, so I got a chance to sit and chat with LK that was not in a classroom setting, and I found her to be very funny and great fun to talk with. Her classes were fun, too, and LK is another one who jams so much information into a class that it's hard to take it all in at once. I felt like a voyeur for a while one afternoon as I sat and watched LK at work, picking and choosing what to use on the page she was working on, trying out ideas and then discarding one and trying another. Again, watching the artist in the process of creating was very, very helpful to me. LK's journals are things of beauty with layers of meaning and I love how she incorporates her photographs into her visual journaling. Her connection with the natural world is especially strong and by watching her work and studying what she does and how she does it makes me realize that I need to pay more attention to levels of meaning in my own work and that expressing myself in terms of water and woods should something I do more of. It's how I relate to the world around me and I don't think I've truly learned to work from that attitude. More things to think about!

I also took a very enjoyable soldering class from Sally Jean Alexander and enjoyed myself greatly in the class, even though my soldering is abysmal! I found her process interesting and liked the way she approaches her designs. Besides, Sally Jean has a wonderful sense of humor and we all laughed a lot during the class. The PMC clay class I took from Shari and Wendy was fun, too. I would really love to get into PMC and hope I may get there in the new year. It's rather pricey buying another kiln but making little items from PMC for gift giving is more likely to be truly appreciated by the recipients than large stoneware or earthenware items! I don't think anyone I know would turn down a bracelet or a pair of earrings, but most everyone has already a cupboard full of too many platters and bowls. Something more to think about!

I spent quite a bit to time last weekend working on an art journal that is part of a round robin I am involved in for a year. It's the Sensual Journal project and whatever work you do on some one's journal must engage four of the five senses (taste, touch, hearing, sight and smell). Now, that's not always the easiest thing to do on a journal page! I have now worked in two journals. The first had a theme of TIME. I really enjoyed that one and found that while I found the subject quite difficult to narrow down for my sub theme, it was a challenge and ultimately I really liked the work I did.

The latest journal has a theme of PLAY. I tried to work into my sub theme the natural world as I do think it resonates in me and makes my work (to me) more layered and meaningful. I have almost completed the page for this journal and am only awaiting the arrival of a birdsong CD in the mail. I chose to work on the idea of birdwatching as something I have come to find as play as I've grown older. (On some level it does sort of appal me that I have come to actually admit I enjoy birdwatching! I always thought of birdwatchers, when I was a girl, as sort of weird and quirky-in-a-not-good-way type of people who wore funny hats and un-stylish glasses----not cool like, ah, me!) Now, I readily admit, I consider myself a novice birdwatcher and I don't really care if my glasses are stylin' or if my new straw cowboy hat is silly. I am very pleased with the work for this journal, too.

Nonie, Susan P., Sandy from Juneau and I are going to take a class from Autumn in early November. I hope to do another wood carving to use as my Christmas card this year. I hope we have as much fun doing the class this year as we had last. I loved being able to send out cards I'd done myself.

I am working on a little journal project for myself at the moment, too. I think I'm going to call it The Caffeine Chronicles, but that may change. Right now I have taking a lot of photos in different coffee shops (and one must sample the wares while one is snapping away, right???) and saving the cups to use as the journal pages. It's all very experimental right now, but I think I may be onto something that is personally pleasing. We'll see.

Now that all my chicks are healthy or on the way to being healthy, and I have returned from Portland, my blood pressure has returned to normal. Jen had my pressure right up there when she announced she was diagnosed with a case of MRSA (drug resistant staph) behind her knee! NOT what a mother wants to hear. It was a very difficult time for Jen. Besides feeling awful and having to be on crutches and stay at home with the leg elevated, it kept her from training for her Ironman marathon next June. I was really concerned about her mental health as she sounded so depressed and down on the phone. Now, since she's been cleared for exercise again and had such a good experience both biking and running last weekend, she is much more positive and sounding like my happy, up-beat daughter. Whew! Annie continues to have an uneventful pregnancy, knock wood, Alex came through her third eye surgery quite well and the doctor is pleased with the results, and Kellie should be starting her first round of IVF drugs in a week or so. Everyone seems healthy, proactive in their own lives and happy. I am so blessed.

Meeting Jen

Last Sunday I got up early and hurried myself over to the north end of Lake Washington to the Kenmore Air Harbor for my flight to Victoria. I was supposed to be on Vancouver Island already at an art retreat, but my friend and painting teacher, Anna, broke her foot and had to cancel the retreat. Sad as that made me, I was still determined to head north to meet Jennie. We'd had this dinner date planned since we had discovered that we'd both be on Vancouver Island at over-lapping times. I saw no reason not to meet her anyway, even if meeting Jen became the sole focus of the trip.....so I did!

I had a day to myself to shop and have tea and a pastry at Murchie's. I finally made it to Chinatown and found several fine shops, one of which carried teas and tea sticks. Tea sticks are a very clever invention for putting loose tea into a sort of stick and then using said stick like a tea bob to make a single cup of tea. The screen slides up and down and you actually sort of scoop the tea into the stick, slide the screening part back down over the loose leaves and then add the hot water to brew a cuppa. Works like a charm! I enjoyed my wanderings but was glad to meet up with Jen at The Empress, where she was staying. Jen was in town for a conference and was traveling with several of her colleagues. I finally got to meet Darrin. (We have emailed each other on occasion and he's as charming in person as he is via email---and handsome, too.)

Jen's friends had other dinner plans so it was just the two of us who walked up to my favorite Victoria restaurant, Matisse.

Ah. Matisse. I could wax poetic about the food and the wine and the ambiance of Matisse for paragraphs but let's cut to the chase....if you are ever in Victoria, B.C. hie yourself to Matisse for dinner. Trust me, you won't regret it. And if you should have any hesitation about what to order, put yourself into the most capable hands of John. He'll help you assemble the perfect meal to suit your hunger and your mood. http://restaurantmatisse.com/Jen was able to meet for breakfast, and Darrin joined us, too. After breakfast I checked out of my bed & breakfast and hauled my suitcase back to the air harbor for my return flight. I was back in Edmonds by 2 PM, missing my beautiful daughter.

The last week has been full of little chores and projects as I try to get organized for Art & Soul in Portland. I leave on the 2nd of October and since I am taking seven classes, the pile of supplies required for these classes is huge! I have made a total mess of the dining room while I try to get things sorted out and organized by day and class. I had to order quite a lot of items, and while I think they are all here, ready for packing, I'm not sure. Besides the amassing of a short ton of supplies, I have been working to finish two projects that are due in the mail right after I return from Art & Soul. I promised myself I'd have them finished, and mailed, before I leave for Portland. I have finished the photo journal cards and they are bagged and ready to post. The holiday recipe journal pages are pretty well finished, but there is still about an hour, hour and a half of taping and gluing before they are ready to be boxed and sent off to Gina. I am especially pleased with the holiday recipe pages. The page has to have a vintage image on the front and the recipe and contact info on the back. I like what I finally came up with, so it's not such a bore to be working on these pages. I WILL have them finished before I leave. I WILL.

For the first time I had an apple crop at Grant Creek! Five lovely green apples grew to adulthood (or whatever you call a ripe apple) and somehow managed to not be eaten by the resident deer, who seem to eat everything. I harvested them this last weekend and decided to make an apple cake to properly use them up. It took 60% of my entire harvest to make the cake, which, by the way, turned out to be delicious. I used a recipe from one of my Aga cookbooks and the ol' Aga did a fine job, not only with the recipe but in the baking. It was fun to come up with a product that was yummy from something I grew.

I came home from Grant Creek last night so I'd be in town to partake of the Edmonds Studio tour. http://www.edmondsartstudiotour.com/ I missed taking part last year and so I was determined that I would go this year. Susan P came along and we had a very good time. I was especially impressed with Barbara Wyatt's pottery. I already had succumbed to Barbara's wonderful work as I bought a piece from her over the summer. Now I have added two lanterns, a necklace, a small lidded jar and two little tiny bowls to my collection. Her organic and happy pieces sing out to me. Barb has great talent and more than a little of whimsy, too. Dd I mention I also have a huge case of studio envy? Besides all the talent and fun she has, she is also the proud owner of an amazing studio. It's over her garage with a stunning view out the window to tree tops---it's like being in a tree house, really----and the room is full of light. Her kiln is there, she has wonderful 24-inch square tile on the floor, she has room for a slab roller and it's all pretty and organized and wonderful. Sigh. Lucky Barb!

Wednesday will be the first board meeting for the 2008 Edmonds Arts Festival. I'm not really ready to leap back into the fray but I don't really have a choice, either. I reworked the timeline and Susan kindly went over it for me so we'll have ours ready to present at the meeting. One thing done. Check it off!

South from Alaska

Alaska was as spectacularly beautiful, varied and fun as I'd hoped it would be. I spent twelve happy days there with my good friends Susan, Sandy and Sandi. (We are collectively known as the "Four S-es"----as in Beware the Four Esses!!").....

We started off our trip in Sitka where we were royally hosted by old friends of Susan's. Jack and Marvel were very, very good to us, offering us comfy beds, fabulous meals and even the use of their van for our explorations of Sitka and its environs. We visited the Russian Orthodox Church and were lucky enough to see the icons, took a tour of the Raptor Center, went to a Tlingit dance program (where I, in a very unusual move, got up and joined in the Raven Dance with the dance troupe when asked to participate---http://www.sitkatours.com/dance.html) and a memorable walk through Totem Park. Marvel, having health issues, was unable to get out with us much, but Jack took the tourists (Sandi and me) in hand and gave us a splendid tour of greater Sitka, including his fishing boat. We saw The Bishop's House Museum and marveled at the log construction of the building. While the weather proved to us why Alaskans are always complaining about the lack of sun, we managed to be out and about both days from early morning until evening. The bay and the mouth of the local rivers were teaming with salmon waiting for enough rain water to raise the levels of the rivers so they could proceed upstream to spawn. It was mind boggling to see the millions of fish, all following an internal compass and time clock, who had returned from the ocean to the place of their birth. Some of the fish had made their way into the spawning areas and we saw quite a few who were fighting their way upstream. I had never seen so many fish on their way inland to spawn before.

Jack is an amazing cook, and he and Marvel were more than generous with the contents of their freezer. We dined on King Crab and halibut fried in Jack's secret breading. We had the most wonderful crab dip with our pre-dinner cocktails and finished off more than one meal with heavenly homemade rhubarb strawberry pie. We ate like pigs and relished each and every mouthful! Unfortunately for our waistlines, Alaska proved to be the home of stellar cooks and fantastic seafood. Sandi did her best to sample clam chowder (or halibut or salmon or whatever the specialty of the house proved to be) whenever we dined out. She ate so much chowder she finally got tired of it.

Susan, Sandi and I took the fast ferry from Sitka to Juneau and while it was overcast and rather drizzly for some of the trip, thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and a chance to see uninhabited shoreline. I kept an eye out for bears but, alas, didn't see any. We did see a whale breach! No photographic evidence but he three of did see the whale's tail---and this is no whale tale! Four and a half hours after leaving Sitka we were waving to Sandy and Karl.

Juneau was so much fun! Sandy and Karl put us up in divine style. We even had our own bathroom and two bedrooms to share. (I didn't share, got my own room! Does this mean snore louder than the other two? Hmmmm......might be!) We dined at their favorite spots and never had a bad meal. Memorable ones were the Mexican restaurant in downtown Juneau, fish and chips at a place out in the valley that I can't remember the name of and most especially Chez Mielke!

I think our day trip to Tracy Arm to see the Sawyer glacier was the highlight of the to Juneau. The four of us had a spectacular time viewing glaciers up close and personal, and we were lucky enough to see a rather large chunk calve off while we were there. I was surprised at the deep turquoise color of the ice. It had never occured to me that glacier ice would have such a deep, jewel-like color. Traveling into and out of Tracy Arm is incredibly beautiful---high mountains, blue ice, green forests and waterfalls abound. There are ice floes to maneuver through and seeing ice burgs up close was fascinating. The whole day while we were on the Tracy Arm trip I kept thinking of my dad and how the one place he really wanted to visit was Alaska and how he never got there. I felt like I was seeing the splendors of wild Alaska that Daddy would have wanted to see, and it made me feel good to be taking "his" trip. http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

Another day we visited the Glacier Gardens. What a beautiful spot they are! The tour of the gardens goes from about sea level up to about 2000 feet, through some wonderful rain forest. The lower part of the garden has been planted with lots of flowering plants, including trees that have been pulled out of the ground by their roots, turned over and planted upside down. The root ball is then used as the 'planting basket' and a myriad of colorful plants cascades out and down from the basket. I had never seen anything like it and it was wonderful. http://www.glaciergardens.com/ Susan, Sandy & Sandi at Glacier Gardens

A real highlight of the trip was going fishing with Karl. Did I mention the sockeye I caught? NO???? Really? Well, let me tell you all about it now.....I caught the first, the largest, the last and the only fish of the trip. Did I mention Susan got skunked? No? Do let me reiterate...I caught the first, the largest, the last and the only fish of the trip! And it was a beauty, a lovely sockeye, glittery and perky and mine! It was delicious! Karl cleaned it, skinned it and froze it for me and I brought it home and served it to Connie for dinner, the lucky man. I will admit the fish basically committed suicide as I'd only stripped out about five feet of line when it hit my lure hard. I actually thought I'd snagged something and it was a minute or two before any of us realized that it was actually a fish on the line. But, I will concede it was my lure it came to, my line it hit and ultimately, my frying pan it was cooked in! First fish, largest fish, last fish and only fish...ah, it was sweet. Ask Susan to tell you all about it. Please. Ask her!

It was very important to Susan that we visit the Triangle Tavern and have a drink. Way back when Susan was still married to Robert and they were fishing, it was to the Triangle that they always went to have a snort and visit with their friends. Susan has many memories of things that happened there and people she knew who hung out there too. So the last afternoon we were in Juneau we dropped in and had a drink in honor of times and people past.

One lovely day we took the tram up Mount Roberts and enjoyed a walk in the woods. The air was crisp and clean and smelled of trees, there was birdsong and a hint of autumn in the air. I took a little stroll by myself while Susan and Sandi were exploring another trail and my phone rang...it was Annie with the news that her ultrasound that morning indicated that the newest addition to her family will be a little boy, my first grandson. Life is GOOD and we are blessed.

It was joyous news and my feet fairly flew down the trail to share the happy news with my friends. I will always be able to tell the little one that I first knew he was a HE while standing on top of Mount Roberts on a beautiful August day in Juneau. That was the 24 karat framing for the whole marvelous trip for me.

I loved my time in Alaska and I really want to go back and see more.

I have been busy getting some of my art deadlines finished up and trying to get ready for Art & Soul in Portland the first week of October. I just found out that my dear, darling pal Bee will be at A&S, too, and I can't wait to see her. We'll both be in Anne Bagby's "Indigo Men and Blue Ladies" class on Wednesday and Thursday. How much fun will that be! I have signed up to attend the gala opening night and for that I had to make 100 recipe cards for a recipe swap that is part of the opening party. We were encouraged to decorate our cards and so I used my fig drawing and my fig and pine nut salad recipe to create my card. I sewed the recipe to the drawing and I'm happy with the results. I will admit that about 54 cards into the sewing project last Sunday afternoon I was well and really tired of the whole process! I have also decorated the little pasteboard house box that came with my registration booklet for A&S as a shell cottage. I am less happy with the results of this project, but I really can't say I was very much into decorating a house box as anything....it's just not my thing. I guess that at each A&S retreats the participants get something that they are asked to decorate or alter. It'll be fun to take part, so I guess I'm glad I did it. But still, it's a dumb looking product and I can't say it was much fun to make.

I have also finished my contribution to Heather M.'s TIME journal for the Sensual Journey journal project. I am happy enough with my work in the journal and I hope it pleases Heather when her journal is returned to her next summer. Deb Denton is the force behind this project and she's set it up so that we have two months to work in a total of six journals, depicting at least four of the five senses on our page layouts. After a year you'll receive your journal back with the work of six artists. We are randomly assigned a journal to work in and we don't know that the theme will be until the journal arrives. I had a little trouble getting started in Heather's book but once I got a start it all sort of came together. It's always like that, isn't it? It's the starting that is the hardest part! We have just received the name of the person who gets the journal we have been working on next. I will mail off Heather's journal tomorrow to Sheila. I have no idea what will come my way in the next go round. It's always fun to see what the theme will be---gulp!

Home Again

The Art Festival is over, my trip to South America is over, Annie and family have come and gone and Saturday I leave for Alaska. Whew! It's been quite a summer!

I am happy to report that the art festival came off without any major hitches. Everything worked, except the weather. We had competition, too, from the Freemont Solstice festival, which cut into our sales, but the biggest problem was crummy weather. And as crummy weather is beyond our reach, I think all of the directors can sit back and look at our 50th Anniversary festival as a total success. We didn't make as much money as last year, but we had more expenses and we were well within the normal profit, so we'll be able to give plenty to the Foundation for scholarships and such. A true success and one of which I am proud to be a part. AND I finally got a Michelle Usibelli painting for my collection---a little miniature called Afternoon Nap of a older, very round lady dozing in a chair with legs akimbo under an Asian umbrella. She rather reminds me of me!

Now for the good part....South America. Astounding, amazing, stupendous, fantastic, incredible, indescribable places were visited, engaging and friendly people were everywhere, the food was delicious and varied and the scenery spell-binding. I had, needless to say, a grand time!

The Galapagos Islands have to be the most magical place I have EVER visited. Every moment on the islands was amazing. The birds really do just sit there, waiting for have you walk right up to their nests and stick your camera in their faces, asking them to please present their best side. And they do! The marine iguanas and sea lions really do litter the beach, unmoving in the equatorial sun and you really do have to watch where you are walking or you really will trip over them! The male frigate birds really do have a bright red pouch that they inflate to the size of a balloon to attrack the attention of female frigate birds. Albatross really do sit in their nest of rocks, billing and cooing to one another, while you stand five feet away and watch (and photograph)! Land iguanas are really big, Darwin finches really do have a variety of bills depending on the island they inhabit, the Galapagos tortoises have distinct shells on each of the islands where they reside and an expert can just look at the shell and say where the tortoise came from.....Sea lions want to swim with you and sea turtles will let you watch while they dine on the green stuff growing on the rocks. Humboldt penguins are FAST in the water (and all you can manage to photograph is the water in which they just were---Penguin Water---because you won't get a photo of them shooting past like a rocket). Manta rays will surface so you can see them clearly from the ship. Blue footed boobys nest on the ground while the red footed sort nest in the shrubs, and wrap their webbed feet around branches in a way you would not think possible. The geology of the islands is as varied and astounding as the birds and animals. I have now seen aa lava, something I have had a secret yearning to view with my very own eyes ever sinc a college geology course, and I saw other kinds, too. (I am especially fond of ropey lava.) The scenery was gorgeous. I learned that there are four kinds of mangroves (one called button mangrove because, wait for it!, they make buttons out of it), three kinds of boobys, a bunch of different kinds of finches with those amazing beaks, flowering shrubs, secluded bays, sandy beaches, great snorkeling, boats, sun, water and FUN. I had the best time. Words fail me.

Seriously, if you ever have the chance to go to the Galapagos, GO. Run, don't walk, to the airport. Just go!

I had a fantastic time in Ecuador, too. The Avenue of the Volcanoes did not disappoint! My favorite spot was Cotopaxi National Park. It's very high, and mostly beyond the tree line, with wild horses roaming about and condors riding the thermals waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up there, Cotopaxi looming over it all in it's snow capped beauty (with just enough of a threat of erupting to make things interesting) and low grasses and stones making the land look rather steppe-like. We stayed at some old haciendas that were truly wonderful. My favorite is Hacienda San Agustin de Callo. (Callo means blister and is the name of this little hill right near the main house.) Our room had a huge fireplace (needed on the chilly winter mornings) in the bed chamber and the head board of the bed was a remnant of an Incan wall! In the bathroom, besides the claw foot tub was another fireplace, for cozy and romantic bathing. There were flowers everywhere, a chapel, a library and the dining room was all Incan wall, dark polished wood, Peruvian silver and candle light. I could go back and just live there!

What surprised me the most about Ecuador was the thousands and thousands of greenhouses we saw, all growing roses for the European and American markets. Millions and millions of roses, beautiful roses in colors I have never seen---bronze and a purple-y salmon color that sounds hideous but was really lovely. I had no idea that Ecuador was such a rose producer!

Peru...sigh. Home of the most amazing jewelry store chain I have ever encountered....Ilaria. If you get to Peru, do not miss the Ilaria shops. They are everywhere and they have the best silver jewelry and table wear and art objects. I bought way too much from them and love each and every piece! I have Chrismas presents, goodies for me, little objects for the house and I had a great time shopping in the many, many branches of the Ilaria chain. If I saw one, I entered it and I almost always found something I had to bring home! No will power at all.....

Machu Picchu and Cusco were so much more than I had expected. I am not exactly sure what I really had expected, but Cusco was wonderful. It's a small city, a little jewel, full of old buildings, Incan stonework, saints statues, balconies, flowers, big blue sky, little air ( being nearly 10,000 feet in elevation), great food, coca tea and Pisco sours on every menu and more friendly, happy people. Oh! And llamas! Lots of little children in indigenous dress with baby llamas, wanting a few sols for allowing you to photograph them. (A national teachers' strike was in effect while we were there or most of these little children would have been in school. As it was, they were out making money for their families.) Machu Picchu is truly a mysterious place, especially when you get up at 4 AM and take the first bus up to the site, then enter before the sun is up in the murky gray pre-dawn light and fog shrouding most of what you see. It was amazing to watch the fog eddy and swirl, with bits and pieces of the different building coming into view and then fading back into gray nothing and the light slowly got brighter and brighter. It takes a lot to get me to admit that getting up at 4 AM can be a good thing, but I am so very happy I did! The crowds are much less early in the morning when the site first opens and the wild llamas are still moving about, feeding and looking "scenic". I can't begin to describe the beauty of the location. The jagged and pointy peaks, the river far, far below, the gray stonework contrasting with the bright green of the grassy areas made for a virtual visual feast. Everywhere you looked was a view worthy of the cover of National Geographic (and probably has been!). Sometimes it got to be too much and I found I had to sit down and just focus on one small thing for a time, to clear my head. No wonder Machu Picchu has just been voted one of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World. It is!

We stayed in some amazing hotels while we were gone. In Cusco we stayed at el Monasterio, reportedly one of the top hotels in all of South America, and I can well believe it. The building is amazing with two large interior patios with rooms all around. The rooms were charming and the service at the hotel, sublime. We had a spa afternoon and both had pedicures and massages, which were heavenly (pun intended). Another wonderful spot was in the Sacred Valley where we stayed one night at Sol y Luna resort. Lovely little private cottages dot the landscape and there is a very good restaurant and bar on the premises. There is horseback riding, a very pretty spa, tennis courts, a very extensive garden and lots of fun little villages nearby. If I ever get back to Peru, I will be sure to spend more than one night at Sol y Luna. In Ecuador we stayed at several haciendas (see my favorite above) but I also really enjoyed our Quito hotel, Patio Andaluz. It was only a block from Plaza Grande and is a converted mansion. Patio Andaluz is also built around an interior patio in the Spanish style and the rooms were very comfortable, the service spectacular and the food was pretty good, too! Our last night in Quito we stayed at a very small, very new boutique hotel that was lovely. It's away from Old Town, but probably only a ten minute cab ride from Plaza Grande, and is called Hotel Casa Aliso. The room was charming, the public areas were delightful and there are some wonderful, lively paintings gracing walls. I'd like to stay there again, for several nights. Life was NOT hard on this trip!

Nonie and I booked the land portion of our trip through Vaya Adventure's Jim Lutz. Jim is extremely easy to work with, a really nice guy and he knows his travel chops. If you are interested in a South American trip, take a look at his website. He arranged a perfect holiday for us.

Just a few days after returning home Annie, Chris and Alex came for a two week visit. They just returned home yesterday. I woke up early this morning, straining to hear Alex, but the downstairs is empty again and the house is very quiet. I miss them! Annie is just beginning to look pregnant with The Bean, who is due to arrive in January. What a lovely start to the new year for all of us that will be! Alex got to spend a lot of time with cousin Emma, with varying results. sometimes they were delighted to be together and other times they were at each other's throats, with lots of "NO!" and "MINE!" being hollered by both of them. Alex is really showing a lot of signs of just merging into the Terrible Twos and Emma seems likely to carry the Terrible Twos into the Terrorizing Threes! Yikes! It's good to be the gramma sometimes and just let the mommies handle it. (Yes, I know when to cut and run.) It was a joy for me to see the two of them together, no matter the mood, and I must honestly say that they are really very well behaved girls for their age. I love being a gramma!

I have finished the 34 pages for the Heart Swap Fatbook for Art & Soul in Portland in October. I had promised myself that I would have them done and mailed before I left for Alaska on Saturday, and I did. I had to spend most of the weekend working on them, but they are finished and I'm happy with the result. I hope they will be well received by the other participants, but I did a page that pleases me, so I guess the inner critic can just go hang!