Getting Out of Town

Sunday was a big road trip to Anderson, CA to have a little visit with my brother-in-law and his family. His step-daughter just had her first baby, a little girl. So cute and I came home without a picture! I did come home with a photo that he took with his digital camera looking out his front door. I think it's beautiful. They live out in the country not far from the Sacramento River (which was so beautiful that day I daydreamed for a split second of being on it in a boat & wondered how long the trip would be from our house to his on the river) He has a beautiful view of Mt Lassen. Volcano's freak me out. Regardless I still watch anything on tv about Mt Vesuvius or volcano's. When we went to Kauai a couple of years ago, was I worried about flying on top of thousands of gallons of fuel over hundreds of miles of open ocean? No. *enter Steward with Bloody Mary* Was I afraid a volcano might go off? Yes. *enter hula girl with Mai Tai* So I would have a hard time being comfortable living where they do, with a volcano staring at me everyday, but it's nice to visit them. I laughed & laughed all day. He also showed me 3 original pencil drawings done by a Dutch artist in 1939 that he bought at a flea market. He asked that I do some research on the artist Johannes Garardus Den Hengst. The only thing I could find were some of his water colors that had sold at big auction houses such as Christi's & Sotheby's. He might just have stumbled on to something fantastic! Good for him! He is going to do more research on his own now and I hope they are worth some good money as he plans to sell them. I wish I had a picture of them. They were unusual as they were of the inside of a cabin type home or a very modest home of that period and almost comical with old shoes sprawled on the floor. We made our usual stop on the way to The Olive Pit, in Corning, CA, one of my favorite places. Besides having lots of different kinds of olives, they have a great little gift shop & deli. The Martini olives are my favorite. They are the size of walnuts and so delicious. We bought so much the last time we were there that we only bought one little jar of Sweet lime, Pepper & Cilantro jelly this time. No olives. You can buy the jelly & olives online. I haven't had a drink for a long while. All the references to yummy drinks in this post it's making me want a cocktail or 2!

I have been working since. Getting new things painted and new listings online. I mailed out 2 commissions today and got more sales ready to mail. Yesterday I posted some new print listings, some are copies of a few in these 2 commissions. I used a photo program to create a picture as if they were matted & framed, then framed in a grouping in a contemporary room, however, I am selling these unframed. Sometimes it helps to visualize it all. These I listed on Etsy.

They are saying on the news today that we may have rain this weekend! Rain would be music to my ears & soul. I think if it does rain, (not getting my hopes up), I may have to get out in it and dance like Gene Kelly. My husband's band, Spotted Dog, has 2 shows and they are both outside, so maybe they will be canceled and he'll be staying home, dancing with me!