As promised, I’m sharing a few images that I did a couple of weeks ago in Santa Barbara. I was pretty happy with some of these paintings. It makes such a difference to be able to focus only on painting  for a whole week!

"Morning Light" 15"x22"

Try as I might, I can’t seem to get a good photograph of this painting. The colors don’t really come through. I guess I’ll need to get it professionally photographed. Trust me when I say that this is a subtle painting, but there is richer color than the photo shows.

"Evening Vista" 16"x15"

It was a busy weekend here on the farm… Our new babies are finally weaned and arrived on Saturday after we spent all morning fixing the fence. We are now the proud owners of three young kids…. Larry, Moe & Curly! Sunday was devoted to my mom… her birthday as well as Mother’s Day. We sat in the sun and ate brunch while all the kids and husbands waited on us 🙂 It was a beautiful day.

'Curly'

Larry looks like  Curly, except his ears are brown, and Moe is black with brown markings. They are so cute… and useful! Their first bites in the pasture were none other than the prolific, insidious, invasive and pervasive Himalayan blackberry! I’m so excited to get this place rid of all the noxious weeds 🙂

On Friday my sister & I took a trip up to Woodland Washington to see the Hulda Klager Lilac Garden. It was a kind of showery day, but the lilacs were gorgeous. I bought a large one and two smaller ones, one of which went to my friend Sue, who raised our goat kids.

"Glory" one of my favorite Lilacs

This particular variety has huge, softball sized flower clusters and the individual blossoms are very large and richly fragrant! I’m just sorry I couldn’t bring one of these babies home 🙁 There is a waiting list for the plants! If you plan to attend next year’s lilac festival, I would recommend going early in the season when they have the most variety of plants available. I was a little disappointed that they were out of a few of my favorite types.

This year we also took time to tour the house, which is restored to period detail, just as Hulda Klager would have lived. It was a great way to escape the showers 🙂

Life here on the farm has been busy and full: fixing the fence, planting and weeding in the garden, enjoying the wildlife from our kitchen window. We’ve had abundant deer, rabbits, coyote, hummingbirds, goldfinches and this guy came strutting out one night just as we sat down to dinner.

I’m getting ready for my daughter to move home this week. She’s the first one done with classes so she’ll get a jump on the job market and get to bond with the livestock here 🙂 Also, I’m excited to be traveling to Salt Lake City on Thursday for the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies’ Annual Exhibition. I’m looking forward to seeing the show, which will include paintings from each of the eleven different watercolor groups that comprise the Federation. It’s also a great opportunity to network between the groups, sharing ideas and brainstorming about how the societies are organized and function. While I’m there I’ll get to visit my cousin Lucy & her husband Drew, and do a little research on my family tree! It’s getting harder and harder to leave home though, as the weather gets nicer & nicer!

"Spring Song" 15"x11"