A Lovely Day by the Bay, August 29

On Friday this week, I had the pleasure of eating a delicious salad prepared by an old friend who lives on her family property on San Francisco Bay. We overlooked the Bay and saw the City across the water. Her family owns a parcel of land along the shore of the Bay that has been in the family for four generations. The gardens are beautiful and the property has been lovingly maintained. After lunch, we took our beach chairs and sat on the sand watching the harbor seals, sail boats and the ferry boats in the distance. It was so great to be able to reconnect with her after having been away from the area for about 10 years. I am so pleased to "refind" old and good friends.

The Lake on the family compound
My friend stands in front of gates leading to the main house to show the scale of these incredible iron creations.

I wish I had taken the time to do some sketching, there are so many things that would be fun to try to capture in my journal.

Photos Get Included in my Journal

My Watercolor Journal has become my record keeper as well as a place to sketch and paint. Instead of scanning the pages, I tried taking a photo of the book and then uploading the photo to my blog. It works ok but the detail is less sharp. Not much art on this page, but photos of people I love and want to remember.

If you click on the image, you can see a larger version of the pages.

August Visitors

Kate was here for 10 days as she helped to celebrate Elsa's first birthday and to take a great plein air workshop from a favorite Marin County artist. She brought home these flowers one day and so I was inspired to do a page. I also was visited by Denise, a good friend who has moved to Susanville recently. It was so good to reconnect... we had time to have a good chats over cups of tea.


A Journal Page

Elsa's First Birthday

Saturday, Porter had almost 50 people in her backyard to help celebrate Elsa's first birthday. It was a very special day filled with friends, family, food and fun. Please go to the Merriman blog to see the photos.

http://merrifamilia.blogspot.com/

Here is a photo of my darling Elsa and me...

Elsa's "Practice" Sessions

Elsa is on the verge of walking, she stands by herself for moments at a time and loves ambling around with the help of one hand or two.... Of course, OMA is happy to oblige. Here are a couple of shots of our last session together.

Elsa and her Mama are in Southern California this weekend attending a gathering of Ethiopian adopting families that are having a beach party today. Jan is housing them in her home in Rancho Mirage.

This family is certainly on the move these days. Next weekend, they are flying up to Oregon for another Ethiopian related meeting. Elsa is developing into a seasoned traveler. I really admire Porter for going out and doing these trips. What a gal!