Fright night flight to Bali

It's that time again to pack my bags and to head back to beautiful Bali. It's not easy to get there from here and by the time I arrive in Bali it will have been over a day of traveling. A tiring event and with the 12 hour time difference, there is serious jet-lag recovery time. Wide awake in the middle of the night and then there is a desperate want to crawl into bed mid-afternoon. It takes about a week of this craziness and then it all seems to even out and be normal...sort of...

See you in Bali

Happy Halloween

The Pink Tulip Project

The Pink Tulip Project was founded in 2006 by breast cancer survivor and friend, Robin Whitten. It is a fundraising project that benefits the Women's Cancer Fund at the Maine Cancer Foundation. Gardens are established to raise funds, create awareness and support those affected by breast cancer. Each garden plants seeds of hope and beautifies the community. So far, 30,000 Pink Tulips have been planted and 80 gardens bloom every spring.

My friend Patti coordinated the planting of this garden, so her husband Jack, cousin Pam and I met in Freeport early Sunday morning to plant 500 bulbs. We developed a "system" where Jack used a stick to create the holes and we followed by dropping in a bulb and covering with the soil. We had the 500 bulbs planted in a little under an hour. You got to love a "system".

You too can have a beautiful Pink Tulip garden in your town. Go to Pink Tulip Project for more information.

A lovely time in Georgetown

When we weren't out on one of our daily 8 mile walks, we were hovered over the jigsaw puzzle we started when we arrived. This day on our walk we meandered around Indian Point along Sagadahoc Bay. Most of the summer people were gone so we were able to walk along the shore and peek in the windows of all the cottages.

Elizabeth and Patti heading back to the jigsaw puzzle.

Georgetown sunrise

My last day in Georgetown was a warm sunny day that started with this amazing sunrise. I was mesmerized as I watched it rise over the ocean. Not having the energy to break out the oil paints I used Neocolor 11 crayons to capture the moment.

A road trip to Georgetown Maine

Sophie and I took the opportunity to get out of the city and enjoy a few days with friends at their beautiful home up the coast from Portland in Georetown Maine.

The front yard of my friend's house are these wonderful rocks and tide pools, crashing surf and open ocean as far as the eye can see. Their house is actually bolted to the rocks.

Lobster boats on my way to Georgetown, Maine.

Saturday in the city

Sophie spends most of her days sleeping and much of that time is on her back with legs spread and paws in the air. This is how I found her Saturday afternoon before we took our walk. This Bulldog is one of the "wild things" we met on our afternoon walk .

The leaves are turning

The brilliant colors of fall foliage have finally come to us in Southern Maine. The mountains are past peak and the leaves are probably off the trees. Around Portland about 50% of the leaves have turned. Fall foliage is one of those things in nature that is so beautiful, but so fleeting. One minute the leaves are just turning and then they are gone—it makes me sad. I sometimes have to remind myself to stop and look, so I will really see.

Crocheting

These were sketched while I was working on my most recent crochet project. I actually like the act of knitting and crocheting better than the final product. That's odd isn't it?

My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet when I was quite young. She would give my sister and I each a ball of yarn and those really long plastic needles and we would practice our knitting. We would spend the weekend at their house, knitting, watching TV shows like "Queen for a Day" (that dates me) and eating our favorite foods like 1/2 an avocado filled with her wonderful homemade dressing. They had a Siamese cat named Herman, who liked to eat wool. So, we would have to hide our knitting and of course all our sweaters. If he got to them, we would end up with large holes chewed in our sweaters and we were in trouble!

Often when I knit or crochet I think of my grandmother and those days so long ago.

"Biking the dog"

A beautiful fall day for "walking the dog" or "biking the dog". On our walks, I consistently point out to Sophie well behaved dogs, like this sweet boxer trotting along side his owner. Sophie is basically a good dog, but sometimes she just does bad things...

Waiting

Quick figure study using ink and markers.

Who let the dogs out

It is always interesting to meet other dogs their owners and I am curious as to what kind of dogs people have. Often, we will stop and chat while our dogs get to know one another...or not. Sophie is a 14lb tough guy, except when we see a German Shepard or any very large dog. I guess she just knows, because she will go wide.

It's true, sometimes people look like their dogs...

...and sometimes they don't.

Figure studies in oils

I spent part of this afternoon on small quick figure studies from photos.

Self

This is me, from a photo taken this summer on our sailing cruise. Always wearing my favorite big dark sunglasses (HA—I didn't have to paint my eye)s. These sunglasses are especially cool because the bottom half is a reader for my aging eyes.

Ibu

Balinese woman taking daily prayer offerings down to the waters edge.

The last days

Lately I can't get myself to do more than random sketches here and there. So today, instead of agonizing over the lack of creativity energy, I decided to just freely slop around with watercolors, ink and pencils on this waning bouquet of flowers. Maybe tomorrow I will have more energy...

Casco Bay Ferries

Another sunny crisp fall day here in Maine, so I grabbed a very unused small Moleskine, some pens and colored pencils and wandered down to the waterfront to sketch. Not much time because of apartment duties and Sophie's constant interest in all the dogs and people wandering along Commercial St, so I ended up finishing the rest of the color at home.