Friday, February 16, 2024

TY BLUMS


I think this is my last holiday gift post.  Max and Sally Blum sent me some amazing wine glasses that were made in Austria.  I have made paintings of wine glasses before and felt like I wanted to do something a little different.  I went on-line and found a picture of an Austrian village  I don't think it's where the glasses are produced, but I never did find out about that.  I just liked this village scene.

By the way, the glasses have a shape that makes them suitable for almost any type of wine and makes sniffing the aroma a very special experience.  So nice!
 

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

TY JOANN

 

Another fun gift I got was a bookmark that is an abstract painting, done by my friend JoAnn Laboy.  It is fun because it has little magnets that hold it in place.  She also gave me a card that is a beautiful abstract painting, but the bookmark is more fun.  My little painting doesn't do it justice.  JoAnn gave it to me at the brunch hosted by Tara Hamilton--I have written about that before.

I made a thank you card to JoAnn, but didn't take a picture for this post before mailing it.  She went on a vacation and I had to wait for her to return to photograph it and send the photo to me.  We worked it out and it is a little late, but here it is.

Friday, February 9, 2024

BUMPER

 


This is Bumper, Jenifer and Erik's Old English Sheepdog.  This is from a photo when he was a puppy.  I talked to Jen recently and she reports that he is still growing.   They knew he would be a big dog when they got him.  He joined the family after I visited, so I haven't seen him in person yet.  I hear he is smart and is learning the routines of the house and the commands he needs to know.  They are very happy with him.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

TY JEFF

 

My brother Jeff gave me an Amazon gift card---I can always find a use for that!

We had a fun visit when he was here from Southern California.  We didn't do a lot, but did see the movie "Boys in the Boat" with Louisa, Peter, Griffin and Sophia.  Another fun thing was going to the Guinness Brewery in Baltimore.  What a sight that was and fun for an Irish-phile like Jeff.  There were many more good meals and times to catch up.  

I look forward to his visit each year.  

Monday, January 29, 2024

TY TARA HAMILTON



One of the fun things over the holidays was going to a brunch that Tara Hamilton hosted at her house.  We have a group of women artists who have done pop-up sales together, gotten together for lunch and generally stayed in touch and supported each other.  Tara kept it going with this brunch.

In addition to providing a great food, Tara gave us all ornaments that are so much fun with a riddle tag that what they want is to "hang" together.  The ornaments are small pinecones in a wooden bowl and trimmed with beads.  I had fun painting it, too.  

Monday, January 15, 2024

TY KAREN ZENS

 


This is a fun treasure from my friend Karen Zens, who has worked in many countries around the world.  This ornament is from Canada--she remembered that I lived in Canada for many years and that Louisa and Jenifer were born in Canada.  Karen knows Canadian things are special to me.

She also makes me special cards each year...she makes original prints and cuts windows and folds the cards and each is unique---I don't even try to make a little painting of the one she did this year.  I save them each year and use them as background for my creche at Christmas.   

We had a fun brunch with some other artist friends.  I've said it before, but I am grateful for my artist friends.  


Thursday, January 11, 2024

TY HALLERS

 

It's hard to tell from my little painting what the gift was.  But it was an excellent gift--several bottles of wine from Oregon!!!!   The painting is an interpretation of the label and it is special because it shows that Honeywood Winery produces wine from all kinds of fruits..not just grapes, and also from honey.  The wines I got were Marionberry Wine,  Loganberry Wine and Mead.  Nice sweet treats!!!!

Erik and Jen know that still feel connected to my Oregon friends and family.  Six bottles of wine arrived in a secure package.That was a pleasant surprise.