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!
 

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.

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.

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.