Ah, Summer Salad!

Hello, dear readers!

I do hope that you are having the best weekend!

I kicked off the weekend by preparing my favorite salad last night...

(And enjoyed it while watching a scary movie with my sweetheart, on tv).

I was craving fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro, from our garden.

So, out I went...

With my country basket in hand.

Oh! I picked a honeydew melon as well!

Yum.

We have cucumbers and tomatoes galore. I do wish that I could share them with you.

The corn isn't quite ready yet...

But oh, how we love sweet corn on the cob. Soon, I think. Soon.

So, my favorite salad deserved a place in my art journal.

I did not go into great detail with the recipe because I like to mix it up at times. Sometimes I add black olives, sometimes green olives... Even Greek olives.

If I don't have fruit handy, I substitute the apple slices with dried cranberries...

Or not.

I always keep Feta cheese in the fridge!

I make this salad at least three times a week during the Summer months.

Today we went shopping and I found some wonderful, tiny canvases to paint on! I bought several of them and plan to dive into some art soon! I want to stock my etsy shop, truly, I do. I just find it difficult when working a full time job, leaving me very little free time to keep my shop filled with newly listed items. I thought that I could make it happen this Summer...

But with the wedding and the travels, it just did not happen.

I have decided to keep plugging away with my creations, as time permits. Once I feel that I have enough offerings to make my etsy shop appealing to others, I will stock!!!

In the meantime,

If you do see something that you wish to purchase, please, talk to me via comment or email! Most everything that I create, is indeed, for sale (with the exception of my art journal entries, of course)!

I am a perfectionist and am just waiting for the right time to fill my shop with sooooooo many treasures.... Page after page of viewing and shopping!

A big thank you to those who have purchased from me...

Just by asking! I appreciate your support. My greatest passion is creating, and sharing with others!

Now, I think it is time for another salad! How about you?

Enjoy!

XO

 

Friends, Mermaids, and Starfish...

Good morning to you!

I sit here in the morning light, outside on the patio with a cup of coffee.

Pondering. Reflecting.

This patio has been the host to many memorable occasions!

Over the weekend, it was a perfect place for two longtime friends and a beautiful mess!

Together, we enter into a whole new world where the creativity flows for days and we bounce from one project to another. Even after the sun sets, we remain, under the patio lights...

Working away, like little elves. Building, assembling, painting, talking, and laughing.

A block of clay becomes a starfish...

Mounted onto a painted, wood box.

Some of our projects,such as the box, do not get completed...

Until the next time we meet...

Or, we may work on them from miles apart and share the process by phone- sending text messages and pictures! Either way, the projects are shared together. Isn't it just the greatest thing, to have a friend who is much like yourself and has the same interests as you? I do hope that you have one of these friends... Or two!

A friend who adores a silly little sculpture to set on a shelf!

So, our hands knead and pinch clay for hours...

Until mermaids appear.

Meet "Mable"!

She is my mermaid friend. Lori chose her name. I'm not completely satisfied with her face, but I shall work on her a bit more.

Even mermaids need a friend, right?

Here are the girls, together! Don't they make you just smile big?

Oh, how we enjoyed playing with the clay and glitter!!!! I am now inspired to do more sculpting for sure!

In between projects, we break for a snack.

Zucchini on the grill was a very nice treat!

We brushed each slice with olive oil and then topped with herbs from my garden, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sun dried tomatoes and peppers. You must try this!!!!

It was a glorious weekend and always difficult to say our goodbyes. ( I still cry when my loved ones leave). Sometimes I do feel so far away from all of my people and familiar places...

Way out here, in the country.

But then my husband returns from his fun weekend in the Ozarks...

He and I take a drive...

And I am reminded once again, just how grateful I am to live out in the country. It's so very peaceful and serene.

We resume our normal routines here today- he back to work while I tend to the home and the gardens...

And of course, the creative projects of my own.

I will grin each time that I pass by "Mable"...

And think of Lori, of course!

Blessings to you all!

XO