vanished like a puff of smoke?

nope -- I'm still here

survived the nearly week long "smoke out" when the prevailing winds carried smoke from hundreds of wild fires into our area

this photo is full sun over the mountains from our house one of those afternoons

those kind of days we just stay inside with the air conditioning which does a pretty good job of filtering the air

we've had other excitement in the skies here recently too

like the day a strange noise had Mr Benson running from back door to front door alerting us to strange doings over head

the balloon came down in the little park right up the street from us --- pretty exciting

there has been indoor excitement as well

for a couple of days Mr Cute's before school caregiver was not available, so gramma got to fill those shoes --- we did some arts and crafts (these are international signal flags) and created something to hang on his wall at home before I took him to school

work in the studio continues

when I started this piece I thought I would be cutting it down to a 12" x 12" square to donate to next year's SAQA auction

when I got it finished, I wasn't willing to cut 2 inches off it in each direction, so it is 14" x 14", and I have mounted it on a canvas for hanging, and I have already submitted it for a local show in an art gallery -- hope it gets in!

this piece is now finished as well

I created it specifically for a show that has an entry deadline in mid-November, that I have no promise (as with all shows) that it will get in to

so I decided to go ahead and enter it in a local gallery call for entries --- if it doesn't get in to that local gallery I will know before the deadline on that first show

we'll see how that goes

I had finished all but the stitching on this piece before I started stitching the river scene, so now I'm back to working on this

so far I have stitched the ground and the shadows, so I still have to do the mailboxes and the sky

coming along!

the ice cream maker is ready now for me to create the back ground

I've decided on a pieced design that looks like subway tile at the top and an old table cloth at the bottom which makes a pretty good setting for this

the pieces of the garden are slowly coming together

I have to say about now I'm really tired of looking at various shades of green!

and this morning, I was notified that this piece will be included in a show titled Metamorphosis sponsored by the Women's Caucus for Art, Colorado Chapter

I'm delighted!!  it was one of 41 pieces selected from 400 entries

WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!

starting next Monday, the 12" x 12" study of the city that is shown here will be part of the SAQA benefit auction

this is one of the ways I support an organization that has helped me develop my art in the past few years

there has been some utilitarian sewing here in the studio in the last week or so

my daughter got the t-shirt, which she loves, but it was too snug for comfort at the bottom edge even though the shoulders and the top fit great (who designs these things?!)

mom to the rescue --- I used the still good piece of another shirt to put orange "V" shaped panels in each side to make it work for her

and right now I'm working on the beginning of the annual Halloween costume for Mr Cute -- he's going to be the Hulk this year, so I'm making him a green muscle suit

we've reached the point in the gardening season that I need to pick nearly every day

while the zucchini's have been a big disappointment, I've already put a number of bags of green beans in the freezer plus all we've been able to eat, and tomatoes in some form are a daily menu item in addition to the ones that have been made into pasta sauce

I was able to get my hands on some strawberries to put up into jam for the winter too

meantime, out in the garage workshop, the DH is busy making some new figures for our wood nativity set (it won't be long before we're putting this up -- time is flying!!)

he has cut out the second sheep, the donkey and the cow as well as a shepherd boy

so far I have painted the animals (we're refreshing the paint on the older pieces too), and I've started on the shepherd

this has to be done step by step to let each color of paint dry before I start the next one

and of course no post is complete without an update on Mr Benson

he has been the hero of the garden watch the last couple of weeks as he has discovered that grasshoppers are fun to chase -- and with one well place swat, he can squash one with his foot

yeah Mr Benson!!  give that dog a treat --- and ignore the occasional picking of green beans from outside the fence -- seems like a good reward to me