I’m slowly but surely working on my Folkwear smock project …
while pondering the recent excision of my first basal cell skin cancer. It’s no big deal, but it feels like a milestone of sorts. As is the recommendation that I start on statins. And as always, consider annual immunizations. So it goes.
The good news is that we finally tried out Valentina’s, which is the newest restaurant in town (rated two thumbs up👍👍) …
and attended our local art gallery’s 6th anniversary party, where the owner cleverly requested 6” by 6” art works from the usual (wonderful) cast of artists. And if some of the artists didn’t exactly bring works at exactly the requested size, we were still delighted to bring two of them home with us …
Kate Dardine
Suzanne Horne
We also had “Back to School Camp” with Griffin, Parker, and Ellis … complete with field trips, projects, and fun food …
Hmmm … I seem to be missing some activity pictures … I’ll have to check my co-counselor’s photo collection and include them in a future post.
Meantime, the first real day of school in Texas has come and gone (click to get full images … P’s shoes are worth a peek) …
and we continue to hide out from the Texas heatwave … which reached 110 degrees yesterday while we were hunkered down at the Alamo Drafthouse watching Oppenheimer … a sobering experience all around.
I'm Going to Texas (version 2.0) 
Wow to the smocking .. you do possess amazing patience. The Kit Carson House .. I love love love it. We seem to have similar taste in art .. they both are wonderful additions to your already beautiful art collection.
Lace lady just posted a link to an amazing artist Vivian Pit??? Gosh there sure are so many wonderful artists out there .. I include your husband in the group. Nice pictures of all the grands ..
LikeLike
thank you Tina … I’m not sure how I feel about smocking right now … on the one hand I appreciate not having to think about composition, but then I miss the more creative aspect of stitching … a true dilemma
LikeLike
Well can I just start with the wonderful pairing of a pink frock with Nike high tops? Joy there. Agree with Tina about your patience. And what it yields. So lovely. The arrangements of art are an inspiration in a lot of ways — the joys of collecting, the aesthetics of grouping small pieces together. So nice. And yes, the incisions and meds are reminders, aren’t they? I started a beta blocker last month. jeez.
LikeLike
I had to look it up, but yeah, the metoprolol I’ve been taking for 5 years is a beta blocker … I seem to be accumulating new meds faster than I discard old ones (but yes, fortunately I have an NP who is good at eliminating meds that are no longer necessary) … as for patience, my mother used to say I should never have children because I had none
Parker in high tops made my day … glad you enjoyed seeing her spunky self
LikeLiked by 1 person
BTW I’ve been on a statin for years. I did resist but with a father who died of a heart attack at age 54, I don’t take coronary health lightly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why go to school when Back to School Camp looks like so much fun and good learning plus great snacks!!
Is Parker wearing high tops? Is so tell her that she is quite in style because my 14 yr old granddaughter Rowie and all of her friends wear high tops with their jeans,shorts, skirts and dresses…
LikeLike
P will surely be delighted to learn she is “in step” with a 14 year old cohort … as for snacks, I had great fun adding some new ones to the pantry shoebox that is just for the grandkiddos
LikeLike
Lillian Pitt is the artist name .. man I sure messed that up. Glad I went back and double checked. 🤪
LikeLike
yes Tina, I saw that post too and fell in love straight away with the Lillian Pitt’s Crow [was unable to leave a comment there]
LikeLike
hmmm … I missed that one … will have to go back and take another look
LikeLike
oh my goodness, yes!
https://lillianpitt.com/mixed-media-art-reflects-native-american-culture/
LikeLike
I just took a look … fascinating work … interesting how it is the same but different from Southwestern artists
LikeLike
I kinda thought the same thing .. the way you posted the website is what I kept trying to do. Got frustrated and gave up .. glad you shared it so others can easily visit Lillian.
LikeLiked by 1 person
(((Liz))) your smocking is so beautiful!
LikeLike
thanks Mo … not quite sure I’m doing it correctly, but I guess the proof will be in the final product
LikeLike
Liz~ I look at E. and think that is what P. looked like when I met her (generally speaking, of course). I can’t believe the growth spurts they’ve all had! The art you chose is again, amazing and fits right in within your gallery home. Of course I love the reading pic and wonder what they are reading! It always looks like you have so much fun together. 🙂
LikeLike
it’s funny, we see them all the time, but there’s something about “first day of school” pictures that makes the changes seem so much more obvious … and yes, the feeling I get from that reading picture makes my heart happy
LikeLike
your smocking is awesome
so are your grandchildren, the pics of them are lovely, my favourite is the one of the two girls reading….
LikeLike
it’s funny, the kids were not very enthused about “back to school camp” … lots of moaning and groaning at the outset … but they quickly settled in to the rhythm of it and ended up having quite a good time (while my co-counselor and I patted ourselves on the back for managing to “differentiate instruction” for a 4, 6 and 10 year old)
LikeLike
What a lot of work that smocking is! Looking forward to seeing what it becomes. 🙂 Your day looks like lots of fun!
LikeLike
I think I’m dragging my feet because I’m uneasy about how the seams are going to work … the smocking leaves a tremendous amount of bulk in its wake
LikeLike
Hi LA – I’m exhausted just by looking at all the activity photos of the children – all looking gorgeous for school. Yes there comes a time when the body does require a little or a lot more maintenance- getting old is not for wimps F’s mum used to say. Go gently. B
LikeLike
Routine maintenance has taken on new meaning of late
LikeLike
I once had a similar skin cancer removed. a bit scary at first but everything turned out all right. I liked the many family pictures . Here we’ll have to go back to school on 1st September. Annick
LikeLike
I am less perturbed than I might otherwise have been about the skin cancer as my spouse has had more than a dozen procedures over the past 8 years … even so, I only began annual dermatology checks last year, thinking myself somehow immune … glad you enjoyed the pictures, which have become an ongoing personal indulgence on the blog
LikeLike
Your home is a gallery
LikeLike
it has become much like one over the past ten years …
LikeLike
You and Don have got to be the most fun grands ever! Jim and I are hoping to do the same with with our little guy on the way. JIm has been teaching his grandson Syd to use power tools in woodworking. He didn’t want to leave us last Sunday and cried to stay. Just breaks your heart. They call Jim Pop Pop and we love when they come to visit. I’m going for a cancer check on my face as well. I think I have at least 2 spots going on. I knew it was coming. I go on the 9th of Sept. And just had a breast cancer scare. They took me in for more tests after my annual test. Luckily I was clear! xox
LikeLike
“routine maintenance” gets less and less routine as the years go by … but we’re still here!
so excited for you … can’t wait to “meet” your grandson … I’ll bet Syd will be a great helper and his little brother will surely provide comic relief … what a rollicking good time you’ll all have
LikeLike