BENJAMIN McTISH & MATHILDA WICKCLIFF on etsy

Benjamin in a dream sequence with the Cat fish

Mathilda with Charlie Horse and Amiel the Raven

I just realized today while I was working on my Etsy, that I had never included my illustrations of Benjamin and Mathilda to my shoppe.  How could this be?  Well, it took me a while to finally finish our hero, Benjamin, and Mathilda has a "mistake" on her and I was hoping to repair it..but it just can't be done. (In the meantime I have given prints of her and no one has complained.)  So just FYI, they are available for purchase on my Etsy.  Benjamin is looking very colorful, as is Mathilda, who always makes me smile.
Enjoy! xox juner

THE EBB AND FLOW OF SUMMER ( & 50% off etsy sale)

So I've not posted for a solid month!  What can I say, so much to do  the minute the sun comes out at all.  But here's a quick run down of activity.


First was the graduation from HS of Ray's youngest son Case.  That took our complete attention for several weeks before the event even came.  We had sister in laws and family who had not been to the house in many years, let alone since I moved in and literally changed everything.  This house didn't have a dinning room, just a small tiny kitchen nook that everyone squeezed around the small orchard table to eat.  Now we have an amazing dinning space, that once held the pool table and drums. Ha!  So a lot to finish off to show our new home together. But of course my kitchen ceiling is still half painted, never enough hours in the day I tell you.  Then came the graduation weekend.  I had six house guests for five days.  Fifteen people  for a beautiful hand made ravioli dinner.  Then ten for dinner the next night and ten for breakfast the last day.  SO, I'm done with that now.  Other than I mistakenly erased all my photos from the ceremony...don't ask!

At least I have one from the Prom...cute couple!

The gang on the last night....fun!

Bodhi enjoying the shade under the table...every one loved him to pieces!

          

Then right after  everyone left on Sunday morning we were off to a big birthday party for my best friends husband.  I ended up singing with the band for most of the party...but had a really good time.


            

If I look tired...I AM!

My new favorite top....LOVE it!

Just the three of us at this point...
that's the birthday boy...
and we were singing Congratulations by the Stones.

         
Next came three days later when we loaded up my car, new puppy included, and drove nine and a half hours to Las Vegas, to visit my folks for a week.  Oh, and did I mention that we painted the outside of their home while we were there!  It was only ninety degrees that week, so not so bad...ha!  But it turned out lovely and they are thrilled.   I had made the suggestion the last time I was there that I needed to do this for them...too bad for Ray, he is now a "we", so it became his promise too...but he jumped in gladly and we worked on it for a total of four days.  And I played roulette for the first time and hit a hundred pretty quickly, so we have decided that from now on  roulette is our game.  Although the next weekend my dad went out and hit a jackpot for 2160.00...and before he left he hit another for 390.!!  Well done dad!!


no pics yet...will include soon...


Then we drove ten and a half hours home, after making a couple "antiquing" stops along the way and spent the next two days not feeling my best.  Unfortunately I had a house painting job beginning on the Monday, so my rest was short lived.
We went to the first summer beach concert and had the best time.  We saw Eric Burden and the Aniamls...what a great show.  Unfortunately I don't have the photos from that one yet, so you'll have to wait on that one.  But take my word for it...he still rocks!


Don't have these photos yet...will get them in soon...too cool


So then I painted everyday for a week and did one of my best  jobs ever for a client near by.  And in the meantime I am working on a logo design for some one else and it is a very demanding piece.  I've been working on it all week and am still not done. I will be putting his web and blog together as well...so no time for anything else today.  He's a good friend and he's got a terrific idea and I'll get a percentage..so there you have it!

Before....I ended up doing the mud/texture as well as this base they had was not going to cut it.

After....kinda hard to photograph faux work, it always looks blotchy and the tones don't show through as well as they are in person...but you can get the idea.

This is maybe closer to the final color..it had a touch of green in it.

The texture I did really worked well with the
old French feeling.

Plus we went to another beach concert last week and saw the Family Stone...not as good as the last time we saw them, but still a "get up on your feet and dance" kinda show.  
Oh and best of all, we went to see Steely Dan on Tuesday night at the winery...what a terrific show!  They are my all time favorite band, starting back from my senior days in school...SO happy to have finally seen them.  Even though Donald Fagan looks like he's eighty...it was like being at a party and your uncle joe got up to sing for you...ha ha.  Although a very talented and clever uncle joe to say the least.  What a talent he is.  And Walter was there as well...it was spectacular!

Donald and the girls...amazing backups!

Walter and Donald...Steely Dan

Oh and I forgot, last month we started this whole shindig with a concert at the winery for Lyle Lovette and John Hyatt...WHAT another great show!  You would not believe how well these two sing together. It was just each of them and their guitars and they took turns back and  forth singing a song and talking. It was  phenomenal!   It was a great way to begin the season.


These are part of the erased photos...again, don't ask.


But here we are now just passing the 4th hump...the garden is  coming along and the walls in the house are getting closer to being finished and I'm exhausted!
Although I have been in a flurry of writing this past month.  The book is taking on a life of it's own...it's really exciting.  I can't wait to sit down and write everyday, the story is so alive to me.  I read my new pages every day to Ray..he says not only is it super visual...but he can't wait to hear what happens next.  Yay!  I am planning on finishing this first book up by the end of the month...here's hoping.   I can't wait to get it out there.  I know a lot of you have been chomping at the bit to get into it already....it's close.


And to put a damper on my summer activities I have put on a very unwanted 10 lbs.!  You may think this doesn't sound like much...however, I am normally very thin, I have little teeny tiny arms and wrists, ankles, legs ect.  So when I gain even as little as 3 lbs, or god forbid, 5 lbs...it really shows up on me.  So 10 lbs is insane for me.  It's all right in the middle, something I'm not used to.  I've always had a tiny waist. And of course the thigh hip thing, what is that already?  Why does that have to happen to us? And it's all a response to HORMONES!  I had to start taking some estrogen because I apparently had none, causing some pretty serious side effects...then I went overboard with the stuff and boom!  Fat every where...I put an inch and a half on my waist overnight!  I can't stand it.  Someone really needs to warn you about these things...I never saw it coming!


So now I'm back into my daily yoga routine and changing some eating habits that I began when I moved in with the boys  here....geez, they can eat!  Not enough to put this kinda fat on me, but doesn't help the situation much.  So getting back into my natural groove of things.  Hope to see the change back to my happy little thin self soon.


And another photo to enter in the how large can we grow vegies in Santa Cruz?  I handed Ray a bucket of artichoke...geez!

This photo doesn't even do it justice...this is in a very large (water stained) wooden salad bowl...this thing was MONSTROUS!

So there we are caught up for the month.  All except the art thing.
First and foremost...say good bye to Jim Morrison as he is heading off to reside in Florida. Yay!

Off to live in Florida with a very dear old friend of mine...yay!

In the meantime I have put my ENTIRE ESTY SHOPPE 50% OFF SALE to make room for my new stuff.
Everything, prints included...so no time like the present to check out my shoppe if you haven't already.


Well I got to get back to work.  Sorry for the long time away.  I need to catch up on my blogs that I follow...oh and speaking of blogs, if you are into needlepoint or stitching in anyway, you need to check out my mother's new blog...still in the baby stages, but she is a well known designer and she has a web that really shows off her work.  It's all geometric stuff, very cool indeed.  And she will be opening an Esty soon as well, where she will sell kits and threads, etc.  It's worth the visit if you are into that kind of art.


So like I said, back to the grind...Have a really happy day and keep creating!!  oxox juner

PS. I had intended to include a video of the Steely Dan concert, but for some reason it won't download to my blog...that's a real drag, cuz I took it share...oh well, if I figure it out, you'll see it next time.