Dancing the Night Away

Today was a busy one. After Zumba and breakfast, Jack and I worked on his siding for his new shed, and got it all done! He still has to do some trim and some painting, but nothing that he can't get done in the next couple of days.

So it was time to celebrate. Far Horizons had a dance tonight and it was very fun. The band was Two's Company, and they are the best for dancing. While the snack table was packed with delicious looking snacks, and I brought a bowl of nuts, I was personally able to resist the temptation. It's really far easier to resist temptation to snack when you just decide ahead of time that you're not going to do it. If you don't even start eating, it's much easier to just not eat. I did drink plenty of water, though, and danced nearly every song.

Today's creativity is from some months ago, actually, but I'm sharing it here now. This is a lion cub shot through the glass of his enclosure. I like the way the leaves behind me and reflecting off the glass make it look a little surreal, kind of like the cub is in the jungle.

Seventy Degrees

Finally! The day is beautiful, and I celebrated by spending a little time listening to the folks singing wonderful folk music beside the pool.

I am surprised that y'all are not bowled over by my artwork of yesterday. Well, I'll just have to try harder!

There! That's from my webcam. :P

Be the Change

Today was another good day! It began with sleeping in till 7, Zumba, and laundry. One of my washers chose me to be the victim of its fritzing out, so I got to wash one load twice, just so I could get the rinse cycle. I finally was done with laundry by 1.

And I did some art:

This was a Paths exercise, combined with some Gradient fun and Layer Effects euphoria.

I was happily playing my penny whistle, when I suddenly remembered that Jack and I were going to leave for dinner at 5, and it was 4:59! Yikes! I undressed and redressed more quickly than I ever have, whipped on my makeup and swept my hair into a fetching bun, and off we went!

We arrived at Claim Jumper right at our reservation time, and were seated immediately. Dinner was eximious; Jack had a steak and baked potato, salad, and toast, while I feasted on a chicken cashew salad on a most delicious tomato bread, fresh fruit, and, for my vegetable, carrot cake!

Ash Wednesday

Lent began for me on a very busy note. We went to the short Ash Wednesday service at church, followed by our exercise class with Greg. Class was good, though it was hard. I guess hard is good, when it comes to exercise.

Then I showered and went to Jan's for lunch with the girls. Lunch was delish, as hers always are, and we had a good time playing cards till late afternoon.

Next I went over to help with the Sawmill Spaghetti Supper. I was serving plates of spaghetti, and that's a fun thing to do.

And then came church choir practice. It doesn't seem like much when I talk about it on here, but it was a busy day!

And I made this little bit of art:

I did this by making two angle gradients on different layers and blending them with Blending Modes. Then I made the cross using two reflected gradients in Difference Mode, and blended this into the background gradient layers.

I finished it by rounding the cross ends with a Layer Mask, deleting the black background, and applying a purple Outer Glow using Layer Effects.

I like the starkness of the primary colors, the surprising bits of green and yellow, and that haunting purple glow.

Another cold day in paradise

The weather here is sort of a joke, because ... well, it just doesn't seem like February in Tucson, which is usually lovely. I just hope that it doesn't go immediately from being too cold to being too hot. I do know that the hummingbirds are mightily confused!

Otherwise the day has been good. I went with Jack to Home Depot to pick up a GFI plug and then to Sprouts to lay in some supplies for supper, which I'm cooking. Tonight will be Fettucini Milano, one of my faves. It has sausage, fresh parsley, sweet peppers, green onions, garlic, and herbs all combined in a buttery-olive oil and served over fettucini, or whole-wheat rotini tonight.

I sat and played piano for a bit this morning! And this afternoon, I did a little bit of pre-VD art:

Now... I'm trying to commit myself to something for Lent. With the idea in mind that I want to do more creatively, I believe I will commit to posting some piece of art, a photo, or a recipe into this blog every day of Lent. Will you enjoy that?

Coldest day

I think that it is even colder when one isn't really expecting it. When I think of Tucson, I have come to think "sunny and warm" and not "cold, dank, and rainy." Oh well... 54 isn't...4.

I had some good indoor time today -- time to catch up on email, write thank you cards, pay some bills, play my penny whistle, edit a photo, do allll the puzzles in the newspaper, and still managed time to run some errands in the nearly freezing rain.

I keep thinking that I'll eventually snap out of this funk which has dogged me for the better part of 5 years. I want to get back into doing art.

Location : E Centrepark Dr, Tucson, AZ 85710,