Mail Art and our grand girl

 I'm playing around with strips and circles again.  I'm using OLD scraps in new arrangements. I'm very pleased with how the circle looks transparent but not happy that I didn't line the edges up squarely with the edge of the substrate.

Doing landscapes vertically for a visual challenge.

Here, I decided to not worry about the lining up of the strips - I decided to just put them off kilter, which gives the pieces a bit more energy. I also like the circle that I chose to add. 

 As regular readers know, I don't post many photos of our grand-girl. I feel it's partly privacy and partly not wanting to bore people.

I couldn't resist. She's wearing the hat we'd just gotten for her - she loves hats.

She's eating fresh strawberry pieces from a little divided dish. It was serious business.

She was quite busy putting her soft toys on the couch, then she climbed up with them. The pink gingham doll bottom right was her mom's doll. Z calls it Pink!
The doll she's holding in her right hand is from her great-aunt E. Because the fabric on the back has a horse print, Z calls this baby NayNay.

She is very content to sit with all her babies and animals.

A bit of this and that.

I left Los Angeles last Wednesday. The day started early as I had to catch the 10h30 bus from Van Nuys airport to LAX. The lines for security were long and it's all so tiring!
The flight was full but it was a smaller aircraft than scheduled and 50 volunteers were needed to give up their seats. I wasn't volunteering, I wanted HOME! I had a window seat so was able to get a few images of the departure. I really like looking down a the landscape.

Aloft, leaving L.A.

A marina, notice the wakes of the little boats.

My flight went directly from Los Angeles to Washington DC Dulles airport. 5 hours later, we were on the east coast but my body clock didn't arrive with me. I had an hour wait before my flight to Richmond, a short 30 minute hop. By the time I arrived home it was nearly midnight.  I've been jet lagging, tired, ever since I got home. aaagh, I need to catch up!  I've sooo much to catch up on.

Mom's pink bunny

Here's the last of Mom's stuffed friends. This one sleeps on her bed. It's really big and she really likes it.

Mom's kitty

This little kitty sits outside mom's door. It used to have a plant in it but now it's empty. Mom keeps saying that she's going to do some planting but that's wishful thinking. Nice thinking, however, not happening. 

Found in my mail box

When I got home, I had some nice Mail Art waiting for me from Found-Art, letters from two correspondence friends, and a postcard from Postcrossing from China. So nice to come home to real mail. 

Gorgeous cake pan!

I'd hardly settled in, when I remembered we had to go to a birthday party and I was signed up to bring a cake. So, my trusty gorgeous pan to the rescue, whew, another smashingly interesting chocolate cake! (secret recipe: a box mix! Don't tell anyone, shhhh.)

Horribly rainy days

This is a view of the walk way during a brief lull in the stormy day. We, fortunately, can keep ourselves busy. Mom is reading a lot, and in this photo she's wearing a scarf she made yesterday. Behind her is one of the pillows she made since I've been here and below is a pillow cover she's working on for her son-in-law Jerry.
Mom loves stuffed toy animals. The lady bug is one that I brought her this trip and the monkey is one she's had awhile. It used to make a noise, an awful noise, but Mom got a kick out of it. My sister decided to do some monkey surgery and opened up the toy to see how it worked. Well, it had tiny batteries in it and my sister just by chance had the necessary three tiny batteries. She popped them in, sewed the monkey back up, and now: it makes this awful noise! Mom is delighted with it. Fun on a rainy day. It's raining now and will continue to rain. Southern California in the winter time is not so sunny!