Maymont Park on Thursday night.

We went to Maymont Park on Thursday night for a concert, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. The weather cooperated: it was NOT hot and it was NOT humid, and there was a breeze. Perfect. We got there at 5h30 when the gate was opened, found a good spot
on the "lawn," and enjoyed visiting with our niece and nephew, until the music started. It was such a treat.

Shifting Sands

I am so excited. The book for which this collage was designed is a reality. You can hear an interview with the editor/author Osie Gabriel Adelfang here. I can't wait to hold the actual book in my hands, which will happen in a few days. Meanwhile, I'm arranging a book signing here in my little city for August. I'm pretty excited about this. Can you tell? (Note: On
Thursday, 6 May, the book arrived at my doorstep. I had to take a picture of me holding it in my hand. The cover is so shiny and new. I've started reading it, but only the forward. I'm savoring having it.

Veggies and other food!

Last week we went up to Washington, DC to the Smithsonian craft show. It was so nice to see such high quality of crafts. I even got a pair of new earrings by Kathleen Dustin. See her work here. My earrings are in the fourth row down on the left.
We ate at a "meze" restaurant, which is like tapas but from Greece. The food was yummy. Here's a view of the sculpture out front and some of the delicious food.
This week, I picked up a nice basket full of veggies from my farm share. Everything is so fresh. I'm always tempted to take home more than I can eat, but stop myself knowing that next week, I'll get more good veggies.

About art and a bug question!

I was bemoaning the fact that I hadn't done any new collages since I'd been home from L.A. so I sat down and cut out some new scraps to use. That always gets me thinking about what to do next. I do have one piece in the works. It's for a mail art call that's not due until the summer. The image here will be replicated and each copy with be worked on to make it unique. I'm excited to do this, now that I have some new scraps to work with.
SO, here's the bug or insect. I discovered it living on one of my African violets. It doesn't jump or crawl when I get near it. It wiggles it's antennae a bit. What is it? Is it dangerous for my plants, like will it suck the life out of them? I have no idea where it came from nor have I ever seen a thing like it before. If it can live on the plants okay, then I'll leave it. Or I can capture it and release it into the wild. Any ideas. You all are so helpful with things like this. For instance, I now know I have a "daphne" bush out in the front garden. I look forward to finding out about my new resident plant sitter.

My pup and some nature.

My old dog was so tired out by his visit to the vet that he just lay down on the kitchen floor and went to sleep. He's on an antibiotic now and some blood work is being done just to get a picture of what's going on for him. Notice how nice he looks? We have this really nice groomer who arrives at our door in her van. Smitty is really nervous about being groomed but Serena of Serene Grooming, is great with him. Even an old dog likes to look nice.
Chuck found the birds nest on the window ledge by our air-conditioner. It was abandoned by the dove. It's so loosely built but amazing how the tiny egg sits in the twigs. The tulips are in front of a house on the next block.

Leaving Los Angeles

I left Los Angeles on Saturday morning. I was able to get a nice photo of the iconic central structure at LAX. Waiting at the gate, I spoke with a family heading back to Switzerland. They didn't know what was going to happen after they got to Chicago. There were no flights to Lucerne, because of the volcanic ash. I hope they got to stay over and see a bit of Lake Michigan. The plane took off headed west over the Pacific Ocean coastline and steeply banking, headed east for Chicago, where I'd be connecting to another flight. The pix are out of sequence but you get the idea. I looked down at the city, said so-long until next time, feeling lucky to have a window seat. I looked down on the desert and then on high mountains with snow on top, then flat lands, then the wide Mississippi River and into Illinois, where the fields are so straight, where I was so surprised to see the interesting curving rows of plantings. It was like looking at a fabulous intaglio print or a drawing. At O'Hare airport, I saw a Brioche Doree "cafe," a bit of Paris in the heartland. I had an aisle seat on the next flight, and it got dark quickly as we headed east, so no sights to see as we crossed the Appalachian mountains. No kidding, I was thinking: This is a HUGE country! I arrived at my home airport, my honey was waiting for me, and, even though it was 10 at night for him, it was dinner time for me so we went out to eat. I'm home! A bit of jet lag to contend with, but so it goes.

Mom and an interview.

This is my last day to be with Mom on this trip. I begin my return voyage to the east coast tomorrow morning. Mom is multi-tasking in this photo. She's reading and has her latest knitting project in her lap, and she goes from one to the other.
In a short while, I'll be called on the phone to do an interview with the publisher of the book, Shifting Sands, for which I did the cover collage. See more about the publisher and the book here. and here. Mom said that she'd sit quietly while I'm being interviewed. When she's not re-telling a life event, or reading to me from whatever she's reading, she's very quiet. No worries in that department. You can hear my interview here by scrolling down past the Ursula LeGuin post.