Restaurant Review - The Cheesecake Factory

There's a new Cheesecake Factory over by Disneyland, very near my mom's. We went to it earlier this summer, and I was craving to go back, so we did last week. The first time I went I ordered this Luau salad, but without the chicken. It seems you can order any entre without the meat if you're a vegetarian, and that's good. When I first got this Luau salad, it seemed to be over flowing the plate. I ate and ate, and never seemed to make a dent. I was able to take a whole other serving home. So it made the salad worth the $12.95, since I got 2 meals out of it. Well, last week I had the same salad. But this time it seemed so much smaller, and there was none left over to take home. What's up with that? It still was a really pretty plate of food with some sort of wantan cracker things, macadamia nuts and an assortment of vegetables, covered in their balsamic dressing. I did enjoy my iced green tea, slightly sweetened with their minty concoction. I didn't think the salad was worth the $12.95 this time, and if someone is leaving the meat off, it needs to be compensated with more of the other stuff. The meat is a big part of the money paid. I guess it depends on who's cooking the day you go!! Oh and I also think they need some kind of kid's menu. The quesedilla appetizer was good for Wesley though. Next time I think I'll order the Southwestern salad, or maybe pasta with veggies, but I'm over the Luau salad, as gorgeous as it is!

Many Varieties of Cute

We went down to Orange County again for a visit. A couple of days filled with fun and cuteness!

Here you see my mom's new puppy, Marvin! So little and ever so cute!


She also has a very cute bunny... can't get much cuter than a bunny!


Well, I think turtles and tortoises are very cute, indeed! This one's been in the neighborhood for who knows how long. My mom acquired him over 20 years ago.


Look how cute he is when he bites a carrot!


We spent a couple of days at the beach, this time Sunset Beach. We saw this flock of sandpipers. I think they're one of the cuties of the beach. The waves were bigger this time on account of a hurricane to the south. We still spent lots of time in the water though.


And finally, we spent some time with the winners of all cutedom. My twin nephews, they're 2 1/2 now. They're little monster animals, but very cute non-the-less!

NibbleFest - Angels and Demons

The NibbleFest theme for July is "Angels and Demons." Here is mine. I think I was a little inspired by the baby goats in my neighborhood. Although this Guardian Angel is caring for a lamb. Close enough.

Finally I'm joining in on NibbleFest again. And listing an auction on ebay. It took me a while to navigate, but I finally got the listings done. Why does ebay always seem to get worse, instead of improve?

Oh well, search NFAC for the other angels and demons on ebay.

-SOLD-

TOC - Royalty

Tonight's theme for TOC was "royalty", in honor of the return of Helene "Queen of the Tribe."

I did a quick painting of Queen Helene for the night.

Day at the Beach

Earlier in the week we went down to the OC to hit the beach. We went to Corona Del Mar, one of the nicest beaches around. Growing up in Orange County, I went to all the beaches, but rarely to this one. So this was quite a treat.


Wesley caught some of the perfectly small waves. Having wiped out myself in many large waves, I think it's much funner when the waves are nice and small. Wouldn't you love to stay in that house boat for a few days?


Yeah, Corona Del Mar is pretty nice... if you like that mulit-million dollar mansion over looking the Pacific sort of lifestyle!

Win This Quilt!

Yes that's right. You can win this simply gorgeous, and scrumptious looking quilt, over at Old Red Barn Co.! Are you as excited as I am over this quilt? Go to the blog and enter yourself, and let's hope luck is with you or I, because there's a whole s*#t-load of people entering to win it. Well you just never know!

Just be sure to enter before midnight, Tuesday, July 22, 2008.

NibbleFest - In The Mist - June

This is an ACEO I did for the June NibbleFest "In The Mist." Sadly that was when I discovered my scanner had died. So I couldn't list it. I just can't sell and send of an original without first making a scan of it. So this had to wait. Oh well, here it is anyway.

Here's Nevada Falls in the most spectacular place on Earth... Yosemite. It's part of the famous "Mist Trail," above and beyond the Vernal Falls and the many, many steps that lie beside it. These 2 waterfalls produce an incredible amount of mist. And here you see the faces that appear in that mist.

This is watercolor and pen and ink, ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches). I think I'll put it up on Ebay, maybe tomorrow.

I'm happy to say that I did get a new scanner today. It was time consuming to install it, but now I'm happy.

Rain makes for a lovely day

Thursday night at about midnight we had a little unexpected downpour of rain. I had to run out into the gushing water and booming thunder to save a few things. I'd been clean sweeping my shed and had a few boxes left over to go through. It was worth the chaotic night to have a day of delightful smells of damp Earth. A wet summer thundershower was very needed here. It made for an enjoyable walk with Ziggy without being too hot.


Along the way, we saw these little cuties, only a week old. Are they the cutest, or what?! I'm in complete love, and to watch them play is such a joy! Someone hold me back from getting my very own baby goat!


Another joy this week was my first harvest of apricots. I've had this little tree for only 3 years, and it got it's first crop of apricots this year. I was surprised how many it grew for it's first year. This is only the first picking. Apricots truly mean summer to me, since my Grandma had an apricot tree when I was growing up. I did my share of eating apricots as a kid. How wonderful to now have my own! Now if I could only be as industrious as Grandma and make some jam.


Yes, the rain made everyone feel a little better around here. Doesn't the garden help my house to look cute?


Even the fish in the pond were a bit more happy from the rain!

Lychnis blooming on the Fourth of July

A sure sign of the Fourth of July, for me, is the blooming of the
Lychnis coronaria, also know as rose campion, mullein pink, or dusty miller. Lychnis is a Greek word for lamp, interesting that the leaves were once used as wicks for lamps.


These are very easy to grow, and they reseed themselves very well, yet their roots are not deep or invasive. This makes it easy to control them even if they've reseeded to their hearts' content. The color is so intense, and even while not blooming, the leaves are a wonderful shade of light bluish green. Some may confuse them with lamb's ear, but they're not quite as soft as the lamb's ear.

They seem to move around my yard, each year thriving in a different spot, all on their own.


A good companion plant that grows in the same way is Feverfew, as seen here. They make a very cheery combination.

Yes, the Fourth of July is always the peak in my garden, well at least the major peak. It's a beautiful time that needs to be enjoyed while it's here.

My Fourth was usual... parade in town, a little music at a local hangout, quiet day at home, trying to stay cool.

How was your Fourth spent? What's peaking in your garden? Do tell, I'd love to hear!

Tikis

Wesley and I spent a couple of days drawing tikis. This is Koro - The Midnight Dancer. We also like to call him The God of Luaus. I first thought Koro was an actual Hawaiian Legend, but I now believe he was made up by old Walt Disney and his Imagineers some 45 years ago for The Enchanted Tiki Room.


Here's another of my Tikis. This one is Hina Kuluua. She's The Goddess of Rain. I hope she makes a return here for Summer Rains, soon!

As we're researching more, we found some non-Disney Gods, and hopefully we can illustrate some of those soon. I'll have Wesley post his cool creations on his blog soon.

These are done with micron pen and markers in my 8x10 journal.

Where have the first couple of weeks of summer gone?! We've been doing lots of activities, and I see I haven't posted much. We did go on a little adventure for Wesley's birthday. Down a local control road to a creek. It's always fun trying a new spot. It was beautiful and very buggy, and I was pissed at myself for forgetting my camera! Something I rarely do these days.

A real drag is that I think my scanner is broken. These pix were taken with my camera instead of scanning. I guess it will have to do for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get a new scanner soon. I hate how it's not worth getting electronics fixed. They always cost about the same or more than just buying a new one. Technology companies should take more responsibility for contributing to the pollution problems. At least it's becoming more easy to recycle these products.

Inspire Me Thursday / Creative Core

I've got a project that I was able to combine into two different challenges.

First... I joined in on a brand new blog The Creative Core. On this blog you'll find a new assignment posted every Thursday, and you are to be done with the assignment by the following Wednesday. The first assignment was "Polished Blind Contour" using 3 items. This is my second attempt. First I blindly drew Cleo, then the bench, and finally the fir tree. Cleo is little too big, but I guess that's what happens when you can't see what you're drawing!

You can see my original pen drawings vaguely through the watercolor. And I think I do like the line movements of them more than when I was looking at my drawing. I enjoyed this very much. I noticed that it was hard for me to draw one item for too long. I was very fast, and loose, and became afraid that I had lost control of the drawing. So that's why the original drawings are pretty sparse.

The piece was done with a Micron pen, watercolors and watercolor pencils. It's in my 10.5 x 7.5 sketch book, entitled "Cleo Napping."

You still have time to join in on this assignment, if not this week, then maybe next!

Second... Inspire Me Thursday had a theme I felt I could participate in... "Find the Art in the Everyday. As you go through your day, look for the beauty. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Take a photo, draw a sketch, journal about it."

Caring for my garden, daily, is one of the beautiful things I see, on a daily basis. And of course my cats! So I thought of Cleo enjoying her nap on a little garden bench in my garden. Since I live in the forest, this picturesque fir tree was also added. It is possible to take the beauty of the mountains for granted when you are living your everyday-hustle-and-bustle-kind-of-life!

Summer's so wonderful when you actually have time to do the things really want to do!

And The Winner Is...

We got up this morning, and were excited for my First Blog Giveaway! Wesley got his disguise on, and I put all the names into a bowl.


And the winner is... cpullum! Congrats to her (well I'm just actually guessing that she's a girl!)... Although I did have at least one guy come and leave a comment. It was great to hear from my eBay ACEO Group and myspace friend, Josh! It was interesting to see that people actually did respond to my bulletin that I posted about the giveaway on Myspace. Although I would've hoped for more myspace people than did come!

So as soon as I return, (and hopefully have received a return email from cpullum) I'll be sending little Miss Mousey off to her new home!

And I had such a very fun time with this, I'm sure I'll be doing more in the future! So please check back when you can!

Blog Giveaway!! Summer's a Comin!!

Summer is such an extraordinary time! So to share my happiness for it, I'm having a little giveaway! This little Miss Mousey is the friendly prize. She would love to find a new home with you!

If you'd like to have her join your family all you need do is leave a little comment of any kind here on this post. You have until the end of this Saturday night,(June 14) which is 12 midnight Pacific time. If you don't have a blog, then you should leave your email address so that I can contact you....or at least be sure to check back soon. Then sometime Sunday morning, I'll draw a name from the list of comments. I won't be able to send out the gift until later in the week though. I've already got a few days of fun planned for our Summer Break and won't be attending to mailings until Thursday or Friday.

Summer always brings memories of such a certain happiness, especially the last day of school. I almost forgot that feeling in my adult life, until my own son started school. Now I'm reliving it, because I'm just as ecstatic for summer as I always was as a kid. I'm just so ready to be in charge of my own schedule.

Are you as happy for Summer as me? Leave a comment for Miss Mousey here!

Roses and Updates

It's been a very ordinary end-of-the-school year for me... that means incredibly busy days, and not much home time... which also makes me a bit cranky! I see it's been over a week since I last posted so I had to at least share some stunning roses!


This is a Zephirine Drouhin rose. I've had this rose bush for 15 years. It moved with me once, and it always blooms on the anniversary date of my step dad's passing. It's an old fashioned rose with a lovely scent. And an interesting trait is that it has no thorns!

My garden is being infested by moles or gophers. I use to have cats that would keep these rodents under control. But I guess the cats I've got now are too lazy or slow for these guys. I worry about this rose. So now I'm going to try planting some gopher purge around it, and hope that works.


Yesterday (June 7) was Drawing Day '08. I did do some drawing today, but I've got to finish it. I hope to post a finished, late drawing for the world wide event.

Oh and look for info on my first blog giveaway soon (monday or tuesday). This will be in honor of the first day of summer vacation, and how happy that makes me!

I've got a lot of promises to live up to, and I will do it!

Art Lesson - Summer Accordion Books

Today and last Friday I did these accordion books with the two fifth grade classes. With Summer Vacation so very near, it was a perfect time for a Summer theme. This project was excellent for fifth graders, and they truly enjoyed it, lots! They really loved sharing their ideas at the end of the lesson also.

Brad had got a whole bunch of old post cards from a job a while back, and they were fun to use as the covers of the accordion books. The kids each got 2 post cards, and 2 strips of pieces of paper for the inside pages. I made the strips 4 times as wide as the post cards. I showed them how to make the accordion folds, and they glued them into 1 long strip, and added the post cards as the covers. We used white glue for the gluing of the book, and glue sticks for decorating. I hate how so often glue stick falls apart, so the structure I thought would be better glued with the sticky white glue. But too much of it, and the book sticks together.


We talked together about all the things we think about when we think of summer. Funny, both classes right away said "sleep" as an idea. I had to agree! I made sure to add Reading, Fruit, and Art to the list.

Check out this young lady's idea of relaxing by the water! (above) She told me he was relaxing and enjoying the flowers nearby! What a joy!


After our talk, I let them go. There were magazines, and other misc recycled paper to choose from, as well as markers. I was surprised at how busy they stayed, for the entire hour. In fact they could've gone longer. That's when you know you were a success.


Another clue to the success was when I was talking with one girl about how she was dreaming of going to Ireland this summer. Then her neighbor said "My dream is to do this forever"!... Those kinds of comments make it all worthwhile!

Wacky Weather in May

It hasn't rained or snowed in months here, so what happens? It decides to rain nearly consistently for 3 days, Memorial Day Weekend! Not only rain, but a little snow at my house in the higher elevations. Also near by, at the bottom of the mountain, I hear there were some tornadoes! Very wacky for California!! I just feel sorry for the businesses up here since Saturday was a complete wash out. Memorial Day Weekend is usually one of the biggies for our local economy, with tourism and yard sales. Luckily today (Sunday) the sun came out, so there's still a little time for money making.


My poor little pitiful flowers are so sad drooping in the snow. It looks like most have made it through. I just hope my nice crop of apricots also survive. Yes it was unexpectedly cold, but we really did need the rain, and this big soaking sure has helped with our drought, and fire season! It felt good!

Illustration Friday - Wide

"She Needs Wide Open Spaces." My entry for this week's IF - Wide. I know the feeling of that need.

I was so sick of slacking on Illustration Friday, that I had to just put up an older drawing. Old is better than nothing at all. When I thought of "Wide," my immediate thoughts were of the Dixie Chicks. This made me remember this drawing from 1992. Back then I had dreams of my own patchwork fields. I don't really have wide open spaces of patchwork, but at least I do have my own bit of land now, no longer throwing money away to rent. And I now get to grow whatever I want, without having to possibly uproot it anytime, to transport to another rental.

Nothing beats owning your own piece of land, even if it's only 1/3 acre, not 33 acres!

This is a colorful drawing done with pentel markers, approx 8x10 inches.

In Honor of Ol' Blue Eyes

I meant to post a little something for the 10 year anniversary of Frank Sinatra's death, which was 2 days ago. So I'm a little late, well That's Life.... especially my life.

A Disneyland Treasury

I'm in an Etsy Treasury curated by the CCCOEteam. What a fun Treasury! It's a Disneyland theme, and as you may know, I love Disney! But this isn't your run-of-the-mill Disney. This is Disney with a twist, making it that much more creative and fun.

That's my "Tea With The Mad Hatter" print up there in the 2nd row, first on the left.

Go give the Treasury a click, it has a couple of days to go, and needs some love!

Batik Lesson - Revisited

Here are some of the batiks that I did with 33 sixth graders a couple of weeks ago. Aren't they gorgeous?!

This is a very ambitious project to take on. Learn more about the process here in my last year's post. This is the fourth year I've done this, and each year I hope I'm improving on the process, making them better and easier as I go. I should be a real pro for next year when Wesley's class gets to do the project.


As I said, it's a lot of work for this project and I suggest having at least 2 helpers. I unfortunately had only 1 for the second day. Luckily she's a good helper, and was able to stay to help me clean up. But it took us about an hour to clean up.


What else did I learn this year? Again, to emphasize BIG, BIG, BIG! and BOLD!! Don't be a push over and allow tiny little drawings. I seem to give in to kids when they do art. I don't like to sway their creative process too much, but they really need to keep their designs simple for this project. Also I liked the lime green color, but if I use it again I must make sure to not add as much water. There just is not enough contrast with the white with this color... keep to dark colors for contrast with the design. I'll also emphasize to just do an outline with the glue, not completely fill the image with glue. It just makes for a better final product.

Anyway they turned out pretty good, even with the minor improvements I need to adjust for next year.

Oh yeah, on a related note... I've noticed I get TONS of people coming to my blog who are looking for art lessons. Sadly these people NEVER leave a comment. If you are one of these people, I'd love to hear a comment from you!!!!!!!!!