up to date again

It's been a lovely old catch-up time, reading all the blogs that I have been missing out on recently. What a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours!

I have also borrowed some books from a friend and look forward to the treat of reading. (I have written a little in Italian today, so can reward myself with reading in English!)

Tomorrow I will be painting again; it is exciting to be back in watercolours for a while.

Speaking of paintings, I heard today that the paintings I donated to the gallery fund-raising auction in NZ sold and collectively we raised a reasonable amount of money for the gallery, so I am very appreciative of the generous buyers. I will post the images soon, but they can be found here on the gallery website.

I donated two kiwi beach scenes and two poppy pictures. I'm not sure that all viewers "got" my tall poppy images, but they were in fact a quiet poke at the town council who cut the funding to the gallery. The gallery brings visitors from other centres who spend money in the town. Tall poppies should be allowed to thrive, but we have an unfortunate habit of clipping them and bringing them down to size. The metaphor may not be a perfect match, but I am sure you get the picture (no pun intended!)

I am feeling very contended and "mellow", for no apparent reason. Life is good, despite the few ups and downs like broken windscreens and dentist bills. La primavera (spring) is on its way, summer will be close behind it, all is good!

Right now I am tempted to skype family scattered around the world, but instead I will enjoy the photographs and blogs and just think warmly of how much I love them all!

Today I am grateful for communication.