Late May

Hello!  It's Friday!  Time for Willow's Week at Friday Fave Fives (hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story).  How was your week?  Mine was just the same old, same old.  Hanging around the house.  Staying safe.  Taking walks.  Being thankful for the small things.

1.  I've been doing a bit of sketching and really working at improving my skills.  I love the satisfaction of finishing  a sketch.  (The photo is a bit blurry, sorry.)

2.  This week, I received an email from the mother of a former student, thanking me for the input I had in her daughter's life.  Oh how my teacher heart glowed.  This young woman is surging forward in her writing!

3.  Ya'll doing Zoom and Skype sessions?  I know that, for me, sometimes I am 'zoomed-out'.  But I am thankful that during this time we have the option of 'seeing' people and 'spending time' with them.  I know it's not the same as really face to face interaction, but it's better than nothing.

4.  We woke up Monday morning to RAIN.   I managed to catch a few photos of raindrops on my flowers.  And the rain didn't bother the monarch caterpillar at all.  They just kept on chewing on the milkweed.  I do love my garden.

5.  It's still jacaranda tree time.  Normally, when we drive down the streets of our city, I don't notice the trees except that they're there and provide green and shade.  But during Jacaranda Season, oh my!  Those purple blossoms just celebrate spring!  Here are some photos of jacaranda trees in various spots around town.  [please note:  BEFORE deciding to plant a jacaranda tree, understand that there is no middle ground.  They're beautiful. BUT, they're messy. See bottom photo.]

Yeah, they're really messy.

I hope you had a good week and are staying well.

Happy 2020!

It's the new year!  2020!  How 2019 for you?  What are your hopes and goals for 2020?

One of my goals is to post more often here on Willow's Cottage blog.  I have been mostly consistent with posting my Friday Fave Fives.  Last year, FFFs was one of the things that kept me posting!  So here I am.  Posting my Friday Fave Fives on the first Friday in 2020.

1.  Safe drive home from Phoenix.  We left at 3:00 pm because we stayed to attend the Children's Theatre production of Ella Enchanted with PAL.  It was a great play and we enjoyed sharing it with Chaplain Dan, PAL's mom and PAL.  Then we hopped in the car with Dr. Mike and made it home in record time.  It helped that we gained an hour in the westward change and that Dr. Mike took his turn driving.

2.  New Year's Eve.  This is the first time in several years that we have been home on New Year's Eve.  We joined many families in our church congregation for a fun evening and watched the ball drop -- in New York.  We were home by 9:30.

3.  New Year's Day we took a walk along the beach.  4.21 miles.

4.  How fast can you clean up your house and make it ready for a realtor to show it to a prospective buyer?  We were out of the house in twenty-one minutes!  (Is that a world record?)  No, the agent said his client isn't going to make an offer on our house.  But it is nice to realize that we can prep the place so quickly.

5.  One of my goals for 2020 is to actually practice my sketching this year.  I discovered that Leslie Fehling who I took a class with a couple of years ago has a January Everyday Artists Challenge.  Do a  pen/pencil sketch or watercolor every day in January.  I've done two.  This afternoon I am going to my Art Group and will do Day 3 there.  Three days in a row is already a record for me!

Yesterday's pen sketch

Palm trees from a photo

Here's to a New Year!