Paper and Threads

We just spent several days in Southampton with our youngest grandchild, Annabelle.  Our other 4 grandchildren live in Manhattan and spend lots of time with us.  Annabelle needs to figure out who we are and reestablish trust with each visit.  These are the first 3 journal pages from our visit.

When we arrived the pink hydrangeas at the house were finally in bloom and we brought one flower in to brighten an otherwise rainy Sunday.

This is Annabelle, on arrival in Southampton, sitting so nicely next to the pink hydrangea.  The circle to the left of the picture is one of the bubbles being blown as she plays with her cousins.

The following day Annabelle played with her cousin Sydney's flip-flops and I decided that these may be the only butterflies that I would see all week.  So this is my entry for EDM Challenge #235 - Draw a butterfly.

We had beautiful sunny days and after a morning walk on the neach with Annabelle, we took her to the village park and children's playground.  Wen we arrived these 4 "friends" were clustered together on the dock and I was able to rapidly sketch them before they swam off.

Posted by Shirley at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

EDM Challenge #234:  Draw Something That Belongs to Someone Else

We gave one of our grandchildren the Vtech Kidizoom  camera last week for his 4th Birthday.  It is a robust point-and-shoot digital camera made for children and he took 600+ photos during the first 24 hours!  I set up a folder for him on my computer and we saved a few of the first pictures.  Now I need to decide how I can take our 4 oldest grandchildren on a "photoshoot" in Central Park with their children's digital cameras. 

Posted by Shirley at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Challenge #232:  Draw The Last Thing You Bought:

I am not a shopper, unless I'm in a book or fabric store.  The last things I purchased were books.  Two weeks ago I bought childrens' books from the Cat in the Hat Learning Library series: Clam-I-Am! and I Can Name 50 Trees Today for our grandchildren.  This week I bought two summer books for me to read on our travels. 

EDM Challenge #233:  My Favorite Drink

I love coffee and enjoy my first quiet hour of each day, when I drink several mugs of filtered coffee, and plan the day.  This is so important to me, that I must be able to make coffee in hotel rooms so it is ready as soon as I wake up and even before I shower and get dressed.  During a Christmas visit to London in 1988, I bought myself a present at Harrods - a Russell Hobbs filter travel coffee pot.  I have enjoyed it on many trips since then.

Posted by Shirley at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is the inside of the junk drawer in my bedside cabinet - SIMPLIFIED!  In the basket on the left front one pen represents about 50, one highliter about 12, one emery board about 6.  On the right front are individual packets of yearly Filofax calendar pages from 1993 through 2008.  The black leather zipper case in the back contains some information about renting apartments in Europe.  The compartments on the right back are in a plastic silverware drawer insert and contain much more stuff in each section.  On the far right back is an old Altoids tin and a pen case full of fountain pens that I love but no longer use!

Posted by Shirley at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last Tuesday was my last official workday, 40 years after I graduated from Medical School.  I made this trip from my apartment on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan to Albert Einstein College of Medicine regularly - and was always amazed that driving 10 miles against rush hour traffic in the City took me almost 40 minutes from door to door.  Of course I first needed to walk from my apartment to our garage - stopping at the fruit and vegetable vendor on the street to get fruit for breakfast.  Then I always stopped to talk with the Garage supervisor about her newest baby.  At the other end, I walked several blocks from the parking garage to my building - checking out the flowers that were in bloom or following the progress of autumn leaves or new buds in the Spring.

I love drawing maps and started each of my 3 London sketchbooks with ever more detailed maps of the area in Chelsea where my daughter and her family lived.   

We just returned from a Family Holiday at the Beach - and I need to scan and post at least one sketchbook page from our visit. 

Posted by Shirley at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)