ARTISTIC PEEPS CAKE
Another dinner party and an entirely different kind of culinary artistic achievement. My friend Liz baked the cake and her husband Chavis decorated it with peeps. He claimed that this was in honor of my many peep paintings but I think he was using this merely as an excuse to eat peeps as often as possible!

TEAPOT OF GHOSTLY BEAUTY
I never saw anything like this presentation of tea at a recent dinner party I attended. It was delicious tea, too. Somehow, though, there was an eerie sense of drinking up a small universe, sort of a "Horton Hears a Who" feeling.

SNOW FLURRY SOLDIER
Hugh told how to caption this shot. He saw me taking pictures and when he came in he said in his 8 year old sing-song way, "You know Mommy? If you blog that picture you took of me? You should call it Snow Flurry Soldier." I was amazed at how exactly he understands the art of captioning
In this shot I like the way the flurries look like small pale dashes in motion. The shot also has a faint Andrew Wyeth flavor, with the brownish overall color scheme punctuated only by a small jolt of red (wearing a colonial tricorn)!

DUEL OR DUET?
Just kidding, Paul and his friend sound so great when they get together to play every few weeks. I always feel incredibly privileged, like the european nobility of old who would hire musicians to play while they ate, rested or even tried to fall asleep! Of course, instead of relaxing I am folding laundry, doing dishes and making lunches while they play. So maybe I am more like the servant of the afore-mentioned music-loving nobility.

THE KNISH
At least I think that is what it is. My eye was caught by a dish heaped with these little pies in the deli case at the Acme and I bought one on impulse,to paint, attracted by its beautiful shape and color. The little sign next to the plate said "Knishes, $1.99 each". However, the director at the gallery where I show my paintings, could not identify what it was, although she liked the painting enough anyway to retain it after my recent show. Other mysteries: I have never again seen these so-called knishes offered at the Acme. Also, the original for this painting is still whole and pristine after a month of sitting in my studio. I am kind of afraid of it now.

PROTECTIVE
Those baby heads: so fragile seeming and precious.

THIRSTING FOR PINK
and the rich greens of spring, I thank heavens for supermarket hydrangeas. It is just that time of year. My friend Ann wrote me a letter today ending simply "Waiting for spring". We had a few teaser days of warmth and gentle balminess, making the recent snap back to freezing temperatures hard to bear. I suppose even our impatience is all part of nature's cycle.

RURAL
Sinks and scenery. You know you are really out in the country when there are more fixtures and appliances outside the house than in. For PhotoFriday's challenge, "Rural"

DAD'S TOOLS
There is always something magic about stepping into my Dad's studio. Maybe the fact that it is essentially a converted garage, with a stone floor, so that it is always several degrees cooler than the rest of the house. And one steps over a fairly high lintel and then down a stone step as one enters this cool dark room. Gives it a kind of "sacred space" feeling. Plus, although we were raised in an extremely relaxed and loving manner, it was impressed upon us from a very early age, NEVER TOUCH DAD'S TOOLS! So we never did. Still don't, although now I take pictures.

ALL BRIBES ACCEPTED
at the dentist's office. Took Hugh to a new dentist today. The old one is now too far away, the new old one turns out not to take our dental coverage (somehow we didn't realize this till after we went once), and so we were forced to plunge into a new relationship. This guy seemed to have the psychology of Hugh down: fast, cheerful, and lots and lots of bribes. Hugh ended up walking away with a new toothbrush, a shiny pencil, two prizes from the prize "bucket" PLUS the hygienist slipped him two sheets of stickers for being a fellow Libra (go figure). Like son like mother: I picked up a magnet on the way out!