I haven't any new clay or fiber work to shoot but I have lots of inspirational shots. A day at the beach is so much fun with jelly fish (I don't get in the water!), seagulls, seals, and lots of unknowns in the tidal pools.
Watching the Canadian Snowbirds was awesome! (not the ones who go south for the winter!)
Of course I can't stop taking sunset photos .... may the sun be setting beautifully wherever you are. 
Above photo shows a piece where I've added some cut bits of yarn to the paper.
Then I thought I'd add some weeds and flower pieces I picked while out walking yesterday. I also sprinkled some turmeric on the pulp while it was still on the screen to add the yellow.
A little piece of crochet cotton yarn was added and onion skin to another sample.
I'd read about enclosing texture in your paper so I poured some pulp into my frame than laid a thicker piece of cord on it and poured another layer of pulp to create this raised piece.
And then I threw some turmeric into the pulp to give a golden paper rather than the gray. 
This was so much easier than I expected so I'm sure I'll be experimenting lots more. One book suggests creating paper from seaweed so a beach excursion should be coming up soon!
Here's the almost full moon. I set the camera on a railing to give it time to catch the light.
I'm visiting paradise and it was quite fun getting here. The jet planes took me from Miami to Minneapolis and then to Vancouver. But the last few miles was by float plane. The plane in the photo is a little larger than the one I was on but same idea. I took the photo from our plane as we taxied away. 
Here are a couple shots as we approached the harbour for landing in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. 
My friend Sandra picked me up at the harbour and the last part of the trip was by ferry.
A couple hours later I was enjoying the sunset ..... welcome to paradise!
I'm into my last 24 hours before flying up to Canada. As I was packing I couldn't find a 'just right' purse. So I headed to the sewing room and made the right size with a zip closing to safely hold passport, tickets, etc. I unloaded a glaze load from the kiln and decided three of the buttons worked great to finish on my purse. The photo above shows the buttons as I was 'oxiding' them before firing- no they're not chocolate! (I wish they were!)
Then I realized I needed something to protect the ipod my husband bought for me. Now to repack, take a few things out, so hopefully I don't have too much for the float plane. The weight limit in 25 lbs. but with a minimal extra baggage charge I can take up to 40 lbs. I need a lighter suitcase! I had hoped to take a couple of the fiber art books I've bought recently but no room, so I have my one paperback for the plane and I'll head to the library next week. 
Both our two dogs were rescued by a local cocker spaniel rescue group. Neither is a cocker spaniel but they were going to be put down by the shelter; Cleo because of her broken hip and other injuries and Nicolas because he had been so neglected that he had lost his fur and had sores on his body. 
Mona who ran the rescue, had an incredible intuition when it came to judging the character of dogs and would take on any challenge to save a dog she felt could become a loving companion. When we first met Mona she told us about Cleo and how she was her "million dollar dog". She had already been through two surgeries to correct her broken hip and had spend most of her puppy-hood confined in a cage so that her bones could heal. She was still wearing a boot when we adopted her as there was hope her broken foot would eventually heal. It didn't but Cleo doesn't seem to notice. She runs on three legs as quickly as Nicolas does on four! 
We often wonder what their lives were like before they were picked up and put into the shelter. Before we adopted Cleo she had been adopted out twice and returned each time. Her separation anxiety was more than what the first people could deal with. We were warned about this but had no idea what it actually entailed. After coming home to a house full of poop and pee and a very frantic dog we set up a video and saw the frenzy that Cleo worked herself into within minutes of us leaving the house. We tried leaving her five minutes, then ten, then fifteen, etc. but that didn't work. We tried confining her to a small space; that did not help. So we decided we would adopt our second dog a little earlier than planned.
We contacted Mona and she knew who could do the job. Nicolas entered our lives and he saved Cleo. We immediately noticed a difference in her and although she was still upset when we left she didn't go into her frenzy; and eventually she didn't even run and hide when she saw us heading for the door. Dogs really are pack animals and all she needed was another pack member to stay with her. 
I can't thank Mona enough for all the work she did while she lived in South Florida saving so many dogs. With these two creatures she enriched our lives so much. I can't imagine these two loving dogs having to be put down; it isn't right. The world can be so cruel but there is such love and caring as well and so I will continue to support these wonderful people and organizations who do so much to save a life. Now I need to go hug my dogs!
I'm thinking of printing this photoshopped image of Cleo onto fabric and working it somehow into a quilt. Or maybe print it onto clay?
