Making Ink

A few years ago I took a workshop with Nancy Pobanz at Sitka Center in Oregon. We made ink from oak galls.

They were boiled for quite a long time, mixed with other stuff and eventually turned into a lovely brown ink, somewhat like walnut ink

We used the ink with brush and pen for art work rather than for handwriting.

Saving Private Ryan

We watch this movie twice a year - on the anniversary of D Day in June and on Remembrance Day in November. And we cry every time.

Words, words, and more words

Simon at Stuck-in-a-Book showed us this gizmo - you can create your own at Wordle. For this one I just plugged in the address of this blog. You can enter any words you want.

Wine Country

There are about seventeen or eighteen wineries on Vancouver Island - many many more vineyards. There are "Wine Tour" road signs along the backroads from the Saanich Peninsula (near the ferry terminal) to the Cowichan Valley (at Duncan) across the inlet.

From Swartz Bay at Lands End Road at the peninsula's northern tip, the coastline-hugging road passes million-dollar waterfront homes and full views of Saltspring Island. Each winery has its own tasting room and retail outlet, open from spring to fall and by appointment in off seasons. A ferry across the inlet from Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay bypasses the Malahat.

San Antonio

Some sketches from our trip to San Antonio
The Alamo

We had lunch at the Bolivar Cafe

The Little Church at La Vallita (the little village).

Language and Lettering

Practicing brush lettering with watercolors and brushing up on language. The Hawaiian language is ever fascinating ... so many vowels, and each one enunciated.

Some of my Hawaiian friends and readers may want to correct the spelling or translations.

Photo is of the orchid nursery on 10th Avenue. We passed here often on the way to Rainbow Market for Spam musubi

Birthday Book

These are a few pages from the book I made for my cousin's birthday. Here are Grandma and Grandpa and the house where they raised nine kids