July 31

Carved a stamp. I am tired. Not from carving, but from working long hours. Bed time.

July 30

More cards.

July 29

Time to replenish my stash of birthday cards.

July 28

My print rep on the last press check keeps chooks, and he brought me in a dozen fresh eggs. Some are brown, some white, and some a delicate greenish hue. I just had to take some arty photos of them.

July 27

July 26

July 25

July 24

July 23

It's Tui's birthday (this picture was taken 21 years ago today). Happy birthday, my big girl.

July 22

When I posted this picture a while ago, I said it was a work in progress. I didn't know at the time that the finishing touch would be added by Josh's big sister Mookie, who sent us the beautiful poem my artwork inspired. Brought a tear to my eye, it did.

July 21

Today's artistic endeavour -- painting the bedroom!

July 20

My contribution to the Alison project. Perhaps you, too, would like to participate.

July 19

July 18

July 17

I take my own tea bags and an insulated bottle of cold soymilk with me on my press checks. Cups of tea help.

July 16

Rooftops, Findlay Market, Cincinnati. I decided to walk the 1.1 mile from my hotel to the historic market, not realizing the street would take me through a poor urban neighbourhood where I did not feel entirely safe. However, I survived with only minor harassment ("Hey snowflake! I'm talkin' to you, snowflake!") and made a new friend at the market, a big, black, toothy Deaf man who sold me a cold drink. We conversed happily in sign language for a while and I promised to come see him on my next visit to Cincy.

July 15

We're not on press yet, so I had the day to myself. My friends Sara and Brad are here visiting Sara's family, so I drove out to Shandon, about half an hour away out in the country, to spend the day with them all. What lovely, lovely people. On the way home I stopped to sketch in a little graveyard.

July 14

I'm back in Cincinnati again. This'll be the last trip here for a while. At least this time I remembered to bring a camera AND a cord, so I can photograph my sketches and post them.

July 13

This is my dear friend Lizzie, who has been selected to participate in the 2006 Amazon Heart Thunder motorcycle ride from Sydney-Brisbane in October. This adventure raises funds for local breast cancer organizations and raises awareness of breast cancer issues. Lizzie is a survivor, and is VERY excited about her selection. If you, or anyone you know, would like to sponsor Lizzie on her ride, you can do so here.

July 12

July 11

July 10

July 9

July 8

July 7

July 6

Blind Contour First Friday has the theme "SKY". Here is the luggage loading onto the plane I caught to Cincinnati. Luckily they managed to put the tail and engines back in their correct places before we took off.

July 4

July 3

July 2

Another entry in the Sparky-generated Self Portrait Challenge. See his blog for links to many more and finer entries.

July 1

Gentle readers who are confused by this post, visit Sparky's blog and you might understand better. And even if you don't, you may enjoy the visit anyway.