Puppy photos! Puppy photos!! I love the photos with Christian,


Little puppy tummy, so inviting to tickle,

Playing with Suka,

I love this one, it looks like Pyr is laughing, (Suka looks ferocious, but no one is getting hurt)


One of my baby orioles checking me out through the window,

And one of my focal beads. I really liked the way this one turned out, with one of my own murrini,

I am SOOOOO frustrated. It’s been too hot to torch, so I started a pen and ink drawing a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been starting to look good. Last night after working on it a while, I took a break to make supper and then came back to it. I was horrified to see the lower right hand part of it was smudged! I use waterproof India ink, and I’ve never had this happen before. So I tried painting some white gouache over the smudged parts, and the ink was mudding up. I still don’t understand what happened, other than maybe the ink is so old it’s not waterproof anymore? After the paper dried I tried white acrylic paint, and that seems to be covering up the worse of the smudging. But as to whether I’m going to be able to draw over the paint, I have yet to see.

I haven’t decided yet whether I should keep working on it or just give up and start new. Regardless, I went to Dick Blick and ordered all new ink, some more pen nibs and a couple of new kinds of paper, and even paid for 2 day shipping. That’s how frustrated I was.

Well, at least my orioles are still entertaining me. Like any siblings, they fight and squabble,

and here’s one enjoying a cool bath on a hot day,

Do you like yogurt? Greek yogurt?

This time of the year I eat a lot more yogurt than I do in the winter, I like mixing it with a little agave juice and lots of fresh fruit. But I like making my own yogurt, either with a bit of store bought yogurt or with a yogurt starter, in my 1 quart size Salton yogurt maker.

Unfortunately, they’re stopped making the quart size, but others do, they’re just more expensive.

Then after it’s done and cooled overnight in the refrigerator, I spoon it into my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker ($18 on Amazon).

The longer you leave it in the strainer, the thicker it gets. I’ve got a batch I’m going to mix with minced garlic and chopped chives, and maybe a little basil, to spread on crackers. Yummmm!