Painting Time

There has been so much going on lately that it's been hard to find painting time. The solution the past few mornings has been to make a cup of coffee and go up to my studio first thing while still in my pajamas.  It has been working quite well as Jocelyn is long gone to work by that time and Emma and Chloé sleep in during the summer. The past few mornings I have left Meeko sleeping in his crate downstairs. But today, he stirred as I walked by his crate and I got brave and brought him up to the loft to sit with me. He was a little fidgety at first until I put my foot down right beside him (note his paw in turn touching my foot).  He was very good and slept for about an hour and a half there. I couldn't have done this before without him gnawing on the furniture legs or consuming my watercolour paper.

Emma made the comment recently that she thinks Meeko and I are co-dependent. I think she might be right. I am already missing him, just thinking about leaving him with the dog-sitter while we are away.

I'm glad that I have been getting some painting time the past few mornings as I am working on a commissioned painting that will be hand-delivered (not by me) to France later this month.  Here is a little peek at it in progress.  It is about halfway done at this point:  lots of detail, colour and contrast still to be added but the basic structure is there and I'm starting to 'feel' the place.  It was a surprise initially when I received the photos as I didn't expect to see the palm trees. It has been interesting to paint a more tropical garden than I would normally.

When out of my studio, I am getting us ready for our family trip to New York and Chloé for her first overnight summer camp (which happens almost immediately upon our return).  We also have to leave the house relatively neat as my brother and his family will be using our place as a stopover on their drive out to PEI. I said that it is a family trip to New York, but it is more than that.  I am going to meet my sweet friend Lucile for the first time. She will be visiting New York from Paris with her two children. Cannot wait!

Thanks to everyone for the lovely birthday wishes. I didn't have a chance to leave individual replies the way I normally do but I appreciated each and every comment.  I had a great day. Emma made my cake and it was delicious!  She used Nigella Lawson's Buttermilk Birthday Cake recipe from How to be a Domestic Goddess (an excellent, very tasty cake that we have made many times here).  I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging in the next week. I'll see and so will you! :)

Happy 4th of July to everyone in the U.S.!