Summer days

Our days right now are pretty idyllic. The boys have swimming lessons every morning (at the same time - whoohoo!), so I've been getting up early, working until we go to the pool (outdoor, whoohoo again!), then coming home to work a little more before we head to the beach for a bit. We've lived here 12 years and I feel like this is the first time in a long time that we've managed to get to the beach as much as we should, considering we live only 3 blocks from it!

Last night I went for a walk around 6:30 with my sketchbook and camera. I've taken a lot of pictures of my feet over the years, and mostly on this particular rocky beach.

I've been taking advantage of the boy's swim time to work on drawings for work (patterns, etc.). I should probably should have called the patterns 'swimming lesson lines' or something as I tend to plant the seeds for the year's patterns while the boys are splashing around in the pool.
For some reason I can design Christmas patterns, Hallowe'en patterns, all kinds of things while sitting in the blazing heat.

Our raspberry canes are coming into full fruit right now. Oldest picked this handful to go on his breakfast cereal....I did the same a little earlier in the morning. Delicious. There's nothing like berries fresh off the plant, still sun warm.

I've been using my beach time to work on drawing. It's been years since I focused on it as a skill unrelated to other things (IE: designing things, schematic drawings, patterns) and it's been a really good exercise. Here are some offerings from the last couple of days: A drawing of Saddleback Mountain followed by a photo of Saddleback and the ridge from a slightly different angle. The photo was taken a little west of the public beach (more toward the mouth of Kuskanax Creek for those who know our area). The drawing was done from smack-dab in the middle of the beach, looking up on what was a hot and cloudy day. The photo was taken last night on my walk. Yesterday was steaming hot here (36 degrees!) and the sky was slightly overcast by evening. Still hotter'n blazes, though.


The last drawing is of Oldest, at the public beach, building sand castles. The sketchbook I'm working out of is a gift that he gave me for Christmas this past year.

I'm looking forward to catching up on my Mixed Media Surfaces class. We just got our last assignments - sniff. It's been a lot of fun and I'm going to miss it when it's over.

Warmly,

Lisa