With a little help from our friends and meeting a new friend we hadn't expected

Actually with a lot of help from two lovely friends, my partner and I have begun to dig ourselves out of the chaos that has ensued the last couple of years with both of us running our own businesses. My dear friend Sally came on Saturday to help me clean up and organize my home studio, and our dear friend Brenda came to help clear out the back yard.

Sometimes I really have to make an effort to let people help. It's much easier to help someone than to let someone do nice things for you just because they want to. I'm glad I could accept Sally's wonderful help and enthusiasm. Here I have been trying to get ready for my upcoming show at Onda Gallery and I've been trying to work in a total mess! It was overwhelming...

Here's Sally after we've pulled everything off the counters and shelves. You can't see her face because her halo is so big!

Messy, sticky, encaustic area (before)

Not much can be done about my Jackson Pollack floor, but Sally did say it was cool

The mess worsens. Will it really get better?

One wall of the studio (after) Gee, the work looks better on the wall, instead of down on the Pollack floor with a mess around it.

Cleaned up encaustic area with walls neatly decorated

Painting on the easel--what a concept!

I actually used my encaustics today!

A section of the back yard cleared out by Dot and Brenda. The garage in the background is eventually going to be my new studio.

Thanks again, kind friends!

We had to say goodbye to our 17 year old Emma cat a few months ago. We still have her age-mate Sophie who seems to be doing okay except for being a cantankerous old lady. I have sworn I would not have any more cats after Sophie leaves us. Sworn up and down, over my dead body, etc. I've loved our kitties, but they have not been easy personalities in some ways. (We of course, are totally easy to live with...)

So, you know how it is after you say you'll never do something. You do it. We have been adopted by the black cat shown below. We know she is a girl, but that's about all. We need to have the vet tell us if she is "fixed", how old, healthy, etc. She seems to like to use the outside for her potty, unlike our cats. She doesn't have an endless need for food and attention as Emma did. She doesn't meow constantly as Sophie does. So, okay, we have another cat!

As yet unnamed black kitty