Well, I Fell Off the Wagon. . .

Well, I fell off the wagon on my 30 miniatures in 30 days chore.

My mother took a bad spell and was in the hospital 

and then Thanksgiving rolled around 

and well, it just never happened. 

But I promise to get back to it soon.

I did receive my little EFCOLOR Stove, 

which allows me to bake the clay without using electricity. 

It's a tiny stove that is powered by tea-lights 

and I can't wait to give it a try.

I have been working on some watercolor paintings.

I finished the portrait of my son's dog, Data, 

the week before I came to the desert.

I love this portrait.

It really captures this sweet doggie's nature.

I finished a portrait of a white horse yesterday.

I discovered that painting white is really as difficult as painting black.

There are so many colors in a white horse!

OLIVES

The olives we began salting a couple of weeks ago 

will be finished soon.

Tonight I dug one out of the jar and rinsed it,

then tasted it.

Still quite strong, 

but GOOD!

These are going to be awesome,

and it was so easy!

Here is a photo of the jar so you can see how much liquid

has come out of the olives.

They are really shriveling up!

But not quite shriveled enough.

It's time to make another batch of yogurt this week.

But first, I have to prepare for a watercolor class

that I've been asked to teach this week

at the 55+ park where I'm staying.

We'll just be doing simple little "blob" animals

like these I found on the internet:

I think a person could use this method to make

some really cute Christmas cards!

I guess that should catch you up on what I've been up to.

Oh.. about the Camino...

We have had to cancel the Spring walk.

We realized after this year's walk that in order to continue

in the same manner as we have been structuring the trips,

we need some sort of liability insurance.

We do NOT want to become a company.

We want to stay "pilgrims helping pilgrims"

But we also want to protect ourselves and our assets,

so we have put off the Spring trip 

while we explore options that will offer protection we need

but still allow us to help others walk the Camino Santiago.

If you have any good ideas,

give us a shout!

We hate to toss in the towel,

but we can't afford to lose our drawers

because someone gets hurt.

Ok.. that's all folks!

Love,

Annie