Camping: Lawson's Landing

Honey with Angelina & Aiden

Camping Spot

Lady Red Love

Lady Red Love

Dillon Beach Hill we climbed

Almost to the top

Tuckered out

Jellyfish 1

Jellyfish 2

My Honey's

My three Honey's with found treasure!

Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip

Another camping trip to the coast. It was hot inland and so very nice to escape to the cooler climate for a bit. Sharon & Greg with their great big Winnebago RV and Gene & Sally came along and brought their new trailer. We have a Cougar fifth wheel. Love it!

Went to Ocean Cove just north of Jenner. Beautiful place and had beautiful weather. Great food.
Good friends. Good laughs. Good hikes. Great scenery. Doesn't get any better than that does it?
On Saturday we took a drive to Irish Beach for the annual picnic. Kathy had the beach house for the weekend and we got to have a little visit with all of them. They were so cute and it looked like they were having such a good time at Honey's Getaway. I'm so glad they love it as much as we do.

A little story:
A few years ago coming down the coast on our way home, we had our granddaughter, Angelina, with us and we stopped in Ocean Cove Campground for a bit. We met some Russians whom were very friendly and invited us to visit with them. We did visit at their campsite for about an hour or so even though we didn't understand each other's language. We were able to understand a few things and took a picture of them with my granddaughter and myself. I promised them that I'd mail them a copy of the picture to the address in Sacramento they gave me. I did. It ended up coming back to me and I never did find out the correct address. Until now.

This Labor Day weekend while camping at Ocean Cove we happened to be walking around the campground and who do you think we see but the very same gentleman in the picture from that day a few years ago. I never dreamed we'd see them again, but here he, (Michael) and his wife are camping at the same campground. Again we didn't understand each other completely and I wasn't sure he really remembered us or not. The next day we ended up going back to their campsite and they had all the family with them that do speak English. We met their sons and wives and grandchildren from Sacramento. We were able to finally fill in the missing pieces. I was able to mail the picture off that I'd saved after all this time.

Michael with wife and friends from Russia

Precious Grandchildren

New Dalmation outfit made by Honey

Aiden's new shirt

Angelina's new shirt and matching shorts

Aiden's birthday shirt

Angelina's new ice-cream shirt

Camping Trip with our Grandchildren

Is the pool filled yet?

Making a sandcastle with Papa

Bucket after bucket

Busy - busy - busy

Still playing in the sand

Out at the post

At it again!

Back and forth

The Seaweed Princess

Busy having F U N

A Very Hot Day - at the Zoo

Very serious driver

Two lovebirds

Just sitting here cause it's hot!

Ready for takeoff!

Elephant Art

Here is something fascinating that I think everyone ought to see and enjoy. These amazing elephants are painting! So smart! Be sure to read their biographies.

ELEPHANT ART

Be sure to watch this:

Video of elephant painting

I know it's been long since I've posted

It's a beautiful day here in sunny ca. I'm off in a few minutes to run around in my little convertible car (VW Cabrio) donned with baseball cap or else I couldn't see with all that sunshine in my eyes.
I'm taking my little digital camera with me, seeking new things to paint a picture of.

In particular: some houses and trees and interesting light and shapes.

bye bye

Table de Toilette

Palette knife painting
Table de Toilette

Shilah has a blog!

SuperFunMommy.blogspot.com

Shilah is in the process of creating a blog. She's going to be posting recipes and things to do with housekeeping and such. She'll also be putting things on about Angelina and Aiden, to be sure.
Feel free to visit her site if you get a chance.

Angelina Gets Glasses Day!

Aiden trying on some glasses

How bout these?

Testing the fit

How do I look with my new pink heart frames?

Mommy and me.

New Things

Getting ready to add some new things to my Etsy. Some very pretty little pendants I made.

Some are oil paintings. Imagine that, a miniture oil painting. I love how they turned out. Very pleasing.

Some are created using ephemera items that I recycled and turned into something usable. Turned out very pretty as well.

One other thing, Angelina's busy painting some original art to put on her Nina's Shop. Cannot wait for everyone to see her cute stuff coming soon...

The Clark Brothers

I don't know if anyone who reads this saw the t.v. show, "The Next Great American Band", but oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! The Clark Brothers were my favorite from the beginning. Love these guys. Can they sing, and when they do, they are so moving to listen to and watch. The Clark Brothers puts all of their heart and soul into the music they make. I love them. Here are two links:

The Clark Brothers

Good Morning. It's a lovely rainy day today. The kind of day to stay inside and enjoy painting, crafting or whatever and drink hot cocoa. I love these kinds of days. Lazy. Slow paced. All snug and cozy indoors.

News Flash: Angelina is opening up her own Etsy Shop. The link to it is right below my HoneysColors Shop. I'm very excited about helping her get started on making some art and things to sell. She is going to save the money for her college education. So, if anyone wants to check it out once she gets going, please do.

I encourage everyone to make the pledge to buy Handmade.

I've made a vow to buy everything I can (especially gifts to others or myself) handmade. Why not? Don't you just love the uniqueness of things handmade and appreciate the time and love that went into creating it, making it a special one of a kind gift? :-)

Aiden and Angelina

Haircut at Papa's Barber Shop

That wasn't so bad.

Wacky Dress Day at school.

Wacky Hair back.

Aiden's been acting up a little whenever Shilah took him to get his hair cut. Mike said bring him to me and I'll do it. Aiden cried and kicked and put up such a fuss. Shilah got a few pictures of the whole thing. When I asked Aiden if he liked getting his hair cut at Papa's he said, "Yes, I loved it!" Does it look as if he enjoyed it?

Angelina's school had a Dress Wacky Day. Shilah fixed her hair up to go with it and she was quite a hit with that hair!

Someone rear ended our little Cabrio yesterday at the barber shop. It was a hit and run. There was a witness that wrote down the license plate minus the last number and got the make and color. The police came to the shop to take a report and Mike said they just made jokes and laughed. They said they couldn't do anything to find the person who hit our car. What's up with that?

Trip to Irish Beach

We drove to the coast to stay at our house in Irish Beach, 'Honey's Getaway' this past weekend.
What a relaxing trip this was. Poor Michael had a little work to do under the deck in the back and he did a little bit of transplanting some of his 'fish pond' plants. Note: see picture of fish pond at left.

Irish Beach Pond in Fog

Rabbit for Michael to carve

Close up of twisted sea kelp

After Storm: Navarro Beach #1

Navarro Beach #2 (see basketball under log)

Navarro Beach Sea Kelp Twist

After Storm: Irish Beach Driftwood

Here are some amazing pictures of all the driftwood on Navarro Beach a little north of Irish Beach; and then Irish Beach driftwood. Note: There is always a ton of wood on the beach at Irish Beach, but this was even more than usual due to last weeks storm. Also, the big fort that some guests of ours made a couple years ago was wiped out as was part of the beach. The reason I know they made the fort is because they said so in our guestbook.

Kitchen Towels

House - Domino Lamp - Vase & Flowers

Houses and Vase with Flowers

Vases with Flowers

My Domino Lady and Lamp

Brown and Orange Vase with Pretty Flowers

Everyone came over for dinner to our home yesterday, eleven of us total. Michael roasted a beef roast in the garage. Had some Au Gratin potatoes, green beans, corn and garlic bread. For dessert I made a chocolate cake ice-cream roll with mint chip ice-cream. Ummm it was delicious.

Ate the last piece of ice-cream cake roll today while reading the newspaper. I don't know what it is about that (reading something while eating or snacking) but that's a little thing I get pleasure from. Sounds a little silly maybe. Is there anyone else that does that or enjoys that? Don't know if it's something that runs in our family or if it's just me. When I'm eating alone, I like to read, look at some magazine or something. Maybe there could become a danger of getting FAT from THAT; because before you know it, I've gotten up to get more food in order to keep eating and reading. Better watch it now that I'm getting a little older :-(

Here are some pics I took later in the evening. I wish I had gotten my camera out before Nancy, Patrick and Tom and Michael (Shilah's Michael) left. I would've loved to put a group picture of all of us here on my blog. Next time I will try to remember to do that.

Angelina's doll 'Rose Ann' and Aiden's giraffe 'Jeffie' were made by me for their Christmas presents.

After the Storm

Birthday Girl

Honey's Bags

Here is my first 'honey' bag for my Etsy Shop. It was a lot of work, but fun. Pretty in Pink Tote is truly that, pretty. The doily, each flower and each button; sewn on by my hand.
Comes with a matching cosmetic bag.

Camping Trip

Went to Wright's Beach over the weekend. On the first night we had a gorgeous sunset and some of my homemade spaghetti. The two went together beautifully.

Saturday drove into Sebastopol for some antique/junk store browsing. I got a whole big bag of vintage strung pearls perfect for crafting for $1- can you believe that? Great find! Made my day!
Found another shop with tons and tons of good junk. Just the kind of stuff I'm looking for, and the prices were pretty good, but we had to go just when it was getting good. Everyone else had had enough of wandering around, except me. However, Michael promised me he'd bring me back. That made it better, something to look forward to with anticipation.

Leaving town, driving down this unfamiliar road, Michael suddenly announces he'd gone the wrong way. Turned around, drove back into town, but wait! What's that? Andy's Produce Stand! Gotta go check it out. What a great thing to get lost! We never woulda found Andy's Place. What a great find that was. They had the best produce and whatnots ever, and the nicest people, too! Decisions, decisions. Had to pick out what kind of pie to buy. Apple, Bosenberry, Apricot, Blackberry, and Mixed Berry were some of the pies to choose from. In the end, picked the best Raspberry and Apple combination pie with a pecan crumb topping, homemade locally. Very good pies, there at Andy's. Gotta get another one some day.

Christmas Pastime

I've been busy making all sorts of pretty Christmas ornaments for my Etsy Shop. Here's a few pictures. Hope you enjoy them as much as I.

All the Colors of New Orleans I'm in love with

Green and Red

Green Swamp

Beware

Beautiful Swamp

Bayou

Shack in Swamp, Swamp Reflections

Washboard music

Trio

Wedding Procession

Shop Window

Wild Thing

Tom's place

Street Corner

Staircase

Artist at work

Live Jazz

Street musician

Tab Benoit

Our New Orleans Trip Columbus Weekend 07

Mike giving his son, Tom a haircut

Jack

Tom's new office

Tom's new office

Mike and Tom

Our Honey's Getaway landscaping growth

My lavendar

Seagulls Michael carved

Michael's side

Some paintings I did awhile back

The one above was a practice I did off of another artist's painting

Here's another poem I love, written by my Grandpa

I Need You

I'm feeling sad, I'm feeling blue
I need someone, someone like you
Your voice drives all my cares away
Your smile turns night into day
I need you-

When everything seems so upset
There is just one thing I can't forget
I can't forget my love for you
I can't forget my sweetheart true
I need you-

When all alone without a friend
When troubles seem to have no end
It's then I know, when I think of you
That behind the clouds the sky is blue
I need you-

I need your arms around me tight
I need your smiles to make things right
I need your love so tried and true
I want nobody else but you
I need you-

John William Tackett

Visit from Omaha, Nebraska

Bob Judy Michael

Michael's cousin, Judy, and her husband, Bob, from Nebraska came for a short visit. They are the nicest people. We had a great time and some good laughs. Looking forward to next year when they can stay a little longer and we can take them to Irish Beach; Honeysgetaway

Picture of me I took with digital and colored & brightened

Self portrait I just started to work on-will try to post as I go....

Camping at Lawson's Landing again

This weekend we took Angelina camping with us and found a beautiful spot near the water. Great weather and a great time. Good food; homemade buttermilk cupcakes with butter cream frosting, which we all enjoyed.

We took our bikes and went for a couple of short rides around the campground with Angelina on Mike's handlebars. Saw some people fishing for crabs. Angelina collected some sand rocks and lined them all in a neat little row along a log. Played in the sand and the three of us built a sandcastle. We decided that the next time we are going to have a plan to build our next one.

Angelina learns to ride a bike without training wheels.

Labor Day Weekend

Phoned Michael at the Barber Shop on Thursday afternoon to ask if he'd like to get away from all this heat we're having and go camping on Friday for the weekend to Dillon Beach. "Yes, of course", he said. He was so excited to leave on Friday that he took off work at noon and off we went. What a great relaxing time we had with one of those rare weekends of gorgeous coastal weather. How lucky we are. Here are a few pictures from our weekend at Lawson's Landing. We love that place. Never know how windy it'll be, most of the time plenty of wind. However, we had great weather and what a relief from the heat! When we arrived on Friday around 2pm and the place was packed. We drove around all over looking for a spot to park our 5th wheel. Right around the time we were thinking we would either have to park next to the dump station or leave and go home; we ended up going all the way to the back of the park by the water to see if there was anything there. We never camped over on the back side before. There it was, one space, one slice of heaven. I rolled down my window to ask the guy standing nearby if it was available. It was!! We think we got the last spot in the whole campground. We had great neighbors next to us on both sides and met some very nice people. Going back soon and forever we're hooked on the water side of the park. If we can help it, never again will we camp in the cow pasture. Our first pick will always be the water sites. Loved it.

Old Brown Fishing Boat

Florence, Oregon
Small painting 5x7

Another new painting I'm working on

'Nicasio Valley Road' 8x10 on gallery wrapped canvas

Mediterranean Greek Salad

I was at the gym working out with Shilah this morning and what do you think we watched on t.v. while working out? Food Network! That's right, we were watching them cook all this fabulous food and drooling all the while because we were hungry. Couldn't wait to get home to make this one. Although I changed the recipe a little because I didn't have any white wine. The real recipe.

My recipe (not really a recipe, I kinda winged it and didn't measure anything)

One container of cherry tomatoes halved
Some sliced red onion
Some sliced English Cucumber
Fresh basil chopped coarsely
Fresh Italian parsley chopped
Olive oil drizzled over all ingredients. (I used some basil infused olive oil)
White balsamic vinegar mixed in (not too much, do it to your taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
Fresh Feta cheese cubes

Here is one I just discovered today as well. Scott Hargrove- you can watch him cook and give away some of his recipes. Great stuff on here, his Southern Fried Chicken looks and sounds delicious. Note to Kathy & Cecil: Makes my mouth water for that great fried chicken we had in Agness, Oregon on the Rogue River when we went on Jerry's Rogue River Jet Boat Tours. If anyone ever gets a chance to go- make sure you pick Lucas Ranch in Agness to eat at. No kidding, it is THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER!

Yesterday

My beautiful daughter

Angelina

Aiden & his 'Nina'

Two New Paintings Finished

Cows in road 6x12 SOLD

Old Farm 16x20

Last Night at the Fair

Uncle Seth & Angelina

Fast as lightening........

We had such a fun time at the fair last night. Here's a few pictures of Angelina and her Uncle Seth. Angelina on a the little roller coaster and teacup rides and Aiden was mesmerized by the roller coaster.

Puzzle

Today is Fair Day!! Going to the Napa Town & Country Fair tonight to see all the art entered along with my four paintings that got accepted in the juried show.

Here is a PUZZLE for you to try out for some good ol' fun.

Sunday's Sundae in San Francisco

Sundae - Mmm.

Delicious!

S.F. Street Man

Windmill we bought
Jewelry shop window
Sunday we spent the day with our good friends Sharon and Greg. We always have lots of laughs with them. Went to the Alameda Antique Flea Market on the old Alameda Naval Air Station held the first Sunday of each month. Great finds. We bought an old rusty windmill for our backyard. From there we went to Memphis Minnies for some good ol' bbq food. Saw them featured on 'Check Please' a show on channel 9 that reviews Bay Area restaurants. One of my favorite shows to watch. This restaurant was a good choice for after the flea market, we went the long way through Golden Gate Park, needless to say we got there with appetites. The food was good but Michael didn't like it, little too spicy for his sensitive stomach. From there it was Gheridelli Square for some ice-cream sundaes. Mmm.

Saturday

Saturday Michael and I drove up to see Cecil for the afternoon. Glad he's out of the hospital and able to eat again. Please keep him in your prayers. He will be going through some chemo and radiation most likely, and needs to gain some strength before he can do that. Lost quite a bit of weight, 60lbs. We love you Cecil and if you ever need anything we will be there. Never will we forget the fun trip we had with you and Kathy camping down the coast of Oregon. The CA State Fair and eating our way through. Terrific memories for us. We Love You.

Concert at Creekwalk

Friday night we went to the Creekwalk in Vacaville to hear the Time Bandits play. Cathy was here for a visit and came along with us. It was a huge crowd. Every Friday night is a free outdoor concert to live music. Angelina and Aiden sharing a Popeye. Had some fun shopping at the outlets with Cathy on Friday. She helped me spend a little $

Another poem I love, by my Grandpa

WYOMING

Far away from the city's roar and din,
Where cactus stick in your feet like sin
Where sage brush grows, oh, several feet high,
And coyote yells go clear to the sky.

Far away from Iowa's big flat bins,
An eight by ten is what I live in,
Where Alkali dust is what you can see
And buffalo grass grows clear to the knees

Away from the T and N's puff and spit
Where the Q goes through lickity split
Where prairie dogs live and you can't run them down
Because they always find a hole in the ground.

Where the ranchers grow big, tall and slim,
No fat office man puffing because he's all out of wind,
Where broncos buck with a twist in their backs
And the cowboys all wear big, broad rimmed hats.

Where the big rattlesnakes bask in the sun
And whenever one bites you just figure you're done
Because first he will rattle, and then he will bite,
And your spirit will go soaring higher than a kite.

Out where the homesteaders little shack
Looms up like the hump on a camel's back,
And what he eats is spuds and bread
He throws a quilt on the floor and calls it a bed.

Out where the big rocky red topped buttes
Curl around like manawas, chute the chutes;
And Iowa's bluffs with them in size
Looks about like a flea in an elephant's eye.

Out where the sage hens fly with ease
Where the big ground mice do as they please
Where the little grass birds like to sing,
This is the state called Wyoming.

John William Tackett

Weekend in L.A.

Jamie's B's Purse Party

Rick working at Big Bear cabin

Mike helping out at Big Bear cabin

View of mountains from hwy 18

Opps! Ended up on Route 66. Little detour.
Check out the bottle art.

Van Gogh

Portrait of Armand Roulin (painted by me)

Portrait of Armand Roulin (painted by Van Gogh)

You Tube Video Clip

Hey Everyone,

Take a look at one of the coolest video clips I have seen. I'm sure you'll be amazed. I love creating art and this looks like soooo much fun!!

Picnic at the park today

Shilah, Angelina, Aiden, Haley and Samantha

enjoying the weather at the park.

Butterfly

A few weeks ago we helped Sharon & Greg clean house at a cabin in Cobb Mountain. A pretty little butterfly landed on my finger and stayed there about 10 minutes or more. Lisa Dolezal took these pics of him.

Sly Park

View of our site from across the cove on the trail.
View of the lake from the Ward's campsite.
Friends! That's what I'm saying. We just had a wonderful weekend camping at Sly Park with our friends. Just hanging out, relaxing together and having a good time. That's what it's all about, right? Our fifth wheel is all nice and clean now, ready for the next camping trip to Lawson's Landing.

Here are two of my newest paintings, chic French Apartment style florals. Love yellow and pink together.

Impasto: paint put on very thickly with a palette knife. The one on the left is done entirely with a palette knife.

Grandpa's Poem

The Happy Bachelor

Tis nice to be married and have you a wife
And go moping around the rest of your life
But it is better to be single and always be free
Well it's a bachelors life for me.

I've seen men with wives and kids, six or seven
Ask them about them, they'd wish them in heaven
And always they would answer, if ever I'm free
You can believe it or not but it's a bachelors life for me.

A dear wife is nice to bake pies and cakes
And worry and fret and show you your mistakes
And spend your dollars by five and ten
Until you'll have to steal more and land in the pen.

And then at night when from work you are free
You'll sit around the fire with a kid on each knee
And listen to your wife's tales of want and woe
That if she can't have more money she'll have to wash and sew

But the happy old bachelor, he comes and he goes
And where he will be next there is nobody knows
From all of lifes worries he seems perfectly free
So you can see of course it's a bachelors life for me.

You can tell the old bachelor by his bachelor smile
It never wears off and you can see it for a mile
But when a married man speaks well you think it has thundered
So all married men have certainly blundered.

When your wifes relations, their friends and their kin
Some Sunday for a family reunion come in
And the bank roll goes flat, you just wait and see
What poor man will say, it's a bachelors life for me.

So give me the life from all troubles 'be free'
Just by myself with no kids on each knee
No dear wifes relations to go round and see
So first, last and always it's a bachelors life for me.

by: John W. Tackett

Some more pictures

Mendocino shooting things to paint and my backyard hydrangeas












Sweet little hummingbird I photographed in Mendocino.

Fun at the beach with my new camera

Honey & Papa
Rock sculptures by Honey





















friends








hermit crab







Mommy & Aiden








Papa & Aiden

New Camera Purchased

Well we did it! Michael and I bought our first digital camera last night. Finally after all these years of doing professional photography we are no longer in the dark ages. It's a nice little Nikon Coolpix S50 . Michael went out on a bike ride this morning and I stayed home to figure out how to work this thing. We're going to Bodega Bay, Schoolhouse Beach for the day with a huge group (I think probably 25 people at least). I plan on bringing this little baby to take lots of snapshots for practice and maybe of which some I might post here.
It really is very easy to use. Already got the language, date, time zone and time all entered. Practiced taking some pictures and deleting them. Our memory card holds 300 pictures x 3 (we bought a pack of 3 memory cards). Wow! No more film and processing costs. What a bundle of money in savings.

Love Birds

Some sweet little love birds for you
Michael made and painted this little red bird, isn't he a cute guy?

Pictures from today.

Angelina graduates kindergarten!













Cutie Pie












With Mommy.



















Currently working on this one.










Brushes & Palette

Here it is! Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?

Well I finally got the picture up. What do you all think of my Captain Jack Sparrow? Savvy?

I am entering this one in the Napa Town & Country Fair this year. It is a 30x30 painting in oil.

Our Honey's Getaway

These are a few pictures of our vacation rental in Irish Beach. Michael and I gutted this house and fixed it up. Please check out our website at www.honeysgetaway.com for rates and availability.

'Home'

This is a poem by my grandfather, the late John William Tackett. He was a talented man and I will share with you other poems by him in the future.

Home

What is a home without a Mother ?
What is a home without a Dad ?
When one's gone from the other -
Well it's bound to make them sad.

What is home without a baby ?
With their tiny pattering feet
You think there are other pleasures maybe
But there's nothing half so sweet.

How you miss those smiles they gave you
And those eyes so blue and bright.
How you miss their arms about you
And those lips that kiss goodnight.

But the source? of that parting
Will not make your heart so sore
As the joy you'll have in meeting
When you'll never part no more.
John W. Tackett

Claude Monet

Isnt' this a beautiful painting by Claude Monet? I love those clouds and the beautiful blue sky. Simply a gorgeous painting.