Well, here goes.  I am starting this journal with the encouragement of my dear granddaughter-in-law, Kala, and the inspiration of my other granddaughter-in-law, Alyssa.  This is a picture of me and my dear companion of 58 years, George.  More about him later.  All my life, I have been encouraged by my church to keep a journal, and except for a few special incidents, I have pretty much ignored the advice.  But, here I am, at the age of 78 (in a few more days) opening my mind to the world.  I am not sure the world can handle it.   How fortunate that this site has a spell-check feature.  What learning shorthand (in high school) did not do to affect my spelling ability, studying French, and learning to "get by" in Spanish finished it off.

I am trying to think of some interesting things to but in this blog.  Things that might be interesting to others, besides myself. 

Creativity:  I spent every morning last week experimenting with making pictures to put on the  front  of note cards.  When I really should have been folding laundry, ironing, or some other long neglected household drudgery, I was very happily creating little miniature pictures with watercolors, marking pens, crayons, and pen and ink and cutting and pasting and making a big mess on my desk top.  George said not a word about the time I spent (managed to get supper on the table on time).  He thought I was relaxing.  Actually, I was making a set of cards as a thank-you-gift for a friend, and getting cards made to use as prototypes to submit to a an artist convention with the idea of teaching a class using my techniques.  This coming week, I must sew.  I will talk about that project next week.