Fun times yesterday. After kid soccer games in the a.m., DD and I found ourselves with the whole afternoon on our hands (the males in the family busy with other activities), so we set out to enjoy it together. First, I did treat her to a (very) rare lunch out, just the two of us (cheap mexican, and we kept our bill low) -- however, the rest of the day was full of free entertainment. Our town was hosting an annual, community-wide arts festival, and after a quick, spontaneous stop to fetch my mother, the three of us went on to see the sites. Galleries, studios, and business establishments all over town open their doors to the public during the festival, displaying art and works-in-progress, and giving demos. The stops on the tour are so numerous and spread out within the locality that it's impossible to see it all, so one must pick and choose. It was lovely to get out and about though, especially on a day as nice as yesterday turned out to be -- and fascinating. We visited the home studio of a lampwork glass bead artist, a pottery studio, painting galleries, a large artists' studio/co-operative, and the home studios of a professional glass blower and his sculptor wife (this last being my favorite stop because of the wonderful, idyllic environment the two artists have created from their modest old home and less-than-an-acre yard - - a private homestead/sanctuary near the edge of town, with two free-standing studios, lush blooming landscaping (ornamented with art tucked everwhere here and there), two ponds (with koi), flowering fruit trees, raised garden beds, chickens, a child's playhouse, and a gallery/shop. So cool!).

And, as always whenever I'm in an artistic environment, I naturally found myself itching to get back to my own creative pursuits -- temporarily shelved for the time being as my personal famiy life remains so busy and active. One of these days though .....