I can't believe it's the end of November — and NaBloPoMo — already.  Thank goodness, really, for the end of November part – I don't care if the door does hit your backside — sayonara, so long fare well, see ya.  There were some good days (Happy Birthday to Me!), but a few too many spectacularly craptastic days.

There were still a few picnic tables out down by the river on Sunday — and a couple of boats on the water — and it was nice enough (well, tolerable).  There were small chunks of ice near the shore, and there might be a light dusting of snow over everything by this evening.

I'm suffering a bit of the melancholy today… at sixes & sevens, spinning my wheels, stuck, uninspired.  Knitting, photography, cooking, my house… pfft, I got nothin'.  I may be experiencing some Parcheesi withdrawal… a little post-Parcheesi depression.  Does that happen to you after finishing a huge project — knitting or otherwise?

We hung an all-family art exhibition yesterday (with some last-minute rearrangement this morning) (and room will be made for a piece that arrived late today).  This was sort of my brainchild, borne of some much deeper, more time-consuming, MUCH more costly dreaming about our creative works as a family — and our working together creatively as a family — and, well, it whittled down to this.  A Family Affair : art show.

The show is in my husband's studio-gallery which is above Ali's coffee shop.  When you hit the top of the stairs, this is pretty much the first wall you see and (Ali's idea) we filled it with self-portraits — one each.  Sorry about the glare, that's the price for light, and I didn't take any time in setting up my photos of the show.  At top left is Lee's SP, a colored pencil drawing of his reflection in a window looking out on the ocean, done at our house in Cape Kiwanda in 1984; to the right is Maddy, a pencil drawing she did in 2007; below her is Katie, acrylic on masonite, 2003 (in college); to the left of her is me, a familiar image to readers, 2009; and Ali rounds out the family SP wall with a pencil image she began in 2004 and finished in 2010 (the day-before-yesterday, I think!).

Around the corner are a few pieces of Maddy's, one small ink and a couple of pencil drawings; and then some of Katie's work (the left-most pencil drawing and the acrylics).

The big wall holds a couple of my favorite pieces ever — Ali's "Alice Cooper," a drawing she did for her BF's birthday two years ago, which he allows to hang in the coffee shop, and Katie's "Madeleine," a large acrylic on canvas (2004-2006) that I miss hanging in my living room.  "Lightbulb" is also Kate's, and the ceramic and acrylic "plate" is Ali's.

There is a small selection of Alison's drawings….

…and then Lee's work.  "Fish," to the left of Lee's head is an oil on canvas of his dad's from the 1960s.  The piece at far right is actually two drawings, an early colored pencil by Lee entitled "Grape Jelly" and, inspired, one by Ali from 1998 called "Afternoon Breakfast" (egg, toast, bacon).  The busts were done by the girls in high school — Ali's (based on Nicole Kidman) is on the left, Maddy's (Kate Winslet) is in the middle, and Katie's (a classmate) is on the right.

My work is on the wall opposite Lee's.  "Lake Michigan," "Nevada Desert," "Fourth of July Fruit Salad," and a selection of portraits (all boys, I rarely find baby girls in my viewfinder!).  Tomorrow, a photo collage called "Afghani Hats" will squeeze in there somewhere.

The show will be up through January — for any locals or sorta locals who'd like to see it in person.  (Call/email me!  We can do coffee/tea.)

I visited with people today, feet up, sewing off Parcheesi Side 3 and picking up all the stitches for Side 4… the last side!  There was plenty of touchy-feely oohs and aaahs, and lots of good compliments on that today.  I can't believe I'm almost finished!!

 

Heheheh.  Today I will be catching up on a few of the things I've let slide over the past couple of weeks!  Later, I'll be helping to hang our first-ever all-family art show and helping DH write a statement.  Everything about this is old hat to him, and even to the kids, but oh so new to me!  And fun.

PARCHEESI UPDATE:  The binding off of Side 3 is about to commence!!

There's really nothing more to be thankful for than family.  I spent the day with a great deal of mine — all of my siblings (three sisters and a brother), a couple of brothers-in-law, my mom and her husband, my daughters, my daughter's girlfriend, my future son-in-law, my niece, and my nephews.

There's not a stinker in the bunch.

We also had tons of food, including pie.  This one's cherry.  There's the corner of a from-scratch pumpkin visible at top left.  The half-in-the-bag turkey was delicious — very moist and flavorful!  It was a terrific day.  I hope yours was, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!