Rainy day and still life completed

Seeing as it has been raining most of the day, thought I better complete this still life before the fruit got really bad. I'm on a roll (maybe)....

Evolution of a retiree

As the seasons change, so do our lives......

It has been a whirlwind of activity since I retired. I have been spending the majority of my time at Hornby Island however I have also been to Vernon to spend my Mom's 83rd birthday with her, my sister and my brother's family who live there. I have been to Sooke a couple of times, to a wedding in Ladysmith, and an RV adventure to Port Renfrew. We have had quite a few visitors to Hornby, some spending as long as a week, and others just for the day.

When there is no company and I am not doing the touristy things or going to the beach, I have been spending a fair amount of time working in the yard doing clean-up, getting a few trees felled, gardening and walking. These past few months have been exactly what I have needed for quite some time and for the most part, I am feeling refreshed and alive again.

So, next on my agenda.........Well, I have started to paint again (finally) and have had one lesson from an amazing artist here on Hornby. I normally paint with watercolours but am looking for a new challenge so am now taking up acrylic painting.

This is the picture of my still life which was started at my recent lesson.

This is a heron painted in watercolours.

This is my latest painting of this particular heron but with acrylics and a totally different background (both backgrounds are from my imagination).

I am currently in the process of doing another still life with a mango, lemon and lime, two of which are starting to turn bad, and then onto a landscape scene.

This is the fruit in progress......

My intention is to eventually have a page with all my paintings, some old and some new that will evolve over time. Till then, Cést la vie!

Living in paradise!

There are no words to describe how I feel compared to how I felt 6 weeks ago.

My total years of working were 35 and that's not including my part-time jobs while in school. In the last 20 years I worked in the health care industry as an Executive Assistant to the CEO of a fairly big complex care facility. I knew that I needed to quit while my health was still fairly intact as it was getting worse in the last couple of years with extra stress due to increased workload because of health care cutbacks and the expectation that everyone should work at 110% (like yah...is that really possible). I was damaging my health and decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and retire at only 55 years young.

I am elated.... I feel free now! I almost feel as giddy as when I got out of high school and my life felt like it was just beginning with so many unknowns coming my way. What I am doing now is mostly for me, us (family) ...sounds a little selfish but as I recover from the insanity of constant pressure and expectations, I relish walking, gardening, talking, listening, tasting, cooking, smelling, reading........every bird that chirps enthralls me and my senses; every branch that sways in the wind, gives me a sense of how wonderful and beautiful nature is. Anyways, you get the picture.
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As an aside, I am sooooooo happy Katt is now bloggin - check her out at http://www.romanceandhorses.blogspot.com/ ; I'm really looking forward to her novels big time!

Turtle & eggs

Just got back from Puerto Vallarta, Bucerias area. Beautiful beaches and soooooooo relaxing in the 30 degree sunshine. The best part - the turtle that laid her eggs on the beach! 48 eggs from one little turtle.

They had to relocate the eggs as too many people in the area that she laid them. Was quite the experience for us!

Oh....and this is me surfing with the boogie board.............bwahahahhaahaaa

New follower...."cool"

I see I have a new follower. Welcome Kathy!
Have to do a bit of reading on what you can do with this blog stuff cause I see other people's blogs and they're pretty cool.

This is me.....I'm free now!

So my life is really starting to change and it's about time. I've been wanting and trying to have fun and sometimes it works but usually I've just been too busy, stressed, tired....You know the routine.

My new goal - fun! Wherever that may take me, that's where I'll be.