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Ana with Dolly

My friend Dianne has a booth at the Western Fair Farmers' Market where she sells Tupperware. She has gone out of province for the summer and asked Mary (who sells Avon) and me to take over her booth for the summer so she would not lose her prime spot.

The Farmers' Market has a flea market upstairs and that is where the booth is. There are three other artists up there, besides me. However, I am not convinced this is the best venue for my work. I will finish up the summer but will think hard about continuing after the summer.

While at the market (Saturday's only) I started the following portrait:





I worked on this portrait mostly while at the market. People seem to enjoy watching an artist at work.

This portrait is of me when I was a baby. I was about 2yrs old in this portrait. I had been playing in my front yard on the island of Sao Jorge in the Azores (Portugal). I had had strict instructions NOT to leave my front yard. However, I wanted to go to a neighbour's house to get some candy (she always had candy). I was told that the neigbhour was not home, that it was rude to ask for candy, and that I was NOT to leave the yard.

My aunt went into the house to get a camera and I took the opportunity to escape. When I arrived at the neighbour's she was not home so I sat myself on her front stoop to await her. This is where my frantic family found me. My aunt took the photo. The worried look on my face is because I knew I was in big trouble for disobeying.

Summer Adventures

At the end of July we went to Ottawa to see the SMV Thunder Tour concert at the Ottawa Jazz Festival.




We were up early in the morning to leave by 4:00 am. We had an awful time driving in Ottawa, itself. There was construction, tons of one way streets, and tiny little street signs that we realized "that was the street we wanted" as we passed it. It was most frustrating.

Anthony had a diabetic sugar low and was feeling faint while we were at Confederation Park (where the festival was held) but a very nice young lady at one of the food booths was kind enough to get me some orange drink with lots of extra sugar. Turns out her mom is also diabetic so she knew exactly how to help. It was very nice of her.

On the good side, we had wonderful accommodations at the Carleton University residence. We had two side by side private rooms and an all you can eat breakfast buffet the next morning.

The concert was FABULOUS! Alexander had been invited by Victor Wooten to attend and he got Alexander all access backstage passes. This was very exciting for Alexander. He not only met Victor Wooten, but he also met Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller! Alexander was on top of the world.

All three of us enjoyed the concert.

On July 11th our friends Pauline and Yves were married in Sudbury Ontario. We had never been to Sudbury, but let me tell you, the driving was a lot more pleasant than driving in Ottawa. The drive to Sudbury was interesting. The landscape really changes from southern Ontario to northern Ontario.



The people in Sudbury were warm and friendly. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Pauline and Yves's family and friends.

Anthony and Alexander played music for the wedding ceremony. They did a wonderful job. They played Doyle Dykes's "White Rose for Heidi" for Pauline to walk down the aisle. They played it so beautifully and sweetly that everyone applauded when they finished the piece. They played a Bach piece and a Simon Fox piece as well. I was very proud of them. They did such a great job.

All the decorations were hand made and set up by Pauline's friend, Carol Bisson. She did a marvelous job! She even hand made all the chocolate decorative pieces (and they were delicious!).

The wedding and reception were wonderful. Anthony made a heart-felt speech for his friend, Yves. It was a beautiful day and evening.

Photo Restoration

My friend, Laura, asked me to try to restore this photo of hers. She had found it, and it is one of the few photos with her great-grandmother in it. It was pretty badly damaged. I told her I could not promise anything, but I tried to do some retouching to restore as much as I could.

This was done using the premium version of Picnik on my laptop. It took about two hours. I was unable to fix the boy's mouth (by the father). However, overall, I am pretty pleased with the results. AND, more importantly, Laura is pleased.

Meshy Produce Bags

Strong enough for a dozen apples

Have you switched to reusable grocery bags but find yourself still using those clingy plastic produce bags at the supermarket? Now a Canada-based company, HotSacks, sells reusable mesh bags for your fruits and vegetables. They are recyclable, can be reused countless times and come in four fabulous colours.

They are available at Home Outfitters ($4.99 for a set of eight) or online at www.hotsacks.ca

Use them for:

• various fruits like apples, lemons, avocados, grapes, etc.

• various vegetables including potatoes, onions, peppers, turnips, etc.
  
  
• bulk items such as wrapped candies or nuts in shell, etc.

And, when you use these, you will be the coolest shopper around. Everyone will want to know where you got them!