The Holidays

Le Chat Lunitique

I hate getting off my bike once I get going. I can hardly stand to stop in order to turn on my bike lights, to fool with my phone, make a rest stop, or to take a photo. But I had to pull over on my way home this evening! The air was magical.

We hung stars in front of our eight townhouses! They come on at 5:00 and turn off at 11:00.

With help from Tom and David.

Such a better deal than 100 bucks for a dead tree. Hope we can keep them alive for a little while! Bought a humidifier.

A not-so-successful tangle of lights. Left, a festive taco dinner.

A new viewing platform! A 5-minute walk from home. Benches. Sit and read, drink some wine, watch the sun set. Maybe see a flock of sandhill cranes.

My friend Anne’s exhibit runs through the end of December at FOG. This painting is one of my favorites:

Mt. Shasta Night,  oil & acrylic on paper, 22 x 18 in. framed  2023  $650

My favorite concert of the whole year: Majel Connery performs The Rivers Are Our Brothers at Chatter and Late Works. You can hear this incredible piece on Spotify, and many other places.

October

Don’s birthday.

Opera: Bluebeard’s Castle

Albuquerque Museum

Carlito Springs

Dressed for the eclipse

Lunch at Los Poblanos

Don signs his book A Storm in the Stars, about Mary Shelley

Don’s book event

At Margy’s show

Bike-In Coffee

Hops

Thursday night musicians at Hops

Still Banned.

RILEY’s in the Rockefeller Center lobby Simon & Schuster window display. Banned Books Week is Oct. 1-7. I’m proud to be in the company of these great writers and illustrators.

Hellnar

The beach at Snaefellsnes was made up of not sand, but of smooth stones. “Stories of Snæfellsjökull glacier‘s power and mystical energy have been around for centuries. It’s the reason Jules Verne chose it as the location of the entrance into the center of the earth in his novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth.”

I loved the stones so much. I kept collecting them, arranging them and photographing them, as they were too heavy to take with me!

This little café was a walk down the road from our house. When we first discovered it, it was closed. But the next day it was open, and we had fish soup and wine on the deck overlooking the water. Still searching for the perfect fish soup…

I found these treasures on the beach below the café. (See photo below.)

Lots of strange but beautiful vegetation

In Hellissandur we finally found the perfect fish soup. This is at Matarlist, our favorite restaurant of the whole trip.

By the side of the road

Another waterfall (Bjarnarfoss)

Budir Beach

Read about this woman! (Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir)

Found.

Our home in Hellnar

Hjalteyri

We stayed in what used to be a school–it’s now the Apartment Hotel Hjalteyri. The hotel might as well be an art museum.

a painting by Jon Engilberts in our Hjalteyri apartment

…and so many other incredible paintings in the hallways

Goðafoss Falls

Still searching for the best fish soup

Eyri Restaurant, walking distance from our hotel

Exploring, taking photos

Reykjavik

Waiting for Uber

John and Tom see us off in Denver

at the Reykjavík Art Museum - Kjarvalsstaðir

Our room

Our home in Reykjavik

along the waterfront

This building (Harpa) was so exciting–inside and out.

at the Reykjavík Art Museum - Kjarvalsstaðir

What litter is like in Reykeyvik

Stomach aches

Tom and the most famous cat in Iceland, Baktus the cat.

Can you believe it? I found this sea glass outside the Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum, which is right on the oceanfront.

Found: a gift in the parking lot

Lunchtime in Reykjevik

On our way to Hjalteyri we stopped at the Settlement Center in Borgarnes, which includes a delicious restaurant built up against a rock wall. We happened to walk into a reunion of Borgarnes girls. My friend says she grew up here, but now lives in Spain. Doesn’t she look like she walked right out of an Almovodar movie?

July

Alice, our newest resident at the compound, plays Mozart.

An early morning bike ride to Bike-In-Coffee

Farmer Linda, and Eileen of La Puerta de los Niños!

May

new patio furniture for our birthdays

Mem and me at Bookworks down the street

birthday treat

birthday coffee

Our fearless leader, Michael Ottersen

April

Our painting class

March

After the bandages are removed

Before

Dorene sent me this photo of Don reading to Giacomo, Bruno, and Junie B, the Boston Terrier. A classic, innit?

The End of the Year

That’s our Santa Linda Claus on the left and Max on the right.

I was so happy to finish my Damien Hirst-inspired painting the night before Christmas! I obviously have a thing for spots. It’s painted on one of the two 30” x 40” canvases that Kathy gave me when she left. Bill and Holly have the other canvas. Kathy, I need some more canvases.

And why, when I was in high school, did I think I would never need math? It took me as long to map out the painting as it did to paint it.

Major Event! The 8th Chirri & Chirra book came out on December 27.

Do you read the NYTimes? This is what you miss if you only get the online version (above). On the other hand, though, if you only get the paper version you miss out on Wordle.

Anne Herbst Ocean 1  watercolor 26.5 x 35 in.

Anne’s show ends tomorrow, Jan. 1. She has sold 22 paintings as of today! Below are posters I designed for the next show. I love the work I do with Anne for her gallery.