In Between the Rain Showers

I managed to get outside at least once every day over the past week, but it wasn't exactly inspiring or even that enjoyable.  Mostly I dashed out for quick dog walks in between the showers.  At least one day it rained so steadily that there were no breaks, so I pulled on all of my waterproof gear, let the dogs stay comfortably snuggled in their blankets, and went for a walk on my own.

Guess what the weather is doing right now?

Five-day forecast:
MON  High of 51; RAIN 100%
TUE   High of 46;  PM SHOWERS 40%
WED  High of 44;  SHOWERS 50%
THU  High of 46;  RAIN  80%
FRI  High of 52;  SHOWERS  70%

I might be able to take the dogs for a walk on Tuesday morning.

I've been contemplating a retirement relocation move to Richland (where I grew up).  Here is Richland's five-day forecast:
MON  High of 57:  AM FOG, PM CLOUDS
TUE  High of 53;  MOSTLY SUNNY
WED  High of 52; PARTLY CLOUDY
THU  High of 49;  MOSTLY CLOUDY
FRI  High of 56;  AM CLOUDS, PM SUN

Looks like good walking weather every single day.  Sigh.

Sadly, my good friends here refuse to move with me.  Oh, well.

Here are the usual weekly photos of cute dachshunds and a few sketches, plus a bonus fallen tree from a windstorm.  Exciting times!

Pippin with Chloe

Winston, Pippin, and Truman

Pippin looking adorable...does he ever look anything but adorable?

Well, possibly when he's barking...recently he discovered his vocal chords, and has been using them vigorously:

Okay, he's pretty adorable even when barking.  I imagine that won't be the case when he is fully grown and has a deeper voice.

Now for the fallen tree:  we had a very windy Saturday, so windy that a tree fell at the house two doors down from mine.  Luckily it did only very minor damage to the structure, and nobody lives there anyway.  Whew!

I actually drove in the windstorm, just to Nicole's house, carefully choosing the routes with the fewest tall trees.  Tina met us there, and we had an enjoyable afternoon sitting around the dining table working on practice pieces.

This is rock-painting practice from a book called The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook: Landscape

Tina brought a library book with black and white photos taken in Russian Jewish cemeteries, which were fascinating.  I decided to paint part of a grave marker using gradations of only one gray watercolor shade:

Finally, I drew what I could see from Nicole's dining table.  They are connoisseurs of fine wine.

That's it for the past week.  I borrowed several watercolor instruction books from Nicole -- I hope the exercises in them will help me survive the coming week!