We've been watching a lot of movies during Jay's recovery and tonight we watched "Disturbia". I loved Alfred Hitchcock when I was growing up. Those ironic, weird, twists and turns his stories took always caught my imagination. So while I thought the acting was great, the modern version had a little too much junk in it for my taste, but I still liked it.

The painting di giorno is another of Penny's hydrangeas, this time with a bite out of one of the plums. I needed it for the complement and it was tasty. Again, on my computer screen, the flowers are a little too blue. It must be something with the digital camera and the way it reads color. "Complementary Bite to Penny's Purple Hydrangea", 7"x5", oil over egg tempera on gessobord, $50., framed.SOLD I'm wiped out from working in the heat today. Jay's playing Chopin's "Valse" (Waltz) and it's lulling me to sleep. Just beautiful. Goodnight.

We watched "Modigliani" tonight after another hot and busy day. The movie was interesting, but annoying because of the lack of attention to blatantly obvious details, like the baby being the same age, in the same outfit, throughout the entire movie. I like Andy Garcia in just about anything. The disclaimer in the beginning was also a bummer because supposedly, even though it was titled "Modigliani" and loosely based on him, none of it was true. Jay is upstairs on the computer finding out the truth. In any case it was inspirational.

My painting di giorno is of one of the mop heads from the purple hydrangea bouquet Penny and David brought the other night. This bloom, while definitely having more blue in it than the last one, according to my computer screen, has too much of a blue cast and not enough purple hues. The Key limes were so cute and tiny. I've never painted limes before, so I put them in as a complement.

"Penny's Purple Hydrangea and Key Limes", oil over egg tempera on gessobord, 7"x5", $50., framed.SOLD

Well we're coming down the home stretch for our trip to California. I spent a good part of the day getting the chickens situated so that the person caring for them will have everything they need on hand and conveniently located. I still have plenty of work ahead of me.

The painting di giorno is of a moth that I found dying outside of the drugstore while getting Jay's prescriptions. It's a Regal moth and they're enormous. Her body is at least 6 inches long. They don't eat and only live for a few days, but she laid eggs before she died. She still is so beautiful and her colors were even more vibrant when she was alive. I think we found a Regal moth caterpillar about 10 years ago, but I've never seen this kind of moth before.

"Regal Moth", 7"x5", oil over egg tempera on gessobord, $50. framed.Sold.

The weekend came and went. Here it is Monday again. We had a very productive weekend. Friday night we were invited to a concert at the Woodmere Gallery in Chestnut Hill. It was hosted by Estonia Piano Company, www.estoniapiano.com and started with a young man of 10 years old, who has been taking lessons for all of four years. This child has the makings of a prodigy, with the moves of a concert pianist. I kept looking around at the rest of the audience to see if they were also picking up their jaw from the floor. This kid was fantastic! So was the next performer, an "older" boy of 12, who was really not so much a pianist, (could have fooled me) but a composer, very impressive. Then there was Dr. Laul, the 38 year old owner of Estonia. Wow, is all I can say! I was transported.The combination of music and art was a heavenly evening for me. I wanted to go upstairs to the balcony where they keep the Delaware Valley Legacy exhibit, but never got there, so we went back yesterday. While I looked at the paintings, Jay serenaded me on the pianos that were left there from Friday night. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It was the best exhibit experience I've ever had.In between those two events, we shopped and ran errands and I put together some chicken houses. It was miserably hot and humid on Saturday, so I had to take many breaks and check out gardening stuff on eBay.Last night we watched "Love Song for Bobby Long", which we really enjoyed. I think John Travolta gets better with age. All of the acting was good. Speaking of which, our next door neighbor Rich Alliger is doing a commercial these days to encourage Pennsylvanians to quit smoking without a bad attitude. He's the grump in the second skit. I love this guy. He's got panache! We had a busy morning and afternoon today, which means I started painting late, but was close to finishing when Penny and David dropped by with a gorgeous bouquet of mixed hydrangeas and Vitex. They haven't popped in like that for a very long time. We hung out and talked for hours. It was terrific. I really miss that. Just us, without distractions.

So that means that the painting for today will have to wait until tomorrow to be posted. I'll think you'll find it interesting.

We sure got a lot of rain today. I thought the storm we had would bring in some cooler, less humid air, but when I went out tonight to bring the roosters in, it was like someone had been making soup out there all day. Brutal, but at least I don't have to water everything.

Jay started back teaching today for the first time since his surgery. Both students came here and I could see how much he enjoys his job.We've been watching a lot of movies while Jay has been recovering and I'm still fascinated with Javier Bardem. He's so versatile and his characters are so different in every movie. Last night we watched "Death at a Funeral" and the night before "Atonement", both recommended by our British friend Gill Blair. The photography and costumes in "Atonement" were just beautiful, while we got plenty of laughs out of "Death at a Funeral".

As promised, above is the painting of Penny's hydrangea from our anniversary bouquet. The purple plums had the similar colors so I included them. "Penny's Purple Hydrangea and Plums", 7"x5",oil over egg tempera, on gessobord, $50., framed. SOLD--thank you Penny and David.

Wow, this past month flew by fast. Jay's surgery went very well. Both knees are working, even though he still has considerable pain. It amazes me that he can walk up the stairs, sometimes without his cane, or holding on to the railing. I can't even do that! He's such a show off ; ))

We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on the 1st of July, but had a big party on the 29th of June. Chef Kenny, did some wonderfully delicious stuff with the rabbit. Jay Jr. made the best quail I've ever had and Tom Wolters did a really tasty, grass-fed poussin. Chef Joe Frost sent some rabbit confit with pappardelle that he prepared--not a drop was left. Joe and Ashley couldn't be here because Joe's grandfather was in the hospital. We're thinking of you and praying for your Grandfather, Joe. Lenny and Cine did fabulous desserts. Cine's son Brian brought great wine and he and his friend Lauren were a pleasure to finally have here. Our neighbors Pat and Rich gave us a beautiful Lenox Anniversary plate. My cousin Larry and Marilena brought a very nice bottle of wine and a gorgeous bouquet of roses that I would love to paint. The guys from Theresa's Next Door came with a terrific assortment of beer and my godson Nicky hauled a cake that must have weighed 50lbs and it was all good! He and Leanne also gave us an over the top present of a big, cobalt blue Kosta Boda bottle that is just incredible. Really. My Aunt Jeannie also went all out and gave us a magnificent and really heavy, cut crystal Orrefors vase that was perfect for the perfect, white gladiolas that my nephew Pat and his fiance' Jessica gave us. Peter Maggio came after work and brought some good laughs with him and laughed with us at Danny's crazy stories. It was a very good time. There was more wine brought and great food that Jay and Celeste prepared. We also got to tell everyone about Josh and Lauren's "bun in the oven". Congratulations kids! Rich and Dee Mattis came with a serious bottle of champagne and Lillian predicted that her very soon to be, if not already born, sibling, would be a girl, named Rose Red, but if a boy, Rose Blue. She's truly an amazing child who at two years old can tell you about lightning bugs and why they glow and taste bitter.

Penny and David brought a shrimp appetizer and flowers as usual. Penny's hydrangeas are always so beautiful and inspiring, so they were my first painting after being away from the easel for so long. They'll be featured tomorrow, since I finished the painting today. I felt rusty, but am looking forward to another painting tomorrow. I have been doing some sketching, which I haven't done for years. Since I've been taking Jay to Chanticleer daily for the past week for his walk, I figured it would be a good time to get some practice in.

Asser moved to Boston and we really miss him.

Today I picked my first tomatoes and peppers. The photo above shows my harvest. No great shakes, but it sure makes me happy. The raspberries grow wild here, but most of my strawberries were a little slimy from all of the rain and humidity, so I gave them to the chickens. We've already been eating a lot of them, along with the blueberries, but the good ones looked nice in the basket even if there were only a few of them. The eggs from the Ameraucanas look white, but they're actually light blue. The quail are all grown up and laying eggs as you can see. The brown eggs are from my Welsumers and are darker than the photo shows. Lots of new chickens here, but that's a another story for another day.