Danny had a big night last night down at the Crystal Tea Room. There was a fund raiser ( I want to say for the Liver Foundation, but can't remember) that he and Jay Jr. did last year with Joe Frost and Mayor Nutter. Last night one of the guests was Vince Papale. Danny said he's such a great guy and that his wife is really nice, which apparently is uncommon for wives of celebrities.

I must be going through a phase because the painting for today was another one that I found difficult to do. It's of star fruit and I found the nuances of the texture very challenging. Why, I don't really know. Maybe it's because I'm not feeling well (have a "cough in my mouth" as Isabella puts it) or maybe I'm out of practice. The interesting thing was that as soon as I got up and moved away from it I realized it didn't need anything else except for a few highlights. Maybe I was working too intently and close. In any case, here it is, "Star Fruit", 6"x6", oil on gessobord, $50., framed. sold I really like it.

I'm going to bed and try to sleep this bug off. 'Nite

To me it's still Tuesday, but the clock says it's almost one in the morning. Since I haven't been here since the 16th of last month, as usual there's a lot to tell. Most recently the snow storm that piled nine inches of snow on us yesterday. The beauty of it never gets old for me. Jay and I went outside on Sunday night while it was coming down heavy and danced in it for a few minutes. It was that sparkly kind of snow that looks like everything is being dusted with tiny diamonds. When I went to bed last night the icicles hanging from the roof over our bedroom windows were shimmering, but it was just from a single, very bright star in the western sky. It was weird but really lovely. Chix are popping out all over the place here. They make so much dust like snow inside the studio every day. Someone said it's their food that flies around and lands heavily on every single thing, every single day! Josie was here all last week while Krista and Carter were in Mexico. Boy, did we have fun. Last Tuesday we took Henri and my black Penedesenca hen up to Harrisburg to meet up with Betty and Butch, who live in Beaver Falls and are their new owners. Betty says Henri is enjoying his new home. We really miss him. For Valentine's Day Jay took me to "James". It's a very nice, cozy restaurant, with good food. The best thing I had was the Risotto with oysters. I thought it was nothing short of a religious experience. The next day we were given box seats at the Kimmel Center for The Philly Pops, Frank Sinatra Concert. What a phenomenal show! I always thought that like my parents, Frank Sinatra would live forever. We sat next to Selma and Sam Savitz and Selma and I played "Name that Tune". There was no one around us for us to annoy, so we really had fun. We've been spending a lot of time with the boys. Danny made dinner for us on Sunday night. He made lamb chops and a veal chop for me, along with risotto and really great sauteed asparagus. We had Ciao Bella gelato for dessert. I'm not a big fan of mint chocolate chip anything, but they make it so it tastes like fresh mint leaves are in there. It's all very good. My painting tonight has caused me much consternation and frustration. I've worked it and reworked it. It looks like it does in real life, but maybe that's the problem. The things I love about it are the seeds that look like caviar, and the color of the flesh. The skin just doesn't do it for me, but again, that's how it looked in real life. When I finally finished it, I cut it and ate some, it was nothing like I expected, almost tasteless. So that's it for now,"Red Papaya", oil on gessobord, 7"x5", $50., framed. Sold. Sorry about the glare on the right side.