Taking Up The Arts

A few weeks ago Carolyn and I were in the Mountain Arts Guild gallery in Prescott. We spoke to three ladies who work there, all of whom paint in watercolors and teach classes.

One, Dixie, was working on a painting which will become the jacket for a book a friend of hers wrote. The book tells the story of several generations of women living in the west. Her painting depicts these women standing in a wheat field. Dixie is marvelously talented.

I told the ladies I had promised myself two things when I retired. First I was going to work on developing some artistic talents since I had never done so in my life. Second, I was going to encourage Carolyn to get back to painting because she has talent for it. A few days later, one of them, Barbara Kimmell-Palmer, called and invited Carolyn and me to her house for a lesson.

Barbara was a gracious host and a wonderful teacher. She guided us through our first watercolor paintings and has encouraged us to continue.

Carolyn painted a child's pair of tennis shoes. They made her think of Benjamin. She did a great job with the shading and painting in negative space.


Here is my picture of Ben. Barbara was very helpful in showing me how to give definition to the hat and jacket.

We framed the pictures and will give them to Ben to hang in his room.

Bluegrass and Dogs On The Square

Every weekend, Prescott has something going on in the courthouse square. This year there have been car shows, art fairs, antiques, concerts, Native American arts and crafts. The two-day bluegrass festival is one of the most popular events. Carolyn and I went and thoroughly enjoyed it. The music of The Bluegrass F-150's, from LA was our favorite.

As interesting as the bands on stage are the many small impromptu groups of local musicians that gather in all quarters of the square to jam and play their own music.

There are a lot of outstanding musicians around this area.







As we walked around listening to the small groups, we saw many people had brought their dogs. We ended up spending two days talking with folks about their pets and asking if we could take their picture. Everyone was willing and loved talking about their dogs. Here's a small sample of the ones we met.

This is Brie. She helped her owner get signatures on a petition for one of Arizona's many citizen initiatives on the ballot this fall. With a face like that who wouldn't sign?

This fellow loved his Great Dane and shared alot of information about them. Did you know they typically only live for 6 to 8 years?


Cute, huh?
(The pup ain't bad either.)

This little lap dog was enjoying the concert. (I hope this picture doesn't blow Junior Soprano's cover in the Witness Protection program.)


This King Charles Spaniel was a beauty and so obedient. (Notice there is no lead.)


This is Lexie, a gorgeous standard poodle.


The latest in convenience items ... Puppy-in-a-bag.

Someone told us there were another 100 Dalmations on the grounds but we didn't see them.


Here's Hootie, the Basset Hound. (The Blowfish had a previous engagement.)


This is a Shiba Inu, a Japanese breed noted for being very smart, very loyal and very difficult.


A kid and a yellow lab puppy, a perfect combination.


A handsome German Shepherd sunning himself.


I voted this little munchkin as the sweetest face on the square.


Twin Yorkies.


Pride in a pet is not limited to dog owners. This fellow can often been seen on the square with his pet Red-Tailed Boa Constrictor. (Has anyone seen the Yorkies?)

Walking Dogs

One of our newest activities is working with the Yavapai County Humane Society. A couple of days a week, Carolyn and I walk and groom the dogs there. We underwent five hours of training (Not just anybody can walk a dog, you know!) and are now fully certified dog walkers.
The Humane Society, just a few miles from our home, is next to one of our favorite hiking and bike trails. We take each dog out for a two mile walk. It's good exercise for us and the animals love it.

Here's Carolyn with Luna and Buck on the Peavine Trail. They have both since been successfully adopted!




After their walk, we take each dog into the "Bark Park," an enclosed playground, where they can run free for a while and play with the toys.

Here I am with Murphy, an exceptionally smart golden retriever mix. He's teaching me to give the signal for sitting down. It wasn't long before Murphy found a home.

Here's Sampson, my current challenge! He's a great dog and very loving. But he is high energy and pulls your arm out of its socket when he walks on a lead.

I am working to teach him to heel. Being well-behaved will increase his chances of being adopted and of not being returned. We're making progress (slowly).

Sampson loves the water. After a long walk, he loves to go to the park and jump in the pool for a cool down.

Sampson and I had a great adventure recently. We encountered our first rattlesnake. It crossed right in front of us. We were on top of it before we saw it. It rattled. We stopped. It sauntered off into the brush beside the road. We gave it wide birth and it rattled again as we passed. (Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera!)

One of Carolyn's favorite dogs is Gracie, an Australian Shepherd mix. She's a wonderful dog, loving and gentle. She was adopted but came back after only a week because she scaled an 8 foot concrete wall and got away from her new owner. It breaks your heart to see a dog come back after being saved. Some people don't want to invest the time to train an animal and give it time to adjust to new surroundings.

Here's Carolyn with Dolly, a sweet black lab puppy. She was adopted today. Someone got a super dog!

These two sweeties, Trixie and Maggie, were kennel mates. We hoped one family would adopt them but they had to go separate ways.


Reno is no weiner dog ... he's more of a kielbasa!

At the Rodeo

Summer is a busy time in Prescott. Carolyn and I have been on the go and I haven't kept up the blog this month. So, I thought I'd show you what we've been up to.


A few weeks ago, Sara and Bob visited us from LA. Bob wanted to take us to see the Prescott rodeo, the world's oldest, so they came for the weekend.



Prescott has been hosting the rodeo every year since 1888.


Contestants from across the country participate in all the traditional events including calf roping...


bronc riding,



barrel racing, and




bull riding.



There were also exhibitions in trick roping and



and horsemanship.



We had a great day experiencing a bit of Prescott's history and seeing Sara and Bob.