There was so much to see on this holiday. The Spanish people are friendly, quick to laugh and love their food, wine and beer. We averaged 18,000-20,000 steps a day, enjoying all the sights and history. I loved the food and beer. I have a cow dairy allergy and loved that it was mainly sheep or goat cheese and very little butter in their meals. We did finish our holiday in Amsterdam but the only sketch I did was of the family's home that we stayed in. They had a mother-in-law suite (think high end boutique hotel room with mini kitchen, a bathroom and own entrance) that we rented on the north side of Amsterdam. We took the free ferry that runs 24 hours across to the north shore and walked about 10 minutes to their Air BnB. They had a beautiful guest book and someone had skipped a page so I sketched their home as part of our write up (bottom picture). Our private entrance was through the gate on the right.

Two favourite activities combined; a holiday and sketching. This trip was shared with our son for the first week and my husband and I continued on for 2 more weeks. We were so busy visiting the sites, food and weather that my sketches were drawn but painted later. I usually like to do them to completion and if possible on site. Our son Curtis and I hiked the 8 km El Caminita Del Rey which for me was one of the highlights of the trip. Rhonda, Nerja, Frigiliana, Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla and Malaga were all walked, hiked and as many sites/sights taken in that our time would permit. I toured the Picasso Museum in Malaga and many castles. We travelled by rented car with Curtis then by bus and train for the rest until we flew from Malaga to Amsterdam for our last 3 nights. We really enjoyed our time there as well seeing the sights, a canal boat tour, renting bikes to go into the neighbouring towns but was to busy to sketch with so much to see and do. Stood beneath a windmill on our bike ride, not realizing how big those blades are! 

This is the third year my friend Ev and I had a wonderful 3 night holiday at this beautiful Beaver Lake Mountain Resort last month. The accommodation was perfect, this year we were in the Bear cabin. Ev is a superb cook and I do well cleaning up and keeping the wood fireplace burning so when we were inside the ambiance, warmth and light was relaxing. I managed to plein air paint standing on the shore and our private dock. We spent a good part of one day paddling around the lake in the resorts kayaks, even having our lunch of charcuturie board we picked up from Intrigue Wines on our way up to the resort. Our feast was spread across our kayaks while we enjoyed the stillness of this fishing lake and the scenery surrounding us. There was enough for 2 lunches! Once again, we had a wonderful, relaxing, fun filled stay in our delightful "Bear" cabin. The morning coffees at the office were a wonderful start to the day (thank you!). The joy, laughter, paddling, scenery, reconnecting and even a memory lane dance party were just a few of the (to many to list) highlights of this holiday. A special thank you to Daniela from both of us!! The painting of the 2 red chairs was happily gifted to Ev's father Tony.