Winter Carnival

The 134th Saint Paul Winter Carnival, the “Coolest Celebration on Earth” since 1886 

 The state fair grounds and the snow sculptures.  Amazing work.  Here are my three favorites.

And then came the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens

I bought a new lens!  

First shot - Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Amazing clarity why did I wait this long?

Bringing in the New Year.......... 2020!

A gender reveal party is a celebration during which parents, friends and family find out the sex of a baby. 
This year Tim and I will celebrate bringing in the new year learning the gender of our fourth grandbaby!
We have been asked to wear the color that represents what we think baby Gartmann is.  

• I will wear blue 
• Tim is wearing pink

Hope to add pictures of our party here.

Tim was the only one that wore pink!

40

We are in Kauai Hawaii celebrating our 40th year of marriage.  Wow, can it really be that long?

Enjoying the crashing waves

 View from our condo

yum yum Poke

Kauai Coffee farming

Luau time

Beach time....incidently I cut my bangs with a nail trimmer to keep them

out of my eyes after this visit to the beach...

Pool time on the last day....the sun was amazing.

Moving and Mandalas

Fast forward  five months.  It's already November and we've been in the new house almost as long.
Things are unpacked and at their first resting place.  I'm sure I'll be tweaking where things belong for quite some time.  After the move we enjoyed a Gunflint Trail vacation to the scenic Clearwater Lodge.  I had a hankering to try mandala rock painting so I brought along some acrylic paints and dotting tools. We stopped along Lake Superior and found some nice smooth rocks to bring to the lodge.

 Notice the splash

Breakfast and rock painting...and oh yeah and the whiskey (from the evening before)

The mandala's purpose is to help transform ordinary 

minds into enlightened ones and to assist with healing.

I can't say that I needed healing, but I do know I was ready to just sit and concentrate on one thing that was not electronic. 
My first rocks were a challenge.  Dotting a rock is harder than you'd think. I practiced and practiced.  At times just stopping on a poor rock that deserved better.  Those few rocks are dotting the snow covered forest near Clearwater Lodge with fresh acrylic hieroglyphic dots. 

I've been practicing....tonight I turned out a pretty neat little gem.  Next rock is magentas and purples!