Happy Fourth of July!

Taking a few minutes to pause,

Thankful for beautiful weather,

The humidity was so low this afternoon,

Lil G was able to play in her wading pool all afternoon.

It was such a great day for both of us.

                        ( a watercolor painting I did in 2011-  Proud to be an American) 

Last night we went to our local triple A teams ball game and their Fourth of July fireworks,

So tonight we are laying low and enjoying each other.

I have two excellent books to tell you about!

The first book is a topic dear to my heart, watercolor painting.

This book is called " Urban Watercolor sketching" by Felix Scheinberger.

                             

This book took me by surprise.

I thought I was getting a book about a certain painting method,

You know, a "How to sketch using watercolors" book. 

Boy was I wrong!

This book delves into the history of watercolor painting and how each of the pigments

Are made. Each new color story was a treat to read, and each page I turned was full of great 

Information. Topics covered the whole gamut in watercolor painting, tool sz& paper, color theory, and even some tips on how to price your work.

What a great book! So happy to have this resource and to have some new ideas to explore.

I will rate this five out if five stars.

Thank you to Blogging for books and Watson Guptill for the opportunity to review this book.

This review was completely my own opinion and I was in no way compensated for it. 

                             

The second book was " Child of mine" by David and Beverly Lewis.

I have read several of Beverly Lewis' books and looked forward to reading something written by both her and her husband.

I  was drawn into the storyline right from the beginning. I have enjoyed reading stories with two story lines and that is what you will find in this captivating story. I'm not someone to give away any of the secrets so you don't have to worry about that in my review, and let me just say there were quite a few surprises! This was a very good book, I have found myself feeling sad the past few days because I've finished the last page and closed the cover. This book will recieve five stars.

Thank you to Bethany House publishers for the opportunity to review this book. This review was my own personal opinion of this book and I was in now way compensated for it.

                           

Just in case you are wondering, I am still knitting the sweater for my mother in law.

I have the two front pieces and back done and this is the start of the sleeve.

The yarn is a mercised cotton and really is lovely to work with.

I think I would be starting on the second sleeve 

if I took into account that the pattern has 3/4 length sleeves.

I know my mother in law wouldn't be happy with that so planned on adding to the length.

The thing I didn't take into account is that your forearm is larger than your wrist.

I had completed the whole lacework edging before realizing it just wouldn't work.

Being the perfectionist I am I had to start over.

Oh well.

I hope this weekend is full of beautiful moments!

Under His Wings,

Anna