Here in Peoria at Nationals

No photos, but had to share with you, that my two girlfriends Anne, Debbie and I arrived in Peoria this afternoon at 3 pm, after being on the road since 3 a.m.
I'm quite used to staying up till 3 a.m., but it is a different story waking at 2 a.m. and leaving home in the dark. It was pouring buckets most of the night, till the sunrise, so it made visibility difficult. But Debbie is a real trouper at the wheel, and drove the whole way with rest stops every hour or so.

Tomorrow, I get to meet some of the Heritage Team, and a whole bunch of Forum friends, and Convention Exhibitors who I've had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with for 4 1/2 years on the road with Joan Dixon.... I can't wait!!!

One favorite spot at SDP is the Certification room, checking out all the wonderful submissions from around the world... Here's hoping I see a few of my friend's names up there as newly CDAs or MDAs... that would be so great!!! Good luck all!!

If you have a chance, check out the Jansen Booth, a bunch of us will be hanging around there throughout the next two days. We'd love to hug and visit with all of you.

Tell you more tomorrow.
till later Frieda
ps. we're probably heading to bed early tonight to catch up on much needed sleep, ha!

Barn Retreat Studio

What a view from up in the open barn loft!!! I'm standing in my future Barn Retreat Studio & woodshop, yipee!! I've waited and saved $$ for 10 years for this to happen, and it is coming along very quickly now. Hoping to finish by end of July. Then board and batten the exterior come Fall. We're hoping to get the back end up and shingled to keep some of the rain from damaging the ground floor.



Squaring off the edges of the roof cladding... can't wait to be squaring off some cabinets or decorative painting wood surfaces in very near future, yipee!!



This was quite the challenge to hang down while standing on an 8' ladder and nail every 6" to anchor the chip board sheeting to the roof trusses. While John worked from an outside ladder, I climbed the 8' step ladder, hanging down over the top of the roof. My arms were all scratched from the rough chipboard, stinging in the shower.



As the blood rushes to my head, just one more nail and I'm almost done. OK, we did it, enough for today... I'm bushed... time to relax and read my novel. Six months ago, John & I decided to turn off the TV for good. It's amazing how much time you have for painting, building, gardening, computer and reading, which are all the fun things I love to do. You can't keep adding more to your life, without first pruning something out.

Hope to see many of you at Nationals in Peoria, Illinois. Make sure you introduce yourselves, I'll be hanging around the JansenArt booth most of Friday and Saturday, so I look forward to meeting you.

till later happy painting to all of you. Frieda