Joy in the Morning?

 When I woke up this morning, my first thought was, "There are no children in the house."  It was not a happy thought, so I just stayed in bed.  Not too long, but long enough to feel sufficiently sad.  When I got up, there were, however, plenty of the remains of children all through the house.  We had a fabulous Christmas, but now it was time to vacuum and wash and put things away.  Oh yes, and carve out a painting spot in the basement.  Then it was time to work on my challenge painting.  This blog comes at the suggestion of my children during Christmas, and as we did a little research in the blogosphere, I stumbled across a couple of painting challenge blogs.  The blogger posts a photo, and painters submit their artistic version by a deadline.  I've decided to start with a challenge from http://rookiepainter.blogspot.com/ .  I'll post what my painting looked like this morning and then in the evening.  I want to use these challenges to experiment with painting techniques.  This time it is outlining.  That will come after I'm sure I've finished the rest.

 And a note to my "followers,"  WHAT A SURPRISE!  It all feels so friendly now.  If you have a blog, I want to follow you, too.