Out for lunch...

I spent today making preparations for our annual POBL illustrator's retreat. This is one of the highlights of our year. Our critique group (the Painters of Bumping Lake) has been going up to one of our member's cabin for a long weekend in September for the past six years (It has been getting longer - this year we are going up on Wednesday! :-). The cabin is an old lodge up in the mountains - with no phone/TV/computer access - and almost no other people access this time of year, so it really feels like a retreat from our normal lives. We spend the weekend painting, hiking, and especially cooking! You like amazing food? Try spending a weekend with a bunch of artists who approach cooking like they do their artwork! A couple of years ago the conditions were just right for an exceptional wild mushroom year, and luckily our hostess has been trained in wild, edible mushrooms and we spent the weekend mushroom hunting, cooking and eating! Mushroom soup! Mushroom tarts! Sauted and dried. It was amazing. It has been so dry this year, we are not optimistic for many mushrooms, but it is always beautiful and a rejuvinating experience.

So I finally had an excuse to spend some quality time outside in the garden whilst picking crookneck squash, cherry tomatoes (tarts this weekend!), greens, herbs and flowers for my part of the cooking for the retreat. Since I was outside, I picked some borage and garlic chive blossoms to garnish my potato soup for lunch. Yummy and lovely.


So while I may not see mushrooms, I am packed up to draw-draw-draw this weekend, making good use of the experienced eyes and commaderie that I will have access to. I'll see you next week!