Yes, I am here and I am painting.  Painting not posting.  With the arrival of spring and the balmy air, ample moisture, and sunshine (sort of...it's been really wet) my gardens has gone wild.  BAM!  One day I am admiring how anything survives the cold here and then suddenly WHAM, Where did that plant come from?  My garden is a jungle already!  Since I have a pond here that welcomes birds, they fly in to wet their feathers in it's small waterfalls.  I firmly believe that they are transporting strange fauna in my garden through seed.  Either that or I am tearing out all the great deals I planted last year when the 75% sales occurred.  Come to think of it, that's more likely the case.  I am amazed at all the stuff I can't identify, you know, friend or foe.  Why can't they hybridize them to produce leaf veins that read as bar codes to help classify species.  Well, maybe that's next after we get tired of yet another new cell phone.

Anyway, here's the first in a series of peonies that I am working on.

 And I still think those birds are up to something.