I'm in Concrete, WA, again painting and working on some illustrations as well as having a little much needed vacation time. I started the trip off well with lots of tea. Since I left 73 degree weather for 37 degree weather, it seemed called for.

5b's bakery here is delightful and does a pot of tea just right, which is rare. They also have a quite lovely cinnamon roll, and it's a beautiful place to sit.

It's been rainy, but I got some landscape sketches in today as research for the book illustrations I'm working on. I'll post them when I get them scanned in. In the meantime, I also visited Sauk Pottery, a local potter who uses enormous wood fired kilns that hold 300 pieces each. Just amazing. Not surprisingly to anyone who knows me, I also bought a tea cup.