Cinderella, Cinderella...

Turning a cool photo into a painting...

Last year, Woodbine Entertainment initiated a contest to select "The Official Queen's Plate Artist." I did enter, what I thought was a beautiful painting of 2014 winner Lexie Lou, and was disappointed when it didn't make the top five – after all, painting Canadian racehorses is what I do!  Anyway, such is the life of the artist – we have to know how to handle rejection, because we don't always fit with that the powers that be are looking for. I decided to enter again this year, and went with something much more generic – a horse in the walking ring, rider up, groom leading her. I had taken the reference photo last summer at the races, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to paint it.  When they announced the 2016 contest – late enough that I'd been convinced they weren't going to run it – I didn't have a lot of time to contemplate what I was going to paint, and picked up the reference photo, already printed. I managed to get the painting done and entry made a week before the deadline, as I was travelling to San Francisco!

One of the photos I shot that day.

The notification date for the five finalists came and went, and I figured once again my work had been bypassed – though last year they'd sent out an email passing along that information. I went to check out the Plate website, and there was the announcement. Clicked through to see the top five...and there was my painting!  That was a pleasant surprise! Now, the painful part begins - the winner is determined by a voting process, and shameless self-promotion is NOT my strong suit. Popularity contests are not things I win. I'd rather see work chosen on merit than on who has the most friends. That said, I've been humbled by the show of loyal friends who have shown their support in my Facebook posts!

Janet and "Cinderella" – that's what the halter plate says!

Now...the title of this post doesn't mean what you think it might.  The grey filly in the painting, named Letter Fly, was bred by a friend of mine. Due to unfortunate circumstances, my friend had to sell her at the yearling sales. She ended up making her first start as a three-year old in Iowa, of all places. After showing little in those early races, my friend was able to buy her back and return her to Ontario, and she was christened "Cinderella" by the trainer's granddaughter. Here, she's gone from a cheap maiden claimer in Iowa to an allowance winner. She is sound and still racing as a five-year old, but when she no longer wants to be a racehorse, she'll be safe.

So, I hate asking for votes for myself, I really do. Cinderella, on the other hand, is very deserving of them! To vote, visit Woodbine's Queen's Plate website, and scroll down to follow the link that will take you to the  voting site.  There has been a bit of confusion in the voting process – you will need to rate the options given from first to fifth. I hope you enjoy all the artwork that has made the finals!

Stretch Drive!

"Turn For Home," 24 x 30 oil on canvas, framed.

I'm not sure if I written a blog post on the Equis Art Gallery Relocation Campaign or not - the last few months have flown by, despite February seeming to draw on with endless cold temperatures! It's been a year and change since Juliet started the gallery, and one of my favourite paintings sold through the gallery in those early months. Now, the gallery has grown to host an amazing collection of contemporary equine artwork, and Juliet is seeking to move to a larger, storefront space.

You can read about Juliet's story on the campaign page, and take a virtual tour with her through the present gallery space.  You might even catch a glimpse of some of my work.  Any token donation to the venture is appreciated, not only by Juliet but by those of us who are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be part of it.

I've donated my painting, "Turn For Home" to the project, and it's being auctioned on Facebook. You'll find information there on the reserve bid – essentially, this is an opportunity to collect a significant painting at phenomenal savings, and at the same time, pay it forward to the equine art world. If the painting doesn't sell at the auction, it will return to its regular, retail price.  There are many other pieces that have been donated available as well – some really beautiful work which really should be snapped up!  I only wish I had some extra money right now!

As things come down the stretch (of course I have to say that, right?) on the campaign, I'm going to throw an added incentive out there.  I will give you the collector print of your choice (pretty much any image I've painted is available as a collector print)....for any donation over $20.00USD.  Just be sure to mention to Juliet that you are taking advantage of this, and then contact me to provide shipping information for your print.

Thanks for reading – it means a lot to all of us in the gallery!

You've Come A Long Way, Baby....

They all look so sweet when they're sleeping!  5 x 7 oil on panel, sold.

Maybe it all started the day he was conceived - I took Twine up to be bred to Strut the Stage (standing at Colebrook at the time), baby Gracie at her side.  They didn't heed my warnings that she could be tough, not taking proper precautions, and she double-barreled him in the chest.  Poor Strut! I'm sure that did nothing for his self-esteem!  Anyway...about 338 days later, she had a cute little bay baby boy.  This colt had the slickest coat I've ever seen on a foal - clearly he thought he was landing in Florida, not Southwestern Ontario. He made me drag the vet out to tube him his first meal, because he couldn't figure out how to nurse in an acceptable time frame. And so began our series of adventures, which included a black eye for me.  Well, at least he didn't break my nose, like Hugo!

Lean, mean...well he wasn't mean...and fell a little short of being a racing machine! At Woodbine in 2013.

Close...but not quite (he's the one on the outside).

At the track, Leo started off showing promise...though he turned in to a wildman as a three-year-old.  More exploits were added to his list of accomplishments, like running off with his trainer, who gallops her own (the clockers even got a time on him!  No question he was fast!), escaping from his stall and running off down the shedrow, and antics behind the gate on race day which included dropping his rider and taking off, through the barrier and onto the harness racing track.  His best effort was a second place finish where he just missed winning, but then he hurt himself, and was retired.  And for some crazy reason, I said I'd take him.

That was a year and a half ago.  This is Leo today:



First day jumping from a canter!  Just goes to show you - never say never!

New Homes: Found and Wanted

I haven't said anything about what is going on with horse racing in Ontario right now, and it's not something I plan to  really get into on this blog.  Suffice to say it is in a state of transition.  With the changes, a lot of people, and horses, are going to be out of work.

The thing with racing is, there are always horses looking for new homes.  Not all owners are set up with a big farm where their horses can live out their days once they've been retired from the track, so they place them in new homes.  Many ex-racehorses can have second careers.  We have been fortunate to find great homes for the UnStable  gang that have been in this position.  First of the homebreds (well, not including Gracie, who I snagged for myself!), is Billy, Gracie's foal buddy.  Billy is now known as Parker, and is living in Napanee, Ontario.  His new owner has a blog, so hopefully we'll be following Billy's future as an eventer!

Now we are looking for a home for Maria, who was Peaker's weaning buddy in 2007.  Maria is now a 5 year old, and came back to my farm last winter after she sustained a pelvic fracture in a pasture accident.  She has recovered amazingly well, but the owners have decided it would be too much of a risk to breed her (as was the plan) and would like to find a companion/light riding home for her.  Her gait is a bit altered from the injury, which is no surprise, but if she's in pain, she's not letting on!  She feels good and with the cooler weather has been showing off, running and leaping and generally causing concern for her pasture mate.  If you know of anyone who might be interested in giving this lovely mare a home, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Just in case you're pining for some artwork....pop over to my Facebook page for my Virtual Studio Tour.  Each day I'm adding a new original to the album, with special pricing for the month of November.  Hope you'll check it out!

Getting One to the Wire, and Starting a New One!

This weekend I finished what may be my most ambitious painting to date - remember this one? I don't even remember when I started this painting, and I'll admit it had me intimidated more than once! It is, however, complete. Well, I haven't signed it yet - I'll put it away for a week or so and take a final look before I do that part, then sometime after the mares are done with foaling, it will be among those I take to be photographed. This one is 24 x 30 oil on canvas.

As a reward, I let myself start a new one today! I think my working title for this will be, "Not Here, Mom!" Billy used to make the funniest faces as a baby - I have a lot of really silly photos of him. Come to think of it, he still makes some pretty funny faces! Oh well, do boys ever really grow up? ;-) This one is 14 x 18 oil on linen. It's always fun to start a new painting, and you know how much I love doing mares and foals.

They're All Growing Up!

It's been kind of a significant week here at the farm. Last Tuesday Gracie went from the training centre into Woodbine - there have been plenty of days in the last year and a half I didn't think that would ever happen. There are no guarantees she'll make it to the races, but this is a big step. I went in to visit her this morning. She's just going to the sand ring right now, and working through things like tire marks and puddles, because you know, those things are scary! When the water comes out of a hose, however, it's all good, as long as she gets a drink first.


Gracie's arrival means there are three homebreds at the track now. She's next to her old buddy Billy. Next to Billy is Medz, aka Rupert, and then we have Maria, and Peaker (the oldest homebred). It was pretty cool to see them all.


Friday, the two yearlings left for the training centre. They won't start the next stage of their education till September, but it was a big step in that direction. They both looked so handsome in their shiny new halters with nameplates...which they promptly checked out.


Jubie's little girl is a mere two months old now, though she trains herself every day, tearing around. A year from now it will be her I load on the trailer. She is growing up so fast - I can't believe how big she is already! By then, we will have welcomed a new crop of babies to keep the dream alive. Maybe one of them will make it big!

Where I'd Rather Be?

I'm hard at work on the painting of Somebeachsomewhere - hence my title! It's usually in the dead of winter when I'm freezing out at the barn holding horses that this horse's name comes to mind. I have to admit, it's one of my favourite racehorse names ever. I think he's probably given his owners a lifetime's worth of tickets to such destinations!


I told myself I wasn't going to post this painting until I was done, but I can't help giving a bit of a teaser. While I'm really happy with the composition (and hope I'm not the only one that finds it appealing!) I've been a little unhappy with the paint-to-panel part, until tonight. I had to get past the pressure and just paint - try and recapture some of that freedom I have when I'm doing the daily paintings. With a painting like this, which I know is going to be seen by a lot of people, I spend a lot of time worrying whether it will measure up. For now, at least, I have to forget that. The photo quality isn't best, which is the norm for pics of wet paintings taken at night!

Out at the barn, the latest layup - who has actually been here more than two months now - is ready for some turnout! Seeing her outside, I'm just amazed at how big our little Miss Peaks is. She's not looking like the svelte filly I took photos of at Woodbine this spring right now! She's a 'good doer' as the saying goes - Peaks likes to eat! Twine and Leo were definitely nosy neighbours! That's Peaks above, and I'm sure you can figure out Twine and Leo!

Okay...back to work. I'm going to try and put a bit more time into the painting before calling it quits for the night.

Preakness pARTy!

Well, we're at it again. Kim Santini and I did another 'paint-off' today to commemorate tomorrow's Preakness Stakes. The photo was supplied by our mutual friend, photographer Juliet Harrison. Thanks, Juliet! To see the image we worked from visit the Virtual pARTy blog. That's where you'll also be able to see both our paintings.

My motto for today was "work smarter, not harder!" The breeding season has been throwing me curve balls this year, and so far 'the team' is striking out! Today was another vet visit to check the status of a couple of the mares - my vet comes often enough these days that my dogs don't bother to announce his arrival anymore! Anyway, all that meant I knew my time to paint might be limited , as I called making the latest round of arrangements after I had the necessary information regarding the girls...on top of the usual barn chores. I decided to go with a pretty extreme crop of the reference image, and then chose a piece of precious Artfix linen on which to work, as I know paintings all but paint themselves on this surface (now that I seem to have figured it out!).

The result: 10 x 16, oil on linen, tentatively titled 'Eye on the Prize.' As much as I love to see fillies beat the boys, I have to maintain my loyalty to Mine That Bird tomorrow, and join in on the rain dance headed by my friends at Pine Valley! I saw Gemini Caine last weekend when I was in at the track....yes, I was the one yelling through the tunnel to the main track, "How's the person that BROKE THE DERBY WINNER?" So...first things first, wishing everybody a safe trip tomorrow...and looking forward to seeing how the drama plays out!

Visiting Day

Two years and three months ago, I welcomed a chestnut filly into the world. She was big and well-made from day one. I'm talking about Clever's first foal, Peaker (by Peaks and Valleys). Last week I learned she was to breeze her first quarter this morning, so I got up early, fed and kicked the home kids out of the barn, and headed to Woodbine. As a bonus, a couple of the other horses were scheduled to work, including Maria, Peaker's pasture buddy from last summer, and someone you should all be familiar with from this winter: Medz!


It was pretty cold for May, which means all the horses were feeling good, and all the people were complaining! At least it wasn't raining - or hailing, which is what happened at Woodbine yesterday (and thankfully avoided us here to the west). Peaker is looking great, and must be a 2-3 inches taller than when she left last August. She breezed like a star. Not that I'm biased or anything. That's her trainer, my friend Lorna, on her.


Speaking of growing, Maria has really shot up. I'd been told how tall she'd gotten, and they weren't telling me stories! She worked in company with a couple of other two-year olds - here the three of them are just galloping before their breeze. She's the bay with the big star on the rail, once again with Lorna (and an extra layer of clothing!).


Last of the morning was my boy Medz. He was working a little farther, so I actually got some good photos of him already in flight. Such a handsome boy – doesn't he look like Secretariat? :-D Again, absolutely no bias there!

It's been a long time since I had to get up every morning and go into the track for work, and on a cold day like today, I was happy I was merely a photographer! Just standing out there to watch the horses train was brutal with the wind - it's that much colder on the back of a horse! Only one runner from the barn this afternoon - Ziggy (pictured below). I would have like to stay to watch Ziggy run, but had to come back and do my own job, so I'll be popping over to Mohawk to catch the race.


When I got back home and went to the barn to check on things there, Gracie and Billy looked so small! Maybe a year from now it will be one, or both, of them I'm going to watch get a first taste of speed. Just another step on the path to being a racehorse.

How Are Things at Your End?

You might think we horse artists are a strange bunch. And I should probably retract my comments about cliché from yesterday's post after I explain that statement. Yes, eyes are a very popular thing to study, paint, and photograph. You know what other part of the horse a number of us seem to like to depict? The other end.

I don't think non-horse people understand that at all. They just seem to think of a bunch of tired jokes about this part of a horse's anatomy, whereas to a horse person, the hind end is a very important piece of equipment. The musculature is just amazing, I think more so than any other part of the horse. You might hear racehorse people call it "the engine." It's certainly where the power comes from. I've done a lot of paintings prominently featuring the hindquarters, and I know I'm not the only artist out there to do so...yet I've never heard any artist make the claim that they were first to do a butt shot, whereas I have when it comes to eyes! Funny.

Today's painting is 6 x 8 oil on Raphel linen panel. As Saturdays have had a racehorse theme to them, I picked a photo of a horse in the walking ring at Woodbine to work from. I hope you notice the checkers - that's the pattern you see on his rump. When I worked at the track, we always brushed in checkers. I love seeing a horse with them, and they were kind of fun to paint.

Only had one person try to guess who yesterday's horse was, so I figure either I made everyone mad with my discourse, or, more likely, no one is even reading this! I'm not offended by the look at the picture an run approach...but all the same I'll be quiet now! It's getting close to the end of the month, I might be getting a bit silly here! If you're reading...thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Saturday at the Races

I'd kind of hoped to get to the races today...how I think that's possible right now, I don't know! Fortunately Sun TV was once again showing some races from Woodbine, so I was happy. I decided to do another racehorse painting, which is a challenge for this daily painting thing because racing paintings tend to be a bit complex. So this is what I went with.

My reference photo was from Queen's Plate Day last year, and this is a crop of an already close-cropped photo I took in the walking ring of the winner, Not Bourbon. By cropping it I didn't have to deal with hands and shanks and the bit, that sort of thing! I still need to do a racing painting of last year's Plate. This year is the 150th running, and that fact has my brain working a bit. I'm sure you'll hear more about that eventually.

I decided to treat myself and use a Raphael linen panel for this. It's still just 5 x 7, but the surface is just so amazing to paint on. I also threw the limited palette out for this one. Yes, this is what an artist does for fun....

Just for *more* fun I'm going to add a photo of the new kid and Clever. I think a video of what came before this would be more entertaining. This colt is following in his half-brother Billy's footsteps when it comes to being caught - it's a bit of a rodeo, hence the smile! He was a bit better today than yesterday, at least!

Time to go clean brushes...hope you'll check in again tomorrow!

Welcome To The Planet...

I have to admit at one point today I stopped and thought, "Okay...what was I thinking?" Today was a good example of what I'm dealing with this month. I did anticipate yesterday that it would be a challenge to get a painting done, so I did my sketch last night. Hope you all don't think that's cheating! I really wanted to paint this one, and I knew it would be a little complex so it was worth taking the time last night working through the drawing, after I posted yesterday's kickstart painting.

First I'll give you the details on this little oil. It probably wasn't the best day to experiment, but for the first time, I thought I'd try to paint...on paper! I've always loved the look of oil "sketches" on paper, and this was my debut attempt. The paper is 100lb Bristol Smooth, which is key - the paper has to be heavy enough to support the weight of the oil. I've worked in oil pastels for years, so seeing some of the oil leech through the back of the paper doesn't concern me. I'm fairly light-handed with my paints, so the coverage is pretty transluscent. Surprisingly, as I look at the back of it now, there is no oil showing through. It's approximately 11 x 8, and done with my usual limited palette of Burnt Umber, Cadmium Red Medium, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White. I worked with the white ground, whereas with a canvas or panel I would tone the ground.

The biggest difference between painting on paper and on canvas is that the paper is very absorbent by comparison. For one, that means drying time is much faster, but it also means the paint handles completely differently on the surface. That was the main challenge, and why this piece is, well, more detailed than I expect most of my work to be this month. I had to be very careful every time I put brush to paper.

Now, on to the story! While I would like to tell you this is Clever's new foal...it's not! Clever is still waiting, unconcerned. This is our boy Leo, shortly after he was born, February 9. Hard to believe he's seven and a half weeks now. He's grown up so much! When the foals are born I always find myself saying, "Welcome!" because they really are coming from another world! I joke that Leo made the wrong stop - he came out with that sleek racehorse coat, not very appropriate for Ontario in the middle of February. There's a song by Switchfoot that would be my theme song for today, and really a very good song for a horse racing story soundtrack, in my opinion. Check out the words and let me know what you think. Some of my favourite lyrics are in this song:

The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be...

So the day...if you don't want to know, feel free to stop reading now! First and foremost, it was beautiful! Sunny and clear. Spring! The vet was out in the morning to check Twine and Gladys to see if we might have some breeding to do anytime soon - and Twine is ready. Gladys had her first swab. I won't tell you about that if you don't know what it is - suffice to say we ended up sedating her for the procedure. I took advantage of that state to also pull her mane, because that's not her favourite exercise! Apparently then I was on a roll, and after taking a shedding blade to Monster, I decided I had to pull her mane too, so she wouldn't look quite as scruffy beside Glad!

They all got turned out, and I went into the house to see if I could get this breeding arranged for Twine. At first it wasn't looking promsing - the stallion is very busy right now, and the only time available was tomorrow morning, which I knew wasn't good for the van driver. Long story short...he's going to take her up early tomorrow morning, then she and Leo will stay at the farm for a few hours till he gets all his racehorses shuttled back and forth to Woodbine.

All right...probably more than you wanted to know. Add to all that my usual stall cleaning...I think it was about 4pm when I wondered why I felt so light-headed and realized I hadn't eaten since 8am...but that's the way it goes, most days!

Okay...enough babbling. Remember to check my online store at Etsy if you're interested in any of these paintings. I really like little Leo here....so you'd better act quick if you do too...he might not be there for long!

See you tomorrow!

Chestnut Fillies Rule!

Around here, we don't buy into that belief that chestnut mares and fillies are evil. Gracie is quick to point out the likes of Ginger Brew who made Not Bourbon work for his Plate victory this year. I've done the three chestnut boys this week - Jay, Mute, and Medz - so it's time for a girl! Miss Peaks isn't on the farm right now, as she's started her under-saddle racehorse education, but I wasn't about to leave her out of my project - she's much too special! As I'm doing the horses on the farm by age, from oldest to youngest, Peaker was next in line. The reference for this painting was taken shortly before she headed to the training centre. I miss my girl!


I realised this morning that I'd forgotten to tone a panel last night. While I could have done it first thing this morning and given it time to dry, that's what I did yesterday and the tone was lifting off too easily, so I found a piece of masonite that I had prepared with shellac instead of gesso. As you can see from the in-progress shot, this means I'm starting with a ground that is dark. The surface is also very slick, and very non-absorbent. That's why this piece is more blended that some of the ones I've done this week on gessoed panel. The smoothness and the fact that the paint dried more slowly make it very different to work with.

So here we have our Miss Peaks, 10 x 8 oil on shellacked masonite, using the usual limited palette. I also forgot to clean my brushes last night, which is borderline disastrous. There's no better way to shorten the life of your brushes! What am I going to go do now? Tone a couple of panels so I'm covered for the next few days, then clean those brushes! After that, I believe I have a word count to catch up on! See you tomorrow!

The Curragh Beats Out Mini Eggs

I got the barn done quite quickly today, which left me with some extra time – well, when I decided I did not need to go out to the grocery store in hopes of finding a 1 kilo bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs, half-price after Easter. Painting would be much more productive…and probably healthier, at least in the short term!

My painting of the fillies in the snow is currently wet after the work I did on it yesterday. Ghost Groom needs a couple of little touch-ups before I call it done. Monster needs some methodical work, and the underpainting of the racehorses is ready for colour. I decided I wanted to start something new this afternoon, though; something to make use of one of the sample package of Raymar panels that arrived last week. I flipped through a pile of photographs and pulled out one I’ve had set aside for ages (yes, there are lots of those). It depicts a dark bay racehorse circling at the start of one of the gallops on the Curragh in Ireland, and fit the bill for what I was looking for.

Outside, despite the supposed arrival of Spring last Thursday, Winter has returned like Ben Folds Five’s Steven:

“We thought he was gone, but he’s come back again.
Last week it was funny, now the joke’s wearing thin….”

The horses came in early as a result, which worked out well. I just started with a brush, sketching out the drawing on the panel I’d toned this morning and the resulting progress was wet. Now that the horses are taken care of, it’s dry and ready for some more work. We’ll see how far I get tonight!

The forecast predicted a combination of rain and snow, but what’s going on out there is big, fluffy flakes. I’m sure the roads are slippery, and I’m glad I don’t have to drive anywhere tonight. A good reason to stay in front of the easel! Maybe I’ll have an update at the end of the evening.

Saratoga Dreaming, January Edition

I put my "First Time Past" painting aside today for a rest (for both of us!) and started work on a new one. This will be my second on Artfix linen, so we'll see if I learned anything from my struggles. It's an 8 x 10 oil, so less surface area to cover!

I took the reference for this painting on my first trip to Saratoga, in 2003. As someone who has spent a lot of time on the backstretch, this is a familiar scene. It was summer, of course, and after training each day, a horse is bathed (say it "bath'd" with the 'a' short...we don't "bathe" or "wash" racehorses!), and then walked. Naturally their feet get dirty again as they walk, so before going back in the stall, the groom will wash the horse's feet and dry the legs with a towel. It's all part of the routine...one that starts around 5AM, or did for me, way back when it was what I did for a living!

I've had this photo set aside for a long time. It's always appealed to me, but I wasn't sure I liked the composition as shot. With the painting, I've actually added the right foreleg as it wasn't visible in the photo, and it just didnt' look correct without it. You can kind of see me starting to work out how it should look as I go. I'm not done yet - I'm really only blocking in an underpainting of Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium white so far, though I'm taking a few liberties and using the colour as colour. Just couldn't help it! The surface was toned with a light wash of Raw Sienna before I started. I'm really happy with how it came along today.

Spending some time on this little breather should let me get back to the larger, more complicated racing painting with some added inspiration. Right now, it's looking like time for bed!

A Virtual Trip West

Can it really be called painting avoidance when one is still painting?

Most of this week I've spent working on a couple of those Equine Art Guild pARTy paintings, to flesh them out a bit and make them more finished. They're still studies, not to the level of detail of my more "serious" work, but I think they still have a certain appeal! I've put some good work into my Thoroughbred racehorse "Pause" painting this week as well, and could very well finish it this weekend. Yeah!!!

This one still needs a title - any ideas? It's a 10 x 12 oil painting on canvas. And thanks again to Donna Ridgeway for her great photos. I've only seen Montana through Donna's photos, but I sure love the colours and landscape. She's hosted another of these events and I've got my pic chosen for that one. I am, however, very behind in the game!

We lost all our snow this week, sadly! Only good thing about it, is it took the ice on the driveway with it too. This time when I go to the chiropractor for my monthly sorting out, I won't have any major issues to complain about after slipping on the ice!

Well, back out to the barn to walk my post-op and get those stalls done. Then back to the easel this afternoon! More later!

So I Know You Want to See Her!

Okay, aren't we overdue for some baby pics here? I know I've committed myself to finish the paintings I have in progress before delving into any of this little girl, but that doesn't mean I can't show off some pics of her. She's three weeks old today! These first two were taken her first day out, two days old. The others at different times in the past week.
Tony and Diane are calling her Peaker, and she gets a series of variations from me! Amazing how often "peek" comes into one's conversation. I'm always taking a "quick peek" or I'll "sneak a peak"! Miss Peaks, Peaksie...but often it's just "Baby!!" That never fails to turn her head and often gets a cute little rumble from her throat!

So now for some photos! Take a "peak"!

Racehorse!

Wheeeeee!

All that hard work! Time for a nap!!