After last year's month of mammogram craziness, I decided this year to push my next one into 2011, when Medicare will pay for it.

Last January I bought a house in Bay City, Michigan, with a great studio space, and soon I should be ready to do something interesting with it.

Don't miss at least one of the five holiday fairs I'm doing this year, including the biggest and best: this Sunday's Open House at my Bay City studio, the only sale where my original painting—including original illustrations from my children's books and Lake Effect posters—will be available.

I've read some especially wonderful books lately ....

This year my Studio Open House—my 9th!—will be a 4 to 8 p.m. party on a Sunday, November 22nd. If you can't make it and you like to visit at another time, just call me at 989-894-5925 for an appointment any time before Christmas.

I have an embarrassment of friends and I can't keep up with you all!

It's high mushroom season for us amateur mycologists and I'm finally writing about my 15-year learning curve.

I started making extra-long scarves for the holiday sales after I'd made some for myself that seemed a hit. I sold out.

Snakes, science and survival in the Congo. Harvard University Press, 2009. ISBN 987-0-674-02974-3.

My most recent "commission", finished just two weeks ago, was actually another thank you gift to friends who have let me stay in their Florida condo year after year.