Only in Colorado…I just went out to shovel yesterday’s few inches of snow, still wearing my light pajamas and a light sweater – no gloves. It was only 5 degrees F, but the sun was out and I was never cold!

Okay, now for the Best and Worst of my driving experience in Ireland — you decided which is which. (At the end of this post is a picture of the current painting I’m working on – horses from Ireland.)

It’s always best if my husband is the navigator/map person on our trips, so I became the designated driver (DD) for the week. Steve would have gladly spelled me from time to time, and Katy certainly was willing to drive, but we discovered that it would have doubled our already ridiculously expensive car-rental rate to add a second driver!!

It was so strange walking to the right side of the car to get in to drive:

I had to learn (fast) how to shift with my left hand. Not only that, but I had to look in all the wrong places now for my mirrors. My rear-view mirror was now to the left, and my side-view mirror was now on my right.

The accident rate has dropped dramatically in Ireland, they say, ever since they added a little sticker to the windshield in front of the driver, telling us to “Drive on Left.”

Having never driven on the left side of the road before, I needed all the help I could get. Steve was my left-side eyes and was constantly telling me if I was too close to something, like a parked car (the roads were extremely narrow and were often shared with semis and RVs!). Many cars we saw were all scraped up on the left side, or their mirrors were broken off!

Katy was my rear-view eyes. She alerted me once (shrilly, thankfully) just before I backed into a castle!

But without my trusty Backseat Drivers to keep me awake during our many lo-0-0-0ng excursions, I could never have done it. (Except when they were BOTH asleep!)

Present: After snatching a few minutes here, a few minutes there to work on this painting, I have observed it for awhile now and know exactly where I want to end up after my next stint with it.

Lately, I have been spending my time reworking many of my paintings. Hey, if they haven’t sold yet, then I can keep improving them whenever I get the urge. I have been getting the urge.