>Another wonderful day painting with "the Grey Ladies"

>I think that’s a kinda catchy name for our little foursome of painters who’re either retired or over 50 or both and I’ll gladly introduce you to the other girls if I get their permission.

Today, we painted at Lucilla’s home in a quaint old neighborhood in West Nashville.  Described as a “little jewelry box” by Lynne, even the gardens are adorable here.  And as I walked into the house, Lucilla explained that when she bought there some eight years ago, the home had a lawn but no shrubs or flowers or anything.  Today, lovely paths wind their way to the front and throughout the lovely shady backyard, with fragrant flowers harkening back to a simpler era before microwaves and home computers. 

I brought my watercolors and a pad and played while Margot gave Lucilla an acrylic lesson on painting skies.  Margot’s famous for hers but I have to say, the one Lucilla laid down was a close second.  Lynne joined us an hour or so later (note to world:  her parents warned me when I met them that there’s “regular people time” and there’s “Lynne time.”  She thought our painting date was tomorrow.  Nevertheless, she came through with a pair of sugar baby melons to accompany Lucilla’s fabulous vegetarian spread consisting of “Poor Man’s Caviar,” Capanota,an Italian Rice Salad, wonderful cheeses, and more. Warning:  the links I’ve included are for recipes I found on the web for these type of dishes, but Lucilla shared with me the real heirloom recipes and are far better than these, from what I can tell.

Speaking of Lucilla, I won’t give all the details about this lovely woman unless and until I get her permission.  Suffice it to say I love her dearly.  Aside from her constant habit of denigrating herself, I’d say she is close to flawless in character and I am so happy to have her in my life.  She is brilliant in ways that matter (to me at least), well-traveled, cultured, and willing to take risks and push envelopes and say what she feels.  A gem of a person for whom the little “jewelry box” of a home is perfect.

I would fear that these painting dates could become perverted by friendship, food and fun as have my Germantown Bridge dates, but we all marvelled at how much we painted and accomplished on our respective canvasses and papers by the end of it.

Next week, we’re headed to Lynne’s home.  Lucilla or Margot dryly warned her we’d be there at 5 a.m. to make sure she was ready for us.  Lynne sweetly smiled and said that’d be perfect, we can all wear our jammies!