Mosaic Art

One of the things I have been wanting to do but didn't have time for was being creative.  I had done a couple of mosaic classes in Yosemite the last couple years and scheduled another one for last week.  Above is this year's project, dogwood flowers.  They go with the last projects which were Half Dome and a giant sequoia tree.  I need to figure out a way to frame them.

This is the 4th class that I have taken with this instructor and have become friendly with her.  She also is friends with the gal who I went with, who is also a mosaic artist.  So after the class we all had lunch together and it was fascinating to listen to them talk about mosaic art and the people they know who are involved.  One of the coolest things is they go on trips to Italy to study mosaic art and create in local studios.

Big News - I have retired!

My last official day was May 1, 2026, although I was easing out since the end of January.  My last big hurrah was accepting an Emeritus Award from Ethisphere, an organization that has been championing business ethics for decades.  

I traveled to Atlanta to accept the award in front of a crowd that included 14 of my team mates.  The entire leadership team of the legal department came to see me accept the award.  It was truly such an honor and so humbling to receive such a meaningful award.  I have always done this work simply because I felt that it was the right thing for my company, the industry and the business world.  It was so nice to see that the hard work for 36 years was noticed.

Now that I have moved onto gardening, hiking, reading and looking for a board to join, I hope to find more time to blog my adventures.

Chickpea Chicken Salad Recipe

 

Filling

2 14 ounce cans of chickpeas drained
1 pink lady apple diced

1 stalk of celery diced

1 small shallot (or you can use red onions) - add more if you like onions
1/4 cup of sliced almonds

Dressing

1/2 cup of mayo
1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt (when I didn't have yogurt, I used sour cream)

4 teaspoons of dijon mustard

2 tsp of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon each, pepper and salt.

Instructions

Roughly smash the chickpeas with a fork or your hands.  Mix all the fillings into the chickpea mixture.  Stir all the dressing ingredients together and add to the chickpea mixture.  Let it sit in the fridge for at least a few hours before serving.

Note - do one and a half recipes of the dressing!

---