Morning Birds

One of my favorite ways to spend a weekend morning is to rise early, sit at the table on the deck with a fresh cup of coffee, a home decor magazine, and simply enjoy the tranquility of the morning.

I love early morning - I love the relative quiet, the hope and promise of a day not yet started, birdsong, first light...all of it. Just as Spring is my favorite season, early morning is my favorite time of day - especially when I'm allowed to just enjoy it.

Today I woke before my Oldtimer. (Well, technically, that's not true. He was up about 3 AM because the dogs were barking like madmen, and he decided to take advantage of the hour and watch the US/Spain Olympic basketball game - but he was back in bed by 6:15 when I rose.) I took my fresh cup of coffee to the deck (have I mentioned yet how much I love this Keurig coffee maker?) and soaked in the morning.

The birds have been incredibly busy and noisy the last week or so. Maybe they know that fall, and then winter, aren't too far away. Maybe this year's hatchlings are now adults, and we simply have more birds. Maybe our old dogs and cat have slowed down and the birds are just bolder. Whatever it is, I love the morning birdsong.

The Northwest end of our deck is over-shadowed by a huge old pine tree. It seems to house any number of different birds, plus the occasional chittering squirrel. Today, the bluejays were particularly raucous, bringing things to the branches and beating them open. Bluejays have two distinct calls - their shrill "Thief! Thief!" sound (which Lolo always said was a diversionary tactic, since they are often the thief), and the other odd but rhythmic sound which, to my ears, is the sound of a squeaky old pump handle, being worked to bring up water.

While sitting at the table, the wonderful scent of butterfly bush kept wafting around the corner. I can't see it from my favorite morning spot, and I'm surprised it's not all blossomed out for the year, but just a few remaining blossoms put the lovely scent on the air.

Before I had the sense to get a camera, I heard a loud whirring sound, and saw the iridescent green hummingbird just off my left shoulder. He drank from the jasmine, and then the purple petunias, before darting off over the roof. There was also a charming nuthatch, which never returned once I picked up the camera, nor did the goldfinch.

My dad (Hawkshaw, to many) loved the sound of the Red Wing Blackbird. They would perch on the cattails and tall weeds around a pond, and I always thought their sound was that of a wind-up toy. I was surprised to see a couple working the ground this morning.

Some flocks of birds are feeding in the grass. My guess is that it's harvest season, and even lawn grass is trying to put out seeds when it can.

Worked on a "diva doll" yesterday. So far, she's not looking much like a diva - but she sure is acting like one!

Feeding Fish

Every evening, between about 6:30 and 7:30, we go to the pond and feed the fish. We have "naturals" and goldfish, and some that appear to be a cross between the two. We have at least two large fish, who really can't be much more than a year old, but huge compared to the others.

I think I could stand there for hours, tossing floating pellets on the water and watching them gulp and nibble - it's almost meditative for me. I find it fascinating to watch for the "east end lunker," who simply moves to the surface, opens his mouth, and the pellets flow in, as though drawn to the vortex. Then there are the little minnows near the pond edge...brave little things, valiantly working on a pellet that is nearly the same size as they are! You see them bump and nibble, and at times look as though they have it trapped in their mouths. They work and work at those pellets, never giving up. Sometimes a big turtle passes through, but he's shy. The most we'll see is a head that peers over the ripples at us, and then drops back down. We've had both great blue and green herons this year, but I'm not ready to share my fish with them yet. I walk down with the camera, and being the camera shy birds they are, they flap away.

I know the time isn't far off when the pond will be iced over, and my evening ritual will evolve to something other than fish observation and feeding. For now, however, it makes my day.

The Hardest Working Man in Cleveland...

...maybe in Ohio! Maybe beyond. Can you tell I'm feeling a bit guilty? I took some "me" time this weekend, I really felt I needed it. Oldtimer calls it "soul trips." So, while he set his sights on completed yardwork, and weed-free gardens, I did things like talk on the phone, take a trip to an antique shop, and specialty grocery shopping.

So here he is - 8:30 pm, and still working away...

And really, I did do some chores, like water plants, sweep cobwebs out of both porches, laundry, and dust & rearrange some decor elements, I didn't do nearly the things Oldtimer did. I did, however, get this sweet little blue pitcher...

and this nice soft blue footed dish...

I did fix a really nice dinner last night - and brought home candy. Life requires flowers, too, don't you think?

PS - For those who asked, our cocker spaniel, Buddy, had his surgery last Monday and came through just fine. We found out on Thursday that the tumor was benign. He is as wriggly and happy as ever, and the fur has already started to grow back on his bottom!

The First Pink Day

Love Squared

Today's the kick-off party for Love Squared - The Pink Artist Project. In honor of the first day, I'm going to do a re-post of what it meant to me to participate in this project.

***********************

In what I believe must be record time, the incredible Monica Magness (Girl-Gone-Thread-Wild) conceived a beautiful and loving project, gathered little pieces of art from an amazing number of artists, put it all together in a fabulous, fabulous doll called Love Squared, which will soon be raffled to raise money for breast cancer research. Here’s a view of the back of the now complete doll:

Monica asked those of us who participated to make a dedication for our part in the doll. If I can write this without breaking down in tears too many times, I’d like to say…
My dedication is to the grandmother I never knew, who lost her battle to cancer before I was born. She gave birth to 10 incredible individuals, giving me my mother, 7 aunts, and 2 uncles. Those aunts (two of whom have already lost a battle to cancer, one of whom is battling - again - right now) and uncles were a daily part of my life, giving me the richest and most unique childhood one could ask for.

My dedication extends further to my younger cousin Denys, daughter of one of those glorious aunts, who is a breast cancer survivor and still with us to raise her beautiful daughters.

And a dedication to my sweet daughter Genevieve, who began doing the Walk for the Cure last year, because she feels things so deeply.

And finally, to my friend Phyllis, also a survivor, an inspiration, and the one who alerted me to the project. Thanks for your friendship, Phyl.

**********
Monica gave us permission to lift the photos and share our contributions on our blog. I’ve done so above, but I have to tell you, my submission is such a small part of it all - the synergy of all those who worked together, and the impact of Monica’s vision is the real story here. Bless you, Monica, for making all our lives so much richer.

Please go to Monica’s blog and see more details of the doll, other prizes, and how to enter the drawing. Prepare to be awestruck. (And might I suggest you prepare to open your hearts and wallets?) Thank you.

Kate's Vest

I've been part of a wearable art round robin group since last fall. There are 8 artists (I think all from the dollmaking community) working on each piece of clothing as it comes around. I've had Kate's vest for a while, knowing I wanted to do something with hands on the front, but not quite how to put it together. (Note that it's hanging in my lilac by the deck.)

Each article of clothing travels with a journal, and Kate's instructions were to do something to the vest that celebrates being a woman, what it means to you to be a woman. Once I read her request, and considering the 8 artists in the round robin, I knew I wanted to show hands - hands that do so much. (Incidentally, there's a nude flying woman on the back, embellished, and Anne Hesse did an amazing large beaded face for one of the pockets that will be on the front.)

So...last weekend I worked on those hand doodles (Zentangles - see below), and decided to take the scan of those, print it on fabric, and use them to make at least one hand on the front of Kate's vest. I misted them with one of the Adirondack sprays and a glimmer mist, and used one of the hands to represent the spiritual/mystical aspect. The top hand represents the artistic/feminine, and the bottom hand represents the earthy/nurturing. Each hand has a symbolic decorative element at the wrist (pulse point), and I have a metallic thread that swoops from one hand to the other to connect them all.

There are still three artists remaining to work on Kate's vest...I hope she'll be happy when it returns to her (fortunately, we aren't keeping our work secret). I'm anxious for my purple wool felt jacket to return - I love what I've seen so far.

Mamma Mia!

Oldtimer wrote me a note yesterday afternoon - inviting me to a movie date. Sweet, sweet man. We went all out - movie tickets, AND popcorn and drinks. How do young people afford dating these days, when a simple movie date with drinks costs about $30?

But I digress...we saw Mamma Mia! and we both enjoyed every single minute of it. Singing, dancing, beautiful scenery, and Meryl Streep - you can't go wrong in my book.

Ah....Meryl Streep. Is there ANYTHING that woman can't do? She did her own singing in the movie, plus a bit of wall-scaling and dancing. I was mesmerized, I was inspired...what a feel-good movie AND one in which the audience actually applauded parts!

As we walked to our vehicle, my Oldtimer, the man who does NOT believe in purchasing movies for viewing at home told me that's one we'll be buying. Gotta love a man who enjoys a musical.

Brugmansia - "Before & After"

Remember I told you in the post about the weekend that the brugmansia blossom color would morph over the next few days? Here it is - the very same blossom - the top photo was taken the day the flower opened, the next photo was taken two days later. When there are several flowers open, you'll see a single plant with two or three different color blossoms. I find that fascinating.

Why?

Why do people put those music things on their blogs? Do they set their computer home page to their own blog and leave it there so they can sit and listen to their favorite music? Do they think that other people certainly have the same taste in music? Do they realize that some folks sneak a peek at their reading list while working at a desk in an office? Or while the baby is sleeping at midnight? Do they not know that some folks are still on slow connections and it makes their page load a little slower? Perhaps I'm already playing MY favorite music through the computer, and don't need the jolt from the cacophony of sounds.

I know I'm sound sensitive, I'll give you that. But I find myself getting crankier and crankier about telephone hold music, elevator music, music tastes foisted on me by others. Enough with the noise pollution, already. I read your blog, I love what you have to say, I love your eye candy, I read your profile...but keep your music to yourself, would you? If you can't do that, could you at least set it so your reader has the option to turn it on and find out more about you and what you love, rather than scrambling to turn it off? Thank you.

Notes from the Weekend

My Spare Parts Round Robin doll (from the Crazy Art Dolls group) came home last week. Here's a shot of the finished doll. I need to take more detailed photos, but I thought a total shot was a good start. (I'm particularly fond of the shoes).

I was able to do a few creative things this weekend - such as this art journal prompt focused on hands - and Zentangles (start here, if you are interested). I also started on a pair of wild print pants.

We worked long and hard on Saturday, getting the pond weeded and trimmed. This required a climb into the pond, complete with muck in the shoes, in order to work on the edge. We have hundreds, maybe thousands, of fish - both goldfish and "naturals." They are curious - when we got into the water, they would bump and nuzzle our legs. At one point, Oldtimer was kneeling in the water and as he stood up and began to dance, he revealed that a fish had gotten into his shorts! The only excitement I got out of the deal was a blistered knee - hard to believe that kneeling on a thistle could do that much damage.

Flowers are gorgeous right now.

Though most of the hydrangea blooms blue, this one blossom has a hint of pink - and a few petals from the geranium above.

This is another hydrangea, called Endless Summer.

See this brugmansia blossom? Tomorrow it will have morphed to a lovely shade of pinky-peach.

Oldtimer & Cosmo love the evening hours on the deck.

A Mail Giftie!

A couple months ago, I hosted a fabric cone swap on the CPS list - cones done in the style of Ruth Rae, whose blog is listed over there on the right. My friend Phyllis felt as though she couldn't participate at the time, but she was later moved to make a cone anyway. Just so happens she made it in my favorite colors, and then gifted me with it. Aqua is a color that just makes me so happy - it's the perfect color for me.
Here's a photo of the cone, hanging on my front door:

And this is what it looks like from the inside looking out:
You can also see my newly painted rockers through the window. We got them painted a couple weeks ago - they had been varnished wood which was terribly worn. Now I just have to make a couple of cushions for the rockers. I have the fabric chosen - I just need to remember how to fire up the serger!

Thanks Phyllis - I just love this fabric cone. I'll post photos of this month's gifties soon!

The Lilac Bush

The photo above is of my aunt Beatrice and my mother - Lolo, of course. It's one I've loved in the past (confident Bea, shy Lolo), and recently arrived in my email, as my dear uncle has been scanning old family photos and sharing them. My uncle, always an important big brother figure in my life, was the fifth child and first boy in a family of 10 children. I could go on and on about the importance of my mother's siblings in my life, but I'll save that for now.


What intrigues me is the pose in front of the lilac bush. That lilac figures into many, many of the photos of my mother and her siblings. One of the clearest photos I have of my grandmother, the one I've set most as my image of her, captures her standing near the lilac in a dark coat. Someday, I think I'll go through the family photo album and count just how many photos were taken near the lilac.


When I was a child, we moved a lot. On my parents 16th wedding anniversary, they had moved 16 times - I went to 9 different schools. Sometimes I was able to stay in one school for a couple of years, but in third grade, I attended three different schools. I always figured that my dad, having lost both legs in WWII, was restless due to his limited mobility. Lolo tried to nest and make a pleasant home in every new place.


Everywhere we went, my mother planted a lilac. Sometimes they took a year or two to bloom, sometimes we got to see a blossom or two the very first year...and then we'd move. Lolo always said that getting a new lilac to bloom made us move!


I married very young the first time. My now-ex and I bought our first home on his 21st birthday. Continuing the tradition, I planted lilacs. We moved. He and I owned four different houses, and seemed to move every time the lilacs bloomed. Oldtimer and I lived in the house in NC for eight years, and yes, I finally got a lilac to bloom there - not easy in NC.



I'm glad this house came with the lilac already planted and blooming.

Out and about - plants

We ran errands on the Fourth. The home of James Garfield (20th US President) is near my office, and I always admire it this time of year when the clematis are blooming across the entire front porch. We decided to stop and get photos. I love this side view of the porch with the blooming clematis and the detail of the woodwork:
Here's a long side shot of the porch:
And here's a view of the entire front of the house. Note the beautiful blue sky:
Also on the grounds, this charming dogwood. I'm told it's a Japanese dogwood:
While certainly no elegant Garfield home, I'm pretty happy with how our yard and deck are shaping up. Here's a view from the yard, up to the deck. The Acer Maple is doing so well, and the hostas have filled in beautifully:

If I had my way, I would have one of every hydrangea possible. This one's just beginning to show its baby blue coloring:
Of course, our work would not be complete if we didn't have hanging pots and shepherd hooks:
I killed off all the hen-n-chicks I got last year. (I think I over-watered them.) I'm trying again with just one this year, in a pretty pot on the railing:
The Persian Shield wintered over ok, but the stems got a little sparse looking, and the purple color faded from the leaves. It's starting to shape up again now:

The Weekend in Photos

Pond visited (Green Heron)

Deck flowered

Guest room fluffed...

...from both directions

Iris transplanted (in 3 locations)

Tami wins :-)

I've sent Tami a private note, but just in case she doesn't see it...

Tami, you are lucky #4, so you win the little give-away. Send me your snail mail address and I'll get the fabrics out to you.

About Words on Fabric (with a little rant)

Don't worry, I'm still having the give-away. And all the pieces of fabric - all smaller than a fat quarter, mind you, but still very usable by crafters and dollmakers and other lovers of cotton fabrics - will have words on them, but they are part of the design. Pre-printed phrases or words or script or maybe even some "foreign" text, but they are the fabric pattern. I'm not doing any writing or printing or stamping, ok?

Not that I don't like the things that other folks do with making their own fabrics - the journal skirts, the bags - some stamped, some stenciled, and lots of other techniques - I love and admire them. It's just not one of the things I'm doing right now, but I truly do appreciate them.

However, that brings me to something I don't appreciate, courtesy of a trip to a shopping mall last night. Don't worry, I haven't lost my preference for non-mall stores, but some things you just have to do at a mall. Barnes & Noble is attached to the mall. So is Sears, the place we buy most of our tools and appliances - or at least we did until recent purchases keep failing us - which is why we were at the mall last night.

And there I saw something that really troubles me. No, it offends me, and it makes me really want to shake some people. It's about words on fabric; on articles of clothing to be precise. Articles of clothing worn by young, pre-pubescent girls - things like little pink short-shorts on a girl with a body that's just starting to develop, where you find the words "juicy" appliqued across her young bottom, or "hottie." What is wrong with their mothers? Those girls are so young, they can't be buying that clothing themselves. Sure, they probably pester the heck out of their mothers, and the mothers give in, but for heaven's sake, how can you be so spineless as to give in and let your tender BABY go out in public wearing such things? It's not much better when you stamp it across their chests, for pete's sake. My daughter and I have had endless (agreeable) conversations about not putting those kinds of words on the front of my granddaughter's chest. Really, do you want people reading your baby's chest? And then taking that next leap of thought? I shudder.

And speaking of shuddering, and bottoms, let me rant further. Form-fitting white summer cropped pants, no matter how good your figure is, and even if you are considerate enough to wear undergarments that keep you from having VPL (visible panty line) should NOT be made of material thin enough to allow the glow of your cheeks to shine through. And if your figure isn't good enough, PLEASE spare us all. Buy a mirror, have some pity.

Aren't you glad I don't go to the mall often? OK. Now, go spread some joy.