March 31, 2010

Here is the item I promised, made with my home-made stamps. Very small I know, but liked how it came out, especially with the brown ink to make it look vintage. It is a gift tag, and when I use it, I will put the recipient's name in the blank space in the center. I was away from home all day, and when I came back, we had a new view! The tree trimmers came today and this just shows some of the trimming that was done. This morning you couldn't see the road from this vantage.

And this pile of shredded stuff is all the branches and stuff that got cut away. It smells like Christmas! We thought it would look like the loads of bark we have purchased at the garden center! hmmm I don't know how this will look edging things. Plus, its in my turn-around spot! They come back Saturday to finish up a few things. Phil was pleased with their work and so am I.

Otherwise it was a pretty quiet day. We purchased a ticket for W to come home May 6, using our mileage we have earned with our new credit card. That worked out very well. We paid $.00 out of pocket for it! That's inspiring -- c h a r g e !

March 30th - something artsy...

I started this project last night, during the commercial breaks in House and 24 (lots of them) but today after work I perfected what I wanted to try. A year ago I bought this package of stuff called "Moldable Foam Stamp Set". Its a nice squishy foam, that you heat up with a heat gun, then you can press it onto different things, and make a kind of stamp out of it. You can use the stamp over and over or reheat it and start over with something new. I was very pleased with the outcome: I made this pretty design from a doily I recently got in an antique store. I used this brownish ink on ivory colored paper. see the purple stamp? I made it from the doily underneath. Cool?

Here is another angle. I couldn't decide which I liked better...

Then I tried it with this straight strip of lace...

And keys and buttons! I really like this one!

I am getting lots more ideas now of things I can make stamps out of - jewelry, kitchen items, my wicker furniture!

Here I just pressed the foam into my cup of buttons. Actually I lied. I tried that and it didn't turn out that impressive. So I arranged the buttons I wanted and pressed the foam into that!

And more keys. Stay tuned and maybe tomorrow I will have something to share that I have used some of these in! A card, ATC's, maybe just an art journal page...

And this last one I wasn't even going to make a print of, but I decided to anyway, and I think its my favorite! I can think of several uses for this design...

What did you do creative today?

March 29, 2010 A surprise in the mail!

I received these in the mail from my eldest granddaughter today! SO ADORABLE! And the funny thing is, I think my granddaughter received a package from ME today! And it was Irish too! I love these creative American Girl Doll scenes. And how much fun was this?

Here I caught two different birds on the feeder. The one on the right is a House Finch, and we call the other one a chickadee, but we don't know for sure. Do you know what kind of bird that is?

This Easter scene is on my kitchen windowsill. Makes me happy to look at it while I'm doing things at the sink.

And this one. Carissa made the little house for me in 1995. Its hard to tell at this angle, but it is a blue teapot, that mice (or bunnies) have made into a cozy cottage. I think Carissa gave it to me the when I came to visit for a week when Josiah was born. As I look around, a majority of my Easter Decorations were either made by or given to me by Carissa! I believe Easter is her favorite holiday.

I have finally finished Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. It has been a long time since I've read a book that took so long and such determination to finish! I'm glad I did though. The book was a little different than the movie we watched. I think Jane Austin was disappointed in love, and that is why her stories all have happy endings. I have four books backed up waiting to be read! This picture is from the cover of my book. . .

It was a disappointing day today because the Tree Guy couldn't come out after all. He had an emergency tree-ectomy out at Panorama City to take care of. It was pretty wet so hopefully when they reschedule it will be a better day. We spoke to W (twice). He is loving living like a hermit and learning all kinds of new skills. He sounds very jolly when he calls so I am happy.

March 28, 2010 - Things in trees

Saturday - a nice day to sleep in a little bit and start off the day a little more slowly than usual. Actually sit down (!) with my coffee...wear my pj's for a couple of hours... Retired husband got right outside with the chain saw and weed-eater, preparations for a tree thinning/brush chomping appointment we have on Monday. I entertained myself with laundry, changing sheets on the bed, putting away all my "winter" clothes and hanging up my "summer" stuff (I found lots of things I totally forgot I had!). Then, we walked down to the Beach. It all looked like it always does, so no great photos, but I like this barnacle covered shell. It looks like a moonscape... The hike down is hard, because the "stairs" are big fat logs to step on, and the railing is falling down. The hike up is a lot easier, except for the extreme exertion it requires! It is good exercise though. We saw something out in the water, and watched and watched until it popped up again. I snapped a photo but had to wait until we got home where I could zoom zoom it and see it was a seal!
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We wandered across a garage sale on the way too, with many interesting things, but hooray nothing I couldn't pass up...

Our wild currant is in bloom. I love these little guys... you can still see them growing wild in the woods if you look carefully. Ours is struggling for a little light so its kind of leggy, but after our tree trimming I think it will be happier. On our hike, I also saw some trilliums! That is very special. We also saw this creature in the trees - can you tell what it is?

I think this is one of the best photos I have taken of Kit-Kat. She is so alert - and that nice grey background... I think she was watching a bird. Her favorite place to sun is under the bird feeders. She is getting pretty old. I would say she is at least 12 years old.

I took so many bird pictures, but this is the only one that turned out. Our Hummingbirds are very active. There are at least 4 of them that visit regularly. I never realized before how often they sit peacefully on a branch!

At the fire station near our house, they always put up "wise sayings" for drivers to ponder while they are out. The latest one is "A closed mouth gathers no feet". That has really been bothering me. I see what they are saying, but I also see that a closed mouth also gathers no friends, no information, no love and affection. I say "just say it!"

March 26, 2010 Impressed

I have a nice book on the Impressionists. This one is called THE UMBRELLAS by Renoir. It reminds me of Washington, although most Washingtonians don't USE umbrellas. I love the look of the umbrellas, the faces, the child. It is so Northwest!

This is what our Washington looks like - SKUNK CABBAGE! Aren't they beautiful? all yellow and bright! This is very near my house, and I drive past every day.
Here is another stormy Coastal Scene: It is called HIGH TIDE AT ETRETAT, c.1868 by Monet. Isn't this intriguing? A beautiful scene, but could you do it? maybe...

And this one reminds me of some of the books I have been reading - Jane Austin, and the operas I have been reading about as well. When I look at the actual brush strokes, it looks so easy, but it must take a master to be able to make it look so perfect.

We talked to W tonight - he's on his own on campus at Hillsdale for the next 10 days. A friend took him to Wal-mart to do some shopping (Thank you!) and W says he spent $45 on food for the next 10 days. He thought it was a lot, but he's so frugal - takes after his dad! He bought cereal and milk, ramen with shrimp (advised by an Asian friend) bread, peanut butter, chili, tortilla chips. Friends have donated spam and madras lentils for emergencies, he bought corned beef hash and eggs, grapefruit and V-8 juice. I feel like I have done my job now! I asked what he bought for treats, any cookies or candy? he said no, but the vending machines are available. He also has some food I have sent from time to time uneaten - chili, rice, soup. He discovered the Student Union Building and the Library will be open during the day, so he can do some research, homework, and see who else is stuck on campus for spring break. I ordered him to phone home every night. OK he said. ahhh.

March 25 - April showers starting early . .

We were woken up by rain in the early morning hours, and a throbbing in my head that sometimes happens when the weather changes. We knew it was coming though. After work I tried to get some rainy day pictures without getting too wet myself. This is a macro shot of some little violets we have popping up all over. They are very tiny, about an inch across. I love them. If I keep them picked (not an easy job since they are so small, they keep blooming all summer. Phil's car - all wet.

I think these are Davidii - they will be opening up soon. They are the backbone of our front landscaping.

And my car all wet. Phil washed it for me about a week ago and it still looks pretty clean and shiny.

And a little house-finch at the bird feeder. We get lots of these through the summer. The males have red coloring on their heads, the females are plainer looking. We have had at least 4 hummingbirds come to our feeders regularly now too. Ruby throated, but each one colored a little differently. They sit still on a branch very often; zoom around chasing each other away, and then come back for more.

W is staying at the college for Spring Break. He and three other guys (at least) are staying in the dorm over break. They will have to scrounge for their own food but there is a Subway and other places like that in walking distance. He wants to catch up on his reading (and sleep) and Latin homework and I am encouraging him to start organizing for his final move-out on May 6.

March 24, 2010

My followers may be getting tired of this old view, but I never do! This is at 8:15 a.m. this morning, pretty huh? You can barely see the Olympics in the background, the masts, the boats, the reflections...

... and here it is later, at about 2:00 p.m. The mountains are crisper, everything is sharper, no reflections in the water. Which is your favorite? I had a few little outings today. I went to Goodwill and bought another cigar box! I'm actually getting to the point where I have enough that I can use some of the worse ones for art projects. I also found a nice travel journal and a fabric journal-holder for carrying pens and paper and a very few items on a hike. It is definately harder to get enough time to stop and sketch something than it is to stop and snap a photo!

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Today I signed up for a Community College Choir class. It starts April 7 and goes for 10 weeks. Anyone want to join me?

March 23, 2010

This is another one of my favorite Easter decorations. It is a picture Walker colored for a contest when he was 6(?) and he WON! It was at a drugstore and he won a gift certificate and got to buy a few things. One thing was a cool truck. This little guy always comes out and makes us smile this time of year too. I guess I am feeling a little nostalgic because this will be the first Easter W will not be home.

I didn't post anything yesterday because I didn't really have any pictures to share. We did invite my mom and dad over for dinner and had the greatest time. I made a chuck roast, and oven roasted potatoes and carrots. We really had a jolly time, and had my old stand-by for dessert: Apple strudel. We topped it with ice cream and it was very yummy (warm).

Ever wonder what my retired husband does with his time at home? This is one of his latest projects - a tool caddy for his garage workbench. He drilled holes of specific sizes for specific tools so he will always know where each tool is! When I came home from work it was set up like this with the cat sitting decoratively nearby. I did admire it!

I met up with Jonny at Mud Bay Cafe for coffee noonish today. I can't believe how much I enjoy my sisters! We just drank our gourmet coffees and talked 'til other appointments interfered.

Talked to W yesterday and he is dropping his art class and taking journalism instead. He was very excited about it and so so am I. (This is for September). Tonight the Mu Alphans are serenading the girls dorms. This is an annual event for them.

March 21, the First Day of Spring...

The first full day of Spring today. It feels like spring - not too cold, quite wet, lots of birds at our bird-feeders (house finches, hummingbirds, little birds we call chickadees). These little leaves are in my garden, they look like shamrocks, but they grow from little bulbs and have cute pink flowers. I knew their name once.

I promised myself I was going to do some art this weekend and I made this journal for Tirzah (just a peek-a-boo view, so it will be something of a surprise when it arrives!)... So, out with St. Patrick's Day and in with Easter preparations. Often I don't get my Easter decorations out very early for one reason or another, but this year I am 2 weeks before Easter! And I have some very cute and meaningful things I like to put out. This little quilt was made by my daughter and inscribed on the back "To Mom Love Always, Carissa, Easter 1998" My, time flies! Anyway, I love it all over again every Easter.

My art group (Rubbermaids) is doing a group project I have mentioned before. Eight of us are participating, and we each have a "sentiment" to design our 2 pages around. Mine is Remember. Some of the others are Wish, Love, Gratitude. Below is my page 1. I covered the chipboard shape with stripey paper, made an area to mount a photograph, cut a flower out of a dictionary page, added music, buttons and a stamp. At the bottom I have a dictionary description of "Remember".

Page two is covered with music paper; I made a library pocket to stick on, with a tag inside; Ribbon, button, and fake nostalgia stamp. A photo can go on the tag and on the pocket. The back of the tag has room for journaling things to remember, and a quote "There's Rosemary, that's for Remembrance" William Shakespeare.

Next meeting (in about 3 weeks), we will exchange and I will have a very cool book with the ideas and art of seven of my friends, to which I will add my own photos.

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I went out for a little bit today, to buy some supplies and run a few errands. I ran into my sister (nutritional therapist) TWICE! I guess we hang out at the same places! I have e-mailed my other sister (art sister) about ten times! We had a great visit with W by phone today. He is so good about calling us! He had just finished dinner (pepperoni pizza, arroz con pollo, spareribs, and some other things I have forgotten). His concert went well. Big week of essays and mid-terms coming up before Spring Break. Last week the school had a "Virgil Vigil" where they read Virgil's Aeneid aloud (the first chapter in Latin).

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I am reading Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility. It is kind of a hard read, because of the writing style, but I am enjoying more since I talked my dear retired husband into watching the video with me a couple of nights ago. Now it all makes a lot more sense and is more enjoyable. Sense is the sister Elinor; Sensibility is her sister Marianne. The great thing about Jane Austin is everyone gets married in the end and lives happily ever after.

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I am also reading a book called "Ticket to the Opera". It has a plot synopsis of all the famous operas and lots of background information, written by a layman so its interesting and easy to follow. Haven't you always wondered what the story was in "Aida", "The Barber of Seville", "The Marriage of Figaro"? hmmm, I feel an art journal coming on ... As a mom who homeschooled, this is an extension of those good old days. I think my next step will be finding videos and cd's at the library with the operas on them...Actually I remember an episode of Seinfeld that was "The Barber of Seville" and I've always wanted to know the story and watch it again! It was hilarious even without knowing the parallels.

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Every day the days are longer and warmer. We barbecued hamburgers for dinner last night and even though it was too cold to eat them outside, that great smell of the grill smelled like SUMMER!

March 20, 2010

Wouldn't you love to be a cat on a sunny day, sleeping under the bird feeders, with squirrels chattering from the trees above, and being so well fed you don't even care to chase them down? We worked a lot harder than that cat today! We went for a hike on the Chehalis-Western Trail, (an old railroad track bed) in Thurston County. We've always thought about it, but this is the first time we've done it. We packed a couple of tuna sandwiches and apples and a bottle of water, expecting the temperature to be near 70, we headed down the trail...

It went past several golf courses - this was a very lovely area. It wasn't all like this though, some places were deep woodsy areas with moss and ferns, others were on a lake surrounded by dried cat-tails, and some just went through neighborhoods and we could see into people's back yards.

This is a red winged blackbird that sang a beautiful song for us. We also saw lots of ducks and a huge flock of cackle-ing geese flying back and forth like something was chasing them (nothing was).

This is what the trail looks like - very flat, paved, no hills! Many more people on bicycles than just walking like us. Serious bikers, families, little kids with training wheels still on their bikes...

We had a nice view of Mt. Rainier here. It felt like we walked halfway to Rainier (the town), but round trip was 7 miles. That is still the farthest I have ever walked at one time I think! We were pretty tired when we got done. We did it in about an hour and a half, with a little lunch break.

Another cat picture...She loves it when we go outside and will stay nearby. I don't think the day was as warm as expected, but it was still very nice. I think rain is coming tomorrow so I'm glad we got out when we could.

W's news: he has already shaved off his goatee! Didn't like it after all. He is performing tonight in Jackson, MI with the Hillsdale Choir and the Jackson Choir. Two of his political cartoons are published on the web.

March 19, 2010; Bird Refuge

Wild currant! One of my favorite spring blooms. Aren't these gorgeous? This was in the parking lot at the Nisqually Bird Refuge. It was 37 degrees when we left our house, but at Nisqually, the temperature was 44 (warm!). We had a beautiful hike and saw many more birds than last time.

The Mountains are always very pretty and even thought it seems like I keep taking the same photo over and over, to me each one is unique and special. We were out there with all the "hard core" photographers. This is an example of one of the smaller spotting scopes we saw. EVERYONE was lugging HUGE equipment around! My little digital hanging around my neck looked very undersized. Phil brought binoculars that really brought stuff up close - I wonder what they could see with these huge scopes! Probably individual feathers!

This is an unidentified hawk we watched for a while, then it flew away. This was taken at full zoom, but on my computer with additional zoom I can see a pretty close up shot of this guy.

We also saw a bald eagle (flying); two Great Blue Herons (flying); Lots of very noisy Canada Geese, hundreds of ducks, swallows, starlings, red winged blackbirds, many little unidentified birds (after going on a field trip here, Alan always called every bird he heard a "Wilson's Warbler". I'm sure there were some of those too! It was very noisy in a beautiful way, with lots of birds, woodpeckers, frogs, geese and ducks.

And if you look right in the center of this picture, you will see an owl! A Great Horned Owl to be specific (the people with the scopes told us so!). Apparently there is a next nearby and sometimes you see little horned babies occasionally! Momma is sitting nearby, but we couldn't spot the nest.

Afterwards we went out to lunch at Panda Express. That was delicious and way more food than I am used to eating at one sitting. Orange chicken, chow mien, Beijing Beef. I don't think I'll have to cook dinner tonight (Score!).

Phil is outside washing our cars (score! score!). A great day to be outside. I looked on line and even Hillsdale Michigan is warm - 63 degrees! I bet Minneapolis is toasty too!