Weekend Wanderings

Remembering . . .

God Bless America
Thank you.

Good, the bad and the ugly . . . .

The Good - gorgeous Lilacs

The Bad- rain day after day after day!

The Ugly - these gelatinous globs that were living on our Cedar tree's. By this posting they have dried up , but when I originally saw them it was looking like the tree had a touch of Harry Potter's wand taken to it. It was all the way up the whole tall tree. The branches were hanging low from all the rain and these big Jello like globs!! Any ideas??

Little Camera Case

So on a Sunday afternoon, I set out to make this little camera case. I read the directions in the book that is pictured. They were easy to follow and I was pleased in how it turned out and that it did not take a lot of time to complete or materials. The only difficult area was sewing the binding on the top by machine. It is a very small area to rotate under the machine with out getting wrinkles, creases and gaggles. I will make another and try to do that part a little differently next time. I will keep you posted. Happy weekend! May you spend your time as you wish!

Picnic in the Park

"Picnic in the park", a favorite activity for us. There are many nearby parks, green spaces, trails . . . we are lucky in that. This was supposed to be a" Cherry Viewing Picnic" but with all the wet weather we have had our days and nights have been few to do this before the Cherry's were gone- which they are, we have moved onto Apple Blossoms. It is not the same but we were there in Spirit. We had our Green tea, Sushi, & Chopsticks. Then we went for a walk and being that it was dusk, we were treated to all kinds of sights. Red Wing blackbirds nesting, Frogs, a muskrat, deer, Baby Geese and their mama, honeybees going back to the main hive for the night. The Muskrat was the most surprising of all. One would think we had stepped right into The Wind in the Willows.

Rust . . .

Over at Daisy Yellow on Fridays she has a No Frills Creative Prompt, this past Friday 5/20 was Rust so just jump on over there and see what it was all about, maybe try a thing or two. I tried taking photos of rusty things - I am not showing you all 10 though. Next I want to incorporate one photo into a journal page, just for fun. I once took a class on dying fabric with rusty things but admit I have not done much with it. This last photo that has the sun in it- is from the old nearby railroad beds. Lots of cool finds there. What do you see everyday that is art? or could be art?

It is a rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
~Voltaire.

Tulip number 2

The one on the right is the second Tulip that my daughter did. it came out very nice, she did not finish it off with words, frame or signature yet.

Little Journal Snippets . . .

Saturday Night after a picnic in the Park we came home and our favorite show was not on
( Bones) so we popped in this DVD From Art Journaling to ART we got it from Interweave Press I believe and you can get it as a DVD or a down load. Any way it totally inspired my daughter to get out her paints again. She did a second Tulip later on and thought it was much better- I'll have to post it soon. The DVD was very well done. It reminded me of class from Pam at Creating Nature Journals but there are definite differences between the artists as well. My daughter had a hard time getting used to a Niji waterbrush - which I totally love but I think the one she had , had to large of a brush end on it for her. The other interesting thing to me - was that in school she was taught that a good composition must touch 3 sides of the page, for me I think I might find that a bit restrictive at times. Learning. . . it is all good, good to learn new things and to contemplate old. Enjoyed the sitting and focusing on one thing - even if only for a short time. Looking forward to viewing some other Creative DVD's. We'll be checking out what the Library system has in it. Looking like a dreary day in Western NY - good day to plant in the garden!!

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras, 1942

Trees

It is difficult to realize how great a part of all that is cheerful and delightful in the recollections of our own life is associated with trees. ~Wilson Flagg


I can't imagine living without trees. It is always so different to be somewhere without them. I spent several weeks years ago in Iceland- no natural trees- only a few imports in the city. Just rocks and moorlands and moss and sod, glacier too. Such a different feeling. I suppose if I grew up with Cacti and then went somewhere without them I might feel the same. I hope that there are trees wherever you go/ live. These Trees are nearby where we were hiking, but we have many here at home that are large and old and dear.

Fond Memories

As I came home from work one day last week this greeted me. 3 bikes and a slide by the road for free to a new owner. Trying to be good stewards of being green and of being simple- ie if you no longer need it move it out and move it on. None the less it caused a stirring of memories. I so clearly remember going out on my lunch hour in Canandaigua to buy the then bright red little slide. It was so exciting as I knew my little boy would absolutely love the slide, I was not disappointed either. The laughter, giggles and bright eyes that accompanied play on that slide are priceless. Playing by themselves or together with it, for years it was the slide that went into a kiddie pool of water and wild giggles emerged as one hit the water. One memorable spring my then maybe 5 year old had 2 fistfuls of snakes ( yep you read that correctly- live in an old gravel pit) that after a wash in some water went for a slip and slide down the always ready red slide. "well mommy, its a circus you know" " the snakes are performing"
The bikes were not new to us either, but spent many hours wheeling through the yard or down the Rail path nearby. Nothing like those first bikes and the freedom of locomotion under your own power that a bike brings. So where ever they may go and live for a while longer, I wish them hours of fun and frolic and good memories. I am on the verge of 2 teen age drivers, I do believe I will long for the days of simple locomotion around the yard.
Alas we all must spread our wings and fly.

Cookies for Appreciation

So on Tuesday it was Teacher Appreciation day at the High School. Our contribution was this big basket of cookies. Big Ginger cookies far left, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip in the middle and Magic 7 layer bars on the right. My basket came back empty. I love baking and especially having somewhere to take the baked goods!
We appreciate all the big and small things that the teachers do for our kids and the youth of the community every day. It is work and a job but many go beyond that and touch lives and making their jobs be their passion and thus inspiring youth for their lives. Thank YOU!

Red Shoes for Dorthy . . .

So here we were celebrating Cinco de Mayo decked out in our Red Shoes. One might ask why Red Shoes? Well our dear friend Dorthy who departed to fly with the Angels 4-3-11 felt that every woman should own a pair of red shoes. Magic happens you know when you wear your Red Shoes. So on the 5th of May Amidst the Fiesta of Mexican Potluck and Margaritas, Sangria and the lot we donned our red shoes. One friend who came after this photo shoot created red shoes by adding huge red bows to her white sneakers. We remembered Dorthy and her love for Good food especially if it were Mexican and good friends. Be well Friend.

There are souls in this world
who have the gift of finding joy
everywhere -- and leaving it
behind them when they go.
Frederick William Faber

Yo-Yo's for Mom's

This is a simple project that I am working on . First I embroidered the stem and leaves on a Piece of Muslin. Then I cut out Circles for the Yo-Yo's I did this with my Big Shot Die Cut Machine. Next I did a running stitch around the circles and pull the stitches to gather the yo-yo. Then I add the yo -yo to the stem by way of stitching the button to the yo-yo to the backing. Putting right sides together and machine stitching around 3 sides. Turn it inside out so right sides are not facing out. Next I added dried Lavender about 1/2 full and stitched the remaining side. Lastly is using Embroidery Floss to do the Blanket stitch around the Perimeter of the small sachet. The very top photo I added the Flower yo- yo to a 6x6 painted panel that I had. These are quick although I made about 15 so it has taken me some time. I did each stage all at one time. This is an easy project for Teens. Self Threading needles are a help if threading is an issue.

Spring in Bloom

Some of the best things in spring are the blooms and some of my favorite blooms are these. Pot of Gold that is from my grandparents farm, long ago and far away. Bleeding Hearts ( Dicentra) and trees in bloom. I think all the shades and shapes of trees in bloom is spectacular. Some are frilly and lace like, some are large and bold, some are light green , some dark, some green and red, some flowering. The cherry trees are in blossom now and the lilacs are soon to follow. It has been a very WET spring here and cool so the trees like Lilacs are on schedule. Fruit trees as well. Unfortunately the farmers fields are way to wet to plant so many are not even seeded yet. Corn knee high by the 4th of July may not happen this year. Farmers say they need a good 10 days of drying weather in order to get in the fields. All of our rain has also prevented much of the baseball season from happening. What do you most like in Spring? and What is blooming near you?

Bleeding Heart