Order of Operations

Maybe living your best life just means slowing down enough to see how good it already is. author unknown

It's been downright chilly the last day or two. Yesterday Paul and I walked to nearby sidewalk wildflower garden that we check out every year. It's wild and wonderful...and always worth a look. The feel-like temperature was in the 30's...so I wore my winter coat, gloves and ear protection.  

The garden is in the neighborhood where Fall and Autumn Lanes intersect. It looked like spring...but felt like fall and autumn.

When making layered cyanotypes...the item you put down first is the what doesn't get exposed and stays white and ends up being in the foreground of your print. Every layer added after becomes more and more in the background. I often do two layers and sometimes three giving the pieces depth. 

On this one...I placed the meadow rue leaf down first...then after about 20 seconds I placed a punched circle for the moon.....and it looks like more leaves at the very end.  And it looks like there's a few vinegar spots too.

The paper was already a little exposed before I put the first plant down...so it's a pleasing light blue. I painted the moon with metallic gold watercolor and added a few splatters. 

I quite like it.  

I had to chuckle when I got the order of operations wrong on the FIRST try....and put the moon down first putting it in the foreground.  Oops. But the print wasn't that great....

so it became the background for my sign for the garden store display. I'll be delivering my stack of cards on Tuesday. 

I like the softness of this one!

Why Wouldn't I?

I love lupin season in Maine. And if you're familiar with the children's book Miss Rumphius....you'll know why. 

I was excited to see the lupin blooming at the pond yesterday....every year there are a few more.

Then I was tickled pink to find this patch in a nearby garden on my walk.

So why wouldn't I get right in the car and head into Portland to check out the lupin hill overlooking Back Bay. It's not quite at peak...but it's close...and it was totally worth it. 

Why wouldn't I take every opportunity to enjoy the lupin in Maine!

Found Project

I found this stitched/painted/doodled eucalyptus project from a while back and it reminded me what fun things are possible with free motion stitching. I love the wonky and wonderful shapes. 

I'm actually quite fond of it...so I'll add it to my list of things to try again. That list is getting pretty long. 

Somebody somewhere said: 

Grateful for where I'm at....excited about where I'm going.

Yup!

Speaking of cyanotype...I have 10 cards ready to go for the garden store and a few more in progress. Some are painted...some have just gold splatters....some have both...and a few are just simple prints.

Just a touch of gold on this one letting the vinegar blobs shine.

A House From Home

Many many years ago I bought this small decorative birdhouse perched on a curvy wrought iron stand. The artist had a roadside stand in rural Maine...he was a really cool guy. The birdhouse was birch with a lot of rustic charm. 

It lasted a LONG time through many many Maine and Massachusetts winters....but just last year it had completely fallen apart. 

I had some pieces of barn board from the family farm in Wisconsin....and asked Jim, our handyman, if he could build me another house. 

I told him to keep it simple. I wanted the house made from the red side of the barn board and the roof from the back of the board. I didn't want it functional...just decorative. 

He took it home for a winter project...and just brought it back to me a week or so ago. He absolutely nailed it...pardon the pun! 

It's simple and sentimental...and the perfect for the wrought iron stand. He drilled a shallow hole and painted it black so it would appear to be an actual hole. 

I'll have to see if I can find the star that was on the original one....if fell off years ago. But I also like it just the way it is. 

It sits along the fence between our patio and our neighbor Anna's. I may be done with the bottles...but they're staying for now. The wild blueberry bush wreath is new...and I still love my wrought iron dancer. 

I absolutely love this view of my garden from the patio...which now includes this sentimental house from home. And the most heartwarming thing about it is that he gifted it to me and wouldn't let me pay him. As someone who is enjoying giving things away these days...I didn't even try and talk him out of it.

Plein Air Painting

May all your to-dos turn into ta-das!

I have a lime green bleeding heart plant in my garden. The foliage is showy and fabulous...and what's not to love about these sweet little bleeding hearts.

I aways admire people who do plein air painting....a French term for painting outdoors. When I stumble artists doing just that....I always want to find a chair and watch the magic unfold.

I did a little plein air painting today. It wasn't of my garden or an ocean view....it was our garage door! We replaced the door this winter...and the weather finally cooperated to get it painted. Today was the day...and I'm proud of my work!

 Ta-da!

This afternoon the Pool Committee sponsored a pool opening celebration! It was well attended and everyone had a good time. I haven't been in the water yet...but I will be soon! Ta-da! It's pool season!

45th and One Day

Yesterday was our official anniversary...but Paul and I celebrated today on our 45th and one day anniversary! I think we've found our groove.

I'm taking you along on our anniversary field trip today....Paul made lobster rolls and we took them to Wolfe's Neck State Park in Freeport. After lunch we walked the trails along the water and through the woods. It's a beautiful spot....and free for us seniors! 

We had a glimpse of the water from our picnic table....the weather was perfect.

Lobster always tastes better with an ocean view. 

There are defined trails and spaces and places where you can walk down to the rocky shore. 

There was a large osprey nest in the treetops on Googins Island.

Do you see it?

Here's another one.

I took my rainbow parasol....but didn't need it....there was plenty of shade on the trails.

I've been married for 45 years and one day to this wonderful and kind man. How lucky am I!

Just Enough

It rained all night and most of this morning....just enough to be extremely beneficial.

I'm pretty tickled with this cyanotype card featuring my meadow rue. There's just enough green watercolor...and a touch of blue to tie it into the print. I'm also quite fond of the blurred meadow rue and the vinegar spots in the background. Just enough!

And the gold speckles seem just right too. I can honestly say that I love it! 

"The flower doesn't dream of the bee...it blossoms and the bee comes." Mark Nepo

I tried to get a photo of the shimmer. You can't see it very well...but it's there!

After the rain....I explored the raindrops that pooled on the leaves. 

Here they are on the meadow rue...kind of a nod to my gold splatters.

My day was fabulous...just enough of everything!

Kitchen Studio

It's was chilly and rainy today....a perfect day to turn my kitchen into a cyanotype studio using my UV lamp.  I'm going to make some cards for the Winslow Farm garden store again this year using all my part of the proceeds to buy things for Maine Needs.

This time I dotted vinegar here and there before I placed the plants down. I do like the effect. I might do a bit of little accent watercolor....but maybe not.

This one had some large vinegar blobs...I'm quite fond of it.

My UV lamp is pretty handy when the sun isn't available. And this is one of those times a glass top stove comes in handy as an extra surface. I took over the WHOLE kitchen all morning.

I stitched up four cards this afternoon.There is something about the simplicity of just the blue and white that makes me happy. But I do want to paint a few.

I especially love the way the vinegar interacted with the blades of grass....leaving a light blue polka dot! I had fun in my kitchen studio today!  

In This Together!

We're all just walking each other home. Ram Dass

Paul and I walked the 3 /12 mile loop around Back Cove with over 1,400 others in a fundraiser for Maine Needs. The weather was perfect and it felt good to be with a community of caring people supporting an amazing organization that lifts up those in need. 

Paul had his big floppy hat...and I had my parasol.

There were great views of the city of Portland and Back Cove neighborhoods all along the way. 

We were all in this together....helping our Maine neighbors in need.

We're Here!

"Hey world...we're here!" That's the text I got this morning from Patty along with this first photo to alert me that the baby house finches hatched! One was ready for some food!

I walked down a little later in the morning....and they were sound asleep....just a little pile of feathers. It will be fun to watch them over the next few weeks. 

I walked back down later this afternoon and caught momma bird in the nest. The only thing better than having this little family right down the street is having a good friend right down the street. Lucky me!

And look at this fabulous found object! Thanks Paul!

It was a good day to be here!