Joy

Joy: chatting with my sister for 5 hours in the car....then spending all afternoon with my 90 year old aunt, my cousins and other sisters listening to all their stories. 

And then going to bed early. 

Did You Know?

It was a perfect spring day for walking the dogs. Minneapolis is such a beautiful city! 

Nearly every home had a sign in the yard or in the window supporting their immigrant neighbors. 

All we can do is take care of each other is what this sign said.

Nancy and I spent a delightful evening with several mutual friends...and we celebrated the "neighboring" that has been happening in Minneapolis. It's that butterfly effect! Tomorrow we head to Iowa! 

Did you know that if you slice the stems of dandelions as thin as you can with a knife...they coil up into tight curls when you immerse them in water. 

Yup....we tried it. You can take the girls out of the country...but you can't take the country out of the girls. 

It happens almost instantly....so would be a fun thing to do with kids.

This Kind of Day

It was a blue sky....fluffy clouds and cool crisp spring air kind of a day...an absolute delight from beginning to end.

We've been in a slow spring crawl in Maine. I really don't mind because it just makes every phase more precious.  

And I hadn't fully realized how wonderful it would be to be suddenly immersed in spring that was a little father along. 

Trees are leafing out nicely and spring is bursting out everywhere here in Minneapolis.

The best thing is that when I get home things will be catching up and I get to experience it all over again. 

I as so excited to see this young Bessie hackmatack along one of our walking routes....the new pine needles a little further along that Bessie Senior back in Portland.

And it was this kind of day too! We always eat well when Nancy's in charge!

Nancy has such interesting plants in her gardens...like this bellwort.

I might get to take a a split home with me for my woodland garden.

My favorite puppy moment of the day.....Bodi trying to hide from Lulu!

Those are his hind legs and his tail.....and it didn't work.

Soaking It In

Spring is more sprung here in Minneapolis....and I'm soaking it all in! 

Meet Bodi and Lulu....I'm going to soak them in too.

Yellow

We're still in daffodil season....but we've also moved onto forsythia. Yellow...is the color of late April in Maine.

By the time most of you read this I will be on a plane to Minneapolis. I will spend a few days with my sister Nancy then we will drive to southern Iowa and meet up with Marilyn and LaVonn....my other two sisters where we will visit our Aunt Beverly....my mother's only sister. My mother would have been 100 this month....and her sister Beverly is 90.  

So...that means I will focus on family and be fully present with all that will be going on. I hope to post some sort of a joy nugget every day but my postings will likely be late in the evening...or early in the morning. But if I do miss a day here and there....you'll know why.

I love being home. But I also love spending time with friends and family. I hate to miss one minute of spring in my yard and neighborhood...but I will get to celebrate it in other people's yards and neighborhoods...and that's exciting.

I'm also leaving behind this fabulous Craft Cupboard puzzle...but it will be here when I get back. There's a lot going on....so it's a bit tedious....but it's quite fun.

I put together a little hostess gift....and I had just the right card.

I think the final line of stitching changed everything!

I'll see you in Minneapolis!

Behind Me

Now that it's behind me (pun intended) I am happy to report that my early morning colonoscopy report was clean as a whistle! Sorry if that's too much information....but I'm just keeping it real.

As most of you know....the prep process isn't very pleasant....but the minute it's over I'm always glad I did it. There was a bounce in my step and gratitude in my heart today. Health is a precious thing.

And it makes me so happy that my bloodroot is in full bloom today. They're such delicate little flowers. 

I visited Bessie today....and I'm so glad I did because her baby pine needles are just starting to emerge. For those of you new to the blog....I keep an eye on a Hackmatack tree nearby and I have named her Bessie. Hackmatack....or Tamarack is one of the only pine trees that is deciduous and loses its needles in the fall after they've turned a beautiful yellow. It has teeny tiny pinecones that are just precious. 

But the best part of my visit was meeting some Bessie's neighbors. Alison, and her two kids Cameron and Alex(?) were out in the street riding scooters and I was able to fill them in on Bessie. Now they are going to keep an eye on her too. 

And how excited was I to learn that Cameron's middle name is Joy. I'm hoping to run into them again.

I'm going to try and follow along (no charge) with the current Fabulous Free Motion class with Izzy Moore to motivate me to play around with stitching again. I found my box of lesson projects ....including several prepped fabrics and backgrounds.

This fabric collage from the "tutti frutti" lesson is what I cut the heart from my recent mini journal cover. There was still plenty to use for other things.....so I did another little experiment.

This time I cut a vessel....and free motion stitched some plants. I wasn't sure if I should paint the plants or not. You never know until you try it...and I like it. It's still sweet and simple. As you can see from the above photo....the fabrics are quite vibrant in person...and I couldn't find the right spot to get the lighting right. It's better in person. I could make a card or add it to a journal. I will most certainly be playing around more. I think these fabric vessels will also pair nicely with torn paper collage....with some stitching! Yes...that's what I'm going to do! 

It will be fun to use this tutti frutti piece for something!

That Kind of Day

It was a sunny yellow daffodil kind of day.

It was also a put my feet up kind of a day!

Mini Joy Journal

Subtitle: Rise and Resist

I couldn't stop thinking about it....so I spent  some time this morning making a mini joy journal. 

I used one of my class projects from the Fabulous Free Motion class for the cover....and the pages and pockets invite writing...tucking and art play.

I may make some of these for the Tiny Art Gallery this season.  I'm not done making joy journals! I'm not sure I'll ever be done.

I added a couple snippets on the first page...but will include several more in the pockets. This painted paper has been kicking around the studio for a while. I've always like it...and it matched the scrappy heart perfectly....so it needed to go in this little mini.

It was a beautiful day to be downtown for the rally today....
and what a treat that the cheery trees were blooming in front of  City Hall.

This gentleman and his upside down flag caught my eye. We are still a country in deep distress! 

A group representing Rise and Resist, Singing Resistance handed out cardboard 206 silhouettes representing those Mainers abducted during Ice's despicable Operation Catch of the Day. The actual number is much higher...and people are still being taken.

 

We held our silhouettes up as they sang...and it was quite powerful. 

Rise and Resit

with JOY!

Delight!

I turned 67 today....and it was a delight from beginning to end. 

I got several lovely cards...texts...emails...and Facebook wishes from friends and family.

I feel blessed!

My sister gave me new socks....and Clarke made me a new hat! I needed it today!

I spent all day with this delightful guy and I will see both boys early next week.

I was tickled to start my day a delightful Dotty post about another serendipitous moment in her joy journal. I was over the moon with delight at her connections! You can read Dotty's post here.

In The Zone

The sky was pretty special this morning!

As is the bloodroot that is just starting to bloom in my garden at the corner of the woods. Just look at that center! 

Patty and I had round two of making a lampshade for her bedroom yesterday...we learned from our mistakes during round one. We used leftover fabric from her new curtains...it's a crisp white linen...with pretty floral medallions. 

The fabric was challenging because the embroidered flowers were raised a bit...making it difficult to wrap and tuck. And since neither one of us are actual shade makers....getting the pattern just right was also a challenge. 

But second time's a charm...and we're happy with the result.

The friend helping a friend make a lampshade....that's who I chose to be yesterday! 

   

The shape of the new shade matches the other shade and another touch of this fabric in the room is fresh and pretty. The photo doesn't do it justice. 

While I was in the zone I recovered the lampshade in our TV/playroom...it's been bugging me for years!

The blue and white polka dotted cotton fabric had faded....and just wasn't right for the space.

I had just enough fabric left over from the living room shade I covered years ago. It's still polka dots...and looks so much better.

And I can't tell you how much I love my squishy lumbar pillow that I made from a cotton sweater I never wore. 

I do love my polka dots! 

Do you see what's on the table?

This is the where The Traveling Flowers are going to live for a while. I sit in that orange chair throughout the day...and every evening to work on my blog. I'll enjoy them here in this zone for a while.