A Little More

I wanted to share just a bit more from our day yesterday in Deer Isle. Paul and I had a good time driving around the island exploring all the nooks and crannies.

We wandered around Stonington...at the southern end of the island. Stonington is the largest lobster port in Maine handling millions of pounds of lobster annually. 

There's a rainbow in these buoys....just not in the right order. 

We happened upon this lupin field....and seeing this many lupin in one spot always makes me pause. 

Anne  recommended we check out Nervous Nellies....and Nellieville. 

Nervous Nellies is known for their unusual jams and jellies...but also for Nellieville....a crazy life size western village made with only recycled and discarded materials. It covers several acres and is beyond your wildest imagination.

There are lots of buildings you can go in like a saloon, a hotel, a garage...and a couple churches. 

There are sculptures and found objects EVERYWHERE! It's where old things can go do die....and they're displayed and embellished in a very creative way.

There's even a school....

inside a school bus of course. It's staged for kids to interact and play.

On our way home we were on the lookout for this lupin patch that we saw on our way up just outside of Belfast. I have never seen this many lupin in the same spot...and in no way does this photo do it justice. Thanks for tagging along....with just a little more of our joy-filled day. 

Sand Beach

After a wonderful breakfast and visit with Dana and Anne....Paul and I headed out to do our own exploring of the nooks and crannies of Deer Isle. Our first stop was Sand Beach...and it did not disappoint....so I thought I would take you along.

The beach had little paths and walkways that took you to such interesting and beautiful nooks and fabulous vistas.

I was tickled to see so many of these sweet Sea Peas along the walkway.

These rocky islands with the pointy pines are so quintessentially Maine. 

More of our exploring to come...but here's a little rainbow for today. 

Delightful Day

What a Delightful day we've had in Deer Isle, Maine with our good friends Dana and Anne. 

There were lupin fields all along our drive....and they're all over the island.

Purple is certainly the color of June!

I can't go a day in June without sharing a a rainbow. 
This is one of my favorite torn paper collage projects...I wrote about it here.

Rainbow Parting Gift

Paul retired from Hancock Church in January of 2021....right in the middle of the Covid shutdown. Not being able to gather with his parishioners was a strange way to close this chapter of his career. On his last Sunday....there were only nine of us in the sanctuary. The rest of the congregation was watching from home.

I made many so friends during my time at Hancock Church...and loved our time living in Lexington. I was active in a project group creating liturgical arts and helping with gardens.  

As a parting gift to the church I made this JOY banner for a niche at the top of the open stairwell....it was the perfect project for me at the time. 

I fused a full spectrum of batik fabrics and topstitched the piece with colorful threads. Joan and I made the tree quilt that hangs in the lower niche....and I'm guessing that by now it has totally faded from the sun. It was one of the first times I did a free motion stitching project.  

I think the JOY banner is out of reach of the sun...or at least I hope so. 

I've had a bluebird house for 3 or 4 years now. I've moved it around trying to find a spot that would attract these precious birds. They still come every day for their serving of dried mealworms. 

I've had chickadees nest in the house...and even a mouse....but not bluebirds until THIS YEAR! All day long I watched mom taking in nesting supplies while dad mostly perched on top. I couldn't be more excited! 

You have to look closely....I can't really get close enough to get a good photo. The mom is just coming out...and there's dad....keeping watch.

This seems like a good moment to share that just a few days after the house finches down at Patty's were hatched....a predator got to them. Patty found the empty nest on her sidewalk early one morning...and no sign of those precious little babies. We were both heartbroken. 

The circle of life. 

Paul and I are heading out on a road trip and an overnight tomorrow so my post will likely be a little late tomorrow.

Every Year

Grateful for this rainbow quote that came across my screen today. 

And I'm so grateful for all that I have....it's more than enough.

Every year I marvel at the Enkianthus blossoms along side of my condo. They're subtle and oh so sweet.

It's a important political year for Maine....and the country.

Slow doodle drawing on patio this afternoon. 

She's Not Wrong!

Because I knew more blooms were coming...I picked the stem with my single Bowman's root bloom yesterday and made a few sun prints. Today I added watercolor. 

I think this may be one of my favorites.  I love the shades of layered blues....the light and airy plant with its single whimsical bloom...and the touch of watercolor. 

I think it captures the magic of this very handsome plant.

More of these to come! 

I texted these two photos to Alison this morning as part of our daily photo exchange and my caption read: Playing with my Bowman's root. Her response made me laugh out loud and had me chuckling all day:Sounds like the name of a botany inspired porno flick! 

She's not wrong!

I actually pressed a stem a few weeks ago when the buds were just forming and used it for my cyanotype session yesterday. The leaves were large....so the the white spaces were big and blocky. 

I paused on the patio this afternoon and did a little experiment using watercolor pencils this time to create today's rainbow. 

I use fairly inexpensive watercolor paper for my cyanotypes so it couldn't really take all the shading from the pencil's.  

The minute I started adding water to blend the colors I could tell I couldn't do too much or I would gum up the paper. The gold speckles seemed to help soften it a bit. 

So from now on....I'll stick with regular watercolor. I can't afford to use good paper. 

It's always a good day when there's time to pause and play a little on the patio.

This Happened Today!

Way back in 2011 Ellen, Lynn and I did a year long ABC trading card exchange....it's one of my very favorite art trades! We went through several rounds where we sent a letter to one person...the next letter to the other person and we kept the 3rd. 

We continued this cycle until we made it through the whole alphabet. This was my R card...for Rainbow. It features Ribbon and Ric Rac all in Rainbow Row! 

You can see all the cards here in this post:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-abc-project.html

I've been watching my Bowman's root plant closely that I got from my sister Nancy.

The airy foliage has had these marvelous slender buds for a couple weeks and I've been waiting for the first one to open. It happened today!  

The blooms are tiny wispy stars that absolutely melt my heart. 

And this happened today too! Once I got started...there was no stopping. Time to shop my stash for another rainbow puzzle! 

Calming and Meditative

I picked this dandelion on my walk yesterday and held it up to the sun. 

I couldn't look at it directly while I clicked several photos but I was tickled I got this one just right.

Sometimes there is magic in something this simple. 

With a nudge from Dotty's recent post....I paused on the patio for some slow drawing. 

I started with a watercolor from my stash and did some simple outlining as I watched and listened to the birds. It was calming and meditative.

The body heals with play. The mind heals with laughter, and the spirit heals with joy.  Proverb

This was where I landed yesterday. 

And this is where I landed today.  More doodling...and a little colored pencil shading. It was calming and meditative.

My rainbow of the day....as seen on our way to the downtown rally.