"Quiet Gorgeous Moments"

"It's so easy to miss how often the world gives you quiet gorgeous moments and whispers this is something I thought you would love."  Brian Andreas

That often happens when I stop at Jane's house.

 

Woodland Flowers

As you may know our Portland condo backs up onto woods....and we love it. It was so nice having my own place this past winter to collect greens and this spring a place to haul yard debris where it can decay naturally. 

And with the help of Aaron my landscaper, I'm getting acquainted with the woodland flowers. I'm going to enjoy watching the woodland landscape change throughout the season.

This is my favorite so far....wild sarsaparilla.  It has a lovely little canopy of leaves and a sweet little clump of blooms close to the ground.  I'm going to keep an eye on these over the next few days....I want to catch the bloom balls fully open. They look like little fireworks.

Tiny little Canada Mayflower are tucked everywhere.  The little fuzzy bloom is just precious.




Another sweet little one is the starflower. I love the tiny little burst of the yellow stamens.

And what's not to love about a carpet of ferns.  I love this maiden hair type that have longs stems and the foliage at the top. There's a whole little world underneath.  

A fern selfie....from underneath.

And...Aaron pointed out that I have blueberry bushes!

The Quilt Series....

....has all sold!  I will admit that makes me feel pretty good.

Summer Camp

"To age with grace and humor is to be continually open to the wonder, mystery, and difficulty of our world."
Quote found here.

Another view of the two for one lilac bush....and our new little tree at the end of the row.

Margie and I laughed this afternoon as I was leaving her apartment about the fact that I felt a little like a mom leaving her child at summer camp.  All the basics were covered...and even a few creature comforts like a TV.  And unlike for my kids at camp....I'll be stopping by every day. None of this will make sense if you didn't read yesterday's post.

Margie certainly has a good sense of humor...and a "go for it" attitude open to new things knowing they'll be both wonderful and difficult.  This is a brave thing she is doing...leaving the familiar behind and starting a whole new chapter of her life.

As I was doing a google search for the author of the quote at the top....I stumbled onto an article that included this poem by Mary Oliver and I was quite moved. Seemed like good timing.


Mary Oliver will be 83 this year....and as author Parker J. Palmer wrote in this article I stumbled on..."I'm pretty sure she still has days when she feels she has wings."

I'm also pretty certain Mary would enjoy summer camp.

Two for One

At first glance it looks like there's a two for one lilac bush outside the condo....but it's just two planted side by side. I'm enjoying it quite a lot!

Margie is going to do some indoor camping.  She's been with us for a week...and ready to get on with the next step.  Her things from Colorado are not arriving until Saturday but her new bed is being delivered tomorrow so she's moving in.  Paul and I delivered a chair and ottoman, a couple of lamps, some small side tables and a TV...which should get her through a few days.  All her meals are included as well as bedding and towels and there are activities and community spaces to try out.

I plan to stay at the condo most of the week...so I'll be able to pick things up and visit as often as she wants me too. 

It reminds me of when Paul and I moved to Lexington. Our stuff was 4 days late but that gave us time to poke around town and take care of business before we were distracted by our stuff.  I didn't mind the indoor camping....I hope Margie doesn't either.

Sad...But Interesting

While Paul was at the condo hanging out with Margie I went home to Lexington for a few nights to weed the gardens and tend to things. I chuckled when I saw my flower wreath....it's a little sad but also kind of interesting. It's only a little more shriveled than Paul's picture....and I think it's done what it's going to do. (lucky for you)

The yellow flowers were already dried from my birthday bouquet....and have stayed nearly the same size as when they were fresh.  I do find it interesting that most of the other larger blooms have shriveled up to almost nothing. I also found it interesting that the bright pink bleeding heart dried to purple.

Oh the joy in ordinary things....wabi-sabi things.   

37!

I've been married to the love of my life for 37 years!

We Planted a Tree!

A little change of pace today....with the help of Aaron, we started a landscaping project in the back yard at the condo.

Paul and Margie had a front row seat for the tree planting....a heptacodium or seven-sons flower. It's the same type we planted in South Portland that I posted about here. 

The corner of our patio faces west....and we wanted a tree that would help shade the afternoon sun and give us a little more privacy.

It's a fast grower but it will be a few years before it actually provides good shade...but you have to start somewhere.  I'm going to love watching the progress over the years.

More on the rest of the landscaping project to come.

What's Important

Quote found on Pinterest....it originated here.

The last few days have been full....and what's most important for me right now is to be fully present with Margie and her transition to Maine.  I will check in here on the blog when I can....and back at it when things are a little more settled. 

Wisdom and courage....for all of us.

Family

"If you want to change the world....go home and love your family."  Mother Teresa

Great family day today catching up...so good to have Margie and Liz here!

Extended Family

With the exception of two years we lived in Madison WI Paul and I have lived away from extended family our whole marriage....37 years in just a few days.  First in Nashville TN, then Cumberland and Portland ME, now Lexington MA and Portland ME for the weekends.  We will retire to Portland at some point....and in the mean time we get here almost every weekend. Starting soon we will have permanent extended family just a few miles down the road!  Yay!

Margie and Liz fly in later tonight and I've been busy all day cleaning and tending to neglected house chores.  It might take up to two weeks for Margie's stuff to catch up with her but it will give her time to rest and adjust to her new time zone before she settles into her new home.  I'm so excited.

Paul went home to Lexington for a few days to work...but he knows me well and sent a picture of my shriveling bloom wreath. Pretty sweet of him! Thanks Paul!








Fresh....Day Two....Day Four

Purple

There's just something about purple....

especially when you stumble upon it.

Sideways

I'm turning some of the new mini trees I make sideways....

Photo from Tumblr feed....origin unknown.

...and I like the longer birches.

I also made a couple more "Birch Moons" to replace two that have sold. On this first one I used different fabric for the trees that I found in my stash.

I found this little landscape that I made a while back...and turned it into another "Birch Moon" piece for the series. 

The large red and orange piece ("Autumn Blaze") in the quilt series sold and I also sold the Gudrun's World catalog collage. I was pretty excited that someone was fond of it....I was a little unsure.

One Day Later

I couldn't help myself...I left my little flower wreath sitting on the board and I'm loving watching the blooms shrivel up. This is one day later.

I didn't mention that the bright blue rice size sprinkles are actually dried grape hyacinth pieces from the ONE bloom I had a few weeks ago. They dried perfectly and kept their beautiful color.  I'm heading to Maine today for at least a week...maybe more...and I'm leaving the wreath as is. I'll be anxious to see what state it's in when I get back.

The most exciting part about this trip to Maine is that I'll be greeting Margie, my mother-in-law and Liz, my sister-in-law on Saturday when they fly in from Colorado.  Margie is moving to Portland into a senior living facility just a few minutes from the condo. I'm excited that she will be a regular part of our lives and that I get to set up her little apartment. I'm sure I'll be sharing some of that here.  It may take a week or two for her stuff to arrive so she'll be staying with us at the condo.  Yay!

Morning Collection

"Life is so beautiful....but sometimes we forget to look." author unknown

I enjoyed a little photo shoot with my morning collection from the yard.

I didn't find any true orange...but added some dried flowers from my birthday bouquet to transition from the red to the yellow. And I did find these dried daffodil heads in the garden that leaned towards orange. I think they're precious! Wabi-sabi precious!

This was my first arrangement...but I liked the wreath-look the best.

I did all this on a piece of barn board from the family farm...standing by my kitchen window where there was nice morning light.  I loved every minute of it!  Life is so beautiful...don't forget to look.

Views From the Day

This is the view over the fence in our back yard in Lexington...the layers of springtime colors are just delightful.

This is a view from our morning walk....a massive tulip bed and a delightful bottlebrush bush.

This is the view from my front lawn. The pretty yellow gas line pipes I featured a week or so ago are being put in the street.  It was loud and dusty all day long....and they'll be right next door tomorrow....Yay!

And this was the view from my sewing table.  Remember the little scraps I sorted yesterday?  I wanted to see how the skinny stripe scraps would look sewn directly together...without solids in between....I kind of like the wonky checkerboard effect.

It Was Time....

...to organize my fabric...again. 

When I sew I throw my scraps in a pile on the cutting table or on the floor. Periodically I run out of space to work and I can't find what I need so I have to stop and sort and organize. Today was the day....or at least the day I started. I'm easily distracted. 

The bigger pile was easy....stripes, solids and ombre fabrics....done.  The tiny scraps were a bit more tedious....I couldn't help but sift through looking for usable pieces.  

 


I also came across this little strip I sliced off the Mini Monty. I couldn't bear to throw it away....it must have a use.

Patience

Paul and I were in Maine a couple of days and were delighted with the pops of color on our walk yesterday.  Grape hyacinths are one of my favorite spring bulbs.....you just can't beat that color.



Here's my very patient husband waiting for me while I took some photos.  He's awesome! And just for the record he often points things out that he knows I'll love.