Bugs...Blooms...

....cute little boys...and chickens.

It rained all day today.....a good day for some watercolor doodle bugs in the art journal I'm trading with Eliza.

And I have a single bloom on my Christmas cactus.....it had one bloom around this time last year too. The lovely green runner came from Becky....all the way from Norway....as did the Pilea Peperomioides plant on the left. This plant has had lots of babies....so I have 3 plants going right now.....and more babies to share. 

I stopped in to see Janice and her grandson yesterday....and like I've said before....there's always something interesting on the counter.  This time it is was dozens and dozens of little morning glory seedlings and other little green growing goodies.  And although I didn't snap a photo...Colin was busy stirring up flour soup at the kitchen island. 

 But the most fun was in the backyard....and Colin knew the way.

Is there anything cuter than a little boy in his PJ's and boots...carrying his airplane...checking out the chickens in the backyard?  I think not.

LaVonn's box

Like Marilyn and Nancy....my sister LaVonn also included things she found at Angie's house she thought I would like in my birthday box.  One of the things that caught her attention was a card Angie had addressed to Paul and me....but never sent.  It had a 44 cent stamp....so it had to have been in 2009...and LaVonn finished the task and sent it along.  Better late than never I always say.

But the best thing she found was an envelope of meticulous cutouts of my kids from photos I sent Angie. She did all kinds of things with these photos and I have a few of her projects.  What fun it was to line them up on the table and try to imagine where her plans were. I can picture her at her dining room table...or in her chair by the window....carefully cutting....or writing....while watching the birds.

Here's a Halloween collage Angie did of the kids a long time ago....and I still put it out every year. Each image of the boys is cut out and layered into a shadow box frame with spacers to give the collage dimension.  It's so clever!

This little cutout of Sam makes me melt.

But the very best thing in LaVonn's box was a bit of a mystery at first.  There was a box within the box....and inside that box was a carefully wrapped dried bouquet. LaVonn knows about my love for all things wabi-sabi....so my first thought was that these were dried flowers from Angie's....and that would have been sweet.  But no...it was way better than that.

If you are a follower of the blog you know I tracked a lone volunteer sunflower plant that grew at the end of LaVonn and Tim's driveway and bloomed long after the others had gone by. I posted about it several times during the various stages.....and I adored it. It was still there when I visited at the end of October.

Then...on New Years Eve the plant finally broke off....a perfect metaphor for closing out 2020. I wrote about it here in a post called "Fitting Ending" 

http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/12/fitting-ending.html

Tim recently did his first lawn mowing of the season....and salvaged a few of the dried faded flowers before the mover chewed the rest up.....and LaVonn sent them to me.  

December 31, 2020 may have been a fitting ending....but THIS....is really the perfect ending. 

Thank you LaVonn and Tim! It's an odd gift....but maybe my favorite one of all!

Nancy's Box

My box from Nancy was almost exclusively things from Angie....and I loved it all.  

Nancy also is the one who scooped up this yellow gumball machine from Angie's home....one of the things I requested.  She included all the marbles that were in the gumball machine in this box.....and we'll figure out how I'm going to get the gumball machine another time.

The rest of the box included some vintage spools and a lot of Angie's snippets and writing.  Angie wrote a lot of stuff down: quotes, stories, songs, recipes, game instructions....and on and on. She had little sketches and works of art that were started but never finish....and she saved everything. 

Her handwriting is amazing and sometimes so tiny and precise it's hard to believe it's handwritten. I know these papers will be interesting to read through....but they will also be fun to use for art projects.

This little scrap made me smile.  On one side was a shopping list: dust mop, plastic tac, board for map, pins for map, M&M's and film....but it was the other side that cracked me up.

"We were never meant to face our problems alone...that's why we have M&M's."  

I sent this back to Nancy wrapped around a bag of M&M's.  

But maybe my favorite thing in the box was Angie's collection of stamps.  There were a few vintage stamps....but mostly years and years of her tearing off the stamped corners of things she got in the mail.  I've actually been doing that this past year for the first time.....and I love that we have this common ground.  

It's hard to explain how much I love this collection.....and I"m going to come up with interesting ways to use them.

Some of Angie's handwritten pages had gotten damp....and the ink was a little blurry with runny ink.  But that just makes them more interesting....and all part of the story.  

I did a little experiment this afternoon....starting with punched squares glued onto a piece of cardstock.

And this is where I ended up.  I printed the leaf design using a stencil on my gelli plate. The background printing was all a lovely green gold color. 

It was a little bland.....so I added thin layers of paint to some of the squares to add interest and  then outlined the leaves. I tried watered down acrylic and watercolor and I wanted the words to continue to show through.  I'm not sure I got it right...but I think the concept is interesting.  

Next time I'm going to add color to some of Angie's pages on the gelli plate before I cut them up.  I think that will give better color and coverage. I may have to try a few this evening....or I won't be able to sleep.

And low and behold....there on one of the little squares was a little "joy"....I hadn't noticed that until I was gluing down the squares. You just never know where joy is going to turn up.  

Lots of fun things from Angie.....in Nancy's box.

Sisters

Several weeks ago my three sisters, Nancy, LaVonn, and Marilyn all went to Angie's house in Missouri to do a last clean-out. 

One of my large hosta plants emerging.....
it will be unfurling soon!

The house has been sold....and it was time to sort, pitch and retrieve.  I wish I could have joined them....but it was before my 2nd vaccine and I felt like I shouldn't fly again until I was fully vaccinated.  They all live within driving distance.....long drives....but doable and I'm grateful they took the time to go.

It was a lot of work....and they got a deeper glimpse into Angie's life....and the things she saved.

As they were working they all kept me in mind skimming off things they thought I would appreciate and each one of them sent me things for my birthday.  I will need to report on all of them separately....because they are all unique and have stories that go long with them. Today I'm starting with Marilyn.  

Her box included lots fun things....treats, a puzzle, and an amazing flameless candle that goes through the whole spectrum of colors for the patio.  You can watch a little video here on my Instagram page is you're so inclined.  https://www.instagram.com/p/COEbCmdnCRv/

Marilyn selected a few more of Angie's little bottles to send me me....and a vintage tin of "Allen's Foot=Ease powder." Some of the bottles have mysterious substances....and some are labeled including 'Fasteeth" denture powder!  Angie had interesting collections for sure. If you don't know about her bottles....you can read a little bit about them here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2019/05/cleaning-meets-joy.html

    

The rainbow "shelfie" puzzle is fabulous....Margie and I will both enjoy it....  

...and Marilyn's sense of humor came through in the little fabric picture. She turned these colorful circles into germs...honoring the past year of COVID.  Pretty clever!

 

There were also a collections of papers in the box including some of Angie's writing....and lots of cutouts and snippets including this beautiful image. 

What touches me the most is that each of my sisters included me even though I wasn't there.  I am blessed with wonderful sisters. I had 5 and now I have 3....and I look forward to the time the 4 of us can gather again.  Next time I'll be there!

Holding Place

The mini daffodils at the corner of my rock wall are finally in full bloom....and they make me smile. As does this sweet little found object that Paul picked up.  It's purple...and it's perfect.  

It's joining all the other recently found objects in the wooden bowl on my "Connie cupboard." At first I just had some of my special hearts in this bowl....but it has become the holding place for the things we find before they make their way into the jar. Yes...Paul found 4 perfectly good crayons.  I'll probably use those....as well as the stiff red paintbrush and the pencil.  Sometimes found objects are actually useful.

I love this cupboard (you can read the story about it here in this post.)....and I've auditioned and changed up the art and what's on it a dozen time or so.....and don't be surprised if I change it again.  But I'm also embracing the fact that it's become the holding place for things in transition.

There is an extra little collection of found bottles there on the right that came in a birthday box. They will live here for a few days too before they transition somewhere else.....but that's a fun "sister story" for tomorrow.  

They Planted A Tree!

In my sister Angie's obituary we said: "In lieu of flowers donate your time and love as Angie did. Share you abundance, lend your gifts, plant a tree or donate to a church or charity that supports human connections with each other and with nature."  

Tracie and her husband Loon did just that....they planted a tree. And late last night Tracie texted me a few photos and this note that brought me to tears.  What a special gift at the end of a fabulous birthday.

Little did Tracie know that Angie has actually played a prominent role in an ongoing birthday celebration....thanks to my other three sisters....(more on that later)....so she was already on my mind.  Coincidence?  I think not.

I look forward to visiting the tree next time I'm in Orton Park.  

You can read about Tracie and Loon and their love of trees and their precious Orton Park here in this blog post:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2019/07/orton-park.html

They've planted a lot of trees.  Thank you Tracie and Loon! 💜

62

This is one of the photos I came across in my memorabilia box.  It was April 24, 1968....my 9th birthday. I remember that dress....I remember that bun....and it looks like I'm all ready for a party. Mom always made us feel special on our birthdays.

I turned 62 today....and I'm keenly aware that my mom died when she was 62.  I feel like I'm in the prime years of my life with so many wonderful things still ahead of me.  It makes me sad that my mom didn't get a chance to experience life after 62....but I will live a little more mindfully...and a little more gratefully from here on out....just for her.

And what a fabulous birthday it has been....all day long. There's much to show and tell....but for now here's the short version:

It was a perfect spring day that started with a morning walk with Paul.  Then....fresh bagels for breakfast and morning coffee on the patio without hats or mittens, treats on my doorstep from Janice, emails, facebook wishes, cards, and texts from friends, time in the studio and at the puzzle table, a visit with Margie, a tour around Portland looking for signs of spring, a fun box of goodies from my sister, fabulous take out for dinner, a long conversation with one of my sons and a text from the other, and a glorious evening on the patio with the love of my life.  Phew!  62 is off to a great start!  

And just as I'm writing this....I learned about a very special tree that was planted today.  More on that another day. 

Leaves

 "How do we find beautify in a broken world?  By creating beauty in the world we find." Terry Tempest Williams

We may still need hats and mittens for our morning walk...but the buds on the trees are finally beginning to pop here in Portland.

We've been waiting patiently for this!

Late last evening I did some leaf printing on my gelli plate with some of my pressed leaves.....and this is what the leaves looked like this morning. They look better than my actual prints.

Layering is the key....then it's just trial and error. Here's a couple that were fairly successful....several others need another layer or two more.

  

This one for example....needs a little something else.....maybe another layer with a greenish blue....or maybe even white.  hmmmm

But the fun thing about this one is for one of the layers I used a palm branch that was pressed in one my scrapbooks from the 70's.  It held up pretty well....and I used it in several prints and it still is holding together.  I'm looking forward to leaves on the trees....and I had fun playing with leaves in my studio. I'm grateful for leaves.  

Earth Day

It's Earth Day today.....and I've got the postmark to prove it. 

Inside that pretty pink envelope was a birthday card from my sister-in-law Liz.  My birthday isn't until Saturday....but it's always fun to spread things out.

Liz always makes her cards....and she knows I love polka dots.  The inside of her card is below along side my other sister-in-law Alyson's card....who has a great sense of humor.  

           

I do think dreams can blossom over time if you just let them....but some of them have to be tended to blossom.  Dreams are like that sometimes.

And I was quite delighted to get this photo in a text from Joan.  She was walking the alleys in Traverse City while visiting her mother-in-law and came across this little shed. She labeled it as a "gem" and I couldn't agree more. The sign above the door reads:

"Through every storm and the darkness of night 

there comes a patch of blue."

I have fond memories of walking the alleys with my sister Nancy in Minneapolis. Having an alley system puts all the garages in the back leaving the houses and lawns lined up uninterrupted by driveways. The neighborhoods are so lovely.  And the best part about walking the alleys is you get a glimpse into people's backyards.....I love backyards. Nancy has one of the coolest backyards ever....and you can get a glimpse of it here:  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/05/oasis-in-city.html

I searched my photos for images from our alley walks....but this is the only one I found. Not quite as charming as Joan's shed she found but I bet we saw some cool stuff. Her photo took me back looking at all my Minneapolis photos....and those memories of walking the Alleys with Nancy.

This photo gives you a sense of the streets....without the driveways.  Minneapolis has been on my mind lately....for so many reasons.  It's time to go back for a visit sometime soon.