In The City

I finished my my woven bird collage experiment.

I think there's potential....so I'm going to play with a few more.

I spent a little time in Portland today....it was a beautiful day to wander. My main goal was the East End Open Studios Tour.....

...but it ended up also being a little sightseeing and  color collecting as I wandered.  I love my city!

I walked a good long way on Congress Street....one of the main streets through the city...and I ended at the Eastern Promenade.  

I don't know what I loved more...the chairs or the shadows of the chairs.

It was a good day....in the city.

Previews

This is the time of year we start to get a few previews of fall. It's still full on summer....and I'm not trying to rush it along...

but I do love how these unexpected bits of fall that stand out against the endless greens of the current season.

And how fitting that we came upon these cross streets on our morning walk.  

And here's a preview of something different I'm going to try with a few of the birds....inspired by the bits of fall in the photographs....and this catalog.

Fall is my favorite.

Paul and I have driven by this house in Cape Elizabeth many many times....and a few days ago we finally stopped so I could take a photograph.  Someone would have to think twice before volunteering to water when they go out of town.  You gotta to love their enthusiasm.

Line-Up

"Happiness is not a place, it is a journey.  You do not 'arrive' at joy, but you can strive to create it in small & enjoyable ways." Adam J Kurtz

There is something about this line-up of warm yummy colors along one of Patty's gardens that makes me smile.

It might have something to do with the setting....it's so inviting along walkway that leads you to her front door....and it has a path that leads to her backyard. With the woods (the other end of my woods) as the backdrop....it makes it even more special.   

At both ends of this flower bed are these triple orange day lilies she moved from her previous home.

I love that they've had a journey...and they're incredible.  And I'm quite fond of that tiny glimpse of her line-up of blue pigs in the background....orange and blue are complementary colors. 

The warm colors were the inspiration of this little bird collage.......orange, yellow, red and pink.  I used punched squares from some other calendars and a few gel prints.

And speaking of warm colors....I finished the yellow pencils.... 

and I'm moving onto the greens.

And speaking of birds.....look what was finished on Margie's board when I visited!  Thanks Melodee.....we're working our way through your pile of puzzles!

Yellow Story

Could I be more excited about a new puzzle?  

I think not. 

I absolutely love the latest from Philippa's puzzle club.  I've been slowly color sorting the pieces and putting together the border over the past few days.

I'm starting with the yellow pencils...and am going to move along from right to left across the top.  Linda would be proud!

It was fitting that Philippa recently published a tutorial on a photo app she likes to use...and I did my first Instagram "Story" using the "Unfold" app and her yellow prompt.  This was my first frame.

I'll need to experiment more...the app gives you all kinds of format options...and to start I just stuck with a double image in each frame for my first go at it.

And I will admit that Instagram Stories are a bit of mystery to me....they are only in your feed for 24 hours and then they disappear. But the app saved the photo images of the frames so I'm going to share them here. 

I love learning something new and playing with photographs of color!

Here's my Yellow Story.......each set of two up and down were a page in the story.   

And my last page was a bit of a stretch....

I had to add a little rainbow....

and of course a little joy!

Wandering Wednesday

"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R Tolkien

This quote just came on a card from Becky....I've always liked it.

It wasn't  Field Trip Friday....but Paul and I took a little drive this morning....so I'm calling today A Wandering Wednesday.  

I gave Paul a State Park pass for Christmas....so we're trying to take in as many as we can this summer and fall.  Today it was Two Lights State Park...just 30 minutes away.

We have been there before....but it was a LONG time ago.  We were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful, accessible, and quiet it was...hardly any of us there! 

The rocky coast and the open ocean views were spectacular....with dozens of benches and picnic tables tucked in here and there. Paul and I are most certainly going to go back...with a picnic.

There are short little walks around the park...with easy trails and stone stairs. We tried to scope it all out....but we're don't think we saw it all.

I like to give a little location context for our field trips....and I kind of like making these maps.

It's right around the corner from the Lobster Shack a spot we frequently take guests. The little beach I just took Patty and Liz to to pick up glass pebbles is next to the Lobster Shack. It was about time we drove down into the State Park Section.

And in honor of our Wandering Wednesday....I assembled another simple bird calendar collage. The colors capture the coast so well....and don't you love that leaf?

Calendar Connection

You know how I love a good connection story.....so here I go.

Margaret sent me this photo yesterday....and it made me smile.  Margaret has always collected nature things....seed pods, feathers and stones. But after following along with the blog...she couldn't resist picking up this tiny human-made found object displayed here with her lovely bottles.  

You have to look closely to see it....it looks like a little red heart. I don't know what I love more....the heart...or the fact that Margaret is widening her collecting circle.  And don't you love those three cobalt bottles that are wired together on the right.  It's got me thinking!

 

It was time to get Nancy's August calendar page in the mail....and believe it or not there is a connection with this calendar page....and Margaret.

Since I was on a roll with the bird collaging....I decided to just go with it for Nancy's August page. I was still able to incorporate a handwritten heart....the theme of the year.

Here are the connecting threads:

This calendar came from Connie--- 

Connie introduced me to Muffy who is another artist I admire and have talked about frequently---I took an art class from Muffy and Margaret also took the same class---After the class Margaret started following the blog and has been in touch off and on for the past year. 

So now, Nancy will now be connected to Margaret.  Cool...don't you think!

It was Margaret who told me that this was an oak gall...I just found this one still attached to the oak leaf.

I found the one I wrote about here....exactly a year ago.

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2021/07/little-gems.html

Waiting

Waiting teaches me to find gratitude in the present moment.  

I don't wait well....just ask Paul. I often get antsy and restless while I wait....no matter what I'm waiting for.  Because of that....I can lose the ability to appreciate something wonderful that might be right in front of me.  I'm working on it....I sit at the puzzle table.....or watch the birds....and try to just enjoy the stillness and quiet in the waiting.

I like to sit outside on the patio in the early morning with my coffee and morning computer rituals.  But it was a little humid so I sat in my other morning spot on the couch....where I have a view of the backyard through the patio doors.  

When I sat down I could see that one white rain lily bud was still closed up tight....I've been waiting for it to bloom. By the time I finished my morning routine...it was open.

There can be joy...in the waiting.

Second Look

You know I'm a big fan of looking closely....and now I'm a fan ot taking a second look.

I mentioned a few days ago that I cut out all the birds from a 2002 Audubon calendar.  My lazy housekeeping habits paid off....because today I took a second look at the scraps that were still sitting in pile in my TV room.  A more fastidious housekeeper would have gotten them right to the recycling right away.

What I found were not only more beautiful images....but clear evidence of where the calendar came from....and now I love it even more.

Using two sizes of punches...I punched up all the interesting parts of the calendar that were around the birds...giving me a plethora of beautiful squares to collage with.

The calendar had renderings of birds in trees, marshes, and fields...so the background paintings were just lovely. They were full of soft and earthy colors....and sweet little nuggets like this pinecone. And they all coordinate beautifully together.

Totally worth the second look....don't you think?

 

Then the 2nd...."second look" find was clear evidence that this 2002 calendar was Connie's.  She had written in dinner dates with familiar friends and family, trips to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and various church activities.  I didn't meet Connie until 2009, so this is more evidence that she was just like me....saving old calendars she knew would have a purpose one day.  And the funny thing is...a few years before she died....I got her into punching squares and making cards. Once she started, she couldn't stop and she would have loved punching up this calendar! 

For those of you new to the blog, I met Connie when we first moved to Lexington...and she became a dear friend and mentor.  I was her friend, but also her decorator, gardener, errand girl, art buddy, and ultimately one of her caregivers. 

Connie's things are scattered all over our home and pieces of her furniture are some of my favorites. She's a voice in my head on a regular basis and her warm and generous presence is always in my heart. She was a fellow putterer.  

If you put her name in the search box in the upper left hand of the blog....dozens and dozens of posts come up of our adventures together.  

But this one...is where I introduced her here on the blog...back in 2015:  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/let-me-introduce-you-to-connie.html

 

We did some good stuff together.  

Here's a calendar I made of her artwork back in 2017.

Connie loved her balcony garden.  One year this little pile of plants, along with a fall clematis....

became this. Location Location Location!

And here's how it looked from down below.

I enjoyed my second look at my Connie posts. 👀