Patterened Patches

It was a beautiful morning to be out and about for a walk....and I was intrigued with the patterned patches of ice on grass. 

They were all paper thin and so interesting. I love when Mother nature surprises me.

We checked on Bessie. She only had a few yellow needles still hanging on.

Controled Chaos

Happy Birthday to Paul!

66 years young today!

Advent is the season of waiting....and this puzzle was intended to count down the days from December 1st until Christmas. Margie did it perfectly last year...one little scene a day....waiting patiently for the next one.

But it's a known fact in my household...that I don't wait well. 

I don't know if that's always been true about me...but sometimes waiting makes me anxious. Not all the time...but some of the time. And one of the things I do when I'm waiting....is sit at the puzzle table. 

So it's kind of ironic that I haven't waited at all...and actually can't seem to stop working on this puzzle. I'm one who generally takes forever to finish a puzzle...but I'm moving right along on this one.

I've put together all the pieces that were in the little envelopes and have tucked the empty envelopes into my Conscious Creativity Card box. And I will have to say...I love the little bulging stash. 

There were only about 4 envelopes that had a complete puzzle inside....the rest had just a partial chunks. I smiled every time I dumped out an envelope....a few times there would be just 5 or 6 pieces. Other times half the puzzle was in one envelope...and another chunk of the same puzzle in different envelope. It's all been part of the fun!

I pulled a random card from the box this morning...and it said chaos or control?  

I think it's actually controlled chaos....and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

I have 7 out of the 24 scenes totally done...and a couple almost done. 

All 16 of the window scenes are at least started...and a I have a good start on the scenes above and below the windows. There are only 4 scenes not started at all.

So the rest might be in these boxes...which I am starting to sort. 

I'm trying to get control of the chaos.....and time will tell if I'll get a Christmas miracle...and have all the pieces. 

Peace and Quiet

We enjoyed the peace and quiet while the turkey cooked. That's Margie's little Christmas tree in the corner...the perfect amount of festive as we officially enter the holiday season.

I'm absolutely loving this Margie puzzle....I'm actually completely obsessed with it.

More to come on how it's going.

These are the nine snippets from Angie's stash that I tucked in an envelope for Margie's 9 day 90th birthday celebration....and they couldn't be more appropriate on this Thanksgiving Day! 

the more you give, the more you receive.

It's time to celebrate!

Can-Do Attitudes

relax....

Life is a SPECIAL OCCASION

RELAX AND ENJOY!

YES, LIFE IS GOOD.

Peace & Quiet

my HOPE for you is JOY!

Right on Track

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! 

The prep work is right on track for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. 

Hancock Church gifted Paul an ebike for his retirement....and he couldn't love it more. He rides almost every single day...exploring the city and coast. And every day he asks if I have any errands. I have to ride somewhere is his line.

Paul set a goal to ride the equivalent of the circumference of the earth at the equator before he's too old to ride. It's a lofty goal at 24,901 miles....but it's also motivating. To meet his goal he needs to ride an average of 2,500 miles each riding season for 10 years. 

Paul has had the bike 4 years...and just recently reached 10,000 miles. He's right on track. 

Make a Difference

The morning light over the pond was sight to behold.

On October 2nd Paul and I went to the Foreside Community Church for a presentation by Little Children of the world...an organization that lends a helping hand to at risk children around world. 

Their vision for the children is based on the the acronym HELPS: Health and Housing, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Faith, and Child Sponsorship.

The Foreside Church in Falmouth, Maine was Paul's first church and a wonderful community for us for nearly 20 years. A very special girl named Alex grew up in that church...and her mom Patsy is one of my dearest friends. Patsy was the church secretary at the time so Alex would come to work with her mom and play in the office and got to know Paul pretty well. Paul performed her wedding just a few years ago.

After Alex graduated from high school she spent a year in the Philippines volunteering for Little Children of the World...and it was life changing. Alex quickly recognized that there were so many kids in the community that weren't going to school because they were hungry. They were out begging for food...for themselves and their families....and she wanted to do something about it.

So Alex wrote a letter to Paul and her beloved Foreside Community Church family....because she knew they would help. With the church's financial support...Alex started a soup kitchen complete with a vitamin program for the children in the community.

Alex and her daughter drove down from Down East Maine to attend the presentation.....and we learned that that soup kitchen was still going strong after 24 years.

Alex was just a young woman at the time....and made a huge difference in this poverty stricken community. And I don't think she had any idea at the time how it would grow...and thrive.

Over 500,000 meals have been served since it started in 2000....and 85 children per day are fed thanks to Alex and the continued support of the Foreside Community Church.

Ok...why am I telling this story now? Because on that day....October 2nd...Paul and I signed up to sponsor Yangbeth Amomo in the Philippines.

We've sponsored children before through another organization...and it was a wonderful experience. But it was the right time to do it again and hopefully we can make a difference in this sweet little boy's life.

Just today....we got our first letter from Yangbeth, this precious little 2nd grader who lives with his grandmother, a sister and three uncles.

Welcome to the family Yangbeth! 

JOYful! 

Laugh About It

During a phone chat today Becky asked "what happened to Margie's advent puzzle last year?" 

It wouldn't be the first time my post wasn't clear. It's always abundantly clear in my head (ha ha)...but it sometimes doesn't translate well to the page. So I'm going to clarify what happened.

Margie worked her puzzles on a foam core board that she kept on her coffee table. She could pull it up to her lap...and work on them from one of her chairs. She kept her puzzle pieces in box covers like I do and it worked well for her in her small space.

Here she is just getting started on the first tiny advent puzzle. 

Margie had a couple boards...so sometimes had finished puzzles piled up waiting to show me. She loved when I put photos here on the blog blog....which I tried to do every time she finished one.

Here she just slid them onto her table...and just kept going. She hadn't done a lot of puzzles before she moved to Maine...but that all changed. Once she started...she never stopped.

Now back to the advent story.

But just before Christmas...or maybe even on Christmas morning last year....Margie accidently knocked the board on the floor...and dumped all the little Advent puzzles everywhere. She was devastated. All her hard work was just a pile on the floor.

When Paul and I arrived to join her for Christmas lunch she was pretty discouraged. We picked up as many of the pieces we could find trying to keep as many chunks together as we could.

And I remember searching on several of the next visits for more pieces because she didn't want anyone vacuuming until we did a thorough search. She knew I wanted to do the puzzle too and then pass it on to someone else. 

Eventually we put chunks of pieces in the individual envelopes giving the next person a place to start. I tried to get her to laugh about it...but I don't think she ever quite got there.

It seemed daunting....but like I said yesterday....I'm taking it on. I'm not waiting until December 1st....I'm just jumping in. The loose pieces are sorted in my boxes...and I'm going to work on one random envelope at a time. Because there are so many little puzzles...there are a ton of blue edge pieces that all look exactly the same. Oy!

The first envelope had a partial puzzle...then a few pieces in the envelope that didn't fit. Do they even belong to this puzzle?  I think so. But who knows!

The second envelope had a complete puzzle. Yay!

I think I'm going to smile all the way through this sentimental journey...and I fully expect that in the end there will be missing pieces. It will be a miracle if there aren't.

And in the end....I'm just going to laugh about it....and hope Margie will somehow be laughing with me.

Sentimental Journey

I was tickled with all the responses to yesterday's post. I don't get a lot of comments right here on the blog....so I'm pleasantly surprised when something strikes a chord. Thank you for all the feedback and interesting ideas! I AM going to gift the puzzle....and include the story and maybe a little "filler" piece...or something.

I'm still very much in Margie mode. Maybe I'm being overly sentimental....but in many ways we are still in the middle of emotional things as we tie up end of life things....prepare for the holidays and her Dec 7th Zoom memorial service. 

So sentimental is what you're going to get. And this seemed like the perfect follow-up post....about another puzzle with issues.

A year ago I gave Margie this advent puzzle. One tiny fifty piece puzzle to do every day as a countdown to Christmas. And when they were all assembled it would create this sweet Christmas Through The Window scene.

The pieces were a little small for her arthritic hands and 92 years eyes....but she gladly took it on and kept up beautifully.

I enjoyed watching the progress last December...

and I would often find Margie just like this when I popped in....all cozy in her little nest....the tiny puzzle done for the day.

And it was all fine.........until it wasn't. 

I took this photo below on Christmas day....AFTER the clean-up.  I can't remember if she had actually finished it...or if it got dumped before it was quite done. Either way....she was devastated. Margie had worked so hard....and really wanted show off her completed project.

There were a few squares still intact...and we separated out as many chunks as we could of the others and put them back in the separate envelopes. We searched her chair....and everywhere all around the floor and her table for any stray pieces.

Did we find them all? Who knows! And there would be no way to know until someone tacked it. 

So I saved it. 

I didn't think I had it in me to tackle it...so I offered it to Liz...Paul's sister who is also a puzzle lover. But she turned it down. I thought about offering it to my friend Patsy who loves puzzles and a good a challenge and I'm sure would have taken it on.

But in the end....I decided it might be just the right sentimental journey for me this holiday season. I've started sorting the pieces into my record boxes...and I'll get started. I'll keep you posted! 

Would You?

This fabulously beautiful puzzle is done....with just one minor issue. 

Most of the ongoing issues resolved themselves....like the missing corner that was right in plain site on the floor.

And the extra edge piece finally found its home....I knew it would. The neighboring pieces were fitting together perfectly so that seemed to be right. And that bit of pink on the piece didn't seem to belong here until I got further along. 

And remember when I dumped the pieces...and I said I wouldn't know until the end if they were all here? Turns out....they weren't.

I did a thorough cleaning and check of the whole area...I even dumped my big basket of rocks and the piece was nowhere to be found. Yet. But I remain hopeful.

So here's my question: would you do a beautiful puzzle that you knew had a missing piece? Especially if you knew exactly which piece was missing? I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single minute of this one...even with all the little hiccups along the way. It's a beautiful puzzle....and now it's a perfectly imperfect beautiful puzzle. 

I have been gifting puzzles to friends and family for years....and I'm thinking about passing this one on to someone who might love it too...even with a missing piece.  Would you pass on an imperfect puzzle as a gift? 

Hope

A poem about hope...by David Gate

And yet, hope still follows

like a wagging tail

we may circle to chase

as if it can be caught

it is our terminal condition

to keep imagining 

a better way of living

more in harmony

with creator & creation

with creature & self

but while there is music

& poetry & art

there is still a chance

we can rise into

what the foolish &

desperate dare to call

peace on earth.

The vibrancy of this barberry made stopped me in my tracks....the splash of fall colors were such a beautiful contrast to the deep green of the juniper. 

And there was something kind of fun about this one branch forging out there on it's own. Unfortunately, barberry is considered invasive and a threat to neighboring plantings....so juniper beware!

Continuous Line

All kinds of life things slowed down our Tiny Pages Art Exchange...but we're almost done.

The second to last theme was a one line or continuous line drawing. Brenda just got my card so I can share it here.

I was inspired by an image I saw online....and drew this continuous line scribble tree....then added a little watercolor accent. 

I was going to add a little color to the background...but decided to leave it clean and simple. That's a little unlike me....but it's good.

I made the card during the Fabulous Free Motion class when there was a lesson on continuous stitch line....which is what free motion is mostly all about.

I had never used tear away stabilizer until this class....and I'm sold on it. I stitched the heart with a granite stitch using variegated thread on the stabiliser making sure I overlapped the stitches.

Then all I had to do was carefully tear away the stabilizer...

and I had a little continuous stitch line patch for the back of my card.

Brenda sent her sweet one line drawing to Tracie.

 

 And I'm catching up on the Creepy cards...this is what Becky send to Brenda.

Art Journey

"Still what I want in my life is to be dazzled...to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even float above this difficult world." Mary Oliver

I haven't had made time for art lately as I focus on the other things that are right in front of me. I know I'll get back to it...and it's comforting knowing my studio is patiently waiting for me filled with nothing but potential!

But as I continue to sort through Margie's things....I found several pieces of my art: almost every card I've made her over the last six years since she has lived in Maine. 

Each card represents what I was creating at the time....

so they tell a little story of some of my art journey.

For Margie's 90th birthday I gave her 10 days of "9" things or lists. One envelope had a list of the full names of the nine children in my family and another had 9 word snippets from my sister Angie's stash.

One envelope had the doodle watercolor leaves with phrases that included the word 9 on the back.

The watercolor flowers had 9 fun words that I wanted to use more often on the back like plethora and poignant. 

I had a lot of fun coming up with it all! 

I added the leaves and flowers to the card tree. Why not!

Then I found a few more. 

Margie appreciated handmade things...and I loved having her along for part of my art journey.

Flower Power

We've had an unusually mild fall. But at the same time we've rounded the color corner and most of the landscape is bare and brown. I love the bare trees in the winter...and I appreciate the opportunity Mother Nature takes to rest. 

But this little pop of fall color was outside our bank....and made me stop in my tracks. I do love sweet little Johnny Jump-Ups!

And I stopped in to say hello to Janice and a few of her young grandchildren yesterday and was tickled to see her strawflowers still hanging on.

I've always been fond of strawflowers and remember my mom growing them on the farm.

Louise gifted me this book of Daily Joy.....and the book jacket is as lovely as the photos and words of inspiration inside. I'm looking forward to this being part of my daily joy ritual. Thanks Louise!

Here's today's entry. Things ARE always in transition. 

And just a few days ago I connected the flowers to make a path across my puzzle. You know how I love a puzzle path!

Then yesterday I assembled this large flower and was excited that it connected to the rest of the puzzle.   

And not only did it connect below...it also connected above to another chunk I had been working! 

Then a path connecting top to bottom quickly followed. Woo Hoo! I'm celebrating a little flower power today!