Halfway

It rained most of the day today....but yesterday I visited Bessie...the hackmatack tree just a few blocks away. She's really filling in....and I was tickled to see the bright red toddler pine cones.

They were just fabulous! 

And I'm halfway done with this fabulous puzzle...and I don't think I could love it more.

Way back in 2021 when Paul retired from Hancock Church in Lexington...this was a gift from Julia. With all the hustle and bustle of the move I didn't get to it right away but I did loan it to Margie. Although she struggled dealing with the 1000 smallish pieces with just her lapboard and her puzzle boxes...I know she enjoyed it. I remember helping her a bit...but I never put it together myself. Until now!

I'm not sure if it was cheating...or an act of brilliance....but when I took it apart when  Margie finished it I stored the top and the bottom in two seperate bags. That gave me two 500 piece puzzles and I just finished the first one/top half. It's just gorgeous and was loads of fun!

And look how beautiful the bottom half is going to be! 

Delight

I had my first swim this morning and it was an absolute delight. 

"Someone asked me how to live an extraordinary life & I said I had no idea because I always thought it was more interesting to live an ordinary life & not miss a second of it."

Joy-Full

I knew it was going to be a good day when it was already joy-full by 7:30 am.  

When Paul rides his bike he often discovers places he wants to take me to. Just the other day we drove around a nearby coastal neighborhood I'd never been to. And recently he's been riding by the sidewalk wildflower garden that he found last year watching for the right timing for a visit.

It's not all in full bloom yet...but far enough along that it became the destination of our morning walk. It's coming along...and I'll be keeping an eye on it over the next few weeks. 

The bright orange wallflower, also known as prairie rocket was gorgeous and compliments all the blues in the garden.

The blue flax was in full bloom but the bachelor buttons are just getting started! 

You can't beat that blue!     

 

If that wasn't' enough....on the way home we came across a fabulous found object by the side of the road. 

I'm not sure what little vehicle this came from...and some might see trash. But I'm seeing garden or woodland art. Right?

And Paul found this little guy on his bike ride. 

And we had a little play with the wheel and our shadows on the way home. 

I love a joy-full morning....especially when it's shared with someone I love.

I auditioned it in front of the rock wall during happy hour....and I kind of like it!

A Few Finishes

Subtitle: Joy Journal

Today I'm celebrating a few finishes....but first....a few Mother Nature moments.

This is one of the first butterflies I've seen...and it played around on the lilac for while.

And this morning the ducklings were more visible. They still didn't scoot into the water....but mom was keeping an eye on me. 

And now for the finishes! I'm all done with an order of 300 Christmas matches with a few winter blue snowflake ones thrown in. That was a lot of cutting...folding...and glueing. 

Folly 101 puts hostess bags together with things like napkins, a candle and a box of matches. They like to get this done well in advance of the hustle and bustle of Christmas so I've got that covered....pun intended. I've been working on them here and there for a few weeks in the evenings....after having cut most of the papers on our road trip to Perry a few months ago.      

Nice to have this project finished and off the dining room table. 

   

And ALL of my journals projects got mailed today! Thank you Paul for doing that on your bike...which makes parking so much easier. Enclosed is an altered art journal and 3 junk journals for Lynn, an altered journal and a junk journal for Brenda, and Becky's junk journal is on it's way to Tracie for her to add to for our Junk Journal Journey. 

I'll be getting Brenda's to work on when Becky is ready to send it. I've loved this new art exchange so far! Each journal will be so unique.

Remember my art paper Kawandi quilt project? It became a cover for a junk journal that I made for Brenda with all the leftover papers she gave me for her altered journal. 

I tore off a strip of a rainbow hand dyed fabric for the closure. It's a little long but I didn't want to give up any of the colors. It coordinates so well with the papers.

Brenda can decide if she wants to shorten it. 

Traditional Kawandi quilts often have a colorful floating patch called tikeli. 

I added one under the button for stability...and a bright one on the back.

 

Here's a little glimpse inside....a lot of this and that.

There are a couple of these little cat paintings in Brenda's altered art journal...

and now there's one here.

At the other end of this tiny page are a couple of photographs of her dog from a Christmas photo card she had in her pile. 

I really enjoyed working on these projects...they've been a labor of love. I actually have a junk journal of my own that now I can start working in. And I was tickled to hear from Ellen today....she is inspired to create what she is going to call a joy journal. She found a book of handmade papers at an estate sale and she will include things from An Ounce of Joy I sent out several years ago. That makes me so happy! I think joy journal is a much better name than junk journal...and I told her I may have to adopt if for my own. 

Let's hear it for fabulous finishes....and fresh starts with joy journals! 

Ducklings

I feel blessed that we live on a property with a pond.

And I'm tickled that we have two families of ducklings on the pond

They're so much fun to watch. 

Just this morning as I was walking around the path one of the moms caught my eye. Generally when someone walks by she scoots right in the water with the babies behind her. But she just sat still. I got a little closer...but not too close to see if the babies were there. I was able to zoom in and sure enough....the babies were all huddled under her and you could seem the squirming about.

I was pleased that she was comfortable enough knowing I wasn't a threat. 

Every few days they waddle through the backyard...and it's always a treat! 

Hint of Summer

I helped host a neighborhood party today....and there was a hint of summer in the air. Or maybe it was just normal spring. All that matters is that it was a beautiful day for a party...but I'm tired!

I did get up close and personal with the field pussytoes today....and I love them even more than before now that they're open. They live up to their name!

Blessings to those of you who have loved ones who have died serving our country. I dream of a day when we no longer need men and women with weapons needing to defend our freedoms. 

And I dream of a day when we don't have defend ourselves from our own government. 

Proverbial Photo Op

As many of you know I love this view of this patch of my patio garden...I take this same photo several times a year. This is the late May version....and there will be others throughout the season and things get more filled in.

This garden is mostly textures and a variety of greens....very few blooms. 

But it doesn't need them. 

I have all my little garden tchotchkes out...

and they provide little pops of color here and there. And almost everything has a story...including the rocks.

I might share some of those stories again...but that's for another day.

Because today I'm sharing another proverbial photo op....the annual anniversary selfie. Paul and I celebrated out 44th anniversary today. We had a nice middle of the afternoon lunch out and a lovely drive around some local coastal neighborhoods that Paul discovered on his bike.

We topped it off with happy hour on the patio ....one of the places we most like to be. 

This is one of my favorite photo...just a quiet candid moment.

The best kind of photo op.

My sister Angie was our wedding photographer....she did an outstanding job! 

Good Cause

Sam, Kelly, and some of Kelly's family including young Eli joined Paul and me this morning for a Community Walk around Back Cove to benefit Maine Needs.

There is something about people pulling together for a good cause that just feels good. 500+ people registered for the walk.

It was foggy and a bit drizzly for 3 1/2 miles around cove...but we all did fine.

There hazy views of the city and a few cranes along the way made it a delight.

There is a small stretch on the city side of the cove where are you walk along the highway.....but as the path curved it was nice to see the long line of people ahead. 

There is power...and energy in numbers! 

Eli did a great job...and only took a short piggyback ride from Aunt Kelly for the last little stretch.

It was a good day....doing a good thing...with good people...for a good cause!

Snipping and Tucking

I finished this 300 piece Shelfie puzzle a couple of days ago.....and it did bring out my inner 10 year old. 

The actual 66 year old stretched it out for 3 days...just to spread out the childlike fun. I have the next one ready to go....and I actually found one in my stash I haven't done before.

Who doesn't love a set of rainbow shelves!

I just noticed that the gridded project at my sewing machine...looks a little like the gridded puzzle.

Using some special art papers Brenda gave me...I'm doing a bonus project to go along with her altered journal.

Using a Kawandi style of quilt making.....I kept adding small chunks of the paper onto the cardstock as I stitched my way into the middle.

No plan...just snipping and tucking one piece at a time.

This is the front so far.....

....and this is the back....which is a piece of painted cardstock from Lynn's stash. Lynn doesn't know this yet...but I think she would be pleased. And do you see my little opps?

A swatch of paper was tucked under the cardstock...and got caught up in the stitching. I'm just going with it! I guess it really did get snipped and tucked! 😉