Farm Roots

There is nothing like the farmland of Wisconsin that pulls at my heart strings. 

Midway through my visit....I spent a night with my sister LaVonn and her husband Tim on their Evansville farm. I am rooted in life on a farm and will always be drawn to the country landscape.

Family Table

I great up on a farm with 8 siblings....so there was a window of time when there were 11 of us around our family table. We ate dinner together almost everyday....and I have fond memories of the sights, sounds...and smells. 

My niece Holly and her husband Hikmet have the family farm table now and yesterday 11 of us gathered around it for a full Turkish breakfast. It seemed fitting that there just happened to be 11 of us....and the four of us who remember our childhood around this table even knew exactly where we sat. 

A Turkish breakfast includes vegetables, olives, cheese, eggs and all kinds of breads and jams.

When the dishes were cleared and the tablecloth (very Turkish) removed...I recognized every scratch and wooden grain line of this family table. My heart was full.

And I had a chance to have some one on one time with dear sweet Ayla.

Rich Would be Proud

The last couple of days have been all about family. Just ONE of the events was a graduation party for my nephew Charles. 

Charles is the second son of my youngest brother Rich who passed away when Charles was quite young. 

Rich would be so proud of this amazing young man. 

Art Friends

The days have been full and wonderful. Our art group gathered yesterday....and that always brings me joy. Tracie, Brenda, Becky and I have been sharing art trades for several years and we gather as often as we can. It was a good mix of catching up...and had fun painting rocks to send out into th world.

I placed one of mine under Angie's tree in Orton Park....the one Tracie and Loon planted after my sister died. Angie's tree is getting big! 

Tracie gave us each a little hand painted card that stole my heart.

Having art friends in my life is one of my greatest joys.

Dinner With Lynn

Last Evening while Becky was at a prior engagement I had dinner with Lynn. She and I met while Paul was a pastor in a Madison church back in 2008. She is an artist I admire who has taught me a lot!

Lynn and I have stayed in touch over the years and it fun when I get to connect with her while I'm in Madison. I also made her an altered art journal...and I got to see the finished product last evening. 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2025/05/depth-and-beauty.html

Several pieces of Lynn's art are hanging all over my condo. I especially love her zentangle work on watercolor. 

Seeing Becky and Lynn's altered art journal has been a real treat for me.

I layered the two pieces of hers on the right....cutting out the leaves so they would layer on the next page. Lynn added the painting on the left making for a beautiful spread. There is so much more....but you get the idea. 

Colors and Textures

I've known Becky since we were 5 years old. 

We both grew up on farms in Edgerton, Wisconsin...and we've seen each other through the best and worst of times. No matter how much time has passed we always pick up right where we left off.

This is actually from a year or two ago...we'll take a new one at some point during this trip.

We had a delightful day together and here are some of the colors and textures from her gardens and yard. 

Then AND now!

Last year I made Becky a an altered art journal where I ripped down pages in a commercial art journal and stitched in some of her own art and snippets. I wrote about it here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2025/03/altered-art-journal.html

I was able to hand deliver it when I visited last April: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2025/04/hand-delivery.html

And just today I got to see how she has been making it her own. She's having fun with it! 

On the right is a calendar page I stitched in that she gave me. And I love how she took the colors and textures from the landscape to create the squares on the left! Well done Becky! 

I had stitched in a piece of one of her coloring pages....and now she's starting to doodle.

Fully Present

I've been talking about it for several days now....but I'm finally heading out of town this afternoon. I will arrive in Madison, Wisconsin late tonight for a week with family and friends. I'll get to see sweet Max...and his new little brother Miles! And of course...a lot of adults too. 

I always have a little bit of angst when I leave home....it's my happy place. I'm leaving Paul in charge of the gardens and the birds....and he has promised to keep me posted on the baby bluebirds that are most certainly going to fledge while I'm gone. Mom and dad have been busy keeping them fed and we can hear them chirping deep in the house cavity. 

I had time to make the rounds in the gardens this morning...cutting things back and dead heading and I'm excited about the black eyed Susans that are starting to unfurl. This is my NOW! 

I know for a fact that once I get where I'm going I will be fully present. I'll be enjoying other people's gardens...and sharing joys with people I love.

Per usual when I travel my posts will likely be late in the evening when the days have wound down. 

Looking for joy while I am way and sharing it here is grounding for me.

Then:

This is the moment I decided to start adding fused fabric to my watercolors while taking the Watercolor for Relaxation course. It started by covering a mistake...and now I do it intentionally.  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-thing.html

I hope you are fully present wherever you find yourself today!

Humbled....and Honored

Usually the saying "if you see something, say something" refers to matters of public safety. But I think we should also apply it to matters of public praise. Compliment someone who is rocking their outfit or say something kind to the young man who just checked out your groceries. It feels good to say something...and you know it makes that person feel good too.

It's humbling...but life affirming to be recognized. We like to dish it out...and we have to take it too.

I head out of town tomorrow afternoon....and I'm mostly ready.....so it was wonderful to spend a chunk of my day with my friend Patty. She is active in Portland Rotary and participates in so many worthy projects both locally and far and wide. Their work is impressive and important and I am in awe of all that they do. 

Her group sponsored a Flags for Heroes campaign as one of their fundraisers to support their various service projects. People were invited to sponsor a flag to honor a person that has made a difference in their life and Patty nominated me as one of her heroes. I was humbled and honored. 

Today we visited the flag display at the Maine Mall and enjoyed a delightful lunch together. It was a moving display....and a fabulous connection.

I feel so fortunate to have a friend in my life that is right down the street. And I'm thrilled that our friendship is meaningful to her too. 

Just yesterday I walked out to get the mail and saw her in her yard and just wandered down. It's so comforting. 

This campaign historically has honored the military. But her Rotary group promoted it much winder than that and include anyone who has impacted your life whether it be a teachers, minister, employer....or  friend.

The plaque reads: 

FLAGS FOR HEROES

HONORING

MARYANN SHUPE

FRIEND WHO BRINGS

KINDNESS, JOY AND HOPE

Thank you Patty! My heart is full.

Now and Then

Now(ish):

While I was visiting Janice a few days ago I got a tour of her neighbor's gardens and her whimsical coneflowers captured my heart.

The petals were long and loose and flopped around in the breeze like they were dancing. It was right out of a Dr. Seuss book.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. Dr. Seuss

Why is it that right before I'm getting ready for a trip my mind can't stop thinking of all the art projects I want to do. They'll have to wait because there's a long list of things to tend to these few days before I head out of town for a week.

So I thought I might start something new called Now and Then that I might tap into while I'm traveling. The Now...will something from my day that brings me joy. The Then will be a link to something I've created in the past that still brings me joy. There are several new blog subscribers that may be looking for something arty.

Then: 
Back in 2007 I started a cathedral window quilt. The whole thing is hand stitched so it was the perfect take-a-long project. My initial intention was to make it bed size...but 13 years later I finally got it to the point where it could be a wall hanging in my studio. Absolutely the right decision for me.

Here's the post where I celebrate those last stitches: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/06/ahead-of-schedule.html

And for you interested quilty types...this is a link to the thread of "cathedral window" posts over the years where you can see my process and progress. There is much more in these posts...so while I'm a bit distracted this will be a way to get to know me a bit. 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/search/label/cathedral%20window%20quilt

It really was the perfect project to take on the road then. I need something similar for now!

NO Words Needed

I've been working on the last section of my mineral puzzle....and it's all words.

The artist listed all her hand drawn minerals...making it educational and interesting. 

I've been taking my time on finishing this one. 

But there are NO words needed for this fabulous specimen. You can't make this stuff up.....Mother Nature had a sense of humor on this one.

Grown Up

I don't think I could have packed more joy into a day. My heart is full.

Eliza and Barbara stopped in for lunch....Barbara is Paul's successor at Hancock Church in Lexington, MA. This was Eliza's third year at a summer camp in Maine...so they have been stopping in on their way...or their way home from camp each year.

Eliza and I were been art buddies for several years...trading things back and forth including homemade art journals. She's a pretty special young lady and I cherish that time we shared. 

Eliza is much more grown up now....almost as tall as me. Although our relationship has shifted...I still feel a strong connection to her. Maybe I can foster something new....and more grown up.

This is one of my favorite photos. 

I put "Eliza" in the search box in the upper left corner of my blog and all the posts about her and our shared art and time together came up. I loved looking them all over again. Back in 2021 I made us each a little art journal...and we decorated our own covers. We traded them back and forth so each one is filled with both our art. Little did I know at the time that these were actually Joy Journals!

Today was also Lori Austill's open studio....and it was so much fun seeing her beautiful and the space where she creates. Her art for sale was hanging all through her home. I'm going back tomorrow....so more to come. I wrote about a unusual interaction with Lori here in this post.  

Just Roll With It

Today was all about party prep and other chores.....I had it all mapped out in my head and it included a morning swim. But then before the day had barely begun I had a big spill. The details don't matter....but it felt like my day was totally derailed. More than an hour was invested in the clean-up to start....and bits of time all day long dealing with the aftermath. I had no choice but to just roll with it.

It wasn't the end of the world....and everything is OK.  All the party prep and chores got done and I even had time for a swim and to pop in on a friend. As I finish this post late this afternoon....I'm heading into an evening with family and what could be better than that! 

These next several weeks are going to be busy...including getting ready for an upcoming trip. But there's always time to share a little joy nugget....and today it's pink slime mold. Yes...you heard that right. 

I've had it before...it's absolutely harmless and just another sign of nature feeding on decaying material. One day it's there and the next day it's gone. 

So I'm just rolling with and celebrating these beautiful pink pearls of slime mold.