One Corner

I had several of those quiet gorgeous moments again today....it was a good day.

Paul and I were sitting on patio for happy hour enjoying the birds at the feeders and in the bath...when I saw a little red spot in the woods. From my vantage point it was about the size of a dime...but it was catching the late day sun just right...so it was glowing. 

I remember the same thing happening last year....so I knew I was going to find something special with a closer look.

One lone little spiraea stem...in one corner of the woods...with one tiny bloom.

Even when you zoom in you can't see it in the photograph. 

But I could see it clear as day from my chair.

And I'll share one corner of my swirl project with just a bit of beading and hand stitching. I'm calling it done and I'll share more about it tomorrow. And...it matches the spiraea.

Abundance can also include the space you have in your life for rest, rejuvenation, naps, taking long breaks, practicing stillness, doing nothing. 

Yumi Sakugawa

Lipstick

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." Charles Dickens

The sun was shining today....but the wind was howling all day long reminding us that winter is hanging on.

I took this photo late yesterday afternoon looking into the foggy woods from the patio. It was warmer than usual so felt a little like spring.....and we're starting to see actual ground under the snow and the birds seem to be celebrating.

This back and forth is so typical of March...and rest assured there will be more winter. But we also can feel the anticipation of spring. 

I love the layers of moody grays created by the fog.

All the blooms on the second amaryllis stem have come full circle and are in total wabi-sabi glory. I have loved watching the process.

I cut the last of the blooms off...and will keep them for a while as a reminder of the beauty of the circle of life.

And I noticed something really intriguing that I didn't notice with the first stem.

Sorry for the blurry photo...but this is the TOP of the stem where I cut the blooms off. It's interesting on its own. It's thick and sturdy and hollow like an oversized straw.

And this is the BOTTOM of the stem that was sitting in the water.

Somehow the very end of the stem that was sitting in the bottle of water turned bright cherry red. Looks like lipstick. I would have thought some of the color would have transferred to the water...but it was clear. 

It seems like the stem was pulling the color from the blooms as they dried and trying to transfer it back to the bulb....which wasn't there anymore. 

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Wonder and Awe

Subtitle: Awe Walks, They're Good For Your Health!

Marian sent me a link to an article from Huffpost which linked to a Podcast from the Am I Doing It Wrong series. The article and the Podcast feature the research Dacher Keltner has done on wonder and awe...and how having more of it can change our lives. Marian knew this was right up my alley!

I'm not going into too much detail here...even though I want to. I recommend you read the the article if you're interested which links to the Podcast. I enjoyed both. You might too.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dacher-keltner-awe-wonder-walk_l_676f0658e4b0063e00bc064c

Dacher defines awe as an emotion you feel when you encounter vast mysteries. I think I've experience this when I say something makes me stop in my tracks or make me pause. I hadn't thought about these as moments of awe....but now I get it. 

He goes on to describes a study he did with 75 year olds and the positive effect that experiencing awe had on their health. Some of the participants in the study were told to go on what he called a awe walks....paying attention to things with childlike wonder. They were to pause and notice things...both big and small and take in the vast mysteries that were all around them. 

That's what I've been saying for years...in my own way.

There was a notable positive effect on people who took the awe walks. 

I took an awe walk today in the woods. It was cold...but I bundled up and took my time and had an attitude of childlike wonder. The most memorable moment was when I came across this fallen tree. Paul and I sit on the patio...or on the couch in the winter and look at the trees in the woods almost every day. They're tall....but we don't have a sense for how tall they really are from our chairs.

This one on the ground seemed to go on forever...and the fact that I was able to walk from one end to the other gave me a real sense how tall this tree actually was. It gave me a feeling of awe. And if was was actually a child...I would have tried to walk the whole length balancing ON the tree.

The study showed that once people started searching for awe, the more awe they found....and this gives me a new framework to think about what I already knew. 

The more you pay attention and take the time to look closely....the more you will see I've always said. Now I know I'm encouraging you to search for awe....and I can say even it's been scientifically proven to be be good for your health!

Alyson and I took a break from our photo exchange after Margie's fall and during the holidays. There was just too much going on. 

But we've started back up again...and I just realized today that taking photos to share with her was another way that I searched for moments of awe. I've missed it....and I'm glad to have it back in my life. It's good for my health!

This is the photo montage that I sent her this evening....highlights of my awe walk in the woods.

The Process

The ghost plants are back in the woods!  These are some of the strangest and most intriguing plants I've come across.  

For those of you who might not know...these plants do not have any chlorophyll and do not require any sunlight. They live off the fungi in the soil....both crazy cool...and kind of creepy.

They are also called corpse plants...and you can see why.

They have a funny texture...

and a little surprise inside.

Now....the rest of this post is for those of you who are interested in the process as I experiment with cyanotypes. I'm still learning...I'm only a few days in. I'll share more as I go along.

The first thing I do when I make a print is get everything ready and have a basic plan. The chemicals are activated by sunlight/natural light...even inside the house. But they are not activated by light bulbs so I work in my bathroom where there are no windows. 

Each time I print I mix only a teaspoon each of solution A and B....and I've been surprised how many prints I could make. The chemicals are safe to touch...although I have almost no contact with them. I have worn gloves....but not all the time.

The supplies are pretty simple: the two solutions, a measuring device (I'm using a teaspoon), a cup to mix them in and a foam brush. Then of course I need something to print...and something to print on. I'm using grasses and weeds from the neighborhood and 140 lb watercolor paper.

I also used a piece of glass, backer board or cardboard and clips.

I've been collecting plants in the evening on my after dinner walks....

...and pressing them in a book overnight to get them flat. 

Working in the bathroom....I paint a layer of the solution on the paper. It goes on a light yellow color so you can see that you have coverage. I've seen videos where people let this dry completely....just a little bit...or not at all. I am trying it all different ways and I am getting decent results each time.

My paper is on a piece of cardboard. Next I lay out my plants....and cover the piece with glass and clip it down so the plants have good contact.  

I have learned if there are gaps between the plants and the paper...the color is not as crisp. But I actually like that effect sometimes.

Then I take it out into the direct sun for as little as 3 minutes and as many as 10. I will experiment with longer. 

It starts to activate and change to a green color immediately.... 

....turning darker and darker.

I let this one go for 3 to 4 minutes....took it inside to take apart...and rinsed it off in the sink until the chemicals were removed.  It looks a little funny until you rinse it.

This is before I rinsed.

I just swished it around in the sink and ran water over it. The yellow disappeared and the blue changed right before my eyes. It takes 24 hours for it to fully oxidize and get to the final color but I could speed it up with a squirt of peroxide in a final rinse. 

These were two of my very first prints from a few days ago.

The top one is the one I showed the steps above...and I remember now that I spritzed some diluted vinegar on it before I took it outside to add some texture and color variation. (saw that in a video) The bottom one is just plants and the sun...for maybe a bit longer....but still not more than 10 minutes.

Do you see the white spots on the right of the top one?  That's where the clothespins were. Lesson learned! 

Closeups of both.

Here's my first little project...just a simple card form pieces of these first prints.

I do want prints that have different shades and variations in the blues and some with textures....so I'm trying different techniques. More experiments to share tomorrow.

I did learn that I should wait until it turns this bronze color if I want darker blue. But that hasn't always been necessarily true in my experimenting....but I don't mind a surprise in the end. It's going to do what it's going to do. (just like a gelli print) This print has no added texture...just the grass and the sun for about 8 minutes on watercolor paper.

I think the smudges are my fingerprints or variation in the saturation of the solution. Lesson learned: it's better not to touch the surface until the solution is completely rinsed off. 

     

Woodland Magic

I look forward to the spring woodland flowers every year. I know I'm a broken record on this....but I can't help but celebrate the woodland magic!

All of the woodland flowers are white...but I am interested in getting some pink shooting stars from a gardener friend when they're ready.

I have a few trillium plants that are thriving....and hundreds of starflowers are sprinkled here and there.

And the sasparilla, my favorite, will be blooming soon into little white firecracker balls!

And the Canada mayflowers are just starting to poke through too.

I just learned that this is azure bluet. It's a teeny white flower and there are tufts of it scattered around the yard and a few in the woods.  I think it's absolutely charming!

This starflower and foam flower from my garden ended up on my window sill.

I made progress on the scrappy trees today...the blue sides are done. The other side will be bright Christmas colors along with the black and white.

I've posted the process before...but I'm going to briefly share it again. I trace the tree with a pencil on release paper then overlap and iron on the prefused strips to cover the outline.

The pencil line is easily visible from the back so using my quilting ruler and rotary cutter I cut out the tree just a bit inside the line.

Then all I have to do it peel off the paper and fuse it onto the foam core.     

I'll work on the Christmas side later this evening or tomorrow.

Then I'll finish the stems and bases and I can get these two special orders in the mail! 

I think these trees are a little woodland magic too! 

Dream Come True

Subtitle: Finding Light

"The despair I feel about the world would ruin me if I did not know how to find light.  Whatever is happening in the world, whatever is happening in our personal lives, we can find light." Mary Phifer

Two friends sent me the same link to an essay by Mary Phifer titled "Finding Light in the Winter".....I wept all the way through it. Mary acknowledges the darkness this time of year and the brokenness of the world...but also knows there is light to be found if we look for it. We can find it in the snow and the birds....and a beautiful sunset. "This time of year we must look for it." 

I found it in the drops of water hanging from the pine branches by the pond.

We raised our very young boys in the church parsonage three doors down from Foreside Community Church in Falmouth, Maine, where Paul was serving as the Pastor.  One of the many wonderful things about living in that vintage cape cod home was that it was just 1/2 mile from Town Landing Market. We could get groceries, fresh lobster, deli sandwiches, and all the treats and snacks one could possibly want including doughnuts from a local bakery. It was a dream come true.

The boys used to walk down to the store...then on down to the water to fish for crabs off the dock at the Town Landing.  A boys' dream come true.  

David Clough was a member of our church and a talented painter. His rendition of Town Landing Market captures the charm and flavor of this iconic store. Below the print is my Christmas Moment #11....and I love everything about it.

This simple display features a little church...and some special hand folded stars made by my friend Jane.

There's a tiny little house....that could be the parsonage.  

And....this very well could have also been a gift from Jane who I met through the church. It looks like something Jane would buy for me....I love it.

She and her family lived just a few blocks from Town Landing Market.

This little display evoke memories of Christmas when the boys were young. But Christmas wasn't always easy. 

It was a working holiday for Paul....so I was mostly in charge of the kids and getting ready for our own Christmas.  We didn't have extended family in the area so a big Christmas dinner was not what we needed or could manage. When our boys were older homemade pizza became our tradition....but when they were young we would walk to Town Landing Market at some point on Christmas  and buy treats. Yes...they were open for a small window of time on Christmas.  It was a boys' dream come true.  A mom and dad's too.

And finally....just before dinner tonight...I found the light in the woods.  

What I Saw

"The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see." Barry Neil Kaufman

Do you see what I saw?

Look closely....before you take a peek at the hint below.

There's a big change in the colors and lighting in the woods this time of year as the days grow shorter.  The sun is lower in the sky causing more shadows and interesting streams of light. And as the leaves are slowly changing.....the ferns on the forest floor are going from green to yellow to brown.

Sometimes Paul and I just sit and watch without saying a word.

We see what we want to see.....and what I saw was a little light of love.

Now go back and look at the first photo again and it will be clear as dusk.

(As you can see....I like that phrase for early evening photos.)

Fuzzy Brain

Paul and I were sitting on the patio yesterday late afternoon/evening enjoying the picture perfect day....when Sam came out to try out his new purchase.  It's a cross between a hammock....a tent....a cocoon...and a boat.

It was fun watching him string it up and figure it out....we were quite entertained.  It comes with an lightweight insulated blanket for underneath....and a large rain tarp for overhead...which he didn't try out. 

It's really quite impressive...and he hopes to try it out on a biking/camping trip with friends this weekend...if it ever stops raining.

Once he crawled inside his little cocoon tent....he stayed for quite a while enjoying the quiet of the woods. 

I kind of feel like I want to crawl into a little cocoon and come transformed. I'm on day 10 of this COVID journey....and still not feeling myself. I had an original surge after 5 or 6 days...but now my brain is fuzzy and I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything.  And my energy level is still pretty low.  I actually went to the doctor...and my lungs are fine. So I need to practice patience....and just lay low for a while longer and hope I don't have a recurrence.  Which....apparently is a thing.  I just hope it's not my thing.  Luckily...Paul is pretty much back to himself.

I am enjoying this puzzle....it's just easy enough for my fuzzy brain to handle.