Colors, Textures, and Shadows

I fell in love with the layers of color, amazing textures, and dramatic shadows just down the street.  Not your typical October color scheme.

Long Term Connection

I love a good story....especially one about connections.

Most Monday mornings several of us gather at the church and work on projects....sometimes our own and sometimes a church service project....as a matter of fact we are known as the "Project Group."  Today I folded stars. Anita came with a letter in her hand....ready to be mailed after group.  I knew she wrote her stepmother letters on a regular basis....but not until this morning at project group did I hear the whole story and fully absorb the scope of this wonderful long term connection.

Every week since 1978 Anita and her stepmother Elinor have been exchanging letters. They chit chat sharing details of their week, and Anita shares pictures of her granddaughter helping great grandma Elinor feel closer even though she lives far away. They made a decision to stay connected and have loyally honored it all these years.

Now just in case you didn't do the math....that's 41 years....over 2100 letters going each way! Think about that for a minute....pretty impressive don't you think! And the "hi Barb" on the top of the letter is a greeting from Anita to Elinor's neighbor Barb who picks up the mail....another nice connection.

I love everything about this story!  Joy!

Secondary Motives

As I walked into church this morning I noticed the tall zinnias had all fallen over and were looking a bit messy. I've enjoyed them all season....even as they started to fade and am grateful to Cheryl for planting them.

I took this picture at the beginning of September....

...and this one today. I should have taken a picture before I pulled them out.

This is the reason I wanted another station wagon.....I think that new used car smell is officially gone.  

I will admit I had secondary motives to this church service project....I wanted the spent blooms.




I stopped by my house and cut off all the blooms I could get to....then when I dropped them at the transfer facility I cut off the rest.





When I got home I dumped them onto the grass and made a wreath.  Unfortunately it was getting late in the afternoon by this time and the lighting was terrible and no amount of fiddling with settings or photo editing could make it better.  But I played around a little and may have another go of it tomorrow.

I did get true color with this close-up.  Let's hear it for secondary movies.

Joyful puttering at its best!

Back and Forth

Paul and I go back and forth between Lexington and Portland almost every week.  Sometimes I get on a roll in one place and it's hard to leave whatever I'm doing behind.....but I just roll back and forth with it. 

We drove back to Lexington this afternoon and I'm back to a new puzzle I had just started.  I finished the "Blue" one a few weeks ago and was excited to start the Michigan puzzle I got from Emily...my dear God Daughter. 

This puzzle came with a lid holder and it works perfectly.  I love it!

This is where I left the puzzle before I went to Maine....

....and this is where I am as of this evening. It's going together pretty fast.

I love having a puzzle waiting as I go back and forth.

Curly Sticks

I settled in and wrapped some curly sticks I had on hand with the same rainbow yarn I recently used on some wheat.  It was the perfect mindfully mindless activity after a busy day trying to make best use of the space in our small one car garage at the condo.  It wasn't glamorous work....but it had to be done and it was good to have help from my handy friend Jackson. We made good progress.

This first batch features the same yummy scheme from yesterday.  I will work through all the colors but this is as far as I got today. I think it's going to be a fun bouquet.



    

My fabric stash is all mixed up so I also started organizing today.  And...I'll have to admit I love the way fabric looks all stacked up.

I ordered some of the new metallic confetti dot colors...and now it's all together ready for the right project. 

 I could have sold this tree quilt piece several times at one of my shows....so I hope to revisit the concept.  I'm still quite drawn to  working with trees.

And I've been collecting striped fabric for quite some time and it's all finally in one bin....at least what I could lay my hands on.  I've seen some amazing quilts featuring stripes...so hope to play around with these in due time.

Getting Started

"They snickered at her life full of many patterns, but she smiled knowing she was only being her true self."
This is one of my favorite greeting card quotes....it rings true!

I pieced this strip of yummy colors and patterns together....reminds me of popsicles.

Then I auditioned some larger pieces to go with it including these solids.  What size? What shape? Mounted on a canvas? More patchwork? What now? 

After playing around with all kinds of possibilities....I ended up with a big mess.

So I paused.....because I need to figure out what I actually want to make. And it would really help the process if I organized my fabric stashes.  So I piled all the possibilities up and went out to clean the garage. At least I got started...and that was my only goal.

Glow

Paul took this photo on his very early morning walk. The lighting of the church, the streetlight, and the soft glow of the moon make for a lovely, peaceful scene.

Thanks Paul!

A few hours later on my walk with Janet and Anita these Montauk Daisies seemed to glow in the morning sun...such a cheerful late summer bloom.

And finally...the woods also seemed to glow in the late afternoon light.  

Ok....maybe I took that blog title too far....but it's true.

Paul and I drove to Maine this afternoon for a few days....and I'm looking forward to some studio time. Then maybe I'll have something new to write about other than the crazy beauty of October. Have I mentioned that I love October?  I believe so.

Porcelain Berries

I've been doing a little random batik scrap piecing and I'll share more about that over the next few days.  Today I have to celebrate my morning walk with Janet and one of my favorite invasive plants....porcelain berries.  

I was worried we were to late in the season but Janet and I found some berries tucked in our secret spot. It's really not all that secret...I just like to say that because I think they're so special.

These colors are just so unusual....and amazing. They don't seem real.

Here are a few of my other favorite photos from our walk around Lexington.  As I've mentioned again and again....I just love October and I can't help but celebrate it here. I hope you love it too. 

Holiday Field Trip

Paul and I enjoyed a holiday field trip wandering around Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. I've written about it before....but it's worth another visit.  The cemetery is 170 acres of winding roads, lovely gardens, monuments, memorials, and magnificent trees. 

It's always fun to climb the 96 steps up the tower and take in the 360 degree views of greater Boston. 

One of our destinations was the final resting place for my dear friend Connie.  Her memorial is here in Birch gardens....a lovely spot with an interesting water feature. 

BELOVED & DEVOTED MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, & FRIEND 

ARTIST, COOK, GARDENER, CELEBRANT, & ADVENTURESS

A WOMAN OF RARE UNDERSTANDING & A JOYFUL GENEROUS HEART

Well said!

While we were exploring Lexington and Cambridge over the last few days...our friends were exploring Parsons Pond and our beloved Bug Light.  I have their permission to share their photos here as I know several of you who read this blog know Dana, Sean, Leighton, and Emerson well.  I'm so glad they had beautiful weather to enjoy the Maine coast.