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

Happy summer solstice!

At the beginning of this longest day of light....Paul and I checked out the sidewalk wildflower garden...and it was bursting with color. 

Paul had been keeping an eye on it while on his bike....and knew it was time to go back. He was right.

The theme was pink and blue today....with touches of white. 

I didn't realize I dressed to match the occasion. My bright pink top matched the sweet William catchfly perfectly....and it's hard to tell...but my sneakers are light blue. 

I couldn't have planned it any better.

Paul snuck this one while he waited.

He's good about waiting. 

Happy summer everyone! 

What Was I Afraid Of?

The purple and yellow baptisia I donated to the pond area is thriving. 

I just didn't have enough sun at the condo....but I still get to enjoy it at the pond.

Swirls 2.0 is the 4th class I've taken from Izzy Moore...and she has always encouraged us to do a cable stitch with our machines. That's where you put heavier threads in the bobbin and sew on the reverse side of your project and the bobbin thread get couched on the front. 

Since it seemed to involve changing the tension on bobbin cases...I just avoided it. And I don't have a bobbin case...my bobbins just drop into my machine. But Izzy told us how to do it with drop in bobbins...and I finally gave it a try.

You have to hand wind the yarn/string....and turns out it's easy peasy to do. I'm not sure what I was so afraid of. 

Depending on the settings you use with stitch variety and length...you can get all kinds of interesting wiggly patterns. All this came from the bobbin!!! I especially love the wiggly gold and I'm looking forward to working some of these into my swirl stitching. I think a little will go a long way.

Interesting Sea Bottles and a Cool Stick

I took this photo at a junkyard of sorts on Cranberry Island. It wasn't an actual junkyard...just an interesting yard full of pretty cool stuff.

I've seen a lot of sea glass over the years....but these were whole sea bottles covered in barnacles. And it's the first time I've seen a sea flashlight! 

This is the little pile of sea finds I brought home.

I hand carried this stick outside of my suitcase because I didn't want it to get crushed. Seems kind of silly.

But I just loved the gnarly shapes and interesting curves and it will be a great addition to my collection of really cool sticks. 

Other Things

The more you have, the more occupied you are. The less you have, the more free you are. Mother Teresa

We had a wonderful afternoon/evening with Dana and Anne on Deer Isle....

...another incredibly beautiful place. 

I just love the coast of Maine!

And now we're home. 

I was thrilled to see the bloodroot still blooming like crazy....and so many yellow daylilies! And there are more coming!

I took a very limited amount of art supplies with me: A travel watercolor set I inherited from Connie, some new pens from Becky and Emily...and a few of my own along with a pencil, my favorite eraser, a couple Gudrun catalogs, and a small bottle of glue. I also took a small sketchbook, my watercolor journal, and my joy journal ....formerly known as my junk journal. 

I forgot a pair of scissors...but thank goodness there was a pair at the house. 

Here are just a few of the other things played with at the kitchen table at the Cranberry Island church parsonage.

I spent time collaging using snippets from the catalogs I brought with me.

These thumbnails were all about swirls...swoops...and curves....intended to get me into the swing of things for my class.

Some friends of ours have a place on the island and Jim is one of the local Indivisible organizers for events including the No Kings Protests in Portland. His wife Sam is a poet and artist...and they are both such a delight.

I learned it was Jim's birthday while we were on the island (thanks Marian) so when we visited with him and Sam on their porch I took him a birthday card I made with watercolor and catalog collage.

I also did some painting....

...including the first page in my JOY JOURNAL. The page was originally drawn with a fine line black pen around one of my favorite stencils. I may add a little more texture to the flowers.

I love this well loved travel watercolor set I inherited from Connie.

It's still good as new (as far as I can tell) and I love seeing her handwriting above the colors.

I doodled and painted this simple wildflower page in my watercolor journal....

absolutely inspired by Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow.

There are other things.....but I'm calling this post a wrap! 

A Little Bit

This is our last morning on Cranberry Island....then we are heading to Deer Isle for the afternoon and evening to be with our friends Dana and Anne. I'm posting this early in the day before we catch the ferry...as I don't want to interrupt the flow of our time with friends this evening. 

We did have time to take a little hike this morning on a trail through this woods that landed us at a beautiful rocky beach.

A little bit of beach!

And a whole lot of rocks! That's a Maine beach for you!

But I also wanted to share just a little bit of the more on the that later I mentioned yesterday.  This is more on my searching for swirls, swoops and curves these past few days as inspiration for my class. And this isn't even all of them.

It's been fun having something to be looking for as we been exploring the island. You know how much I like looking! Especially looking closely.

There are so many swirls...swoops and curves in the world!

Sea Pea

Subtitle: More On That Later

Maybe it's the sea air...maybe it's the lack of distractions and quiet down time....but these getaways seem to unleash my creative energy.  I've been painting every day (more on that later)...collaging every day (more on that later) and searching for swirls as inspiration for my Swirls 2.0 class (more on that later) during these past few days. 

But first...did I mention it's lupin season! 

Ha ha....I think I did.

 I continue to be just gobsmacked at the beautiful shades of purple and blue...

and the never ending fields of lupin here on the island.

 

But for this post....I wanted to highlight another...more subtle bloom.

Along the shore there are flowers I assumed were sweet peas.....but when I plugged them into my plant ap it told me they were sea peas...also known as beach peas! 

How sweet is the sound of a SEA pea! 

I'm smitten!

And just look at the beautiful and graceful swirl of the leaves and the tendril.

This morning when I sat down on the beach to really get up close and personal with the sea peas....I found all kinds of swirls, curves, and swoops.

It's official...I'm in love with sea peas!

Small Town Vibe

One of the first times Paul and I visited Cape Cod we saw one beautiful white sandy beach after another. Pretty soon they all started looking the same. But it was a delight...and we kept looking.

So I had to chuckle when I was reminded of that the last couple of days as we have walked...and golf carted around the island.....seeing one beautiful lupin field after another that they're all starting to look the same.

 But it's such a delight...so we'll keep looking. 

I am starting to look for interesting backdrops....just to change it up.

There is no shortage of photo ops...so you haven't seen the last of the lupin.

I am horrified and saddened about what has happened in Minnesota. Violence is never OK.

At first I was a little disappointed that I wasn't going to be in Portland for today's No Kings Protest. It's energizing for me to be part of a mass gathering and reminds me how many people understand the trouble we're in. There is strength in numbers. 

I do wish....however...that there was nothing we needed to protest. 

But it was just as powerful to be part of a protest with a small town vibe. There can also be strength with even just a few.

Paul and I walked with about 20 local Cranberry Island folks from the church down to dock...and we picked up a few along the way. 

There was laughter and joy as we walked....all hoping for a better world.

This is what democracy looks like!

Choose Love! Do the Right Thing!

I still have hope that our democracy will survive.

Lupin Season

Paul and I got up early this morning to make the drive to Manset, Maine where we picked up the ferry to Cranberry Island. Ministers can preach on Sunday and get free lodging in the parsonage. Paul had his pick of Sundays....and it was my request to go during lupin season....and so far it's exceeding my expectations. 

There were lupin all along the highway driving up....which made for an enjoyable 3 hour car ride.

We got down the long pier to the dock with our stuff and I noticed an eye catching lupin patch way back up on the shore that I had missed. I hiked back up to take some photos because after all.....we had 15 minutes to spare. 

It was totally worth it.

I was happily taking photos and enjoying the view...but then I saw the ferry boat down at the end of the dock...so I had to hightail my way back down. I even had a few minutes to spare. Phew!

Lupin....as far as my eyes could see! And we weren't even on the island yet.

This is where we will be for a few days and nights....and I'm looking forward to sharing a bit of the island with you again. And I will certainly be looking for lupin!