as time goes by

Butterfly art by daughter, Stephanie

I'm alarmed that it is already April.

Seems I spend the months of January and February wishing they would end - mainly because we are engulfed with gray gloom and unending drizzle.

Soon, it's March and then April ...

I purposefully vow to live for today, despite the wet cloud cover! Perhaps then tomorrow will take its time arriving.

Our days have been quiet. We had weekend guests; our nephew Brandon spent the last few days of his spring break with us. Niece, Sophie, arrived for an overnight stay. We fired up the fire pit and roasted marshmallows for smores. Yum!

Here are some pictures of random projects I've completed.

more 'She art'

cover for a collaborative art journal of few of us ladies are doing

a get-well card for my sick sister (she has recovered!)

a card for a friend

a page in my art journal

Gray is everywhere

"When a woman ceases to alter the fashion of her hair, you guess that she has passed the crisis of her experience. "

Ten years ago, my hair color could have been described as mousey-washed-out-dirty-dishwater-blond.

My women readers know very well that our hair defines us. Since my color was anything but attractive I began experimenting with color. Coloring from a box didn't work well for me because my hair is quite thick. That meant a trip to the beauty parlor every 8 weeks or so.

Tired of the maintenance as well as the expense, last August was the final application of color and highlights....

....and I have no regrets.

Weekly gratitude

Source: thenotebookdoodles.com

I am thankful for you.

Every person who enters my realm has a direct effect on my being. I get the opportunity to choose who I will interact with. How awesome is that?

Amazed

The passions of others intrigue me. Theo hopes to 'shoo his animals out the door' someday to live on their own.'

Wow.

this and that

'Hang in there' seems to be the expression of the week. Spring is just around the corner, or so they say. Our weather consists of bursts of extreme rain showers coupled with a stiff breeze. The beautiful pink of a spring time primrose uplifts my spirits today.

Here is a quick card I made for my mother-in-law's birthday. I enlarged a photo taken of Ellen when she was perhaps 12 years old. I colored the dress with colored pencil then used a barely wet paintbrush to even out the color. Rub-ons and rubber stamps are my new best friends as they add dimension and interest to one's artwork.


Olympia has a new indoor flea market on Thurston St. It's open on Saturdays and Sundays. The space resembles a hastily erected antique mall with a garage sale feel. One space in particular sells nothing but ephemera - old photos, postcards and miscellaneous printed products. Kitschy items from the 50's, 60's and 70's comprise another space at which I found some cool, bargain priced ephemera.

Garage sale season is a couple of months away so this indoor flea market will serve to satisfy my junk craving.

Weekly gratitude

Why am I so enamored with the mating sounds of frogs in the spring? Tonight their music is loud and glorious. If it was warmer (and not raining), I'd actually consider sleeping out on the deck, allowing the frogs to sing me to sleep!

Thank you, thank you for such a simple pleasure!

Weekly gratitude

originally uploaded from beauty that moves (Flickr)

'The single most revolutionary thing you can do is recognize that you are enough.'

-

Carlos Andrés Gómez

I am grateful for others who remind me of basic truths.....

Good byes hurt

Last year, our son volunteered for a 4 month deployment to 'Southeast Asia'. (He told us recently that the government of the country he has deployed to asks that he not broadcast his whereabouts. I don't understand why but will do my civic duty and remain 'mum'.) A hint: Nick will not be needing his rain gear as this country is arid and hot. Expatriates outnumber the native population and this country has the second highest per capita income in the world...


(This country also boasts that it has the most opulent mall in the world!)


At any rate, a four month deployment is baby cakes compared to the normal twelve to eighteen month stint away from home and loved ones which the majority of our armed forces experience....

.... until the soldier must say good-bye to his 9 month old baby boy. Lower lip trembles, eyes fill with tears and spill over. A soft sob is heard. A final embrace with baby boy who has no clue that he'll likely be walking before he sees his daddy again.

Nick's days, filled with long hours of work and interspersed with the novelties of exploring a new country and culture, will likely speed by quickly.

Broken down into smaller increments, "thinking 17 weeks feels more manageable than four months", says Courtney. She is already counting the days until Nick's return.

Thankfully, frequent contact via modern technology in the form of i phones, skype, and internet access will keep Nick abreast of Cooper's firsts: crawling, walking, and his first birthday party.

Our daughter experienced the long goodbye while Matt deployed twice to Iraq for twelve months. Having moved 1,400 miles away from home, she endured his second deployment away from family and close friends. That year, a low-grade, nagging worry about the welfare of both Matt and Stephanie made its nest in the recesses of our parental brains.

I so empathize and appreciate our military including each and every family member.

Allow me to reiterate a phrase we hear bantered about: Thank you for your service to our country.

Distress is good..... in art

OK. I'm excited.

I'm taking another e-course. This one is called 'The She Art Workshop'. The distressed, textured, busy backgrounds created by artist Cristy Tomlinson are what caught my eye.

Under her tutelage, here is my first project. It's the background that excites me!



I plan to host a workshop next month to teach many of the techniques I've been learning to my artsy friends. Email me for details if you are interested....

Preciousness itself

How precious are these chubby, dimpled, baby hands?

Cooper, at 9 months old, is quick to smile, chortles nonstop, plays contentedly, sleeps soundly and has irrevocably laid his claim to the totality of grandma's heart.

I see dead people

This label caught my eye. Did you know that corn starch is a good source of calcium? Perhaps we should stir a tablespoon of corn starch into our coffee each morning to get our daily requirement of calcium....

Be forewarned - the following photos may be disturbing to some viewers!

WHO TAKES PICTURES OF DEAD PEOPLE?!

While sorting through boxes of personals taken from storage units that went through the foreclosure process, I found a dozen photos like the ones above. The actual photos don't give me the heebie-geebies as much as the idea that someone had a small collection of such photos. Ewwwww.

To refocus your brain on a pleasant image, look at this playhouse! Perhaps Glynn can remodel the hut in our backyard into a playhouse for Cooper and my nieces and nephews.

This playhouse might be more popular with the local 'greeners' who inhabit Evergreen State College in Olympia.

daffodils

"Daffodils,

That come before the swallow dares, and take

The winds of March with beauty."

~ William Shakespeare

Last week's snowstorm(s) covered my dwarf daffodils whose buds were on verge of bursting open. I thought to rescue them from their blanket of snow but our low teen temperatures seemed like a crueler fate so I let them be. The snow is gone now and once again, they are perky and ready to show off their happy exuberance.

I've always wanted to attend the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle but rumors of packed attendance have kept me away. Apparently each display is crowded with bodies one dozen deep making it difficult to appreciate the displays. After seeing pictures of this year's displays, I think I'll sharpen my elbows, put on my brave girl panties and attend next year's show.

photo taken by Michael Walmsley

How impressive is this display by a 17 years old girl from Gig Harbor? Courtney Goetz's theme was re-purposing, recycling and re-characterizing materials.

This is a display from the 2009 show.

Usually by mid-February we hear the raucous chorus of the green tree frogs as they attempt to woo a mate. They've been hibernating all winter, burrowed down in the mud. (I don't know about you but I wouldn't feel overly amorous if, on a blind date, I meet up with a man who hasn't bothered to clean up after wrestling timber all day.) I've been known to sleep with the window opened a crack so I can fall asleep to the lovely sound.

Sadly, the frogs haven't ventured forth from the mud due to our frigid temperatures.

The frogs and I agree. Spring can arrive anytime!