Gallery worker

Okay, I am off to work my day at the Arts of Snohomish gallery. It feels weird to leave my house with so much work I have to do ... but probably good to get escape my computer. And with my "new do". I had to borrow a shirt from David today. Not sure where my white shirts have gone. ;0

Mock Orange is finally blooming after 2 years. If you don't have one, make room in your garden for ... "One of the Sweetest-Smelling Flowering Shrubs". 

More about Mock Orange here: "Have you ever walked down a neighborhood, and got a whiff of sweet fragrance of citrus in the air? As you sniff your way towards this enchanting smell, you come across a privacy shrub with brown stems and waxy leaves. A closer look at the small white flowers, helps you confirm your doubts. It is a mock orange shrub." 

I want another one, maybe this, Philadelphus x virginalis 'Miniature Snowflake, of course it is a "double".

Discarded in Laura's yard

Vintage Bison

Cleaning up my desktop. 

 Vintage Buffalo/Bison Images - LOVE.

Taking a break from taking a break

"Success is just a series of failures, followed by the one thing that worked." Quote from this interview. 

For Earth Day ... Fish Out of Water: Five Ocean Species We're Eating to Death. And I pledge to continue to not use so many chemicals in my yard. For instance ... I pour boiling water on my weeds and pull them up. I also use boiling water to clean out my clogged drains in the bathtub instead of chemicals. I  pledge to use less water, flush less ... "if it's yellow, let it mellow". Okay probably TMI. I have blogged this before, but worth doing it again in appreciation of Earth Day ... Clouds 365.

I have been incredibly busy this week. Trying to wrap up my contract gig. And this weekend looks to filled with work as well. Next month = vacation for my brain. For sure. 

I have been finding so many cool things, I must blog them.  

Customize your cover letter with the help of Lisa Taylor. Can definitely use this very soon.

Draw a stickman. Hysterical. 

Can't get enough of these animated gifs by Pasquale D'Silva.

Just so I always know where I am and what time it is anywhere in the world.  And another way I could spend my time learning, that is in addition to Lynda.com that I watch almost daily.

The Google Art Project.

PhotoSeed representing an evolving online record of this early fine-art photography movement, is a private archive with simple goals: beauty, truth, scholarship and enjoyment for all who visit. 

Found MadPattern the other day but did not have time to play with it until I work up at 2am and couldn't go back to sleep. It is brilliant. Adobe Illustrator templates that make making patterns fun and addictive! Here is my first one ... grab it and use it for a pattern. You can go to the gallery and click on "user contributed" and see it in real time. Anyway, if you are an Adobe Illustrator fan, you will simply adore these templates, oh, did I mention, free templates? Thank you, Matt Handler for making my night.


Also, free repeating backgrounds. And now to try and go back to sleep for a little while.

They come in threes

I found three cute brown bottles for $2 each at the antique store the other day while waiting for mom's quilts to dry at the laundry mat. I also bought three bunches of daffodils at Trader Joe's that died before they opened. ;( 

Thank you!

Thank you to Strom Peterson and Max at Resident Cheesemonger for making me feel so welcome for Third Thursday Art Walk tonight. It was great fun! Except this introvert did more talking than usual. ') I had so many new Brantlers I wanted to make for tonight, but only got around to two. (And I brought home some delicious Stilton cheese.)

Breaking silence for fun news

I almost forgot this was happening this week! 

Participating in Third Thursday Art Walk in Edmonds tomorrow night with Brantlers. Will be at the Resident Cheesemonger, stop by and say hello. Now I really need to go get my act together for this!

Veronica chamaedrys

Germander Speedwell is also a common, hardy turf weed when it invades turf and lawns. It creeps along the ground, spreading by sending down roots at the stem nodes. It is propagated both by seed and stem fragments. Leaves may defoliate in the summer and winter but the stems will grow again next season. Unlike at least five other common speedwell turf weeds such as corn speedwell[3] (Veronica arvensis), the leaves are opposite both on the upper and lower parts of the plant.[4][5] See the Veronica plant for special weed control considerations. 

Pasqueflower

The genus Pulsatilla contains about 33 species of herbaceous perennials native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Common names include pasque flower (or pasqueflower), wind flower, prairie crocus, Easter Flower, and meadow anemone. Several species are valued ornamentals because of their finely-dissected leaves, solitary bell-shaped flowers, and plumed seed heads. The showy part of the flower consists of sepals, not petals. 

 The genus Pulsatilla is sometimes considered a subgenus under the genus Anemone. 

The flower blooms early in spring, which leads to the common name Pasque flower, since Pasque refers to Easter (Passover). 

Sincerest apologies

Magically & Spiritually Violet/Lavender is the colour of serenity. Used for peace, meditation, forgiveness, poetry, in dreaming magical and to invoke Spirit when in the process of charitable work. 

The Psychology of colour says: VIOLET/LAVENDER. Spiritual Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality. Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority. The shortest wavelength is violet, often described as purple. It takes awareness to a higher level of thought, even into the realms of spiritual values. It is highly introvertive and encourages deep contemplation, or meditation. It has associations with royalty and usually communicates the finest possible quality. Being the last visible wavelength before the ultra-violet ray, it has associations with time and space and the cosmos. Excessive use of purple can bring about too much introspection and the wrong tone of it communicates something cheap and nasty, faster than any other colour. 

I never wanted my blog to be a platform for "whining". Yes, I thought I would blow up at political issues occasionally, but really try to avoid that. And social issues that irk me. But not my very personal issues. Especially not involving the search for myself in my new life, ups and down, the fears and especially my feelings of inadequacies.

This was my special place for me to capture the imagination and magic I found on the internet. A reason to take a beautiful photograph of one flower in a vase. To talk about some of my art, and my friend's art and art of people I have never met. To find quilts, embroidery, furniture, ideas, nature, space ... and I feel I have strayed from that purpose on some post. And I want to apologize!


Of course, my wonderful husband says, given what is going on, I am entitled to my occasional rants and self-pity party. I appreciate that he understands when I weep and wallow in my fears and doubts. But really, only my husband and mom should have to endure that melodrama. ;) 

So I am taking a little break until I can get my emotions under control. I will be back shortly.

 

In the meantime, I found this wonderful animated gif by David Ope. 

This very cute DIY hello sign by Family Chic by Camilla Fabbri that I am going to make for myself. Or maybe something in shrinky dink form. 

I am going to buy some more of these stones and make something! Or maybe just buy one! 

I am going to keep a close eye on oceans and The Humble Ultimatum

Mom and I are waiting for the real Downton Abbey season 3 to show up. 

And lastly, something that puts all of my little complaints into perspective!

Love you guys! See you soon.

Alien

Abandoned treasures

Taken from an abandoned home.

Looking around

Ran mom to get a hair cut, to the pharmacy and found a few treasures along the way. Then we took a drive down Sunset to see Mount Baker, Puget Sound and smell the sun on the water. Tide is out, way out, today.

The structural remains of a silver dollar?  Isn't that wonderful!!!

Pasque bright and beautiful

Sparkling in the sun

 

Changing times

My neighbor has "topped" his beautiful willow tree and it looks hideous. Beyond the terrible sight of raw, exposed, chopped of upper limbs, I am sure the hummingbirds were nesting there because I saw them every morning hanging out on a certain branch. Coming and going. Collecting Japanese Anemone feathery seeds for the their nest. OMG, that just makes me sick to my stomach. Why? Do people top their trees? They don't even have "a view" of Puget Sound from their vantage point to protect.


I was transfixed yesterday, watching 5 or 6 very young kids riding their trikes, bikes with training wheels, scooter. One little guy fell over to the ground, dad ran out and scooped him up in his arms. Giggling, screaming, laughing ... all happening two blocks down. That was our street just 10 or so years ago. Kids darting from house to another, skateboarding, laughing, talking, giggling, riding bikes, challenging each other, yelling "car" when one was coming. I stood there and remembered how lively, fun, exciting, loud, our street was ... not so long ago. The fun has moved two blocks down. Our kids have gone off to college, to work, to their own places, parents selling their homes, older neighbors passing away. Time = Change. But for that moment, I could see our kids having fun on their street and it was comforting to me that it happened here. And I had lived it.


I mentioned to M that I really missed Easter Sunday, egg hunt in the backyard and in the house. He told me not to worry, we would probably get to do those in the future. I am sure he was thinking about having his own kids and experiencing it with them.

With all mom and I have been going through lately, it feels good to remember the "good ole days". If you can call a "good day" being forced to wear silly hat. (I am sure I loved it). BTW, this is not the only Easter I got to wear an Easter bonnet. ;) Mom and I at the Empire Room at the Statler Hilton, Dallas. 

Opening up

My brain feels like is has flown out of it's normal spot and is somewhere high in the ether. I am laser-focused and yet can't seem to finish all of my projects. Working at the Arts of Snohomish today, come by and visit! Someone has purchased Brantlers from the site! Woo hoo. Thinking of how to clean up the dining room table and what to have for Easter dinner with the kids. Hope you are having a good Easter weekend. xoxo

Small thoughts

Do you ever consider all the small thoughts that go through your head during the day? How many hundreds of thought pass through, thousands? I was thinking about that today. Probably just a fraction of what I can remember.

Pica, really, it is too early for you to go out.

Please let me sleep in today

drink your coffee first, before checking your email

God, that is a good word Ben played

there is that eagle again, where are the dogs?

is it a sea gull or eagle? no, eagle. 

i can leave the tv off all day because mom isn't here 

it is good to have the silence

god, it is quiet in the house, it is so nice 

dogs miss mom, they don't know where to nap and stay 

i think i need to watch a netflix movie online. the house is too quiet. need to focus on my computer screen.

this carpet really needs cleaning


do i need to go to the hospital, why aren't they giving her pain meds?

what is this stupid movie, totally aimed toward unsatisfied middle-aged men 

800 number again! just ignore it

 my neighbor is finally mowing 

vacuumed that room and put it away

why hasn't that tree lost is leaves yet?

god, I love the smell of mowed grass 

okay pixel, i know you don't need to pee, you just want to drink water out of the plant saucer 

i need to send neighbor thank you note for delicious apple pie

I really need to do a clean up in this yard 

crows are so funny 

look at the hyacinth laying on the ground 

please Pixel, pee out here before i pee on myself 

my neighbor is selling their house for much less than I thought it was worth 

please focus on work! 

I want to make that chicken enchilada recipe i found 

Ben is going to beat me again at words with friends. god he is good. 

that was a hard Facebook question about top 5 "last meals" 

maybe david isn't working late tonight 

it is only 5 minutes to the store, just go 

isn't that the coolest way to prune a tree, and gosh look a that hedge, it should be a painting, oh my god, there is another 

i want to go to the library 

remember when matt played soccer in this field? 

didn't his friend live in that house?

that woman is smiling at me because of my gray hair 

Does my truck need a oil change? it is sounding really funny. 

i love having quick conversations with matt about energy passing from one person to another when you are walking pass someone in a parking lot 

gosh, i hate those blue pots in the front of my house, they are only there because someone gave them to me. Why don't I just get rid of them and get a color pot I really like? 

enchiladas shouldn't be too hard, where is that recipe 

is this too much chicken? 

oh, i don't have the enchilada mix

Pixel, chicken for you 

I think the dogs should have some of this chicken, there is plenty 

why in the hell do people listen to those shows that talk about dead people plastic surgery. we all should be ashamed of ourselves

go change that f*$#^%ing channel, it is disgusting 

how does mom keep the kitchen so clean when she is cooking 

how do i turn off that beeping 

a glass of wine sounds good 

oh, doc martin! is this a new season?

water is a silvery pink tonight (closing blinds) 

that recipe wasn't worth the effort, too mushy

still have lots of hours you could work, get focused

A little blurry

Every time I see an eagle hovering over the backyard, I go search out where the dogs are sleeping. This is a "little dog" owner paranoia-thing. 

Yesterday, I was reminded (again) how thankful I am for having my mom so close to me. She is staying in the hospital for a couple of days for observation and my drive home was a teary one. I came home and took anti-depressants and went to bed.

The house is very quiet with just me and the dogs. 

I have so much work to finish up for the end of my contract and need to make myself concentrate on something other than eagles flying, hyacinths falling to the ground because of the rain and Words with Friends with Ben (who beats me every game). Also draming of painting, needle point and sewing instead of focusing.

Probably need to eat something.  (I think my camera needs cleaning, everything is coming out blurry).

Primrose

The rain took it tolls on my precious primroses. I have had these for a long time and just recently moved them to another location. They look happier but a little beaten down. 

And the rain stopped

It has been raining constantly, I forgot how many days. Deep pools of water in the yard. The daffodils were melting. I was afraid the Pasque Flower that wanted to bloom would disintegrate in the rain. (I think I should move it out of the pot). But for this sunny moment, with the warmth pouring in the window ... the rain has stopped. Well, while writing this ... I see clouds forming over the Olympics ... sun still shining in MY backyard.  :0 Oh, BTW, I have been changing up my blog a little. Adding blogs I follow to the sidebar, not quite finished with it all yet.

I found these this morning. I love how this tiny moss can be so interesting in shape and color. Maybe I should consider a moss container garden? A little digging tells me I am shooting Moss sporangia (capsules), I probably blogged that all ready, like a thousand other things I have forgotten that I have mentioned and blogged.  Maybe I have blogged too long.

Proof that the sun came out.