June 30th - Saturday

So, this is the list of things that I had to do today:

1) get dress altered

2) get shirt altered

3) pick up drycleaning

4) call painters since the one we called already for the basement ain't callin back

5) pay bills

6) transplant brugmansia into a new and larger pot so that she blooms this year

7) garden

This is what I did:
Went kayaking at Tully Lake - which I used in an IF illo last april. Beautiful lake,

Came home to the blooming dayliles and roses, so beautiful.

Perfect Saturday

Illustration Friday - June 29th - Twist

I wondered what to do. Oliver Twist? A twist of tobacco? Twisting the night away?

Went with "Twist off top" as I was sitting at my table staring at a bottle of something. Thought of Alice in Wonderland with her magic drink...which I usually am ready for on a Friday night.

Friday night June 29th

My first EVER portrait - thanks for Kerstin Klein for the swap. Fun but extremely nerve-wracking for me, swamped with "am i good enough" and "what if mine is the WORSE PORTRAIT EVER DONE IN THE HISTORY OF ART". You get the picture. Here's a link to is her's of me, she has terrific attention to detail. I think mine made her a little mad looking which is weird, as she is a very nice person, helpful as can be. She wasn't holding that blue ball, it was a camera - but I tried for a globe (Kerstin is from Germany) so I wanted to depict the global thingy - but it sort of looks like a blue grapefruit. Anyway - thanks Kerstin - this has been fun

Oy - what a week!

Big Heart - Rozzy

Love you Mom

Hot Tuesday

94 or 96 degrees - who cares - it is just hot. This is where I want to be - not in the hot city.

Can't help myself - it's too nice outside

Sitting in the garden on a beautiful summer New England day is just so perfect I can't stand it. Had to take some pictures of the garden. There is something about the light, the contrast on the grass that just grabs me and has always done so - even since childhood when I would spend summers in camp to get out of the city. I envied people who lived surrounded by all this beauty, with gardens of flowers, and waving trees; with beautiful shadows on their lawns. I envied them their solidity, their seeming permanence. Their large sprawling homes that I imagined were filled with generations of memories, with grandma's and grandpa's, aunts and uncles. Home.

You never get over those early moments of realized beauty - they have stayed with me. The sight of a daylily blooming in sun and shade takes me right back to the Berkshires as a 10 year old - where I just soaked in the New England summers. And I still love them. And now I can take pictures of my own daylilies and gently waving trees. What a wonder.

A tote for Grace

I finished the tote for Grace in the colors that she picked. I ran into some issues making this tote and had to improvise. I don't improvise too well, and as usual will learn from my mistakes ( meaure, measure, measure!!!). But, unless I point them out, the overall tote doesn't look too bad.

Illustration Friday - June 24th - Camouflage

Actually - I like the title "House of Mirrors" - started out as a "where's waldo" thing but that didn't work and it started to remind me of Coney Island - the house of mirrors terrified me I was afraid I would lose myself.

The "Zen" of cleaning the kitchen floor

No one is home today except for me. Hubby expected home tonight from Florida - yay - the cook returns.

So in his absence and with no one else knowing that I am home I decided to SCRUB the kitchen floor. I figured that it's good exercise, the floor is filthy, the grout is disgusting and I have never scrubbed this floor since we moved in. Our old house had yucky linoleum which I had to scrub all the time since it was not one of those wash-and-wear floors or whatever they are called.

( A little history; Before moving to this house. I had never lived in a new house. Only New York City apartments, Boston tenements and an antique house that had antique dust and dirt - so what the hell do I know about new...)

So I scrubbed on hands and knees - thinking that I would get into the zen of clean. no way - it really sucked - there is no zen to scrubbing the kitchen floor. It's just a job to get done.

But now the floor looks nice, I can rest easy and am going to the local pool with a trashy novel, a diet coke and a clean conscience. Other obsessions can wait.

Illustration Friday night - June 25th

Topic - A flawed attempt at a Personal Ad.
I like this one - goofy eyes and all

Snippets of Paper and Watercolor

I had some small pieces of watercolor paper around, so started playing with them using masking fluid and flooding color over the paper. I wanted to find something that I could use as place settings some time. I like this start, and plan to take it further, perhaps with watercolor pencils or pastels.

Illustration Friday night June 15th

Just didn't want to miss this one, so I did a quick "Wolf at the Door" illo - even tho' the wolf looks more like a giraffe to me.

Mr. T is still in Florida, so I am having the house to myself - staying up late, and painting the town red. I have so many chores to do, I can't even make a list, but I'll figure it out I guess. I could use another week off work , but that will have to wait until later this summer.

Illustration Friday June 15th - Rejection

I was on vacation, so am just posting this now. Done on a plane, with child's type watercolors. Interesting...

Bathing suit season

Just came back from trying on new bathing suits.

Made myself a Cosmo as soon as I got in the house.

Yuck.

The flight down to Florida

It was a great flight, our little plane, Vicki - a Beech Bonanza- flew just great, and the winds were with us the whole day. I took a few photo's out of the window and took a video when the going got a little bumpy. (can't upload anything but a .jpg - too bad)

Doesn't this picture look like an alligator next to the plane?

Beautiful flight

New camera and I had it on "shoot movie" by mistake most of the time so few photos to post.

The little quilt

Before I left for vacation I was frantically trying to complete this little quilt. I like the colors and the non- lined up look. I was going to back it with a purple print, but fell in love with a lavender sort of fluffy fabric - that just screams "comfy". So, once I had done that, I couldn't put a cloth binding and just HAD to use purple satin. Ok, so it's a bit of overkill, kind of a purple passion quilt, but I just bet you a baby would love the soft backing and satin edging. I'm not 100% sure that I am finished with it completely, I may decide to embroider the edges, but either way, I just like this little quilt. It's larger counterpart is still being finished, and together they will make a great combo at the Church Fair this fall.

Traveling back to Boston, stuck in charlotte

My first post from a Blackberry! Correction on the last post- Dad is 93 not 94. Turning 94 next year. Don't know what I was thinking. 93 is a virtual spring chicken. 93 is the new 83. You go Dad!

I decided to fly home a few days early so after a few days in Sarasota I hopped a plane home but am stuck in charlotte for two hours. I'pm anxious to get home to have a few days free to get some chores done, do some gardening, go to the pool, finish my portrait party thingy and take my quilt to be machine quilted. Tomorrow I hope to go to the quilt store in Stow and might sign up for classes in Cambridge. So a few funs days off. And sleeping in!!!.

Fathers Day - June 19th

I am with my Parents for Fathers Day. My Dad is 94 years old. 94! I don't know what you think but that is awful close to 100 years old. A century. 100 years ago they were just starting to use cars. Dad had a pony and a cart for his own.

94 is getting pretty old.

Wednesday night - June???

Off tomorrow to Detroit for a busniess trip and then home to leave again to visit my folks and mom-in-law in Sarasota. I am tired but am staying up late obsessing about another quilt (I'll get this out of my system soon!) A good friend emailed me tonight with the advice that "you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you can help others". What wise words especially when taken out of context. I don't do enought for my own health (mental and physical) - and I'm going to listen to Karen and spend ALOT of time next week doing the things I like to do - reading, walking, drawing, reading, laying by the pool, having fun with Mr. T, reading, bike riding, walking, reading....

First 5 comments by visitor Win a PRIZE

Hi all,

I am close to 1000 visits to this site, SO, if you read this blog, leave a comment and the next 5 comments will win a prize - one of the above lugubrious ladies, or swinging sisters or antique postcard. Don't forget to leave your email address !

Next quilt

I'm working on this and it's little brother (or sister) at the same time. This one is full size, and backed with a great purple sheet that I found. Nice and comfy, and should sell well at the local church fair. I emailed my buddy Molly yesterday, cursing her (gently) for getting me into this habit of quilting. I'm obsessed, and learning on the job as usual. You'd think that I could garner some help from the pre-eminant magazine that is published in our town (Cloth, Paper and Sissors) but their store is only open when I am at work, so unless I take a day off....

I'll post more as I obsess more about these quilts.

Illustration Friday Night - June 10

Since I am STILL painting and organizing my basement studio, I am limiting myself to odd bits of leftover paper and mostly just ink and pencil. So I had this strip of paper and had to fit my Illustration Friday Night onto that size. I like working within boundries - must be a holdover from the "don't draw outside the lines" up-bringing. I am working on another little one with this theme which I will post later.

Saturday AM - June 8th

Last night I took the nephews out to dinner and we got sort of lost trying to find a Friendly's restaurant. We finally found it and the "Going Out of Business" Hancock fabric was next door so I dragged the boys in after dinner. The store was practically empty but I found this fabric for $2.00 yard. I want to make a tote with it and am waiting for the instructions for this one which I really like. They had some other cool fabrics, and cheap, but with a 5 yard minimum - which is alot of fabric to have hanging around.

We went to see Shreck the Third and I laughed my head off. Best therapy after a long week is dinner and a movie with these two.

Illustration Friday - June 8th

Suit: "He thought the suit suited both of them"

This is a piece that I did at Claudine Hellmuths class in Bonita Springs this past fall. Loved that class and hopefully will take another one this year. Claudine just wrote in her blog that she hasn't had a bathing suit for 5 years. I admire her resolve to avoid the horrors of buying a bathing suit - which always creeps up on me every year. Like I should really be surprised! Hello!!! Bathing suit season!!! and last years suit DOESN'T FIT AGAIN!!! Wake up girlfriend!

Oh well...

Wednesday AM June 6th - Promise to Me

Two years ago I broke my leg and was stuck in the house for 8 weeks, and recovering for much much longer. No gardening that year. Last year I had additional surgery in May - so again, not much gardening. This year I have made a promise to myself to enjoy the garden again, and spend a few minutes each day wandering around looking at the blooms. Here is a daylily, a blooming rhody and some lupins that are spreading themselves around like crazy (yay!)

And here is where I plan to sit for a few minutes each day enjoying my morning coffee, needs a few touches to make it cozy, but that shouldn't be too hard.

Portrait Party

OK - I'm in! Scary. Here is my picture, I find that I don't have pictures of myself - only of others. I tried to take some last night and I looked like a hag - so am using this older one. Let's see if this is enought, if not - I will take another photo

Rainy Bike Ride

We started out today with a desire for some exercise after working in the hot sun yesterday mostly doing yard work. It looked like it would rain today but we didn't think it would be bad. We started out, prepared for cooler weather, and enjoying the lushness of the New England scenery.

Look at the tunnel of green with a nice smooth bike path. I love the New England lush summer look, no matter if it is sunny, misty or rainy - I think it is one of the most beautiful places to live.

Another beautiful view along the bike trail.

I always thought these were phlox but someone told me that they were "Ladies flowers" - they have 4 petals.

A beautiful little path. Makes you want to take a peak doesn't it?

On the ride back it started to rain a bit harder and turned into a full blown rainstorm. It was exhilarating! Normally I would whine and complain about riding in the rain, but somehow this felt so good. Cool rain on my face, riding thru puddles. I was drenched to the bone by the time I got back to the car. It was a treat to enjoy this ride, and I hope I can remember the feeling of enjoyment in something that seemed ridiculous to be doing.

The rainy windshield after I got back to the warm comfy car.

Take out Chinese food for dinner, the gas fire is on and it's a cozy Sunday evening

Great day