Miss Em goes fishing

This is for Teri C - inspired by her recent fish story and drawing. Miss Em's creator has never done this activity but loves the thought...



and a nice fish dinner was had by Miss Em and Mr T. Thanks to Teri for the inspiration.

Animal Wednesday - more animal drawings

More drawings - am trying to work my way the " How to Draw Anything - a course for Artists". Fun stuff. This little guy has a bit of a rabbit nose, but maybe he knows Emily.
A birdy on a limb - ain't he cute???



And my favorite - a crow - sent over to fly wishes to HB.

(That crow is either gigantic or is pecking at a very tiny ear of corn - why do I always notice these things afterwards???)

HAPPY ANIMAL Wednesday everyone!

Sketching around the House

I haven't been sketching enough..or drawing. Been too much doing of "crafts" such as knitting and quilting - and I love that, but wanted to do a few drawings before dinner.

So I decided to use my house as a model, and set up 5 minute sketches of a few views that I could see from my comfy perch on the sofa.


Living room leading to sunroom.

Gas Fireplace - lovely in the winter.


A side table.

My feet - very comfy.
G'night!

Reflecting on Saturday

I gave myself the day off yesterday and by that I mean that I didn't bike, hike or kayak -- but stayed home and caught up. DH went off kayaking with our nephew, so at least he wasn't underfoot and I got a ton of left over chores done - it was an unusual way to spend a beautiful Saturday - but do you ever get to that point where the "I'll get to that chores" start to overwhelm your brain? I do - and I have to deal with it. We have visitors coming in August and I wanted to start getting ready for that, setting up beds and making room. Putting away the piles of books that seem to grow in every room - herding them back into the library room. Returning some yarn that I hated, and some clothes to Marshall's. (got some great new red shoes there tho;) Cleaning the junk drawer so that I could find the extra key to the car. Organizing my ATC's (my ABC's are in a lovely little box now and I want to find another way to display them); and other artwork. Working on the massive quilt that I am making for my nephew. Just all those ordinary chores that seem to pile up.

The funny thing is that - looking around the house, I don't see any real tally of my efforts and I have to remember how busy a day it was and how much I really did get done. But additionally I needed that day alone, and just feel a tiny bit of regret for missing a day on the water.

But today - we're off bike riding come hell or high water. I'm hoping it doesn't rain - but then again, I'm not made of spun sugar and won't melt. Have a lovely Sunday - wherever you are.

Postscript:

It didn't rain...it poured. I can vouch for the fact that I am not spun sugar nor the Wicked Witch of the West. We did 16 miles, the last 6 in a deluge. It was truly lovely - really. Some photos below

First the sky looked like this
Then it got like this:

We got back to a wet car

And on the way home, this is what the sky looked like
A lovely field that we pass - couldn't resist taking a photo.

Six Work Saturday

I am worried about a friend

I was going to write "worried about a blogger friend" but it was too many words and the "blogger" part just didn't seem to make sense - even though that is the connection. Renee has had her own troubles and now 3 family members are ill. I know that people who know her are worried about her and her family - so it seemed appropriate for a six word Saturday to send as many healing wishes and love and prayers her way as possible. Renee has a great talent for writing (which I do not - unless under the influence of music) and for loving.

I think this is the worst part of having friends far away. You can't go over to the house and help out. You can't visit. You have minimal ways of contacting the person and may not find out for days what has happened, if ever. But the friendships are so real in so many other ways - and I worry as if they were living down the street.

Much love to Renee and her family. Many thoughts and prayers for the health of them all.

Postcard Friday - Recent postcards

I received some postcards recently so thought I would post them. The first one is from an old friend who lives in North Carolina - she is DH's second mom and a huge influence in his life. Lovely wonderful friend and she sent me this beautiful postcard which is from a painting called "Cat on Rug" by Lucy Willis . Can't you just feel the soft summer air and the breeze moving thru the trees?
I received 3 great postcards from Marianne this week along with my ABC-ATC trade. Marianne is a wonderful artist and does everything in a very special way - her ATC came packaged in a delicate pink gauzy small bag - just the perfect package for her wonderful work.

Anyway - the first one was made by her son Felix a few years ago - and is delightful. Check out the picture below and see the trees and the houses and the little apartment buildings. And the KLM plane and the blue clouds - just great.
The second one is an old postcard that she had and decided to send to me for Postcard Friday - and is a great still life. I'm not sure what is says on the front but my interpretation is "Have a drink and a smoke while you give yourself a manicure and splash some aftershave onto your smooth cheeks" (I'm paraphrasing to be sure) Isn't it great? Such an interesting set of items on this card.
This third one came from Marianne also and is going onto my list of favorite cards. Isn't it just classic little Dutch kids? That blond hair and rosy cheeks! And the adorable puppies! I don't know if I ever mentioned it but one of my best friends is Dutch and she had 5 little girls who all looked like this when they were small. Two of them were our godchildren and they were just the most adorable little kids you'd ever see. I love this postcard.


Thank you Marianne - these are a wonderful addition to my postcard collection and a great post for Postcard Friday.

Animal Wednesday - Emily's cousin visits

I'm sure that this was a cousin of Emily's - he/she was carrying jelly beans and planting them all over my yard.

Emily - do you claim kinship with this pesky rabbit???

Dancin' in the Moonlight...

(written yesterday - on my way to Chicago)

I am on a plane in a situation that I always try to avoid – I have no art supplies with me. No knitting. Nothing to keep my hands busy and my mind occupied. So my iPod is on and the music is doing its usual magic on me –

I love good music. There are chords and notes that resonate with me making me feel as if magic is in the air – that I can do anything. I want to dance in the aisles and wake up the dozy businessmen. Get them to shut their computers and come and tango. I love most kinds of music – classical, blues, rock, bluegrass, folk, and opera. Not all music sends me into a trance but there are some combinations of notes that seem as though they carry a message - if only I could really hear it I would know secrets of the universe. I want to sing out loud or pick up a fiddle and play; to follow the music wherever it would take me. I feel invincible and on the verge of genius. Right now Bruce is wailing that we should all be born to run…and I want to jump on a Harley and go roaring off down a highway. Now it’s Andrea Bocelli – singing his ever romantic song whose notes have been shown to tingle something special inside the brain…it makes me want to fall in love again – with that special tension of waiting for the perfect kiss. Oops now Carrie Underwood is smashing her ex’s headlights – and I want to just get revenge on that cheating bastard….

I’m gonna shut this thing off before I get in trouble on this plane.

Do you ever feel like this? Or do I have special musical receptors in my brain…

Note: I always wanted to be a back up singer for Eric Clapton since I saw Cream at the Garden in NYC way back when. In a slinky dress, at the back of the stage, singing a low harmony.

( oh no, it’s the Dixie Chicks – I’m gonna go all political now and take the long way around….)

Miss Em buys new shoes

Miss Em's motto is "When Life Get's Stressful - Go Buy New Shoes"....so she did.




Makes a girl feel all happy and contented.

Another Weekend Biking Adventure

This blog should be called "Dull Work Week and Playing on the Weekend"

We started off the weekend with a Friday Night Bike Ride - short and sweet but a great way to start the weekend. Antique fair on Saturday - which was ridiculously expensive! And a great bike ride today from Rindge to Jaffrey on an unpaved trail - and I got to do it with my three favorite guys.

Brian

Sean

Tony (aka DH)

It was a gorgeous day - just perfect to be outside. Warm but not too hot, sunny but enough clouds to make things interesting.


And what would a ride thru the woods be without an old abandoned 4 wheel drive International sitting ruined in the middle of the woods?

Since I'm off on a business trip tomorrow; this was the perfect way to end the weekend. A wonderful day.

Hope you all had a good weekend -

My experiences of P-town

KJ has been posting about Provincetown - which brings back so many memories. I love that town - never get to spend enough time there but always enjoy it when I do.

The first time I went there was on a camp trip when I was about 10 years old. I was completely enchanted with the town, with all the art galleries and store front candy-making and weather beaten buildings. To me, a little city girl, it was such an eye opener.

Fast forward many years. Lot's of day trips to Ptown, but no overnight stays. I can't remember exactly what year it was but it was around 4th of July and a hot thundery summer it was. I think it must have been in '99 or 2000. We flew to Race Point beach for the day and had a lovely day on the beach. We knew that there was some weather coming thru so we left the beach early to check the radar at the airport. Wow - it didn't look good so we decided to wait and go into town for dinner, and fly home later that evening. We got into town, had a lovely dinner and were walking around town when the storm hit. It was a doozy - lightning everywhere and then BOOM - lightning hit the town's transformer and the town went dark. We bought thin little ponchos and stood in a doorway for hours waiting for the rain to stop. And then we watched the parade! No one wanted to stay inside in the dark so everyone came out that night and partied in the street - there was dancing and drinking and singing and everything you can think of going down that street. There were guys dressed as girls and guys dressed as guys and everything in between. It was a fantastic night - everyone was having a good time - I'll never forget that night and the fun we had.
We had to find a place to stay so we called around and found a motel that had a room. We cabbed it over there and they gave us flashlights to check into our rooms. Of course we had no other clothes with us and we were damp and cold by this point. But we slept well; and woke up the next morning glad that we had only had flashlights to check into the nasty motel room. Had breakfast, got to the airport and went home.

The next day my mom told me that I have a cousin who has a guesthouse down there - wish I'd known when we were looking for a place to stay.

I really can't imagine another town celebrating a downed transformer in the same way - with partying in the streets. There was no trouble, no breaking into stores to steal something, no panic. Just a great party.

I love P'town....

Mirror and Sunny

A while ago I posted a picture of a painted mirror which DH wanted so I started another one. Got an antique wood framed mirror for 10 dollars and fixed and painted the frame. DH re-installed the mirror which was loose and the new mirror is ready to go to it's new home up in Canada in a cabin on a beautiful lake.

I found another mirror at Salvation Army - paid $6.oo and am going to redo that one also. Might even try to sell it!

Looking at the mirror can you see the reflection of something yellow and sunny looking? It's Lynn's gorgeous Sunflower Quilt which I bought from her - it spoke to me across the blogosphere and I just HAD to have it! Let me tell you something - this is much more wonderful in person than it's pictures show. It is beautifully done and finished and the overall piece is really wonderful. Lynn - I love it and DH is working on a dowel to hang it from and a place to hang it. I want it in every room....
Have a wonderful friday everyone

A strange experience - eye-opening....

I want to outline an experience that I recently had - comments appreciated.

Let me set the stage.

I am working in Canada this week. There is a woman working at the plant who gorgeous, young and thin and just lovely looking. Additionally she is very nice and is mother to 4 little kids. I like her.

I was sitting in a conference room with a colleague, no one outside the room could see me - but he could be seen from thru the door. She was walking by the room, saw my colleague and came in to say hello. And to all outward appearance it was a normal greeting - but oh my - she came into the room with something else that I - being a woman myself and never getting the full treatment - have never seen really happen. She walked into the room like I've never seen someone come in. She didn't just walk into the room, she Entered the room. She oozed sex appeal. She owned the room and she would have owned him in a minute. As soon as she saw me whatever it was got turned off immediately. But in that minute, I saw the power of a beautiful woman - who knew her power and loved using it. Conversation was of course, completely normal - we chatted a bit. But I was stunned at the experience. I've never seen something like that get turned on and off so...purposely!

I don't know if her behavior was what she normally did around men. If so, ...wow - poor guys, they'd be falling at her feet. And I say again - she's a nice woman and I like her. She is not a bitch - not at all!

Frankly if I looked like that - I'd use that power also I suppose. It's like having a magic wand. But in all my days, I have never seen such an immediate transformation from vamp to co-worker. I think she would have eaten him alive if I wasn't there. And he would never have even known what hit him.

Have you even seen or experienced something like this?

Animal Wednesday - a squiggle

A Squiggle dog!


It's a stretch - I know! I think it looks like a sort of poodle cross dog - I was trying to show mom what a labradoodle looked like - but certainly got the legs wrong!

The problem is that I haven't been drawing lately and I know exactly why. I'm obsessed with learning to knit - and I know why I'm doing that also! Besides wanting to actually FINISH something that I can wear - knitting has rules and ways to learn - which drawing doesn't have. I can learn a new way to cast on by watching it on YouTube - but I can only teach my hands/eyes/brain to draw by repeated practice and much more hard work than I ever thought. Drawing is solitary - knitting can be done in the kitchen. You get the picture I think. I've been wanted to be in public more, and be a bit more congenial. Of course, knitting and listening to books on iPod isn't congenial either, but at least I am visible and not sequestered in the basement with my "Learn to draw anything" manual.

So Happy Animal Wednesday everyone - squiggles and all~!

A Saturday bike ride.

As usual for a weekend exercise, we went bike riding yesterday - on an abandoned railroad trail. On the drive there we passed a number of interesting antique shops and craft shops - but we were on a mission to check out this new trail and could not be distracted. Well, to be honest - I would happily have been distracted but DH was eager to get riding. So...

I was thinking of our good friend Lolo when I took these pictures; to welcome her back to New England and remind her that there is beauty on the back roads. KJ says that Lolo doesn't have internet access for a few days - but she'll see these pictures sometime.

This is a portion of the trail. The day started out with blue skies but rapidly got overcast - which I prefer for riding anyways. It was slow going on this trail - it's covered in sand and cinders and it was like bog riding. Took me 1 hour to go 5 miles - I felt like I had a brick tied to my bike. But I enjoyed the slow ride.


This lady was walking her dog - I liked her red shirt against the green....


A river scene. I'd love to be able to paint this.

At the end of the 5 long sloggy mile ride was the old freight building and depot. The depot is being restored but the freight building was completely overgrown with weeds and trees. We later read that it's been abandoned since the 1970's - but was built in the 1850's. Gorgeous old building which deserves better than slowly falling down but yes..where is the money to come from - I know...I know!!


There was a good old fashioned general store at the end of the road, so we had an ice cream and sat on the porch for awhile. OK - time to go back - I psyched myself for the ride back and found it to be a piece of cake! I flew down that road and it only took about 1/2 hour to get back to the car. I kept wondering if it was the ice cream but that didn't make alot of sense - I know sugar gives you energy but this was like an energy injection!
We found afterwards that there was a slow constant grade upwards on our ride out and a slow constant grade down on the way back. You literally can't see this grade when you're riding - so of course I thought it was me being lazy and slow. Ah well...the ride back was lovely and we came home to dinner on the grill and a movie. Which I fell asleep in front of. Head bobbing and all.
Hope you all had a lovely Saturday. I'm off to meet up with Grace and the boys for breakfast - a highlight of the week and then off to PEI tomorrow.

Postcard Friday

Somehow I don't think Helen was getting what she needed from Eugenie - I like her opening sentence "you might write to me" - WOW - guilt by postcard in 1907! Then she goes on to gloat about having the time of her life (obviously a snub) but falls back into curiosity when asking about Shimble Islands. Actually it's "Thimble" Island which are a group of small islands in Long Island Sound, located in and around the harbor of Stony Creek in the southeast corner of Branford, Connecticut (according to Wikipedia) . So while Helen was in Ohio at Baldwin University - ol' Eugenie was whooping it up on the beach in Long Island Sound.

I couldn't find these buildings on the Baldwin site - but am sure they have been turned into some lovely cultural centers.

Happy Postcard Friday all

Animal wednesday - two turtles and a fish

I haven't had time to post much, getting back into work has been crazy as you all know - and all else flies out the door except working, eating and sleeping.

But we did get a chance to kayak this weekend on a very swollen river - about 4 feet above normal. I got these turtle pictures
They seemed a bit dazed at how high the water was, I say that because there were so many swimming underwater that they kept bumping my kayak. I was sorry that I didn't have my camera when we saw the huge snapper laying her eggs. I gave her wide berth, and she was awfully dusty and dirty but really a sight to behold.

In stead of just taking pictures of animals, I want to continue to draw them. but alas, no time this week for hand drawn turtles. So I submit Mr. Fish head instead, obviously a work in process and a funny colored picture.

I've just finished his first level of color and need to go onto more color and detail. I always hesitate at this point - worrying about "ruining" something. But as DH says, "don't be a jerk, just do it" or something along those comforting lines. He's right, it's not a frickin Picasso and how else will I learn except from mistakes.

Happy Animal Wednesday everyone! Enjoy your pets

Six Word Saturday

I confess, I love Romance Novels

They are my secret treasures, only read while in bed or alone where no one can see me. I adore the cheesy plots, where he rescues her from a dastardly fortune seeking cad, and in the end she rescues him from his bad-boy image. And throw some time travel in there - and you've got me hooked. My secret sanity last week on "vacation" was LISTENING to trashy novels on my ipod while I waited with mom at Dr. offices and sat and knitted. In my mind I was wearing silk and satin and being kissed (and MORE) by a dark handsome warrior - who protected me from all evil....ha ha - they all thought I was listening to opera!

Okay, to save my reputation - I read like a fiend and I just finished a depressing Anita Shreve novel also. Plus others to improve my mind, there are so many good books out there. And I haven't sunk to the Harlequin romance level books yet - No Siree - I have too much taste!!!

But the escape into that secret world is just such a treat....

Girlfriends Book - Lynette and Karen

Oh my...the challenge! Such gorgeous work. I can't show Karen's first page, she wants it to be a secret but here is my page for her book.
Lynette's book was started on Yupo paper, and Karen continued that medium. I didn't have any, so used rice paper, which was then too floppy to attach - I had to mount it on watercolor paper. So it's a bit thick compared to their lovely delicate work. I brayered color onto the rice paper, and then stenciled colored light molding past for the flowers. The butterflys came from some vellum envelopes that I have and the boy figure from some victorian cutouts that I had.


This is FUN. I'm finding that I am being pretty free in style and using items that I would normally not use. I can't wait until the next one shows up! Both of these are off to Suki today.

Animal Wednesday - a Froggy and Foggy morning

When I logged on this morning I couldn't figure out why everyone was posting AW a day early. Duh...I'm still out of sync!

It's been awhile since I drew an animal, so here is my attempt at a frog. (ATC sized and ready for trading when completed). I love drawing animals (and fish!) and am vowing to do more.



I also found this guy on my porch on Sunday night, isn't he just so plump and toady looking?
He hightailed it away right after this picture with a massive jump - very impressive.

Happy Animal Wednesday everyone! Go kiss a snake!