May News

In and out, back and forth. This time to Arizona to visit my grandson and the old hippie gang. One of the old geezers has cancer (actually he's younger than I am) so a bunch of us decided to surprise him with a visit and then his wife organized a full on party and reunion.

Beautiful Mt. Hood out the window.

We've all slowed down (the people from the Big House) and a few of us have gone ahead but we still managed to make a party of it. I drove by the house I grew up in and visited Nathan. It was an emotional roller coaster. Some of the old friends I hadn't seen in over 40 years. 

I brought back the quilt I made Nathan for his high school graduation 10 years ago. It needed repairs and I got right on the job. So glad to see the wear and to know that he loves using it. 

Nothing says love like a hand made quilt.

John harvested his first garlic this week. Let the good eating commence!

And the peonies have arrived. What show offs they are.

Before my Arizona trip I assembled a friendship quilt that a group of us created for our friend Lorraine Lewis. The girls sent their squares to me and I assembled the quilt.

Jackie Cate, Stephanie Lee, Renee Plains, Jeanne-Marie Webb, Katie Kendrick, Jenny Wentworth, Misty Mawn and I each made the quilt squares.

This is my square and shows a bit of the border.

And this is the finished quilt.

We have roses!

Columbine.

Dahlias.

Awesome peonies by the armload.

More scratches and scribblings. It's miraculous how painting and making marks soothes me.

Life is such a gift. And you don't need to be rich to paint. More proof that life is good.

This and That

A quick catch up before I leave for Arizona on Sunday. Going to visit old friends there; a reunion of the "big house" gang; old hippies who spent a crucial couple of years listening to Led Zeppelin and doing other hippie things together back when we were all testing adulthood. It's going to be terrific.

Here's a little side project I took on. Cut off a long linen jumper and turned the bottom into a big pocket. This is for wearing either over a dress like an apron or with leggings. It hits me about tunic length.

Mom had an apron with a similar pocket when I was a kid. I love pockets.

Got some licks in on a separate sewing project as well and I'll tell you more about that in the next post.

Spent a day with my play-date friends. When people get together to draw, paint, share food and listen to music, they get a lot done and leave with a feeling of love and gratitude. Organize your little groups, people. We each bring a sandwich and something to share. We solve all the problems in the world while we work. It's awesome.

John brought in some pea shoots for our stir fry. Mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, hot peppers, sake and tamari sauce. Over quinoa. Trust me.

Here's the farmer surveying his planting holes for the tomatoes he's going to put in the ground today. The pea trellis is in the background. 

Here's the old old grapevine.

Peonies.

Kales.

A mish mash of roses. Every one of them fragrant and happy.

Figs ripening.

Mulberries.

Black beans on the left and kale on the right.

Siberian iris.

Buff Beauty.

Trellis.

Peppers.

We started this rose from one stem that we purloined from the roadside.

Taters.

Golden Showers.

My studio door.

The awesome Siberian.

Blatherings. I'm afraid I'm getting wordier all the time.

 

But I love writing. Love pouring it all out.

Time to pack a bag with very summery clothes. It's been 100 degrees fahrenheit in Phoenix. I won't be seeing so much green on that desert.

I hope your May is gentle. xo

The Friendship Garden

Full heart. Big life going on all around me. So many changes. It rattles my brain.

John is growing another big big garden. I'm so grateful he can continue to do this as it is the best medicine. For anyone. To see the seasons circle once again and to participate in that miracle.

Nothing gold can stay but while we have it we rejoice.

The kale is flowering and we've eaten several stir fries of the flowers this week, heavily scented with garlic, ginger, sake and tamari sauce. Winter's bounty.

The rhodies are insane. Each flower cluster is the size of a bridal bouquet.

We have a bed of shy lily of the valley. Oh, the scents of May.

I am guilty of collecting flowers that smell good. The violet irises above smell like grape kool aid. A gift from 2 decades ago; thank you Dorothy Sharp.

John planted these last winter. Thank you, John.

Bleeding Hearts from William Peters. Thank you, Guillarmo.

More rhodies.

This iris I chose myself and have shared it as well. The colors of the Arizona sunset.

A lilac grown from a volunteer in my daughter Stephanie's garden. Thank you, Stephanie.

Cecile Brunner from a friend at Tilth. Thank you, Katherine.

Mountain Bluett from Bev and John. More gratitude.

So much beauty in the world. It always consoles.

Of course there are always journal pages to share.

My daily ritual.

I always have something to say about things.

Sometimes with words, sometimes with paint.

I'm a gusher.

I had friends over to paint recently.

There's nothing better in my world than sharing a painting session.

We also visited Waterfront Park that day where I snapped this shot of giant bubbles being blown. Love.

Last I share a gift from a fellow explorer in paint from the Painting Faces Online class. Thank you, T.B.   What a stunning and lovely surprise.

Sometimes I feel guilty for all the troubles in the world. I keep waiting for my world to crash in too. I've certainly known trouble in the past. But now? Life is good. For this little while it is good. And I am very thankful.

xo