Rainy Day Post and SP Wednesday

Okay, this is cheating. It is me but I'd forgotten what day it was until moments ago. It will have to do.

John likes to give his onions a haircut. I like to eat the tops he cuts off on my morning eggs. We're like Jack Spratt and his wife.

I'll give you a real garden tour this weekend when it's supposed to stop raining. For now this is all I could get from the porches without getting doused. This is typical of Oregon in May. We wait and wait for sunshine. But oh, the rain and mist is lovely.

The peony is covered in big, slatternly blossoms. Tree peonies bloom about a month earlier than the herbaceous ones. I like it that we get two waves.

Such a wanton flower normally. This one's shy.

Then we have peppers galore. Lots of kinds. John's head is full of pepper varieties; which ones grow where, which ones are so hot they'll knock your socks off, which ones to use in the various moles. (moe-lays, not those furry animals) Hot ones, stuffers and mild pimentos. Full of good vitamins. I hope in this economy people are putting gardens in. Some to eat, some to share.

The rhododendrons are busting out all over. Our yard is an explosion of color every May thanks to the couple who lived here before us and planted so many varieties.

I brought the grape irises from our previous home because they are heavily fragrant (like grape kool-aid) and because my neighbor Dorothy gave them to me. She passed away a couple of years ago but her spirit comes in strong during the iris visitation.

I wrote poems in the Minneapolis airport between planes by writing down snatches of conversation and making observations about the fellow passengers. It was amazing how the words flowed out. I think I wrote 11 poems in 2 hours. Airports are great places for evesdropping and word catching. Everyone's yakking on their phones, talking louder than they realize and then there's CNN going on and pretty soon you have a great montage flowing onto the page.

Our neighbor has a zillion varieties of columbine that have migrated past the walnut orchard and into our flower beds. Every year they come up in different sizes and colors. Always something new.

And every day I write. I have so much to say. It's as good as cheesecake.

My thoughts have turned toward Asilomar and the road trip I'll be making there to teach. I'll also be visiting friends who live in the area - so much to look forward to. I'm putting together fat packets and packing griddles and pans of wax and pigment and beautiful watercolor paper that will be made into magical books. Cutting lace and whispering a blessing on each bundle of promise. My journal is nearly filled now after 8 months of tee-niney writing and pasting and painting and the next one is ready to take over where the last one left off.

Nurture your dreams and treat yourselves gently. 'Til next time then. xo

Self Portrait Mothers Day

My excellent daughters feted me last night. The best gift I received was a comment about how the mistakes of early motherhood are forgiven as we all continue to grow and expand in wisdom, patience and love. Thank goodness for that as I was a too-young stressed out single mother who was frustrated and overwhelmed much of the time. My gift to young mothers is this: do your best, forgive your errors, make sure you hug them every day and tell them you love them a lot. You won't be perfect but you'll likely be good enough. And Happy Mother's Day.

Valley Ridge Last Gasp

One more image from the student work done at Valley Ridge. Leslie sent me this one; I know I missed a few others too. Isn't it wonderful?

Kathy and I ran into this lovely visiting Australian at the local Walmart while we were searching for Amber Shellac for the class. A cheese head in Wisconsin!! Thank goodness Kathy could whip out her iPhone for this shot; somewhere in Sidney a village is missing its cheesehead. What a good sport. Of course I had that cheese hat on my head too before the visit ended.

Here is that shot of Bill and I relaxing with our gimlets at the end of both days. I'm still glowing as I remember so many sweet moments with my wonderful students and hosts. And praise be, my allergies have nearly subsided now and the pain in my rib from so much coughing is nearly gone. I believe Valley Ridge restored me.

Valley Ridge Part 2

I pried some more photos out of my dead little camera for you. What you will be seeing is all student work that came out of the class at Valley Ridge. The first few came from Kathy's Facebook site.

The spacious classroom. Each student gets their own table to work on.

Coffee creamer and sugar bowl in the studio.

Most of these pieces are 8 x 10" on wood panels.

The students brought collage materials and I provided a packet. I always like to find some things I haven't seen before to incorporate.

This woman (Jessica) did some pieces in small drawers that I didn't get a good shot of. I'll try to get that image for you later.

This isn't even all the work that was produced. These guys were on fire.

I like this shot because you can see the waxy surface. Mostly you can't see that in photographs.

Another one of Jessica's Medusas.

I told you Kathy treats us like queens. ;-D

Hey. Someone brought a folder made in Mary Ann's online class! Gorgeous, isn't it? Whew! Three hours on this post; tried to import the video Kathy shot but couldn't do it. Decided to post the photos for those of you not members of Facebook. Later!!

ps - Look what I found!! The drawers have waxed and faux gold edges. She found a little cabinet at the 2nd hand store and just used the drawers. Brilliant!!