Honoring Our Moms

July 27th was my mom's birthday. It was also the one year anniversary of Pam's mom's passing. We decided to spend some time together doing something special...which turned out to be a little road trip. And that turned out to be just the right thing to do. We had a chance to talk about who our moms were, what was important to them, what their lives were like (as far as we knew), and at the same time, enjoy the beauty that is summer in Wisconsin, meandering down familiar roads and some unfamiliar roads...and down some roads twice! We shared tender memories, laughs, tears, an amazing, glowing burst of light through overcast skies, a lovely sunset, and these fine friends. Pam took the crane picture!

Family Ties

For Mother's Day this past May, I made this card for my MIL. She seemed to like it well enough but I didn't think she was exactly blown away. Then about a week later she called and said "I know what I would like for my birthday - I would like a card like this with Frank's picture." Frank, of course, was my FIL, who passed away in July of 1990. So for Betty's birthday, which is tomorrow, I made this card with a picture of Frank when he was about 22. The horseshoe is because he was in a horseshoe league, and the background is the flag being raised on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during WWII, where Frank served with the Marines. There was a lot more about him that I wanted to include, but the space I was working with is only 4.25 x 5.5 and it was getting cluttered as it is. So I should mention that he was a quiet man who enjoyed the occasional fishing outing, was an avid bowler, and a fix-it man who loved coffee and his children and grandchildren. We miss you, Dad.

The Weekend So Far

Friday started out sticky and humid but by evening it was overcast and cooler, so we were able to have dinner on the deck. Andrew and Jen came over and we celebrated his new job, which he starts on Monday. We had a yummy pork loin that Drew had brined and then glazed...see the mouth-watering picture. It's a recipe he created featuring bourbon and molasses, and has promised to give me.

After they left, Kevin and I took a little walk in a very light rain shower. Delightful evening!

On Saturday I did obsessive cleaning projects like scrubbing the shower and purging old recipes that I've never used. I also made this card for a just-one swap, and went to see Mamma Mia with Judy. We totally enjoyed it. Yeah, it's not high art but it's very entertaining, with gorgeous scenery (Greece!) and even made me tear up at the mom-daughter song. If you remember listening to ABBA songs on the 8 track player of a car that was not an import, and you have actually been to a disco, and you are a woman, then you are the right demographic for this movie.

And I still have all Sunday to have adventures!

Backyard Beauty

Since this week is pretty quiet, and the garden is so beautiful right now, I thought I'd put up a few pictures of some of the flowers. The yellow lily is called Erin Prairie, and it just started blooming this week. The hydrangea is Endless Summer. And the fadey-out one is just a larger view of the garden, but unfortunately the pic is a little washed out by the glorious sunshine. I think an abundance of sunshine is a good problem to have.

7-Up and saltines

When I was a kid and had a stomach bug, my mom gave me 7-up and saltines. Well, in the barfy phase we didn't get anything, of course, but once we were over the worst, those were our sources of nutrients. That was a universal mom remedy back in the 60s. To this day, 7-Up is my last choice of soft drink.

So tonight my dinner consists of diet 7-Up and dry cereal (because we don't have saltines in the house.) Just guess what kind of day I had...

Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears

Actually there were no tears shed in the making of this card, but plenty of sweat (my creative room is hot), a bit of toil, and yes, a bit of blood went into it (the blood doesn't show, thank goodness.) I made this for a swap that is supposed to be summer themed. This is a prototype, and I think the final version may be a little different. I'm not crazy about where the verse fits, but overall I think it works. I was pleased with how the watercoloring turned out on this one. I used cold press watercolor paper instead of regular white cardstock, and I think that made the difference. (Pardon my finger down in the corner - I couldn't get it to lie flat without some help.)

I'm listening to Van as I write...live versions of Celtic New Year, which we heard him do in Minneapolis in December, and The Healing Game. Mmmm. "The one and only Vaaaan Morrison." Very nice way to close out the day.

A Dream of a Midsummer's Night

It's mid July, and last night we finally got out to APT for our first play of the season. (Usually we get there in June, but not this year.) The day was hot and humid, and storms were threatening, so we weren't sure that we would even get to see the play. Sure enough, a gentle rain began while we were picnicking under the shelter. About the time we were packing up our picnic things, the rain stopped and we headed up the hill to the theater.

We were there to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which I've seen before and enjoy, but I had low expectations because I'd read a review that described the staging, and it sounded really unusual, or perhaps "weird" might be a better word. And it was unusual, but it totally worked! I can't explain it in any way that makes sense, but I can tell you that it was set in current times, with the best costume design ever, wonderful set design including beautiful glass half-globes, partly filled with water and lit from within. Gorgeous fairies, lovely music. A hippie chick, a nerdy guy, construction workers, a Paris Hilton-type character and some fun Greek dancing. There! Have you ever seen THAT version of the play?

Famous Producers/Directors/Actors...

...can't escape the paparazzi!

Ten Seconds = Fame

Here's an excerpt from an article in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune: (edited for length)

"Free-flowing beer, the ambient light of tiki torches and homemade art -- all under a summer night's sky: No wonder the Soap Factory's Fourth Annual Ten-Second Film Festival was such a popular destination this past Independence Day...

...Winners of such categories as "Under the Influence" and "What the Hell Am I Looking At?" walked off with whimsical trophies constructed and festooned by Vera Carlson, an artist volunteer at the Soap Factory.

One of the cleverest films, by friends Andrew Dayton and Erin Fenton, captured an elaborate chain reaction set off by a series of items (rakes, ladders, buckets) found in the typical garage; for this effort, they won the "Kubrick Award."

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And then apparently they went on to fame and fortune in the independent film world. Congratulations Erin and Andrew!!!

From the Deck this Morning

I call this "Finch Among the Lilies"

Saturday's Adventures

The blooming morning glory was only part of the parade of adventures yesterday. I wasn't consistent about taking pictures to record it all (that's quite a commitment!) so I'll include links instead.

Since I had the whole day free until the evening, I felt like something fun was in order. Happily, my friend Judy felt the same way. So off we headed to Baraboo, of all places. We took Highway 113 which of course led us to the ferry at Merrimac. This was my first time on the ferry this year. The water at the Wisconsin River was high but clearly not as high as it had been.

As we got closer to Baraboo, we were detoured due to closed roads, again most likely because of the high water. No matter! Excellent signage got us into town and to our destination - no, not the county fair, and not even the Harry Potter festival (that might have been fun) but to the Memory Bank. We were thrilled to find an independent store with all the paper, ink, stamps and other goodies that we could want. The owner, Pam G., is a friendly and helpful person who has loads of creative ideas. Judy and I spent quite some time there, and here she is finding out the damages to her checkbook.


By 2:00, we were hungry and headed to the square for a late lunch. We ate at the Little Village Cafe, which, surprisingly, was completely full. We sat at the counter near some apparently quite sophisticated middle school boys who were having iced chai tea and tortellini with sun-dried tomatoes for lunch. (What - they were out of burgers and fries?) I had a catfish sandwich that was delicious, and Judy had the pesto chicken sandwich - also quite good, I believe.

From there, back to Madison, where I came home and took a nice long walk, and then got changed and headed to Sardine for dinner. There we met Kevin's high school friend Chris Corrie and his wife Lynn, who were in town for the Art Fair. They do elegant art glass work at their studio in Monticello, Illinois. We're always happy for the chance to visit with them, and it only happens at high school reunions or when they are at the Art Fair. We had a lovely time - snagged one of the very few outdoor tables, and sat catching up until the moon rose high and glimmered off Lake Monona. Got home after 10:00 (quite later for us!) and fell into bed.

Today will be dull in comparison :)

Glorious

The first bloom on our morning glory actually happened yesterday when it was overcast and stormy. The second one occurred today when the weather was better, so I could take a picture. It's truly glorious.




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That smoky haze is what happens when thousands of #4 jerseys are suddenly set ablaze.

The Weather in Madison

Looks like this today.

Wednesday's Adventures

Kevin and I were both off work Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was spent on putzy errands like picking out more paint samples and paying bills. Here's how we spent Wednesday:
First stop - our favorite coffee shop. Although the food is wonderful, we only got coffee on this visit.


Then we meandered up north a bit until we got to the Amish area, where we stopped at this place
and ended up ordering a piece of furniture for the dining room. I'm not sure what to call it. It's a little taller than a buffet, and no glass in the doors, so it's not a china cabinet...any thoughts? Anyway, it will be lovely - quarter sawn oak, to match our dining room table. This was spontaneous - we hadn't gone there with any thoughts of ordering anything - but you know what tough salespeople those Amish are...

From there we drove a little further north and saw this little friend beside the road. He (or she) was very unconcerned about us and continued eating the wildflowers.

We continued on our way and ended up at Princeton (Wisconsin, not New Jersey.) We did a little shopping there (got some birthday or Christmas presents...Andrew) and then ate lunch at the Blue Moon. Mmmm. We also did a little flood sight-seeing. Princeton has a river running through it (Fox River? Mecan River?) and it clearly had been quite flooded. The pics were taken behind the buildings on Water St, the main drag in Princeton. You can see from the dead places on the shrubs just how high the water had been. And in the other one, the close up trees are the far bank of the river, in normal conditions. The water is wayyyy beyond that. We walked around in this area and noticed lots of crawfish shells lying around, which most likely accounts for the dead fish smell.

And then we came home and worked in the yard! The mosquitoes were horrific, in spite of our liberal dousing with Off. Pictures from that will be on another day.
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On another note, congratulations Andrew! He will be starting a new job at the end of July, with better hours and better pay. Yay you! We will soon be rotisserieing (sp?) a pork loin to celebrate.

A Card and A Question

I was stuck on bird pictures for a while and now it seems I'm stuck on cards. Last one for a while, I promise. Well, maybe you shouldn't hold me to that.

Here's the question: What would you do with a day off? Stay home and do projects? Take a road trip? Go shopping? Visit a museum? I have today off and have struggled a bit trying to decide the best use of the time. I think I've decided, and I'll fill you in later on what we chose to do. Enjoy your day!

More Mess, More Fun

Just as you can't make an omelet without breaking an egg, so it is that you cannot make something creative without a little (or a lot) of clutter. I would say this is just an average amount of clutter. And also that I need more space for my artistic activities.


And this is what I made, using a leftover piece of the alcohol ink float background. It's far too busy for Kevin's taste, so I guess I won't send it to him. I have 6 more pieces of AI paper done, in slightly different colors, so stay tuned. There'll be some creatin' goin' on.

On a different note, the background blue of the card (Cool Caribbean) is the color I want to paint the creative room. I'm in my blue period. (See Judy? I am capable of branching out from green. Who knew?)

Oooooo! Ahhhhhhhhh!

Monona's fireworks were really spectacular this year, though the show didn't seem to last as long as other years. Beautiful, even so.

In Honor of the 4th

Make your own fireworks show!

Turn your speakers up loud and your coworkers will know that you are goofing off :)

Dream House

OK, it's not a house...it's a shed. I totally love this little building and want it for my own! The problem is that it's from a company called Tesco, in England. It only costs 159 pounds, so, what, $300? But shipping would be a fortune. If you have any idea where I can get one locally, let me know!

Jazzed

I posted my card (picture below) to the Technique Junkies group, where I learned the technique. I got over 20 very nice comments about it, literally from all over - Alaska and the Netherlands, to name a few. I also heard from Ann in OR, the woman who created the technique, and Pat H, who is the founder of the TJ website and newsletter. So I'm pretty pumped. :)

Sometimes...

a picture just says it all!