Well…. at least just south of Union (not sure where the town line is…either in Union or Warren) on Route 235 there are! ……. I LOVE these unexpected treasures and decided what better way to start the new year than with a bit of fun! (and yes, I took these photos in early autumn, as you will see by the green and apples on the trees!)
The first time I drove past this farm I did a double and then a triple-take
Here’s a closer look:
I totally love these guys... they look like they are playing pat-a-cake instead of fighting!
And closer:
Isn't a zoom lens wonderful?
Some day I’d love some whimsy like this in my yard!
For a while now I’ve been part of an online fabric postcard exchange. I was a bit late with this one, got distracted selling off or donating the last of mom’s things. But I did get these done recently, and thought I’d share. I joined two swaps this time: Alphabet and Song Titles. I came up with the idea for the Alphabet, and fortunately a lot of people liked that one–we had two groups of six swapping letters A-B-C-D-E-F. I picked F, and decided to stick with my “Maine” theme for the exchange: Fiddlehead Ferns are common throughout the state, and are in spring considered a delicacy. I’ve been told by a friend who grew up here (hi JQ!) that these are a taste best acquired in early childhood, but that even then she didn’t! But they are still beautiful:
I also had fun with the Song Title card, and love that quirky song, Beep Beep. So I made these cards, with both the Little Nash Rambler and a fun cartoon character, the Roadrunner:
This card is the first time I’ve send one without quilting…but if I had done that I don’t think they would have been finished until about Easter! Those little fiddly bits on the car were, well, FIDDLY!
If you don’t remember the song, here it is, thanks to YouTube:
A while back I mentioned I had taken a class (then another) with Jane LaFazio at Joggles.com. And I fully intended (hah! My road to hell just got better paved) to blog about it as I did the lessons. Sigh. But better late than never? An early autumn lesson (well, it was early Autumn in Maine) from late August/early September, was to sketch in a park or the great out of doors–after all, the class was about sketching “on location.” Since Maine is rural, I chose our garden, starting with the St. Francis statue we inherited from my late father-in-law. I discovered in high school that the Feast of St. Francis is the same day as my birthday, so I have considered him “mine” ever since.
St. Francis birdbath
Using the Tombow water-soluble ink pen
I added the rose hips and goldenrod, but my leg were getting seriously bug-munched sitting on the grass wearing a sundress, so I’m afraid I rushed a bit at the end (plus I had to go fix dinner). Here’s the “first” finished:
I thought I was done....but I wasn't
After some very helpful feedback from Jane, I went back and filled in more on the goldenrod, mo bettah!
As always, Jane's eye is spot-on and adding more detail to the Goldenrod really improved this composition
I wanted to do another bit–these small sketches are done on 5×7 watercolor stock, and I have to say having GOOD quality paper makes all the difference in the world! The large trees (there are actually two) just to the right of the arbor that connects the upper meadow to the larger lower meadow were just starting to turn color in the first week of September:
Early September and the leaves were already starting to turn. That tree is now bare bare bare and has been snow-clad a few times!
A memory of a late-summer, early-fall day. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this! Tho now that I see this in blog format, I notice that the angle of the "rafters" of the arbor are off from the photo. Not sure if that is because I took the photo from a different spot or not....they definitely look like they are tilting up too much in my sketch.
OMG…we hit the big time… Just watching CNN Headline news and it had HOPE, MAINE –our town of 1313 souls–with 4 inches of snow yesterday LOL! What a hoot–I’ll bet Hope has never before made national news! I had opened this post just a moment ago thinking it would be a nearly-no-words post, just pictures, but that was too hilarious not to share!
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring...except for the kitties, the dust bunnies and me...
While unwrapping, Eli decided to turn Mr. Wiggles into a gift... Mr. W was somewhat uncertain about this turn of events....
Joshua and Ashley had many stops...her mom's, her dad's, our house, but got to come over twice, for gifts earlier in the day, and supper later...Here Ashley is (woohoo!) happy to receive Joy of Cooking. The kids got lots of gifts for the house from the various relatives, hers and us
They even had time for some f un wrastling...notice the gins? (Ashley was grinning too...clearly Joshua has taught her a couple wrestling moves)
Me, wearing perfect turquoise earrings and a made-by-Marie-Shibori silk scarf--Thank you dear one!
Eli walks the dog... we got more snow than predicted so driving was a bit dicey going to get J&A, but this may have been the first Christmas in my life where we both had snow on the ground AND snow falling from the sky! Stunningly beautiful
Finishing with a feast! From left to right, Eli, Brad (friend of J&A), Ashley, Joshua, Paul, and behind the camera, me! After this shot, we were all too busy eating to remember the camera!
What a wonderful life, what a wonderful world. I hope your days are as filled with love and joy! And maybe a bit of art and sewing, too!
Mom gave me a record when I was a girl…probably when I was about 8 or 9, that included the story “The Night the Animals Talked.” As vinyl records gave way to cassette tapes, I recorded it from album to tape, and continued to listen to it every single Christmas Eve without fail. Then CDs arrived, but no CD version of it, so I kept up with my cassette. Finally, the last boom box with a cassette player died, and I could only sit in my cold car in the garage and listen to it there. Then I sold that car and (duh) my new car plays my iPod, not cassettes. 2010 was the first year I couldn’t listen to this version. I googled it up again this year, and lo and behold, I found it! I’ve now got it on my iPod, but thought I’d share with you here. Grab a cuppa cocoa or cheer, close your eyes, settle back for a few minutes, and listen to the gentle voice of the cow as she narrates the story ….
May the Peace and Joy of the season be with you my friends!
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