One morning as I was out for an exercise walk while visiting mom, I (big surprise) had my camera out. Next to the gatehouse / security and front gate, I found artichokes growing as a decorative plant in the flower bed.

Two of the photos are taken from overhead, looking down on the radiating pattern of the petals of the edible “fruit”:

And finally, I loved the sinewy look of the stalk:

Any of these could make the most wonderful quilting pattern!

As those of you who have been reading my blog know, I have been making a Tableau / Nativity quilt for my old school, San Domenico School, in San Anselmo, California. While visiting Mom in neighboring San Rafael, I went to visit and had a wonderful time. The first order of the day was to make a rubbing of the plaque on the rock by the flag pole that has the dates and places of the schools founded by the Dominican sisters in California, beginning in Monterey in 1850, then Benicia, San Rafael (home of Dominican University and the old convent building), and finally San Domenico in 1965 (when the school outgrew the availableAs those of you have been reading my blog know, I am making a quilt as a gift for my old school, San Domenico space in San Rafael).

Here, Mom and I are in front of the stone and plaque (which was a lot smaller than I remembered!)

Sister Gervaise was Lower School principal (K-8) when I began there in 1969. She later became principal of the Upper School (9-12), then Head of School, and is now Head of School emerita. I don’t think she has visibly aged a day in 35 years! Still as youthful in spirit as ever. I also got to meet her assistant Beth, who has been awesomely helpful in sending me scripts and programs for Tableau, as well as old uniforms to cut up and include in the quilt.

Beth took this picture of me doing a rubbing of the plaque. Instead of doing the plaque as it is made, I put all the dates and place names on a line to use in the border of the quilt (now…to get time to work on the quilt…sigh!). For those into technical info, I used gold Shiva painstiks on the dark blue batik “solid” that I am using for the night sky…maybe by the time I finish with the California photo posts late this week or next I’ll have a significantly updated photo of the quilt.

Sister Gervaise and Beth gave us a tour of the new gymnasium and performing arts center…WOW! We were lucky there was a Middle School art program exhibit in the lobby of the latter, and here are some photos.

One of my favorites is this little dragon / gremlin guy, by a seventh grade boy (!!! It was all girls in my day, but boys are now admitted through 8th grade).

I loved the prints done by the 7th grade, as well, including this one:

(PS–to respect their privacy, I’m not including the names of the young artists.)

A high school student made this centaur out of windfall branches and twigs, and a dried spray provided by a teacher (for the tail). Because it was against a window, it was hard to photograph and get a good shot of what you are seeing but it is FANTASTIC! It stands nearly as tall as I am….5’6″!

The students had also created altarpieces for Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican celebration of All Soul’s Day (November 1), in ceramics. The display was fantastic. Each piece was a small work of art, but the grouped impact is really something.

I also got a kick out of this picture, again part of the Dia de los Muertos corner, with the horse and rider, compelte with skeletons:

Inside the blow-your-mind quality auditorium, some students had done a riff on Andy Goldsworthy with leaves (google his name and you’ll get a ton of references and images), creating a swirl and sworl of gingko leaves along one wall:

Goldsworthy does some really cool things with leaves and dandelions (click on the words for links).

Wish they’d had an art program like that when I was in 7th and 8th grades. Heck, I’d go audit classes NOW if I lived there! Congrats to all involved, but especially the students and their teacher!

What can I say…

I love the voluptuousness of these flowers…the color, the huge thick stalks and nearly succulent leaves. And did I mention the color? Here are just some of the photos I took at Mom’s retirement community:

Happy Mother’s Day to one and all. I guess it’s appropriate to show the area where mom lives as today’s post. If you haven’t been to visit in a day or two, scroll down below this post…lots of new photos over the past few days!

Mom never had a high-paying job, but she sure invested wisely and well (and owning a home in California as real estate skyrocketed, several times, helped). So, she lives in an upscale retirement community / enclave in Marin County (north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco is on the south end). The grounds are beautifully landscaped, and there are some wonderful typically Californian vistas.

This first view is a favorite with the residents…one of the few remaining farms in the increasingly wealthy county (where a two-bedroom, one-bath fixer-upper tiny house on postage size lot goes for WELL over $300,000—insane!). In addition to the cattle, I saw an egret (but the photo wasn’t so great–too far away) and swear I heard a peacock over by the barn buildings. Since it was May, the hills were in a rare state: green. Usually the wild grasses turn golden brown, with the dark Coast live oak trees, scrub, and screaming blue skies.

There are several water features on the property. These two photos are of the same one. Given the usual danger of drought there (it rains October to April, usually, then nothing for months), I’m sure the water is recycled / runs in a loop. The sound masks the noise of Highway 101, which is nearby (well, within earshot).

Another spot which I hadn’t seen before is tucked behind the swimming pool. This pond is surrounded by thick stands of Birds of Paradise, a profusion of nasturtiums (which are one of my favorite flowers), and various other flora. I think I took about thirty photos just of the Birds of Paradise, but that will be a separate posting!

This final photo is, to me, quintessential California hillside…the tangle of branches, the waving grass and blue sky:

Note: A brief interlude in the California photos for a “Mother’s Day” report from the mid-coast of Maine!
Today at Aldemere Farm, in neighboring Rockport, Maine, it was “Meet the Calves” day, which I’m pretty sure (as a newbie to the area) happens on Mother’s Day weekend every year. The Belted Galloways are a rare breed of cattle. Ironically, there was a farm with these “oreo cookie” cows on San Juan Island, Wash, where we used to live, and now here they are again.

I just love their curly fur, and will use some of today’s photos as “reference shots” for the cow that will be in the manger in the Tableau quilt. The calf in the photo above is only 3 weeks old, and was 50 pounds at birth (ouch!), and was happy for his mommy to groom him. If you click on the link above, you’ll see the trees in autumn…yes, it really is that gorgeous!

There are also sheep and goats as part of the 4-H projects for the kids here, and every spring at maple sugaring time offers 3-6th graders a chance to participate in the “sap to syrup” program, literally going from harvesting the sap to coming home with their “made it myself” maple syrup. Wish I were in 5th grade! The farm used to be a real working farm, and is now part of the widespread network of nature conservancy in Maine…lots and lots and lots of areas are now protected from developement—yeah! Here, Eli is feeding one of the lambies:

The setting is idyllic. In winter, folks are allowed to cross-country ski or snowshoe in the pastures where the cows aren’t. This first photo is looking East toward Penobscot Bay–if you look carefully between the trees, the horizon between darker blue in the bay, the lighter blue sky is a tad below halfway down the photo:

This photo is of one of the barns…LOVE the rhythm and repetition in the lines of the barn.

Moving west across the road from the front side of the farm house (the barns and such are out back–on the sunrise side of the house), you look across the near pasture to the large pond and (if you have really good eyes) you might be able to make out the new YMCA building on the far side of the pond.

This tree is right by the same pasture…what a fantastic branch! And as you can tell, spring has finally come to the north country!