5 posts tagged “spring”
The sun was shining and warm for three straight days here! It felt dreamily like Florida for a brief moment in the Pacific Northwest. I went a little crazy with spring cleaning and washed every stitch of laundry, opened the windows and cleared the porch.
Munchkins helped me plant four little strawberry plants in a box on the porch. I'm concerned that they wouldn't last half a minute with the deer up here. The garden is still in the planning stage, I'm debating where to put it.
Last year I attempted a garden without fencing to see how much the animals would leave for me. They viewed it as an invitation to the salad bar, so we'll be installing this lovely fencing I got for Mother's Day last year.
It's been a spring symphony with the trees here too. The golden plums have turned from cotton to pale amber and the purple plums have joined with the apples to take their turns being snowy.
The deer painting I started long ago is now completed and I am working on a water background for her now.
Of course, she's just a little thing in comparison to the art of Da Vinci.
A girlfriend of mine took her troupe with ours to see an exhibit at OMSI this week. I absolutely adored his tiny book and wanted to run home and make one exactly like it immediately.
Instead, I wandered through the rest of the exhibit until I came to a little closet with mirrors all the way around the inside. There was a pinhole by which I took this photo. I reminds me of the art by Yayoi Kusama.
You have 24 more hours before I shut the doors on the "best birthday surprise" box and start drawing out the dreams...
I really do. I love that it's symbolic of new life, I love the cheerful colors, and best of all, I love the whole "surprise" aspect. I adore surprises. (Don't forget to write to me about your best birthday dream here to find a surprise in your mailbox!)
I'm not crazy about plastic items. I don't like the thought that I've bought something that can contribute to a landfill at any point in time. However, my Easter eggs are highly reusable, collectible (by me), and so darn cute! I'm picky though. This year's finds are a Hello Kitty head, carrot-top, a chick with wings, a pink striped one and of course, The Golden Egg. Let me know if you find any particularly wonderful additions. The munchkins had me read The Egg Tree to them tonight. Another book
series that I like are the Daisy books. The illustrations are so endearing and I loved the book that taught the munchkins that it really is important to listen to mum. Of course, our Daisy duck has had her eyes loved off. The munchkins have more empathy for blind stuffed animals
anyway. It's been raining, on and off this week, but between showers we've had simply gorgeous weather. During the first sunny afternoon, the trees took their cue and began opening their blossoms. It was as if we could see them opening right before our eyes. All the plum and cherry trees in our neighborhood have bloomed out now. It's gorgeous. They keep drawing me outside to peek at them, showing off like little girls in twirling white dresses.
One of the munchkins announced that they'd had their very best birthday tonight. I was a bit surprised, but then, they'd skipped school, played a board game with their daddy, had pancakes for dinner, a package arrived in the mail, and they finished off a new movie tonight. I guess that would be a pretty big day for me too.
What's your idea of a bestest birthday? Send me your thoughts and if I pick it to post next week, you will get a "birthday" surprise from me...
The flowers are beginning, the rain is coming in torrents, and the grass is growing. My sister told me that the cherry blossoms have started in Washington DC. She thought she recalled mine being about three weeks later. I think they may come sooner though as we've had a tiny warm spell.
A girlfriend of mine came and saw the "shack" in the back yard last weekend. She declared that it was much larger than she'd imagined.
I guess my stating that it had been used as a doghouse had thrown her off. I meant to say that it had been used by very large dogs after the children had outgrown it.
The birthday muchkin took a crooked picture of me by the "play house shack" this morning for you. I hope this helps you to visualize it better.
Does it need curtains? to be raised and have steps? Dream a little with me...
I keep hoping for spring here in the chilly Pacific Northwest. Today I wore my smocked cotton chocolate brown skirt and dark umber linen jacket. Then hid them under my wool coat. I need cheerfulness, so here's another pocket full of color for us all.
I found this cheerful image Tuesday on the back patio. Wouldn't you be cheered by it?
On the subject of food, or what some people call food, I have here "Bunny Bologna". At least, that's what we called it when we saw it in the Netherlands. The butcher shops carry it around Easter time. WE thought it looked disgusting, but then, some people actually EAT bologna...
Munchkin was wishing to paint a watercolor yesterday, and asked me to sketch something for a painting. I consented, naturally thinking a little dog, a house, a tree with a swing. But munchkin had bigger plans. Better plans. Turning to page 102 of a manga book, I was shown in full glory what I was to sketch.
I decided to give you a copy so you could color it too. (Your printout will be a little sketchy as I wanted to reduce the file size here. Click on the image to go to the larger version. Then right click to see the copy/paste option. Copy the image to your clipboardand then paste it into a drawing or word processing program to print it out.) I'd love to see the colors you pick...
It's easy for me to become so involved in the things I need to "do" that I forget to open my eyes to things going on around me. But I have little people in my house that bring me signs that spring and new growth are occurring. They brought me outside to see the freshness of what is happening right beyond my front door. The first daffodils peeked their heads out at our house this week. What fresh greens appeared at yours?
In my last post I asked you to send me the name of your current favorite animal. I've had two animals suggested so far, and I'm encouraging you to de-lurk and don't be shy in telling me what your new favorite is!
I've been working on the Valentines and they are ACEO size. (This means that they are 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches, a bit larger than a business card.) Right now elephants are figuring prominently in the artwork going on these cards. If you can inspire me with another animal suggestion, you may just see yours pop up in this mini size too.
