almost color

day eight of rain

and a little break in the weather

... a good time to walk ...

I'm glad I brought my camera with me

now I have evidence that spring is coming

... even when it seems doubtful ...

enjoy your day!

the almost daily

my daily watercolor sketches are

"almost daily"

... but it's not the rain that stops me ...

(it's other stuff )

but not today

today I brought my camera, so you could see what I mean

it's rain for sure:

but I'm warm and dry in my car:

an occasional break to wait for paint to dry:

and bring it home for the finishing touches:

all in all it takes about an hour of my time

my artistic aerobics I guess

I'm usually not happy with the finished piece

but sometimes, when I revisit it after about a week

- with fresh eyes -

I like it a little bit better

watercolors are hard because you very quickly reach a point of no return

then what you have is

M  U  D

today feels like one of those days

but I'll just give it a lower case

m  u  d

twilight tea

I love daylight savings time

I took these pictures around 7 pm

(7 pm has been black as night since early november)

it's so nice to have some daylight still hanging on

... even after I've gotten all my chores done ...

everyone has been fed and the kitchen is clean

I've made a pot of orange spice tea

and I can sit down at my desk again

it's my favorite spot in the house

with a view of the peach tree

and the old farmhouse across the street

and it only gets better from here to the end of june

(twilight will be at 10 by then)

* * *

do you have daylight savings time?

... I know that people who live in Arizona don't ...

maybe where you live it doesn't make much difference except on the clock

up here in washington state, 

if we didn't have the time change, 

daybreak would begin around 3 am in the summer

peace - heiwa

someone in mind

my favorite way to work is with someone in mind

... like my sister-in-law ...

who is battling breast cancer

she has a great attitude

sure, there's fear

but she finds plenty to laugh at

I made this little picture for her:

and then I realized I ought to share this

... so I put it in my shop too ...

just in case someone out there is needing to laugh in the face of the fear

my sky in a week

 ... march 1st through today ...

(not in that order)

this is today:

blue sky and thin wispy clouds

whoo hoo - no rain! or snow!

come in out of the weather

I've taken a break from the day

and it's just begun to downpour

constant comment tea and oatmeal cookies

a favorite cup from a dear friend

an orphaned saucer

and an old tablecloth

they all seem to go together

and now it's begun to snow

... march ...

in like a lion is what they say

hoping you're safe and sound with all that craze weather out there

... and looking forward the lambie side of the month!

what was that orange thing?

... in my previous post?

(Lynn was wondering)

it's a wall medallion I made (back in December) with dried oranges and moss

beeswax collage

I just love working with beeswax

it gives an age and patina that is so natural and real

I made this collage using an old book cover and one of my own photographs

the book text is from an old french textbook

I used a bronze chain with jump rings as a hanger

*

and then for this one, which is quite a bit smaller

I made inchie collages and attached them to 2 inch portions of an old book cover

I used glue to adhere everything first

then I mod podged tea bag paper over it all

and then dipped them in beeswax

the beeswax was in pellet form

I simply put some pellets in a foil tray

and heated it in a 200 degree oven

(be careful to heat the wax JUST to melting - the burn point for beeswax is 181 degrees)

then immersed the pieces into the melted wax

you can rub the beeswax with a soft rag to get a bit of a polish

or leave it rough if you'd like

either way is beautiful in my opinion

*

I have many more posts about using beeswax

just click the "beeswax" and "beeswax how-to" labels below to get to them

morning light

the sky is definitely getting lighter earlier and earlier

I took these at about 6:40 this morning

it's turning out to be a very busy week

so I didn't get to my tea post until this morning

... but hey, it is tuesday after all ...

I feel like a bit of a faker when I'm writing my tea posts on monday

... but I do that for all of you who are east of me ...

that's just about everyone!

yesterday:

Paul Gauguin at the Seattle Art Museum (o!m!g!)

today:

child's field trip

tomorrow:

science fair

thursday:

quilting

friday:

breathe

how is your week shaping up?

take time to breathe ... and a nice hot cuppa

:)

birth of an idea

... a children's book idea ...

"at night"

(page 1) night surfing & (page 2) night laundry

just getting started

what do you think?

thinking today ...

... that it could be worse

and thankful it is not

crazy weather here the last few days

you may have heard about our avalanche tragedy over the weekend

major pacific storms have been blowing through here

the weatherman calls it "an atmospheric river"

lots of rain, lots of snow and warming temperatures

avalanches in the mountains

and

cresting rivers in the lowlands

I live on a high ground

but took these pictures while on a walk this morning

I thought the swings floating on the current were eerie

sorry ...

... For the word verification woes ... I am going to try blogging without them entirely ... But I have disallowed "anonymous" comments .... Sorry for the inconvenience

double comfort

... tea and a good book ...

double comfort

my book is The Double Comfort Safari Club

- eleventh in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series -

and the second to the last book

I have been putting off coming to the end of these wonderful books

but today is a perfect day to escape to Botswana

african redbush (rooibos) tea figures prominently in the stories

and the health benefits are becoming well known

(here's an interesting article about it)

*

another healthy thing: going for a long walk

while I was out walking today, I found this skeleton blossom

it's from a hydrangea bush

... amazing ...

I hope you are fitting healthy things into your day today

sometimes we get so busy ... and we have to give each other a nudge

nudge nudge

:)

under glass

I don't keep cheese under this old cheese plate dome

no brie, cheddar or camembert

for now I keep this lacy leaf

but a seashell, bird nest or piece of coral would be pretty too

*

... and here's today's sky ...

under glass