Of Hummingbirds and Flowers ... and Water.

THIS WEEKEND was one with wonderful weather and work in the garden. Lots and lots and lots of work. Everywhere I looked there was a vacant space in the garden (which the Mister likes and I don't care for) and I envisioned planting some flowers - finally! - that would bloom throughout the summer. Perennials are wonderful, but in our garden there is not too much for July and August. So voila! A trunk full of fresh pickings from New Leaf Greenhouse. Enough to add some color but not pack the place so there would be room for walking into the garden to weed. Ouch! My back!
I chose a ligularia for a shady spot in the garden. When I saw this gigantic plant with its lacy-edged leaves, I thought it could be a powerhouse punch under one of the shade trees. Dahlias will give some color to the edge of the flower beds in the back yard, without overwhelming anything else. and some geraniums, larkspur and campanula - the last two to grow tall and stand out in the front yard flowerbed.
The orange poppies are flowering around the red rhododendron, splashed with two yellow tulips - just like last year. I didn't want to post almost the same exact photo as last year so I played around with the photo editor colors and got this weird shot. Strange garden, huh? I felt a little cruel taking the orange from the poppies and turning the yellow tulips reddish, but, eh! What's a little fun between garden and gardener?
On another note there was a hummingbird trapped in the sunroom. We opened all the doors and windows and I was hoping the draft would lure him/her out. We finally left it alone and went about our business and pretty soon he/she was gone. It was difficult to listen to its little head hitting the glass ceiling!
There was more that happened this weekend. The usual busy round of chores and obligations, but that never seems to end.
A couple more pics of flowers and then I am out of here. Sorry my page isn't getting refreshed as often as it should. I am losing some valuable writing time, putting down my memories - femminismo

Coin Packets With Books

HERE YOU GO! Grab a cold one and view the packets and books - femminismo

It's Beer Weather! I'll Drink To That!

WELL, maybe not exactly "beer weather," but it's getting closer and a bit warmer out. I think maybe today was just a "beer day." This is a beverage my sister exposed me to and it is so refreshing I could become quite the lush swilling it down. Those Belgians would think of combining raspberries with beer. I have seen a peach version and another fruit I can't remember at the moment, but this remains my favorite.
Still working on my coin packet books and will have a video to show you before too long. The little "movie maker" on the Flip video camera is working away. A watched pot never boils so I'll go read the newspaper for a while until it's finished ....... well, turns out it's in the wrong format anyway for uploading to Blogger. I'll be working on this - femminismo

Don't You Just Hate It?

WHEN people don't keep their word, don't you just hate it?
But maybe they get busy with the real world and don't mean to forget or put off what they promised to do online.
Here is "Weight of Flowers" by Julie Fillo, which I got in the mail on Friday. So happy to see it on my wall and I love walking by it and admiring all the lovely flowers that will never droop and die. The bird is a special favorite too.
Yes, this woman looks a little sad, and I'm sure Julie has a story behind all of this. Someday I hope she feels inspired to paint smiling women, but myself, I like the introspective ones too.
I have been busy - and part of that time was spent with my granddaughters, one of whom was shopping for a prom dress. Just the right dress. That takes time. While she shopped I got to spend a little time holding Alex, the new grandbaby. I think a good name for him is Smiley Sweetface.
I had good luck today with Dreamweaver. I don't know that it is especially difficult to get it to do things. It's just "putting" them live - online - that has been a problem. I think I have them "checked out" and I don't really know how to upload them. Today, however, they magically did it almost all by themselves. I posted a video which actually operates! So this is a good start off to the week. Things seem to balance out, however, so I'm really not looking to tempt fate. Tomorrow there will turn out to be a horrible proofreading error or something similar. (Just you wait.) Steve and Clowncar (faithful commenteurs';) have taken the short cut - ha,ha, shortcut! - and learned html, etc. But they are boys with Math Brains.
I am slowly reaching my goal on the coin packet books. Here is one book and its packet resting in lilacs. I wish I could perch there and inhale the lovely smell, but alas, I must go to bed. And I keep thinking of Christy and her foil/paper that I want to make. Christy is a Math Brain person too, I will bet, since she is so totally a Web Geek Girl and a lovely artist. I have got to find some more time somewhere!!! - femminismo (feel free to follow these links for so much fun, you will not want to waste time sleeping tonight)

So Tired of Computers ...

YES, tired of computers so I won't stay here long. Just wanted to end the month with the admission that no matter how hard I tried I didn't finish all my decorated coin packets, although I did come awfully close. I will finish them up in May.
Today in the mail I got "The Weight of Flowers" by Julie Fillo. It is hanging on my wall and. I. love. it! The painting will be posted her tomorrow. (Safe and sound, Julie, and I am sooooooo happy with it.) If you scroll down her blog you will see the painting I bought.
Art and flowers ... can there be better, more satisfying, investments?
Well, since I spent most of the day sitting in front of a computer trying to get Dreamweaver to do what I wanted, I am going off to bed now - right after I brush my teeth - femminismo

Will You Still Need Me? Will You Still Feed Me?

WHEN I'M sixty-four? It's happened! The whirling of the earth, the continual falling but never reaching the surface - not yet, anyway - and I'm still here!
Yes, 64. Tell me, if you can, how that happened in the blink of an eye, in the wink of a star. Yet I'm really truly here and my knees still work (mostly) and I'm running on nearly all of my original parts. (Knock, knock, knock on wood.)
In six months, my sister tells me, it will be time to apply for Medicare. They need all the warning they can get, apparently. Today I got lots of good wishes - more than ever before thanks to Facebook! I received flowers from my oldest son and lunch out with him. His treat! The day got better and better. My daughter and her family came by to give me more flowers - pink rosebuds, lilacs, tiny pink carnations and stock, with its lovely aroma. A great card and lots of hugs rounded that all out.
When I got home there was shiny bag hanging on the front door knob filled with treats and sumptuous indulgences. (There was an empty book to write in. Could the giver be hinting something?)
The Mister had a wonderful card for me. The kind you read and get tears in your eyes, because you know he read through a lot of them until he found the one that said what he wanted to say himself, but couldn't find the words. My brother and sister-in-law dropped by with a card too and scratch-it lottery tickets. I won $3! And I got hugs, too.
It's been a great day. I'm so glad I was born in April. There are so many flowers and the leaves are brand new and glistening and there is a feeling in the air that nothing can hold back nature and healing, and someday soon we will be on top of our game again - femminismo
p.s. Packet books are above. I've still got many to make before April ends. Best get to it!!

Using Technology

I'm enjoying using the technology of Blackberry to sit on the couch and "talk" to you. Wish I could find the magic button to put a picture of the labyrinth I walked. Next time - femminismo

I See The Train ... It's Coming

THERE'S a train coming down the tracks and I believe I can almost see it. I still don't know what day it will arrive, but for some reason I am getting more and more comfortable -- but not too much so -- with the idea that one of these days it's going to stop for me. And pick me up. And take me somewhere peaceful.
Maybe it was watching my granddaughter swinging her baby back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, in his car seat. She was trying to soothe him and get him to sleep because he had been crying. And I had *been* there. I had *done* that. My arms were once strong enough to go on and on with the swinging for half an hour. Not anymore, however. After two minutes they would have been "noodle arms."
Then on April 19, a former colleague died. She had been ill for over two years, I think, and her disease was never correctly diagnosed. She must have suffered cruelly and yet she continued to work to support her family and get her daughter through college. She went in to the hospital for a biopsy and they admitted her because she was so ill and a couple days after that she died.
Gone. No more walking uptown to cover her beat for the newspaper. No more driving the new little car she got and was so proud of. No more planning for flowers in the greenhouse to transplant this spring. The vines growing over her arbor will have to be taken care of by someone else ... or not.
But back to that train. If we are so fortunate as to live to 100 years, without disease making us miserable (picture that old lady who only has a mild twinge of arthritis on damp winter nights; that's who I want to be) that means I am in the last quarter of my life. The. Last. Quarter.
As in -- if life were a basketball game -- the last 10 minutes of play. "Make those free throws!"
Not to worry though. I will wait for the train patiently but play hard and have lots of fun before it arrives (whatever time that might be).
The other night on the way home there was a huge cloud formation that looked exactly like a humongous Dairy Queen vanilla ice cream cone with the twirl on top. I love clouds now. I used to be afraid of them.
Last night our piece of Oregon sky was the same color as the Kansas sky just before Dorothy's house flew up overhead. But the light was such that it lit up everything with an eerie glow and brought every color of every blossom and flower out even more vividly than at midday in full sunlight. It was windy and the flowers bent in the breeze. The poufs of pink blossoms hanging from trees looked sweet and sticky -- you could eat them like cotton candy. And the trees now have just enough leaves to still allow you to see their shapely branches and the trees in back of *them.* There are layers and layers of loveliness and I could eat it all up.
I think from the time it's taking to load the pictures that they may be eating up things too. Things like space and time to download, if your computer is not up to a big picture. Oh, well. Not going to fiddle with shrinking them at this point. Too late. Enjoy the closeup viewing.
And I told you I was taking a Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain class. Right? Here is my left hand. And I am not a good "drawer" - not a realistic one anyway - femminismo
Editor's note: There are 12 minutes in an NBA quarter. Yay! I have 2 additional minutes! - thanks for the comments oh lovely people!

Two Things In One

EDNA st. vincent millay - Her poem is what is in my little "two in one" book.
I had all this colorful paper and had folded it into pages, but I wanted to mix these colors up a little bit more. After sewing them together I found the poem I wanted to write down - Moritorus, by Edna St. Vincent Millay - and trusting there would be enough pages I began transferring the lines to my tiny, sawed-in-half book.
One line of the verse on the top left, the next on the top right, the third on the bottom left and the fourth line on the bottom right. While I was doing this a thought occurred to me that when I got done I was going to be able to mix 'n match. Scramble up the poem as it were. I created whole new lines that either made me laugh or really appealed to me.
The lines fit perfectly within the book ... until I. turned. the. poetry. book. page. Wow! Another whole page! Those lines will have to be in another book! I am too tired right now to even contemplate doing it and must finish dinner (Cheerios) and get to bed. I've been working hard (at work) and coming home drained and unable to take on the chores I should be doing. Well, better to have too much to do than not enough, that's my motto.
These little packets are fun and they are going together totally at random. There is no rhyme or reason, but most of the poems so far seem to have either spring or love in them - femminismo

April Daze ...

TODAY IS windy and the skies are mostly blue. It's a great day, full of springly things - like hyacinths and late daffodils. Tulips are fluttering in the breeze and lawnmowers are humming. Hope your day is going well and you get to do some art - femminismo

Help Us To Play The Man

THE Day returns and brings us the petty round of irritating concerns and duties. Help us to play the man, help us to perform them with laughter and kind faces, let cheerfulness abound with industry. Give us to go blithely on our business all this day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content and undishonored, and grant us in the end the gift of sleep. - amen

-- R.L. STEVENSON

My prayer for you today is you find a way to be kind - femminismo

Photo is from Life magazine archives hosted by Google.

Upon Closer Inspection . . .

I FIND I have a project (coin packet book) but no overall great plan on how to accomplish it. But I'm thinking that since April is National Poetry Month it might be relevant (and enjoyable) to make small poetry books.
I am only two days behind on this project. It's the little finishing touches that kill me and my schedule. These words seemed to pop right off the page at me: "Lucky" and "Love never fails."
I have so many of these saved tea packets, and haven't been able to throw them away because they are such natural "envelopes" for all sorts of precious things.
I got me a date stamp like the big girls (Judy Wise and others) use in their journals.
We had a great Easter egg hunt on Saturday with all the family shoehorned into my brother and sister-in-law's house. It is a good thing we all get along!
I liked the way this shiny paper that lined a paintbrush packet reflected the lady's face onto the other side. An unintended benefit.
One more picture and then I am off to bed. Another busy day tomorrow and finding perfect poems to reflect spring and "green" and other vernal subjects like that. Love, too, of course - femminismo
p.s. I'm going to buy Gulf Sprite's video lesson on making foil paper - without foil. It sounds and looks like great stuff.

Dinner at the Led Robster

HERE we are again, viewing these unusual blinders. It only took a small suggestion from Dawn, and I zipped up to the attic to do a self-portrait before putting them back in the box.
The blinders are used during fraternal initiations, when "candidates" who want to join the fraternity (not a college fraternity; the Masons) put them on for just a while to participate in the ceremony they go through.
I have no clue what else the ceremony entails, but I do know it is nothing unholy and involves no animal sacrifices. It is quite inspirational, I guess, and solemn.
It was quite dark inside the blinders before I opened them up by holding the little knobs and tipping them up. There is quite a strong spring on one side, which yields when the knobs are flipped and stretches to allow the blinders to open up.
It was a frantically busy day today with two projects actually finished and one halfway done. Then we went out to the Red Lobster for dinner with my son and daughter-in-law and my granddaughter and her fiancé. Restaurant food always - usually - *sounds* like a good idea, but nothing beats a home-cooked meal. Imagine the amount of food you could buy for $130. (The Reisling was very good, however.) Now I am sitting here typing with a stomach that feels as if it contains an entire watermelon. And I am getting so sleepy . . . femminismo

Steam Punk or Fraternal?

LOOK what I found today! An interesting part of a fraternal requirement for initiation.
I think these are something that might inspire steam punk inventors to make elaborate eyewear. I feature a sort of Mad Max character wearing these blinders, but with lenses put into them, or darkened glass that would be lifted up when the wearer desired to speak eyeball to eyeball with someone.
These are not mine. I will put them back in the storage attic tomorrow, but I thought I would share this antique apparatus with you. They remind me of something Urbandon (Don P.) would make.
The inside of them is lined with a sort of red or purple velvet-type material and an ordinary cotton string ties them on the wearer. I like the little "knobs" that helps you lift the eye coverings. A little kinky, maybe? Or maybe not.
They were definitely made by someone who was into his craft - femminismo

What New Project Have U Begun?

HERE is part of my new project for April. This has always been a good month for me, since it was in April that I began my journal-book-a-month project ... and actually finished it up!
I am taking small coin envelopes and all of the lovely colored Tazo tea packet "sleeves" that I couldn't bear to throw away. Both naturally hold small objects, and in April my theme will be "Upon Closer Inspection." I want to put a small project into the envelopes every day - maybe some writing or drawing or a photograph. I am going to try and examine something in detail each day.
Observation is the primary objective.
The theme came to me in the middle of the night and I either sat bolt upright or imagined I did. "UpOn ClOsEr InSpeCtiOn." OK, why not? Then I fell back asleep. Fortunately I remembered all of this and didn't have to come up with another project name. (whew!)
I punched holes in some of the envelopes and tea sleeves and then decided to paint the envelopes. Here they are, drying, along with some collage materials. Since tomorrow is April First, however - All Fools Day - I will need to work in some creative energy with all the work energy.
Can't wait - femminismo

Let's Go On, Shall We?

LET'S leave that video behind and speak of events that have lifted us up into this great new spring we're embarking into. (Sorry if I've been away a bit.)
I guess I like to think of us on some big boat - all together - emerging from the winter storms into a calmer, more energizing sea.
A Sea Change! That's what we've gotten, with the birds trilling at twilight. The Mister and I heard one bird last night, giving three whistles and then a warble. Three whistles, then a warble. (Anyone? Anyone? Anyone know what this bird is?) Some other bird with the same call, but further away, trilled right back at him/her. Courtship going on all over the place and the leaves on the trees obligingly filling out to hide those nests way up in their branches. (No one will ever find us here, my darling!)
Long after we thought it would never end, winter has yielded and seems set for a better course. Today (Sunday) there were torrents of rain and more expected tomorrow, but Saturday was a glorious day and our hoes and rakes got no rest. Neither did our backs, arms, legs and shoulders. The Mister hacked vile weeds from the yard and I went around with the rake and wheelbarrow and hauled them to the compost barrel. (good riddance)
I planted sweet peas in a tray, inside, to let them root and then place those seedlings in the ground outside. This method is from a magazine article and since my sweet peas tend to mysteriously disappear (hungry sharp-eyed birds?) I thought I would try this and grow them up a bit before planting. I'll let you know how it goes.
The mossy culvert pipe is from our trip up to the property last weekend. This pipe used to be part of the old bridge (I think) before it washed away after beavers dammed the river. Looks like a glorious hideout now doesn't it, if a sudden downpour should strike.
Our area is bursting forth in blossoms - on the trees and bushes. This flower was so sweet-smelling, it reminded me of daphne. The shrub was very large, however, and the flowers were there first with little leaves coming out now. Anyone know what it is? Three blooms perfumed my whole office.
This lush ornamental tree is close to my office, too, and is a very nice shape. The flowers are translucent - the pink and white so pretty it makes a little ache in your throat. I absolutely had to share them.
Spring makes me remember the little valley where I grew up. It could have been England, the hills were such a verdant green, and in the afternoon when the golden sun was setting and the smell of lilacs and cherry blossoms perfumed the air, it was all you would want for a magic kingdom.
We now have peonies blooming in our own back yard and I will (again) hate to see the petals fall once they are done. For now, here is just a sample - femminismo
p.s. Tuesday night I start "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"

Trilliums At The Creek

This seemed like a good trip by camera phone. I hope it works out and you can experience a little of the peaceful calm on this piece of the earth in Oregon - femminismo

Wonderful, Wonderful Fortune

"HOW LONG? NOT LONG! 'A lie can't live forever.' "*
I can not conceive of people my age being born in a more interesting time. Yesterday must have taken the cake as we watched politicians actually accomplish something. Perhaps not all we'd hoped. Perhaps not at all what some of our countrymen wanted, since it brought some to the brink of spewing racial and homophobic epithets at elected officials trying to get to their workplace.
"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
TODAY is also the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, "Arc of the Moral Universe," after the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
I feel as if I've marched that far tonight, since I was in the woods all weekend - walking uphill and down amongst the ferns - enjoying my wonderful fortune to have a great, peaceful place to get away from it all.
You can bet I'll be back with more photos of everything I saw - femminismo

The Smell of Magnolia

TONIGHT I went to take the trash out streetside and the smell of the early white magnolia blossoms - Star magnolia - just about blew me away.
The frogs at the end of the street are quiet at nights now. I don't know why. Have they finished courting?
But I suppose nature trades off. First, early on, it's the noise of frogs you hear and then other senses come into play as the earth warms up and gives up her scents and the blossoms on the trees engage our nose too.
I mentioned we were in the woods a week ago. (Can you tell: Is this waterfall big or small?)
Neither of us could work up the proper enthusiasm on Sunday to tackle that again. We spent time around home doing small chores. Here, however, are some of the photos from a week ago.
Up above are the smooth-edged yellow woodland violets. Huge growth of fungus on a downed tree. Trillium, white, just opened up.
Enjoy your time in the woods, and Steve, any time you'd like to take on caretaking duties, feel free to fly in to our neck of the woods - femminismo
p.s. The creek is looking good. I pulled out ivy and some nettles, but got "stung." Did I already tell you this? Sorry, if so.

I Sewed It Just For You!

Just for you, to keep your toes comfy during these cool (almost) spring nights, I sewed up this fine quilt. Don't go gazing into that blue sky too deeply. You just might go up, up, and up, never to return!
I didn't report on my weekend before, so I will now. Sunday was my first trip up to our "property" this spring and I found that earlier the Mister and our neighbor (with his very versatile Bobcat) had made short work of the mess the snows and winds left this past winter. What a difference with all the fallen trees gone! Culvert pipe is planned for a marshy area close by one of our favorite trails (and near the outhouse). There are at least three springs coming into the property, which all eventually join the creek.

It was my job to sweep off the bridge and I took childlike glee in brushing a pile of dried leaves into the creek and then hurrying to the other side to watch them glide by on the water to go downstream. Seeing the clean surface of the bridge, I felt I had really accomplished something.

Then I went hunting for flowers, some of which you see in the quilt above. There were yellow Johnny jump-ups, trilliums and the tiny white flowers with clover-like foliage. I've forgotten the name, but I'll bet if I look back a year on this blog I will find them again.
The picture of the sky and tree in the "quilt" was taken on Monday (yesterday) while tonight (Tuesday) as I left work there was rain and snow mixed. Crazy usually describes this time just before spring is fully realized here in the Northwest. I can never get too excited about the little spring cotton frocks with short sleeves until August, and by then - of course - it's woolen suits in the stores.
On the way home from the property on Sunday there were sumi ink skies again. Lovely, lovely, beautiful! I've put it into Photoshop to add "paint daubs" and hope you like it - femminismo
p.s. I always forget: CLICK ON THE PICS to make them bigger.

No Girls in India?

International Womens Day ... and yet I didn't find rose petals strewn down the road of my commute this morning. The coffee tasted better this morning, however, and I had a good job to go to. Thank heavens for all the women who came before and made it possible for me to earn a good wage and be able to own property and marry as I wish.
I also wasn't forced to decide whether or not to kill my own daughter after her birth because she was a girl! Some women have really had to put their foot down in order to live an honorable life and protect their own flesh and blood.
I'm sorry if I sound flippant, but it's hard to believe that life goes on like this in other parts of our world. Life goes on like this until one day a woman ... a mother ... in India thinks, "Well, no, I don't think I should have to face a choice like this where once my baby is born, and if it's a girl, I should allow her to be killed."
I found this picture today as part of a story I can no longer locate. This girl is set to be married soon, to a prosperous man, because her parents (her mother, especially, who made the decision) decided just because she was a woman they would not allow her to die. Lord bless the child that's got a mother like this one - femminismo

Gone Moon Crazy!

THE LAST few mornings I have been getting up earlier for work because the days are becoming hectic and detail-crammed. Projects must be finished. Have to be!
But there's one thing I'm glad I stole a few minutes to observe, and that's the moon setting in the west.
When the moon is slipping away in the morning there is a little more light in the sky and it's just a perfect mix for a photograph. Here I have wedged my camera in a snowball tree (no leaves yet) and steadied it to keep the moon from moving. (Ha ha!) The sky looks so dark blue, when actually it was fairly light. But the digital camera does its own thing. This was the moon on March 3.
Today, March 4, I sneaked out again just a little bit later and got this shot of the moon stuck in these tiny little branches over our neighbor's fence.
It really does look as if it's snagged, doesn't it? I love the moon. It reminds me of so many special moments - coming up over mountains, shining on water, shining on snow - and cold and frosty above two lonely people together on New Year's Eve. (Or maybe only one of us was lonely!)
The Mister has been working on thinning out two of the most wonderful trees on our 3/4 acre piece of land where we have our home. At the back of our yard there is a Sequoia and a redwood. OK, I know I am a tree hugger and if I had my say there would never be any trees cut down and we would live in concrete bungalows and rotten limbs would be falling all around town causing insurance lenders to commit hara-kiri right and left.
But when I came home and found a ton of limbs cut from the trees - just so the roof of the shop wouldn't rot and fall apart - I was so sick I could hardly stand it. However, as I'm sure you've heard, you can get used to anything. After calmly talking about this situation we both knew how the other person felt, and the reasons it had to be done, and the reasons I still didn't like it (the shop was built in the wrong place, OK?) I. am. now. getting. used. to. it.
Admiring the moon this morning I looked toward the trees and the mist at the base of them made them look even more lovely, regal and able to bear anything time and man could throw at them. I guess this is just my day for dark, cool photos - femminismo

Ladies and Gentleman of the Supreme Court

JUST A SUGGESTION:

OH, don't worry! I know all our problems can't be solved by getting rid of all of the guns in the world, but it's worth dreaming about, isn't it? - femminismo

Here It Comes . . .

IN LIKE a lamb, that's the way March has come in.
Not much sunshine today in our part of Oregon, but a very mild temperature and no rain. So I would guess you can foretell the future if the old saying holds true.
Hold onto your hats at the end of March. Get out your kites.
And happy birthday, Butchie! - femminismo