Still Life: Sunshine & Little Ways

Full Throttle Into Summer

Since Summer came in last Thursday, it's been hot and humid. I finally got the pool up and running over the weekend and took my first swim yesterday. It was much needed after working in the flower garden weeding and raking much of the day.

The sun is welcome after a couple of weeks of rain since our first initial heatwave at the end of May.

That being the case, sunshiny colors and flowers are on mind.

Where do the flowers come in you ask? Did you see what my statue of St.Therese is holding?  Roses. She's known as the Saint of Little Ways. During her short life she focused on living a life of simplicity. "St. Therese said before she died at age 24 that she wanted to spend her time in heaven doing good on earth, and that she would let a shower of roses fall from Heaven."

I'm thinking of roses too, and hence my little statue of St. Therese. I just thought it was so sweet. I ordered her from a little shop on  etsy, Elle Qui Vende. She came all the way from Normandy.

My roses are in full bloom and I'm thoroughly enjoying them. Even G commented yesterday that the bush by the door is so fragrant.  What a lovely welcome. He gets points for noticing and extra points from bringing me a dozen long stemmed yellow roses this weekend.

Hope you have a great Monday. And remember, it's the little things that count.

Ciao for now,

 

Hello Sunshine......Don't Miss The Latest Free Printable

The Sun Coming Up

That's the sun coming up through the woods out back.  Big, bright and yellow. The moon looked very similar going down over the field, about an half hour before. 

You have to love waking up and being greeted by the sun shining.

I know this picture isn't exactly what you'd call 'clear', but it still served as inspiration for today's free printable.

Sunshine and bubbles of light.......hello sunshine.

Make somebody's day a little brighter and say hello with this printable note card. They're sure to smile when they find it in their mailbox.  Wouldn't you?

Just click the picture and save image file to your computer or copy and paste.

The hello sunshine printable note card can be printed on 8.5x11 paper and has a light dotted line down the middle to make cutting easy.  It is designed to fit in a 4 3/8" x 5 3/4" envelope, which you can pick up at any office supply store.

While we're on the subject of the sun................

Sunset Meadows

Gar was heading across the street to thank neighbor Tom for all his help on his truck this weekend, and yelled back in, "looks like it's going to be a good sunset".
Glad he did or I might have missed it and that would have been a shame.

Another busy day ahead, though my meeting just got moved until tomorrow. So, that makes it a little less crazy.  What's your day looking like?

A quick 'thanks a bunch' for being here and commenting. I just love hearing from all of you. It makes my day.

Inspired By Nature

Sometimes all you have to do is walk out your door to be inspired. Just look at the bright, blue, sunshiny day here!

No really. Just look.

Complete with happy bubbles of light.

Around the corner of the pool...........

.....the hosta in bloom.

It's like my garden was saying 'happy first day of September'!

Love the color of the pokeweed. The bluebirds just love the berries. An added bonus, the black eyed susan peeking out.

I'm not the only one inspired by nature.  There are plenty of fellow etsy shop owners that have been bitten by the same bug.

This is the biggest, honkin'-est cutting board ever. Gorgeous to boot.



copyright grayworksdesign

You could serve an entire meal on that board!

Maybe because when I was little I used to paint rocks, maybe just because it's pretty, but I love the way the crocheted lace gives this rock a whole new life.

copyright nutmeg cottage

Plus, I love the way the rock shows off the lace as a return favor.

Do you like greens? We LOVE them. Russian kale is awesome. Ours grew underneath the snow, and was ready to be picked come spring. The fun thing was, we had no idea that was going to happen.

copyright cubits

You have to admire it's heartiness. I didn't plant any this year, I just cut it back and it kept coming back. If you're not as lucky, cubits has got seeds for you! Such an easy crop to grow. Kale in a tomato based, sausage stew? Fill my bowl please. It holds the tomato sauce in all it's nooks and crannies. More on that when I make some and post the recipe. 

Did you know that greens are really, really, really good for you? Well, they are.  In fact, they're a superfood. My friend Kath (aka soy goddess) has the most heavenly smoothie at her natural food cafe, and it has kale in it. You'd never know. You'd just know you were coming back for another.

Now, if you're a jewelry person, you can still flaunt a little nature inspired groove. Of course, with these grey cone puka shell earrings, you can also get your island groove on.

copyright hanamauicreations

Totally digging this bowl.

copyright puscake

No faux paus here. Just faux bois.

Oh, natural laundry detergent to wash the things that go next to your skin? What a novel idea.

copyright ellopoppet

Oak & Moss...........your clothes will smell so earthy and clean. Your skin will thank you.

How are you inspired by nature? Is it a part of your day to day life? Is it a part of your art? Give us the scoop.

Sunset Meadows

Just one more touch of nature.

Yup. I was in the pool again and didn't want to get out. So I made Gar capture the sunset last night. Not a bad shot.

Have a nature inspired Thursday in your corner of the world.  Peace out.



No Shelves Today- Sunday Adveture Part 3

Our Sunday adventure continued after lunch as we strolled through Market Square in Portsmouth. Just off the Square is Kennedy Gallery & Custom Framing, which was featuring their Art Around Town artist of the month, Meg Shoen.  Meg happens to double as the laundry lady on Star Island (which is part of the Isles of Shoals, just off our coast).  I just loved this watercolor that was hanging in the window........laundry blowing in the breeze on island. Wish you could see it better through the glass. Did I say I loved it?

Meg also uses the linocut 'reduction' method to create her art.  Kennedy Gallery had a wonderful display showing the process, step by step, that Meg uses to create her art by this method. 

Step 1- a sketch is drawn and it's reverse image is transferred onto the linoblock.  This will ensure that when it is printed, its orientation is the same as the original.

Step 2- Artist makes intial cuts in block and begins inking a portion to control color overlap.

Step 3-7- Artist continues making cuts and applying ink to select areas.

Step 8- The final image is produced when the artist inks the remaining image on the block and hand coloring is added for additional depth.

Picasso used the reduction method as well and call it the 'suicide method', because after inking and reinking to produce each separate color, there is very little of the original block left.  Production has to be planned carefully for this reason. 

Kennedy Gallery also had many other wonderful works of art. So many talented and inspiring artists.

This painting was done by Kennedy's next Art Around Town artist, who's name I neglected to write down. Terribly sorry. Really wonderful work though.

I could browse all day in a gallery or bookstore.

Spied this fun green fabric display on our way to back to the car. I know the glass is shiny and makes it hard to see the fabric in it's full glory, but I like the way
some of the pretty waterfront buildings are reflected (bottom right corner).

Headed out of town (couldn't convince Gar to get an ice cream.......bummer) and drove through Pease Tradeport (which used to be Pease Air Force base but as been redevoloped after closure). 

Just look at what is being stored at a warehousing facility at there...............

............the gigantic blades for enormous windmills/turbines. Pretty cool.

The sunny blue skies continued when we got home. Sunday was as gorgeous as it gets.

So long and farewell R2

Our dear friend Cindy (my sister's best pal since high school), who is really  family, called to tell us her husband Ron had died suddenly.  We're in shock. R2 (what I called 'Ronnie Ray' for short) was crazy, and that's why we loved him. They found each other later in life, but were a perfect match. Our hearts go out to Cin. Ron will be missed. If you didn't know it already, live each day to the fullest. Each day.

Ron & DiddleBain (that's me) at our MardiGras festivities a few years ago.

Sunset Meadows

I think Ron still had something else to say last night.

Mommahoohoo Ron. Love P & G.

Lace and Sunshine

A little lace

It couldn't be more gorgeous out. It's about 84f, a little humidity, but a lovely breeze that is just heavenly moving the air around.  The barn across the street is looking especially wonderful today, surrounded by queen anne's lace in full bloom. 

The field on the other side of the barn has even more queen anne's lace, blooming as far as the eye can see. So pretty swaying in the breeze.

Other etsians (people with shop on etsy :)love queen anne's lace as much as me, like PineandMain, offering these lovely Steubenville Fruit Bowls.





Copyright PineandMain, 2011

And this dreamy photo by Cottagelightstudio.


Copyright Cottaglightstudio, 2011

 Or these lovely note cards by paperinkandearth.



Copyright paperinkandearth, 2011


Look at this fantastic watch, the creation of purplepetalstudio! LOVE this idea.



Copyright purplepetalstudio, 2011



I love the way the same thing can inspire so many different and varied creations.

Sunshine

There's been a lot of sun lately, and I'm loving it after the long winter and the seriously wet spring that wouldn't give way to summer until July. I am loving every minute of it.  I finished the weeding in the east garden and as promised, here's some pictures of the garden complete with mulch. As I mentioned, will still have some trim and siding to finish on that side, so it doesn't have the best back drop. Luckily, the blooming rose of sharon distracts attention for the unfinished stuff.

Before Weeding and Mulch

After Weeding and Mulch

Better? Right? Well, I mean, other than the dead lawn. Every one's lawns are crunchy here at the moment. The trade off for lots and lots of hot sun.

The piece de resistance though........the rose of sharon. Saucer sized hibiscus. So very pretty indeed.  I took the first one in the evening two nights ago.  The second, just a few moments ago in the glorious sunshine.



Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011



Our plans for the day include laundry (what a perfect day for line drying!), yard work, and perhaps we'll get those office shelves up. If not, 'tomorrow is another day'.

What are you plans? Is it sunny where you are or are you trying to avoid the raindrops?

Have a great Saturday in your corner of the world.