celebrating friends

I was recently in NH for a week, and was lucky enough to be taken in by two good friends. Their rambling house is home to many, for a night or a week or as long as needed. It also houses two studios - the glass studio of Hans Schepker, where anything that could possibly be folded from paper is made of glass...sometimes I feel my brain begin to hurt when I try to figure some of these things out...but it's a good hurt. His studio is unbelievable. Check him out at

http://glassgeometry.com/



This gorgeous lantern was a birthday gift...oh lucky, lucky me! Isn't it incredible?

And then there's Marcy Schepker, of Pear Tree Studio, in the same house. Among her many talents with fiber, including residencies in schools and shelters, are the animals she up-cycles from wool sweaters. I try not to come home with any more of them, but I love them so much and always need a few...

You can see why, can't you? Look for Marcy at

http://marcyschepker.com/

I am so grateful to Hans and Marcy for all their nourishment of my body and soul!!

happy feet

Hello there -
I just wanted to post something on a sunny day, and here it is! Downpour with thunderstorms last night, probably more later today, but at this moment it is sunny!! 80 degrees, 80% humidity and a blue sky. Gosh, that color is so amazing!! So BLUE! But this is what I really wanted to share with you...I've been gardening in rainboots with many holes, thinking that the wet weather was temporary, but...on the last downpour day I went looking locally for new rain boots. Oh yes, sold out everywhere. My second choice, after trying locally, is always Zappos.com. And look what they sent me!! Free shipping, on my doorstep within two days, and who wouldn't be cheered up by these on a rainy day? Plus, (and a BIG plus in my opinion), they are made in Canada.

Well, thanks for sharing my footbliss with me!

home is where the heart is

I've been stepping over this heart on the front doorstep for a few rainy weeks now. Isn't this a nice welcome home?

Here's the mama pig you saw in process on my messy project-covered kitchen table a while back. She has two piglets, but they're a little shy in this photo. They've gone to live at Chickadee Tree with Miss M. She sent me a nice picture of them, but how to get it from e-mail to blog...?

And here's a belated birthday present I made for a very special friend who recently turned 6 years old. Her eyes are so blue and full of sparkle.

and yes, just in case you were wondering, it is raining right now.

"work"

I just want to show you how lucky I am to say "bye, I'm going to work..." then drive for 5 minutes max and end up here...

The gardens are the labor and love of Sharon Turner, Master Gardener and wonderful woman. You can meet her at the Washington Farmer's Market on Saturdays 10 -2.

I love my "job"!

pluviometer

Sometimes a word comes along and it's love at first...uh...sound? A word that just feels good in your mouth when you say it. Well, "pluviometer" did it for me. Actually, it was something I'd been wishing for, but I thought I was just wishing for a rain gauge. Turns out it has a great name. Of course, I was wishing for one not made of plastic, because if we ever have hot sun again, the plastic won't last long. So my sweetheart gave me one, very pretty and made of glass and brass. The wrapping was lovely - check it out:

Notice the sailors hanging their legs over the side of the box? And pointing to the hunk? So, anyway, there on the box it said "A Portable Pluviometer." I went to the dictionary, and there was "pluvial", the perfect word for the weather we've been having for the past...hmmm, how long has it been raining, anyway? A month or so? I'm not complaining, mind you, but a lot of people are. I am one for cozy weather, though I do love a little sun now and then. And here's the definition of "pluvial" - "a: of or relating to rain, b: characterized by abundant rain," or as a noun, "a prolonged period of wet climate." That would be us.

Late last night we had a powerful thunderstorm which was close by and a bit scary, and it brought another 2 - 2 1/2 inches of rain. (I can't tell you exactly how much rain, because the pluviometer was still on the kitchen table, nice and dry. Instead I measured the old-fashioned way - put my hand in a tub of rainwater to see how high up my hand the water came.) And the weather forecast for today was: "fog and drizzle will give way to a chance of showers and thunderstorms." For some reason that cracked us up.

I went off to my gardening job as usual, in rainpants...rubber boots...and slogged in the mud for the day. And then...the sun came out!!!!! Around 4 pm it got bright and warm and the next thing I knew I was in shorts and bare feet and feeling fine. Bluebirds swooping nearby, and butterflies. The bees came back to the roses. The sky had some blue - oh, how beautiful!