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Memorandum Monday and September’s Five in Five

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There’s a bit to report this Monday. We’ve done quite a bit of work on our house in 2016. All the bathrooms have been refurbished, and all of them received new plumbing. We’ve added a new chair to the living room, a new bed in the guest room, and a new sleeper sofa in the den. The last of the big projects was replacing our front sidewalk. It’s been in the planning stage for several years, actually. At one time, we thought we’d relocate the front walk, but in the end, decided just to replace the cement sidewalk with a brick walk that would match the one on the side of the house which was there when we moved in 31 years ago.

Here’s a look at the sidewalk in mid-September:

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Notice that my beautiful Korean pear tree is already dark brown. Sadly, it’s not from the change in weather, but a fungal disease for which there is no effective treatment.

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About a year ago, Matt and Tracy pulled up the cement sidewalk that led to the kitchen door. At that time, we still planned to move the sidewalk toward the center of the yard. Tracy laid down pavers to get us through until the new sidewalk went in.

Last spring, Matt started his own landscape business, and he’s doing all the work himself. It’s very nice to have him around every day, and I have lots of photos of the process. For today, however, I’ll stick with the photos I took this weekend.

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You’ll notice the Korean Pear tree is now gone. If I were a crier, I would have cried the day it came down. We’re not sure, but we think we’ll replace it with a Kousa Dogwood in the spring. I had no idea what was involved in replacing the walk, but it was much more involved than I imagined. Matt is meticulous so everything was done very carefully.

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This week the lawn has to be regraded, and a new bed will be designed for the glider and the new tree if we choose to replace it. He’s also going to resize the bed around the light pole. One thing I really wanted was to have some of the existing beds cleaned out and replanted with a lot fewer plants. Matt has two of them done, but there are still some hostas that need to be moved from the front of the house behind the holly. I love to look out my studio window (top left) and see the new sidewalk. It’s a bit of a consolation for no longer being able to watch the birds in the pear tree.

On Saturday Matt and Betsy had an out-of-town wedding to attend, so we babysat for Skylar and Ella. Maddy went to her Aunt Pam’s. We had a great time, and I took the opportunity to collect some photos for Sandi’s 5 in 5 monthly meme. Here’s Ella writing and drawing at 23 months old.

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Five photos in five minutes; it’s a fun exercise and you can join in right at Sandi’s blog, itchifingers.

Memorandum Monday

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Waving to Sian and MM fans this beautiful Monday in Chicago. We often make a visit to Sarah and Adam in the fall, but this year we came a month earlier than usual so we would be here for a very special event– Sarah’s installation service as Associate Pastor for the Winnetka Congregational Church. Although she’s worked there for nearly two years, she has been in an “acting associate” role, and it has been mutually agreed that it should be made official, and as the Head Pastor said, “settled.”

I don’t have many photos, although I hope to get some from the church eventually. Two of these were taken by Adam, and none of them show the beautiful stole the church gave her yesterday, hand-embroidered with branches of a tree. The cover of the bulletin for the service was also a tree (a symbol Sarah uses often,) and the choir sang, “The Tree of Life” by John Rutter as one of the anthems.

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I’ve attended many installation services over the years, and must say this was one of the most personal I’ve ever attended, probably because the congregation and staff know her so well. (You can see a bit of the lovely stole in this photo taken during the service.)

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After the ceremony there was a luncheon on the lawn—great sandwiches and delicious chocolate cake.

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At least one person started with dessert!

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It was a day to celebrate—and something new for Memorandum Monday!

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Memorandum Monday

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It’s been a few weeks since I could truly say I’d done something new over the weekend. But this weekend, friends of ours met us in Buffalo, NY to visit and tour the Darwin Martin House, one of Frank Lloyd Wrights early architectural projects. Darwin Martin was an executive in Buffalo at the turn of the century and hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for his family. It’s a beautiful place, with several buildings on over an acre of land. Over time, the foundation has restored much of the home, but the work is still ongoing. Much of the interior of the main house is still under restoration, and next summer they are planning to install all the gardens that were originally part of the plan. Wright was also the landscape architect. 

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This is a view of the main house, part of the pergola which connects the main house to a beautiful conservatory, and the covered porch on the left. The pergola and conservatory were dismantled by subsequent owners in the 1950’s and part of the property was sold off. An apartment building was constructed across the back of the property. In the early 1990’s a corporation was formed to restore the house which had sat empty for many years. Shortly thereafter, the apartment building went up for sale, and was purchased by the foundation. The apartment building was taken down, and the pergola and the conservatory as well as the stables have been reconstructed using Wright’s detailed plans. They have done a remarkable job, as I would have been unaware that they were relatively new constructions.

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Here’s the view of the pergola from the other side. I didn’t get a photo of the conservatory, and no photos inside the complex are allowed.

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A closer view that lets you see the remarkable detail and many angles that reflect Wright’s prairie style. The house and most of the complex were originally built between 1903 and 1905. 

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In addition to the main house, the pergola, the conservatory, and the stables two other buildings are on the property. A much smaller home that was built for Darwin Martin’s sister and her family and the house above, which was the gardener’s cottage, built in 1909. Neither Martin nor his wife came from wealthy families. Martin made his fortune as an executive with the Larkin Company. The Martin’s treated their help more as members of the family than servants. One of the chauffeur’s daughters was married in their home.

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Wright is known for his beautiful windows. These are the windows in the gardener’s cottage. I’ll count these as #12 in Rinda’s Summertime Scavenger Hunt–a window.

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Another view of the windows, and finally, another gorgeous window near the front door of the main house. The windows in each of the buildings are a different design, but consistent throughout that building.

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We had a wonderful docent for our 90 minute tour, and we all agreed we’d like to return in two years to see the completed restoration of the interior as well as the extensive gardens that were part of the original plan. 

After our tour and lunch at a lovely little restaurant nearby, our friends drove on to Michigan to visit their daughter. Tracy and I decided to go to Buffalo’s newly restored Outer Harbor and Canalside.  I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. It’s a lovely parklike area, but there isn’t much to do there unless you’re interested in military history, water parks, or fast food. 

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We did walk along the river and I got a couple photos, and one more photo for the scavenger hunt (alternative #1), a lighthouse. (I expect to find a better example for this one in August when we’re on vacation.)

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Waving to Sian and other friends who are posting for Memorandum Monday!

 

Memorandum Monday

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It was a weekend filled with new activities. Friday evening we attended the opening of the new exhibit at the George Eastman Museum. 

This is the Centennial of the National Parks in the United States, and in recognition, the Eastman staff put together a wonderful display of photographs that span well over 100 years. 

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To set the mood, and as entertainment for the Members Only Reception, a roaming banjo player provided some delightful music.

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Afterwards we wandered through the lovely gardens. You’ll see more from this walk on Wednesday.

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Saturday morning, a friend and I attended the Landmark Society’s House & Garden tour.

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It was the perfect day for it, warm and sunny. Despite the many people on the tour, we didn’t encounter long waits at any of the seven homes nor at the Academy of Medicine—the headquarters for the tour as well as a fascinating stop on the tour. Needless to say, photographs are not allowed inside the homes, but you are allowed to take photos of the gardens.

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I loved this single peony in one of the gardens. All my peonies are the ruffled variety.

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I’m a new member of the Landmark Society. Last fall, I attended the Downtown Tour with my friend who has been an active volunteer for the Landmark Society for years. She was House Captain at the Academy of Medicine on Sunday, and asked if I’d like to be a House Host. The House Hosts provide information to the guests about the room they are visiting, and I lucked out and had the living room of the former Lyon Mansion which now houses the Academy of Medicine. The biggest perk of the afternoon was having Joe Blackburn, the organist at the Eastman Museum playing the grand piano all afternoon.

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The whole experience was just wonderful! Waving to Sian and friends for Memorandum Monday. I’m always happy to have a new experience (or two) on the weekend so I can join in.

 

Memorandum Monday: More Crafting

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Because we were on the road so much in March and April, I didn’t have much crafting time. I’m finally getting around to using some new products which qualifies this post for something new you did over the weekend. I have two friends from church who are both in rehab, one at home now and the other in a rehab facility. I wanted to get cards and notes off to both of them, so pulled out the new “Friendship Jar Flowers” from Papertrey Ink. The older Friendship Jar sets are among my favorites, and I pulled the little Mason jar from the “Summer Fillers” set issued several years ago. The label die is also from PTI, and the sentiment on the first card is from the new stamp set.

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I think this is one of the first times I’ve ever stamped directly onto patterned paper. I’m pretty sure this one is from an old Basic Grey pack, but it had been separated from its pad in my storage box. Except for the label, die cut from vellum and embossed and the three enamel dots, it would be a one-layer card. I tried stamping the centers of the flowers, but they just didn’t pop out as much as I wanted. Another new trick is attaching the vellum piece with a small piece of “Stick It.” Interestingly enough, the trick did not come from the latest Online Card Class on vellum and acetate, but from another card blog. I can’t seem to find the link. If someone knows who it was, please let me know. It’s the best technique ever.

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The inspiration for the second card came from Danielle Flanders, one of my favorite members of the Papertrey Ink Design Team, even though she specializes in heavily layered and more intricate cards than I usually create. She took the Friendship Jar Flowers, and stamped them on the side of the card as you see here.

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I love the new color Papertrey Ink introduced a month ago, called Amethyst Allure. The patterned paper came from an old Doodlbug pad, “Kraft in Color,” although this piece doesn’t feature kraft.

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I die cut two of Simon Says “hello,” dies from last October’s Stamp kit and adhered them over a vellum die cut of the leaves from Friendship Jar Flowers. I thought it needed a few sequins as well.

Waving to Sian, and her friends, at Memorandum Monday! 

Memorandum Monday

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It seems quite unbelievable to me that I have never attended the Lilac Festival parade, but in fact, I have not. Even though we’ve lived near the parade route for over 30 years. On Saturday I joined Matt, Betsy, Skylar, and Ella to watch the parade. It was Skylar’s second year, and she was very anxious for the parade to begin. We had perfect viewing “seats” at the edge of South Avenue, but it was a bit of a wait. Ella started out in the stroller,

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but got restless, so Skylar took her for a walk along the edge of the street while we were waiting for the parade to reach us.

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The parade was worth the wait. There were policemen and women on horses, marching bands, bagpipes, and many groups including veterans and animal rescue groups hoping that someone in the crowd might adopt one of the dogs. I’m missing photos of the animal rescue folks and the veterans. There were lots of folks on this beautiful day along the parade route, but it didn’t seem particularly crowded until the parade was over, and we all headed for the food tents.

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The best of the marching bands!

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The drum lines were excellent.

Skylar and I have been talking about making a fairy garden for several months. Saturday we had planned to go to The Artful Fairy in Victor after the parade. When I called to find out if Saturday afternoon would be a good time, I discovered that they had a booth at the lilac festival so we were able to make our fairy garden right there at the park. It was lots of fun and easy to do. She’s very pleased, and the owner told her it was one of the nicest she’d seen and took a photo of it for the business!

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The plants are real and we purchased the fairy, her bench and the bridge. The rest of the decorations were free—blue stones, shells, pebbles, and sphagnum moss. We also purchased a vial of “fairy dust” (aka silver glitter which really finished it off.) I’m surprised the glitter doesn’t show in the photo—the bridge is covered with it in real life!

Waving to Sian and others posting about new ventures over the weekend.

 

Memorandum Monday

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It’s a crafty Memorandum Monday! Having been away so much, I needed to make a lot of cards for a busy month of May. In addition, I had a couple new stamp sets I hadn’t played with yet, so I spent most of yesterday making cards. So far I have eight made, and still need 5 more before the beginning of June. That doesn’t include any unexpected events, or the thank you notes I know I’ll need in the middle of the month.

I also have a new storage container for my embossing powders. I’ve seen it several times on different card-making videos, but hesitated to invest in it. I finally broke down last week, and it was definitely worth the investment. It holds all my most used embossing powders, and is so much easier to apply to the cards.

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It’s the shaker top that makes it so efficient. This is meant for spice storage, but works great for embossing powders.

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I have two cards to share today. Both of them will be hand-delivered tomorrow when I get together with the recipients. The first is for a friend who recently had a stroke. She’s in rehab now, and doing really well. I used Alt&New’s “Magnolias for Her” stamp, inspired by this video I watched Saturday night. I’ve had this set for awhile, but haven’t had much success with it until yesterday. Later, you’ll see two more cards made with the same set. I’m linking this card up to a challenge at The Card Concept, choosing Clean and Layered for the style.

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The flower and leaves were embossed in gold and then watercolored with Daniel Smith watercolors, and hand cut. The tag was cut with the “Stitched Dress-up Tags” by Simon Says. It’s a new die that’s never been used, even though it was a Christmas gift!

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The second card is for a mutual friend of my friend in rehab. We’ll be going to visit Peg tomorrow, and it’s Jean’s birthday on Wednesday. I have a cake to take along to celebrate. I purchased “Tulip Time” from Papertrey Ink two months ago, but this was my first opportunity to pull it out. I was pretty sure I’d like it, and I do!

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The stamped piece is layered onto Raspberry Fizz cardstock cut with Simon Says “Stitched Rectangles.” It makes a perfect frame.

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I’m linking up with Sian and waving to all the other Memorandum Monday folks who found something new to do this weekend! I’m also linking up with The Card Concept challenge of “Spring Flowers.”

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I have finally figured out how to upload images with a full-size pop-up window, so if you’d like a closer look, it’s now possible.

 

 

 

Memorandum Monday

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I’m a day late with this post, but we just got home tonight from a six day trip to New Orleans for a family wedding. Thirteen of us shared a house on the water out near Lake Ponchartrain, and I knew I wouldn’t have any computer time, so I didn’t take my laptop. I did, however, have one very new experience and learned quite a few new things, one of which I’ll share tonight.

Friday night, the groom’s family hosted an amazing party at their home with a crawfish boil. I had to get a lesson in eating crawfish from one of Randy’s friends but it was easy after that and delicious! They boiled 110 pounds of crawfish, and then quite a few pounds of blue crabs which were much harder to peel and eat.  Included in the crawfish boil were spicy sausages, corn on the cob, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and even some brussel sprouts. It was quite the feast.

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My grand-niece, Bella, is an old pro at this. Living in Lousiana has its perks!

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Saturday morning five of us took a walking tour of the Garden District.

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We had a fabulous tour guide, and I learned all kinds of things. One of the most interesting was the difference between Creole and Cajun. Both terms are used frequently in New Orleans. Creole is anyone who was native born to New Orleans but nationality is not important. Their ancestry might be French or Spanish, or someone who descended from African/Caribbean heritage. Cajun describes people who immigrated from Acadia after the British took over the area in Canada and demanded that the Acadians adopt the king’s Protestant religion. The British forced them to leave and many were shipped south to the Louisiana territories.

When it comes to food, Creole cuisine is considered “city” food, and Cajun “country food.” While many of the ingredients are similar, if the dish has tomatoes in it, it’s Creole. I had both Cajun and Creole gumbo and both were excellent. One had alligator sausage as well, and it was my favorite.

It was a fabulous trip and a beautiful wedding. I’ll have lots more to share once I get the photos organized and edited.

Memorandum Monday

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One Monday seems to follow another in quick succession, but I’m back again to wave to Sian and friends for Memorandum Monday: a chance to share something new you did or learned over the weekend. I have both to share today.

First, what I learned. I’ve taken on the challenge of reading the Bible cover to cover this year. I picked up a copy of the NRSV Daily Bible at the Presbyterian General Assembly a couple of years ago, and decided this was the year to tackle it. I’m enjoying it, but am now about to start reading some commentaries alongside it to learn a bit more about the historical context, and interpretation of the Old Testament.

Lucky for me, our church hosts a Sunday Seminar each week, and a three-part series on the wisdom books of the Old Testament is being taught by a dynamic professor of religion at the University of Rochester, Ann Meredith. Last week she talked about Proverbs, this week about Job, and next week we’ll be talking about Ecclesiastes. First off, I had no idea Job was considered one of the wisdom texts. Job, of course, presents the problem of human suffering, particularly the suffering of innocents. It wasn’t what I expected to be a wisdom text. The other big piece for me was the division of the book into two parts, a prose narrative and a poetic dialogue. I knew from lectionary readings the narrative story, but I had never read the dialogues. I skipped ahead in my reading this week to read Job before yesterday’s session, and was glad I had. That, of course, is just a bit of what I learned. We have an eight page handout that summarizes the presentation. This week I’ll be reading as much of Ecclesiastes as I can in preparation for next Sunday’s seminar.

And now, a trip to a new venue. Saturday night we went with our friends, Karen and Mike, to a brewery on Seneca Lake. It was a gorgeous afternoon/evening, warm enough that many people were gathered outside on the patio when we arrived. Quite the contrast from a week ago when the weekend temperatures never got about 0°.

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We weren’t so hardy, but I did go out to get some photos before we ordered our dinner.

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The view from our table was of the setting sun over Seneca Lake, and to the east a full moon rising above the bare trees. The flights of beer in the photos above were for the guys! We decided to share three sandwiches:  meatball, Italian sausage, and steak and cheese. They were all great, but we agreed the meatball sandwich was the best.

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A band played from 6-9. They were reasonably good, and pretty entertaining, as were all the dancers. All in all, quite a fun night. With the hour and a half drive both ways, we got a chance to catch up with one another, which was a good thing. We were sitting so close to the band that talking while they played was nearly impossible. We don’t often make the trip to the Finger Lakes in February, but it turned out to be a great way to spend the evening.

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I’m off this morning for my annual check with the dermatologist, getting my car inspected, and then to lunch with a friend. Our contractor says he’s got three more days of work left in the smallest bathroom which had to be totally gutted. I’m guessing the painter won’t be back until the plumber’s done, and then he probably has several days of work as he’s painting the upstairs hall as well as that last bathroom. I’m trying to figure out what to do with the powder room walls now that we no longer have wallpaper. They’re looking rather bare. Hope you have a good week!

 

 

 

 

 

Memorandum Monday: The Valentine Edition

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I’m back again this week, joining and waving to Sian and friends who post something new they did or used for the first time over the weekend ( or in my case during the week.) I saw some Valentine products I couldn’t resist this year. Now that I have grandchildren who I can create for, this holiday is ramping up for me. 

First off, my favorite and an almost total case of a project Danielle Flanders did for the release of this stamp and die set: “Petite Places: Home & Garden.” I’ve resisted this whole line of product from Papertrey Ink, but Danielle got me on this one. I knew Skylar would love it, and I made a second one for a crafty friend who loves this kind of thing. She makes wonderful creations from paper, but she’s not a stamper, so I knew she wouldn’t have seen it. Got to say, both loved it, and for a first try, I was pretty pleased with how it came out. By using different colors, you can change out the look of the project so it would be great for other occasions.

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The clear dome makes photos pretty tricky, but in this one you can see the cute little swing hanging from the tree. There are also lots of other little additions I didn’t add this time. I added a strip of adhesive cork paper to made the walkway, and combined some green Flower Soft and glitter to made the “grass.” I threw in a few flower sequins as well.

The card for Skylar and Ella used Simon Says “Baby Party Animals” which I’ve used before, but the sentiment is from “Paper Hugs,” included in last year’s February card kit which I had never used.

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With all the stamping, sequins, and die cut foil hearts, this is definitely a busier card than I usually come up with.

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I ordered a die and some clear totes from Reverse Confetti to made Caleb’s valentine gift. This combo is sure to get lots of use; it’s perfect for hostess gifts, small birthday gifts . . . I can think of almost endless possibilities. The patterned papers are “Pure Poppy + White,” from Papertrey Ink, and the heart border die is also an older Papertrey die.

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Here’s the tote with the card, which also uses new stamps and dies from Papertrey’s “Valentine Pin-up” kit. I have plenty of material in that kit to create for grandchildren for several years to come. The little fox was one of my favorites.

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I used a Simon Says heart die to make the balloons, and used another new die, “Balloon Strings” from Papertrey. It’s been on backorder for awhile, and just came in the last order.

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We have a wonderful homemade candy shop nearby, and that’s where the Valentine candy corn and the chocolates in Caleb’s valentine came from. I was thrilled to find little chocolate cars wrapped much like the Matchbox cars Caleb loves.

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And here’s what the tote looks like from the side.

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We had quite a lovely Valentine’s Day. It started with some car trouble due to the extreme cold, so we ended up coming in at the end of the first hymn for church. It was worth the effort to get there, though, since we had an excellent guest preacher and some beautiful solos by the bass section leader in our choir. From there I went to Sunday Seminar presented by Ann Meredith, a professor of religion at the University of Rochester. One of my friends was amazed that I had never attended one of her presentations, and said I would love it. Indeed, I did, and luckily it was the first of a three part series. It’s days like this when I realize what wonderful resources we have in Rochester.

We played duplicate bridge in the afternoon. The last couple of times we’ve played we haven’t done very well, but yesterday was much better. There are several couples in the group who play bridge regularly, and two who play competitively. We play only in this group, and do not study or practice, so it’s quite a miracle that we can keep up with them. We rarely come in first (and we didn’t yesterday) but we seem to hold our own, and have been playing with one of the couples for 42 years. The group started the year we were married. We came home for an hour, and then met friends for dinner. Quite an usual (and different-“new”) Valentine’s Day for us. I hope your weekend treated you well.

Memorandum Monday

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It’s Monday already, and I’m joining in with Sian (and waving to her and everyone there) with Memorandum Monday. Sian’s started a new Monday meme that asks that we “tell us something [we] did over the weekend FOR THE FIRST TIME.” I don’t have much in the way of photos because photos weren’t appropriate in either setting.

As part of the exploration of my One Little Word, MINDFUL, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and thinking about mindfulness and meditation. Specifically, both of those in relationship to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Two weeks ago, I attended an evening workshop at the Assisi Institute on Mindfulness and Meditation, but the practices there didn’t seem to be a perfect fit. This week I was talking to a friend from church about other matters. I knew she had a long history in practicing meditation, and she offered to take me to the Newcomer’s Orientation and Sangha at the Zen Center. (Although they meet at the Zen Center, this group does not practice Zen meditation which I am learning is quite different. They follow the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.) After a warm and welcoming introduction to the practice, the Sangha began. There is a 20 minute guided meditation followed by a 10 minute walking meditation, another 20 minute meditation session in quiet, and ending with another 10 minute walking meditation. For someone who has barely practiced at all, I thought I’d be in over my head, but not so. It was peaceful, relaxing, and I was pleased that I could keep myself centered on the breath for far longer than I anticipated. They only meet once a week, and it will be a couple of weeks before my schedule allows me to return, but I’m quite sure I will. The most important thing, however, is I now know a daily practice at home should be easier to establish than I imagined.

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I’ve been wanting to attend the Compline Service on Sunday evening for a long time. There is a concert preceding it on the first Sunday of every month, and instead of watching the Super Bowl, my friend and I went to Christ Church. The organ recital was lovely, but the compline service sung by a group of highly talented voices was simply divine. No other word for it. Everything is performed in total darkness except for the alter which is bathed in candlelight. It was beautiful, moving, and totally refreshing. What a wonderful way to end a weekend! 

We’re in the midst of having all the galvanized pipes replaced to our bathrooms. Our house was built in 1930, and the water pressure upstairs is poor to horrible. The contractor has finished the new plumbing in our powder room off the kitchen, and the new fixtures are in place. The old ceramic tile floor in my bathroom is gone (YAH!), and the plumbing there is complete. This week the new floor and fixtures should go in there, and then we’ll be down to the last and, and very difficult, job of replacing the pipes to the small bathroom in the back of the house. That bathroom will need to be completely gutted, and the pipes go up the wall of the living room. (And that’s another first for this week. We’ve lived here for 30 years, and I’ve never had to take a shower in that tiny shower before. Must admit, I’ll be glad to be back in mine in a week or so.) 

Happy Monday to everyone! I hope it’s a great week!

Memorandum Monday

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A good part of our weekend was spent unpacking, getting groceries, and organizing. We did take time to go see a movie that’s received multiple Oscar nominations, The Big Short. It was both a fascinating and infuriating movie about the financial collapse in the mid-2000’s. One of the most interesting things the director did was to have several of the actors speak directly to the audience. It was effective and instructive, especially for someone like me, who didn’t understand the financial trickery that was really going on!

I needed a few more thank you cards, so here’s the “new” for the weekend. When I was at Whim-so-Doodle in St. Petersburg, I picked up a new die by Technique Tuesday. I’m guessing it will get a lot of use, since I make multiple thank-you cards every year. There were also two small open leaf dies that came with it, which I didn’t use this time. After taking the photos this morning, I realized I need to up the aperture on the camera.

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The cardstock is Papertrey Ink’s Tropical Teal and the patterned papers are from a 6X6 pack by Amy Tangerine called “Rise and  Shine.” I have a collection of these little clothespins, but have long ago lost the tag that tells me who made them. The little enamel heart is from another new goodie by Shimelle.

Here are two more thank you cards that I made yesterday afternoon as well.

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I love the Block Talk Thanks die by PTI, and found this pretty patterned paper in my scrap tin—have no idea where it came from!

Since I had the Block Talk die out, I thought I’d try a variation of a card I pinned some time ago by Sheri Carroll.

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I love the bright colors against the black background, a very different look from the inspiration piece.

Waving to everyone on this cold, windy, wintery day in western New York! Hope your week is a good one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memorandum Monday

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I’m joining in with Sian’s Memorandum Monday which encourages you to share something you learned or someplace new you visited over the weekend. I managed both—a new place and lots of new information. Over the weekend we were on the road from Rochester to Fort Myers Beach. To break up the long days of driving, we try to make a stop along the way. Last March someone recommended the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina. The weather was so bad that trip that we didn’t get to Raleigh in time to visit the museum. This trip the roads were great–no weather to contend with at all, and I’m now glad we missed the museum last year since the special exhibit on now is one of M.C. Escher’s work.

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What I knew of M.C. Escher’s work were his fantastic woodcuts of patterns and designs where one image merges into another, or his explorations of space. I didn’t know he had also created wonderful drawings and woodcuts of landscapes, particularly of Italy. The exhibition hung his working drawings, the actual wood blocks, and then the final woodcuts side by side. It was a fabulous exhibit; the largest exhibit of his work ever mounted. Some of his works involving geometry were really beyond my ability to comprehend, although I stood in front of some of them trying hard. I should have known better, since geometry was possibly the most difficult course I ever took! (My mother was the teacher which made it even worse. I just didn’t get it.)

Clearly, I needed some help with this:

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 Here is another photo (photos in the exhibit were, not surprisingly prohibited) of the striking graphics designed for the exhibit.

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And a fun selfie we took on our way to the cafe for lunch.

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We’ll definitely come back again since we didn’t have time to see the permanent collection which is housed in a beautiful modern building.