Soaking up the sun

Robert and I had a relaxing Thanksgiving yesterday - probably the most relaxing one we've had yet. We talked to family, spent a little time hiking and a lot of time bathing the dogs, and ended the day with cabbage, stuffing, and a smoked turkey we secured through our milk delivery service.  It was nice to have a whole day off with the lover and spend some time in the woods.

snow & trees & spiders

We had our first snow a week ago! The dogs loved it even though it was the sloppy kind of snow that's tough to play in. This week our weather is going to be about as perfect as weather can get. I plan on hanging out at the backboards with my furry homies every chance I get. 

Upon close inspection, this beautiful plant was completely covered in spiders.

We're back to taking walks in different neighborhoods and parks. We saw these abandoned tennis courts (six total) in a fairly nice neighborhood. I have no idea what the story is but half of one court disappeared into the creek. The creek probably flooded at some point and just gobbled up the court.

One of my poems, Undressing the Trees, was published in the latest I-70 Review (one of my favorite journals). The artwork in this issue is particularly intriguing and vivid.

Favorite October Reads

My favorite October books are all about family, tenacity, and gratitude.

Thank You, Miyuki written by Roxane Marie Galliez and illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh (Picture Book)

 

A wonderful way to describe meditation for both children and adults. The illustrations are stunning. As Grandpa and Miyuki meditate, they blend in with their surroundings. I can only hope this is what my spirit looks like when I meditate.

The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Teen Fiction)

I was on the edge of my seat for most of The Scourge. It's filled with plenty of plot twists and spunky characters as they battle evil wardens, hunger, injustices, and the scourge all while being trapped on an island for scourge patients. It's a must-read for anyone who likes dystopian reads filled with heart-pounding adventure. I particularly enjoyed Ani and Weevil's relationship and their commitment to each other. Though I didn't initially like Ani, there is a tremendous amount of character growth throughout the story. Because Weevil liked her I knew I just needed time to get to know her. I started this book as an audiobook but quickly switched to an ebook because I did not care for the narrator.

The Vanderbeekers series by Karina Yan Glaser (Juvenile Fiction)

I devoured the first four books in this series with little regard to anything else going on in my life. Any spare minute I had, I raced to my front porch and plunked myself down in my rocking chair to read another page or five pages or one hundred. I couldn't read the books fast enough but at the same time I never wanted them to end. 

The Vanderbeeker family is so much more than five kids, their pets, and their mom and dad. They are a family that sticks together, a family that embraces new members with every book (book four actually includes a map of the evolved family and those they love). The Vanderbeekers tackle heavy topics like grief, death, and homelessness in addition to the everyday ups and downs of growing up (at the beginning of the series the kids ages ranged from 4 to 12). The characters all have well-thought-out and consistent personalities that evolve during the first four books - silly and gregarious Laney, empathetic and shy Hyacinth, protective and lovable Oliver, brainy and impulsive Jessie, and artistic and wise Isa. And these are just the kids! Even the grown-ups and pets have their own distinct personalities. 

Because the kids spend so much time not only hanging out with each other, but also just enjoying each other's company while doing their own thing, the emphasis is mostly on family relationships. Any outside person that the family takes a liking to simply becomes part of the family. This is a series to be read in order because each book grows from the last book. I am in my thirties and can still feel the loneliness I felt as a child, as someone who didn't feel comfortable in their family and who did not have strong friendships or relationships. The Vanderbeeker series made me feel like I was a part of their family for the week or two I spent reading the books. More importantly, I think the strength of the Vanderbeeker family's bond with each other has the ability to give its readers the courage and drive to make connections with others. I think of Hyacinth in the fourth book, when she was dropped off early at school a couple times, how she couldn't bring herself to talk with the other kids waiting for school to begin, and I just know a kid is going to read that and get the confidence to make the leap to start a conversation. I have only praise for this series, but books two and four were my favorites. Karina Yan Glaser recently mentioned on her instagram that there will be a total of seven books in the series!! 

Autumn

We're sopping up every last bit of autumn - taking long walks, doing some front-porch sitting, and lots of my favorite kind of interval training, which involves playing tennis on the backboard for a little while, then pausing for a bit of reading. Repeat until it grows dark.

Here is Josie's approach to zen:

For awhile Josie just sat in the water. Who knows how long she would have kept doing this if we hadn't grown tired and urged her to hop out?

Both dogs enjoy going to the backboards with me, but it's one of Margo's life joys. When we get close to the park she starts to "dance," racing from one side of the car to the other. While I play on the backboard she sits quietly, taking everything in. When I pause to read she army crawls her way over to me for snuggles. It's definitely our zen.

Margo is still in the lead for Best Face. There is no language barrier. We always know what she's thinking.

Tomorrow we're expecting our first snow of the season. Time for winter boots and crunching through the white and that exquisite silence of being inside a snow globe. 

exciting updates

Robert converted my grandpa's desk into an adjustable desk! I now spend most of my days standing, which my back appreciates. I'm also antsy in general so it allows me to bebop around while working and as an added bonus, it's much easier to get closer to projects and art with my face if I'm doing detail work. I have been talking nonstop about it with everyone and can't believe I didn't think of doing it sooner.

We've started cavorting through the woods again. There are still lots of people out but we were able to social distance just fine. Josie was super clingy and I spent a lot of time tripping over her. She hadn't been to the woods in so long I think she was completely overwhelmed.

I've been doing a weekly online storytime, which has been an interesting and unique experience. I haven't blogged about it because I have no idea what the patrons think! Doing a storytime with no feedback from patrons is about as bizarre as programming gets. Josie has been joining me for all the storytimes and has been such a well-behaved and comforting presence for me. I've also started playing the ukulele even though I'm still learning and very much a beginner.

Robert snapped this shot of us waiting for storytime to begin. Josie is always camera ready!

early morning surprise

Robert and I have seen and heard some bizarre things on walks recently, but this takes the cake. 

The squirrel appeared to be alive during the whole process, and the fox didn't care that we were nearby.

 

one of the few acceptable kinds of creeping

Picture book happiness: 

From After Squidnight

Favorite September Reads

I read a fair amount of good books in September. It was a good month for finding books I will recommend to patrons, but not necessarily books I personally love.

I did love these three books though!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! by Ree Drummond (Adult Nonfiction)

 

 

Easy-to-make comfort food with delightful pictures and stories to accompany the recipes. Her recipes were little a-ha moments for me. They weren't too crazy, but they offered different ways of making the foods my family already enjoys. The best example of this is making hash browns in a waffle iron. They're not the best hash browns my family has ever had, but they are so much fun to make and allow us to use the oven and stove for other things we like to make for a big weekend breakfast.

 

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha (Teen Graphic Memoir)

 

 

Robin's surprise move from South Korea to Alabama is jolting, frustrating, and completely life-changing. I cannot imagine how awful it must feel to be completely uprooted from your home and moved to a new country where you don't speak the language and are thrown in with a new family that doesn't embrace you. Robin does a beautiful job illustrating and writing about this journey. Each illustration of her face bursting into tears is so beautifully portrayed, it feels like you're being repeatedly punched in the gut. I was ready to kick some stepsister butt several times and was outraged by how her classmates treated her. Despite the awful surprise move and the bullies, Robin flourishes and finds friends she clicks with. I love how text-heavy Almost American Girl is. I also appreciate the piece about her mom that's tucked into the acknowledgements. I only wish I had thought to check for a glossary! I was so engrossed in the story I didn't flip to the back until the very end. Because I enjoyed this book so much I read every single word in it, including the copyright page. That is where I discovered that the really cool chapter openers came from comics Robin created as a teen. Amazing!

 

Saving Jemima by Julie Zickefoose (Adult Nonfiction)

Zickefoose's journey of raising a sickly baby blue jay and slowly reintegrating it back into the wild will warm a lot of hearts. I enjoyed the variety of pictures, artwork, and adorable stories of Jemima bonding with the family, especially Zickefoose's two teens and their dog, Chet. This was my first book by the author, but it's definitely not my last!

buttons, beetles, and rust-colored fabric

I am officially between art projects at the moment. But it definitely feels like the universe is urging me to get a move on with the next pieces.

A friend dropped these off at the library for me the other day:

Buttons! I really need to develop an art piece using buttons.

An artist I admire greatly also recently got rid of some of her fabric and thread, including some fabric she dyed using rusty metal.

I just wrapped up two collages and two embroidery pieces so I've been in that weird in-between projects phase. I usually don't wrap up things all at once. I've started cutting papers for an abstract landscape based on three quilting patterns, and I'll begin painting papers for another collage project that's so new I don't know how to describe it yet. As for embroidery, one new piece is a flop and has gone into the timeout pile. It features three different beetles, each with its own pattern, and it needs something else, another layer. Another embroidery piece is emerging into something a little different than I thought it would be, but I'm tentatively loving it. 

I'm trying to give myself a little room to play when making things so I've allowed myself to wander off the path with the current embroidery piece I'm working on. I'm definitely trying to be a little more spontaneous overall, and it's so difficult. If I see something in my office that strikes me, I add it to a pile I started, no matter what it is - paper, beads, thread etc. The pile currently makes no sense, but it's a step in the right direction.

Here are a few tubs of my tea papers. Organizing them by color is a great way for me to brainstorm and let my mind wander. The collage in the picture is one I made for my home (it has also been finished since I took this picture). It's a beautiful piece but doesn't photograph well, which is why I haven't shared it. I used a lanyard hole puncher to cut out hundreds of paper pieces for the quote and black paper of different weights and textures for the background. I'm done with lettering and hole punchers for awhile, that's for sure!

I'm also still checking out a lot books! Thanks goodness for the library! I get a lot of inspiration from both words and illustrations. This was my haul from the library last Saturday when I worked in the branch. I'm still working mostly from home so my weekly library hauls are roughly three bags of goodies, including storytime books. I've been doing a weekly virtual storytime since early September. That's a different story, and one I'm not sure about yet.

I'm open to any ideas if you've got them! Especially if anyone knows what to pair with lonely beetles.

Tea Quails

I don't really have progress pictures of this collage because it was a two steps forward and one step backward journey for several months. At one point I ended up scraping off the entire background and starting over. I actually had to scrape it in sections because I knew if I did it all in one go I would be totally devastated. So I scraped a little, sanded it down, and added in the new background one small section at a time.

I just couldn't walk away from this piece though. I spent so much time bringing the quail to life, giving them personalities, and getting to know them. Each foot is comprised of hours of fiddling. I cut so many feet I started keeping them in a basket. Whenever I felt up to it I would try out new feet on the quail. Apparently one wrong foot can throw off the whole personality of a quail.

Here is a snapshot of what the disaster phase looked like:

This is also my first piece that is made only with recycled tea bags, tags, and boxes. 100% tea packaging materials!

Prior to the pandemic, a local tea shop saved me all their packaging. They did this really cool thing where you could buy single bags to try. So they went through a lot of boxes. I hope they are fairing ok during this bizarre time. I need to pop back in during a slow time and stock up on some hard-to-find teas I love like anything Taylors and PG Tips.

Here is a list of all the teas I used:

Ajiri black tea with ginger 
Ajiri black tea with lemon myrtle (my favorite black tea)
Harney and sons decaf ceylon
Harney and sons Egyptian chamomile
Harney and sons green with citrus ginkgo
Harney and sons raspberry
Pukka after dinner
Pukka lemon ginger and Manuka honey
Stash chai green
Stash orange spice
Taylor’s assam
Taylor’s mango and cardamom
Taylor’s sour cherry
Tazo decaf chai
Tazo lotus
Twinnings earl grey
Yogi muscle recovery (Yogi boxes are the prettiest. This was one of my favorite teas but has been discontinued.)