MIA

Holy smokes it"s been awhile!   Summer is so fun but so so busy.  I think from now on I'm just going to sign off for the summer.  I'm not even sure where to start with this post, so here are just a few things so I can get this out of the way. 
My little munchkins (the reason why my summer was so busy) started school a few weeks ago,  Fischer, 3rd grade,

 and Amelia, kindergarten.   Wow!  Can it really be?  Where does the time go?  A blink of an eye and summer is over:(

Amelia goes to school 4 days a week, so I have 4 days ALL to myself.  I'm so excited to see what I can do with it. (like clean the attic and basement, oh yeah and make art!)

This past weekend I was in the Driftless Area Art Festival in Soldiers Grove WI.  Saturday was a perfect day, while Sunday started with rain and not a lot of sales but the music was wonderful and made the day magical in its own way.  Here are a few pictures of my booth.

Unfortunately I haven't picked up a pencil or paintbrush in almost a month.  It always seems there are so many other things to do, so yesterday afternoon I made myself sit down and draw and paint.  Whew, that felt good.  I'm so glad I did that.  Now that I have 4 days a week to myself I need to schedule in time just for this.  It's so easy to get lost in chores and errands.  

Now that I got this first post out of the way the rest will come easier, same goes with painting.  I'll be back soon, I promise.

Doing the turkey tiptoe!

Amelia has been listening to her Dan Zanes and Friends:  House Party  CD  a lot lately, like 2-3 times a day, lucky for me it's a really great children's CD.  One of our favorite songs on there is "Tennessee Wig Walk" which is a remake of Bonnie Lou's 1953 version.  If you've never heard this song you can listen to a snippet here.  It is a very cheery and fun song.  Amelia will stop what she's doing when this song comes on just so she can dance!  This afternoon I was busy drawing turkeys while we had this CD on  and I was wondering how I should draw the turkeys.  I thought it might look kind of funny if they looked like they were tiptoeing away so they wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving.  After I finished the drawing I  kept looking at it and it didn't quite look like they were tiptoeing and as I kept looking, "Tennessee Wig Walk"  was playing in my head( as it has been for the past few weeks),

I'm a bow-legged chicken, I'm a knock-kneed hen
Never been so happy since I don't know when
I walk with a wiggle and a giggle and a squawk
Doin' the Tennessee Wig-walk.
To a tune on a fiddle on a hardwood floor
Tho' I'm broke and I'm weary and my back is sore
I walk with a wiggle and a giggle and a squawk
Doin' the Tennessee Wigwalk.
Put your toes together, your knees apart
Bend your back, get ready to start
Flap your elbows, just for luck

Then you wiggle and you waddle like a baby duck.  

Dance with me honey, tap your toes and glide
And we'll always be together side by side
Walk with a wiggle and a giggle and a squawk
Doin' the Tennessee Wigwalk.
Repeat all above.
Walk with a wiggle, wiggle with a walk
And you're doin' the Tennessee Wigwalk
Doin' the Tennessee Wigwalk [fade]
Doin' the Tennesse Wigwalk

I then realized that my turkeys looked more like they were dancing, like they were "doin' the turkey tiptoe" (of course sung to "Tennessee Wigwalk")!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

(don't forget to walk with a wiggle and a giggle and a squawk)

Looking around

 Outside:

Inside:

ps.  Amelia finally got to enjoy a birthday cupcake two days after her birthday.

 

Dancing in the Rain!

underwater

Our Smiling Family

 drawing by amelia

The prompt for today was a picture of me smiling!  What do you think?  I love it!

What's that noise?

 

I have to admit, this isn't one of my prettiest paintings!  I've come to love these noisy little guys that emerge from the ground to fill my late summer days with all sorts of buzzing sounds.  As long as I can remember, I've always associated summer in Wisconsin with the buzz of the cicadas.  When I was a kid, I found the noise to be a little irritating, but now I've come to really appreciate it and look forward to it every year.  I always thought the cicadas made noise all through the summer, but upon moving back to Wisconsin a few years back, I realized that they don't start to emerge until late summer.   I think the cicadas that I'm used to are the annual or dog day cicadas, given this name because they emerge in late July and August.  Did you know that the cicada is the noisiest insect in the world and only the male makes the sounds?  I really look forward to hearing my first cicada in the summer.  This year Amelia and I heard it at the same time, it was the last week of July, and Amelia looks up at me very excitedly and says "cada mama, cada mama".  I love that she was so excited about it and that she actually remembered it from last year!  Along with crickets, cicadas are one of my favorite sounds of summer. 

A refreshing inspiration

Oh my gosh is it HOT here!  Today we are supposed to top out at 100 degrees.  Not your normal June temperatures.  We skipped spring here and went straight to the summer heat.  My poor garden is just shriveling up.  I've been drinking lots of iced tea and iced water with lemon and mint, but I'm starting to feel like I just need to go spray my self down with the garden hose!



The other day when the temperatures were more normal, like 80 degrees, I went to lay Amelia down for her nap.  While lying there with her, I was in that in between state that comes between sleep and being  awake,  and I had an image of doing a painting of a refreshing summer drink with some lemon and mint in it.  As soon as I got up from laying Amelia down, I went to the computer and looked at some blogs quick and saw on Design * Sponge, here, the exact image that was in my mind, even the same glass that we have.  I took it as a sign that I should do this painting.
So I picked some mint from my garden and happened to have a lemon and made a nice iced water with mint and lemon.  I then sipped my inspiration and got started right away on my painting.  Here's the results:



I hope everyone who is experiencing this heat wave is finding ways to keep cool.

Down a stream

This past week we had our last day of our Parent-Child class for Amelia at our Waldorf school.  It's been once a week since last fall and Amelia has loved it.  She calls it "my little school."   The  teacher, Miss Julie has a spring fed creek on her land and thought it would be fun to have the class at her house and build little duck boats that we could float down her creek.



Fortunately the weather cooperated, the previous day had been nothing but rain.  The temperature was a little chilly, but the sun was shining!  Amelia was so proud of her little duck and all the kids were so excited to watch their boats go down the stream.



Miss Julie had a cute little bridge where the kids could do their send off and watch them float away.



What a wonderful idea it was.  The kids loved it, they kept doing it over and over.  Miss Julie had set up a screen further down the stream to stop the ducks from going any further.  The setting was beautiful with the sound of the rushing water and lush greens everywhere.  Look at all that watercress along the sides of the stream.  We took a nice handful home to liven up some salads and maybe make a stirfry.


This last picture is my favorite.  It captures the awe and wonder of being a child.  Amelia was swinging when a big ol' crow flew by and it really caught her attention!  Too sweet.   It was a very special way to end our year together.

And the winner is.....

I decided to draw the number the old school way.  The numbers went into a little tupperware and a little shake here and a little shake there, and around and around it went and then lucky number 89 was drawn by Miss Amelia! ( The year I graduated from highschool!  Gosh that feels like a life time ago.)



Number 89 is Amanda from the blog Late Night Stamper.  She had a great giveaway of a felted tea pot cozy and tea bag cozy along with a sweet little felted ladybug ring that Amelia would have loved.



After taking this picture of Amelia holding the little girl, Amelia asked if we could hang it in her room and I said "No", which then she asked why not and then I told her I was going to give it to someone and then she broke down in tears telling me how she wanted it in her room and not to give it away.  



It broke my heart to see her react like that over the picture.  Last week when I had finished making this picture she had asked if she could have it and  I was hoping she would forget about it, but I guess she didn't. It's so sweet,  whenever I finish a little girl picture she always asks, "Is that Mia?"  (me-a)  This is what she calls herself.   My kids are actually kind of spoiled with my artwork. Usually they do get to hang it in their rooms.

Anyway, it was lots of fun having this giveaway.  I wasn't sure if I should do it because Sew Mama Sew is obviously about sewing and well, as you saw, my giveaway wasn't sewing related.  But, I figured just because someone sews, doesn't mean they wouldn't like to win a little piece of art, right?  So yes, I'm glad I did this.
Thanks to everyone for all of their kind comments and stopping by!

What month is it?

If someone told me today was really November 3rd, not May 3rd, I think I'd believe them.  The wind has a chill to it and in the morning we had off and on snow showers.  If I look around though, I can see signs that spring is trying to come.  My tulips are starting to open, the asparagus tops are peaking through, and the trees are desperately trying to open.  If we would have a few nice days in a row, I just know everything would burst wide open.  Our bird feeder is brimming with activity.  The pretty little house finch with its reddish head has been there and today we were visited by the bright yellow goldfinch and the rose-breasted grosbeak.  Between the birds and the squirrels, the seed has been disappearing fast.

This morning I dropped Fischer and Grandma off at the airport.  They are going to visit family in Bremerton, Washington.  My little guy will be gone for a whole week!  This is the longest he has been away from me.  I was missing him before he even left.  He's been away a few times for one or two nights.   It was hard holding back the tears, but I didn't want him to feel bad or start to second guess his decision.  Little Amelia didn't want her big brother to go either, and she didn't hide her tears.  They usually play pretty well together, so I know she's really going to miss him too. The week will go fast and he will have fun visiting the ocean, collecting shells and rocks, seeing all sorts of animal life along the ocean,  riding the ferry and airplanes,  and of course seeing his cousins.  He has done all this before, but he was between 2 and 3 years old, so he doesn't remember it.  I wish I could see the look on his face when he gets to experience all of this.  Instead he gets to spend some quality time with his grandma and this is something he will always remember.

Weekends

Not very spring like pictures are they?  We woke up Saturday with snow on the ground.  Fischer said "it looks like we skipped summer and went to fall".  It never even warmed up enough on Saturday to melt all the snow.  Over the weekend Amelia kept saying "I want the snow to go away".  Even though none of us were too happy to see all that white stuff, the kids still seemed to enjoy themselves with snowman making.  They made 2 for our yard and then we went to their cousins house and there they made a whole snowman family.




It seems when I start to get stressed out, posting on my blog seems to be the first thing that goes.   I guess it's not on the top of my priority list.  I wish I could change that and become more regular with my posting.  This past week I was working on my first possible commission for a local event.  I had to turn in my sketches this past Friday and will find out whether I got it or not.   Needless to say, this past week I felt like I was on the edge of freaking out with the stress of it all.  I'm used to just doing my own thing and painting or drawing when I feel like, and not having certain requirements for my work.  It reminded me of art school and the whole brainstorming process, but much more stressful.  I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this type of work.  I found it hard  to be creative with a really short deadline, house hold duties, a kitchen studio and  3 year old talking in my ear almost non stop.  If I do something like this again, I'll have to figure out how to handle the stress better for me and my family.



Here's a piece that I started last weekend.  No requirements, no deadline, I'm doing it just because I want to.  I think I like it that way best. 



These pictures of Amelia were taken the previous weekend where temperatures reached 81!  What a difference from one weekend to the next.  

Cheerily, cheer up

I think Mother Nature decided to play a bit of an April Fool's joke on us here in Wisconsin.  I opened the blinds this morning and was shocked to see a totally white landscape spread out before me.  Fortunately it melted as the day went along, but what a dreary and damp day.  I had to keep reminding myself that yes, it is spring and it will warm up.
There was one day a few weeks ago that Amelia kept saying "cheer up, cheerily, cheer up", through out the day.   She had learned this little saying for the robins last year when we would listen to our bird CD, but it had been a long time since we had listened to it.  A few days later after she had been saying this , we saw our first robin.  It's kind of a strange little coincidence wouldn't you say?
I've always wondered why the state bird of Wisconsin is the robin, it's not the prettiest bird out there and it leaves us  for the winter.  Why not the bold little chickadee or the vibrant cardinal or even the noisy blue jay? They all brave  the tough Wisconsin winters, unlike the robin who heads for warmer weather.   This spring more than ever, I've come to realize the significance of the robin.  Everyone both young and old always looks forward to seeing their first robin of the spring, because it always means the same thing, that spring is here.  I love that their song is described as  "cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily", because that is what we do when we see our first robin of the spring.

Spring is on the horizon

I went to post this picture last night and realized I hadn't painted legs on the poor little birdie!  I thought about still posting it and seeing if anyone would notice, but it just bothered me too much not to have legs.  I love seeing pussy willows in the spring, it reminds me of driving with my grandparents and looking for them along the roadside.  I haven't seen any around here yet except for at the store which I believe are forced into early opening.  We saw our first robin last week and the calendar reads spring, but the thermometer says otherwise and the ground is covered with freshly fallen snow.  Amelia woke up yesterday and asked "Mama, why did it snow?"  What a good  question, I was wondering the same thing!  We are all ready for spring, even our 3 year old who is just learning the changes of seasons. Luckily though, the  sun is shining today and there are signs of melting, we know the snow won't last for long.  This little painting reminds me that spring is on the horizon!

{this moment}

{this moment} - "A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember"- Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama

don't go fishing today!

how's your New Year starting out?  ours is starting out a bit rough, lots of coughing, runny noses and even a bit of throwing up yesterday for Fischer, but it still feels good to have a fresh new year ahead of us.

i had to share this calendar that we got from my mom,  she got it for free at her local hardware store and my husband and i ooohed and aaahed over it so much that she really had to give it to us.  it's one of those old fashioned calendars that i remember hanging at my grandparents house.  it doesn't have beautiful artwork gracing every month, but it is loaded with so much useful information.  did you know that yesterday was the new moon? or that today is not a good day to go fishing, or that the moon is in the sign of the goat and your knees will be more sensitive today?  our old calendar didn't even tell us when the full moon was!  this one tells us when the moon and sun rises and sets and the day length.  we gain over 40 minutes of day light this month!  yeah!  my dad said he remembers his grandma planting and harvesting during certain phases or signs of the moon.  this year i'm going to try to garden more with the signs of the moon and zodiac and see what happens.  my carrots never came up last year maybe it was because i planted them under a wet sign such as Pisces.  did you know that if you pick apples and pears in the old of the moon the bruised spots will dry up and if they were picked in the new moon, the spots  will rot?  i just love this calendar!  some day when i have my own studio, i'll have a beautiful calendar filled with inspirational artwork, but for now this is the calendar that is getting my attention.  i'll have to keep you informed through the year to see how it all works, but i think it has a lot of information that has been lost over the last few generations.



this is a collage/painting that i did a few weeks ago, but haven't finished.    the little tents were meant for a background, but i loved how they looked and couldn't imagine covering most of it up, but now i'm not sure what to do with it.   maybe little dragons peaking around the corners, or little princess girls with pointy hats with ribbons, i'm not sure, i feel stuck with this one and can't come up with anything that inspires me.

while writing this blog post, miss amelia was busy painting and sipping on her tea.  it's so much fun watching her do things that i also enjoy.

around here

yesterday i woke up to the most beautiful winter sky.  the sun was just coming up and the sky was glowing pink,  everything appeared so still and cold, and indeed it was, the thermometer read -10!  these last few days have seen a lot of indoor activity, mostly of the Christmas kind. 
everyday this week amelia has been asking,  "mama are you going to paint?"  she has been enjoying her watercolors and has figured out how to use them and not make the colors all muddy. 




it always amazes me at  how much they are always watching and learning from us.  i guess i put my paint brush in my mouth sometimes, especially if i'm doing a collage, because amelia will put her brush in her mouth when she is painting and then say, "you do like this mommy?"  and i say "yes honey, i do like that!"



i made the most wonderfully delicious  peppermint bark yesterday, which the recipe came  from Amanda Blake Soule of  Soule Mama.  it's three layers of chocolate with crushed peppermint in between.   i started with just one batch in the morning and it turned out so beautiful and yummy that i went back to the store for more chocolate and did two more batches in the afternoon.  this stuff is soo good, it just melts in your mouth  and is going to make fabulous gifts for neighbors and friends.  my family has already eaten up all the little nibblets and are hoping for more.  it just looks so pretty in their little jars!



i finally got my Christmas cards out today!  yeah!  in between all this Christmas activity i've still been able to sneak a little painting time in here and there.  hopefully i'll be able to finish this one tomorrow.

ground cherries

have you ever heard of ground cherries?   they're one of my favorite fruits and a must have in my garden.  they are a small, yellow fruit, about the size of a small cherry tomato, and they are enclosed in a lantern type husk, similar to tomatillos. the taste is very hard to describe, a little tomato, maybe grape, but very sweet.  there is definitely some nostalgia for me when it comes to the ground cherry.  my grandma  always had ground cherries in her garden and  i always looked forward to going out to her garden to find them or better yet she had a bowl full waiting for me. every time i pop one of these little guys in my mouth, i think of her.  i love it.

it seemed that only people in the area where my grandma lived had ever heard of them and grew them.   we lived 3 hours away and no one around us knew what they were.  i now live in the same area as where my grandma lived and they are still popular around here, but if you go outside the area there aren't too many people who have heard of them.  i know very little about this yummy little berry, so i Googled it.  according to Wikipedia they are also called cape gooseberries, but i've never heard that name before. they are similar to the tomato plant and are in the same family as the tomatillo.   i think they are native to central and south america.  they are an annual for us but they will reseed.  i guess you can find them along roadsides, but there are many different plants in this family and not all are safe to eat.  

i grew mine from seeds from Seeds Savers Exchange.  the day i planted my little plants in the garden, we received an unexpected hail storm and they all died.  luckily i was able to get more from a friend who grows them on their farm.

last year i made jam from them,  this year i might try a pie.  my grandma used to can them with either apples or pears.  they also store very well for months.  last winter i was able to buy them at the farmers market in january!  what a treat.   my favorite way to eat them though is right out of the garden, that's amelia's favorite way too.