When It All Comes Together!

Those of you who live in the midwest know that it has been an odd summer to say the least. Colder than usual, long periods of no rain, then downpours that can't stop. It seems as though the weather calendar never went past June.

Now, think "sunny and 70s-low 80s." Now, that's the weather you want for a holiday weekend -- and we got it!

I've enjoyed my time alone at the lake, and been rather productive, finishing a new book I'll be writing about soon. But my primary art project this holiday has been silk painting (and I have the dyed hands to prove it).

I've done about 10, although there are a couple that I'm not fond of and will probably mess with some more, adding another layer of color to see if I can make them a little better.

But when they're good, they're very good!

I may take this scan and print it out for collage paper!

Or this one!

On Saturday, I went to meet Rick on day three of his bike ride, where we enjoyed a great party with fun cyclists. I have to say they were the greatest group of people, and while my knowledge of the bike is nil, I felt so very welcomed. That night we stayed with one of the riders at his beautiful Victorian home that was once a B&B. I wish I'd taken a photo of the kitchen! Oh, it was to die for!

They put me into service as a luggage carrier, so my little Toyota (with its engine light still on -- living dangerously here) was loaded to the gills as they took off.

I left shortly after they did and managed to get ahead of them at one point. As I realized I'd passed them, I raced ahead, parked by the road and was able to capture my gang as they went careening down a hill!

They were faster than speeding bullets! So fast, that basically I got them coming and going -- and nothing in-between!

I meandered up the state, stopping at a gallery in Petoskey and then at points along the way for a few great photo ops.

I couldn't resist this zinnia haven, near Stafford's Bay View Inn!


Then to Harbor Springs. More photos from there on this week's Pink Saturday, but here is a glimpse at one of the prettiest towns in Northern Michigan.

Working my way back, I stopped at Joie de Vie, another favorite shop of mine. These two photos are a hint -- more of this beautiful spot on Pink Saturday in two weeks!

I worked my way up country roads, stopping at a few garage/yard sales and making a few good scores. (A hymnal for a quarter, a book with great photos for a dollar, some wonderful old corsage pins on the card and a couple of cute bottles!) And of course, photos along the way!

I finally made it to Mackinac City. I'm always relieved when I actually see Rick after a long ride -- knowing he's back safe and sound gives me great joy -- and I breathe a little sigh, knowing my prayers for safe passage were answered.

I found the rest of the gang -- all smiling from a great ride on a great day. After loading up bikes, they showered, and we just hung out for awhile. I think they clean up pretty well!

Then it was back to the lake, with a stop for a post-biking dinner with the group and home in time to enjoy being at the cottage in the evening. It's nice to have Rick back safe and sound, close at hand to enjoy another beautiful sunset.

Only one more day of vacation. Heavy sigh.

The Tulip Award -- and a new book!

First, I just wanted to let you know that there is a new book post at Chopsticks and String -- "Murder in Montmartre," by Cara Black -- part of a very good series set in France!

Quite some time ago, Annie from Imagine (formerly InMyDreamz) presented me with the Tulip Award for fun blogs to visit! At long last, I am finally getting around to passing it on!
Thanks, Annie! Your blog is fun, too!

Here's the meme that goes with it! And several fun blogs I enjoy visiting who perhaps will add this award to their stash (and do the meme, too, if they like!)

1. YOUR NICKNAME – My cousins call me Deet. I had it before the insecticide did.

2. YOU ARE – a “cup half full” person, pretty optimistic, trying to see the plus when I can.

3. YOUR MOST SPECIAL PERSON – Rick and the Kids, and the Gypsy, because we all know our pets are people.

4. YOUR FAVORITE SONG – Rodgers and Hart’s “I Could Write a Book.” Today. Who knows what it'll be tomorrow.

5. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD/DISH - Sushi

6. THINGS THAT MAKE YOU STRESS – Arguing/conflict and deadlines (and yes, I work in a deadline-driven business)

7. YOUR FAVOURITE COLOR – Bright apple/lime/chartreusey green (or tealy turquoise)

8. THINGS THAT YOU MUST HAVE IN YOUR BAG – lip balm/chapstick, my camera and enough cash to play with!

9. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED – The week of August 24, when I was so sick with my chronic bronchitis I thought I'd never have a day when I didn't cough uncontrollably again.

10. SIX RANDOMLY SELECTED FRIENDS – Theoretically, these folks will do the meme, but I hate to ask anyone to do these -- so many go around. So, here are six blogs I've recently discovered, but because I'm a bad blog maintainer, haven't added to my blogroll yet. Please stop by and visit:

A2EatWrite -- great food articles from Jen!
Life Through a Lens -- Beautiful things from Australia and Ols.

A Day in the Life of... -- From Joyce in British Columbia
The Magpie's Nest -- Way more creativity than you can imagine from Patty!

Is There a Shadow -- Beautiful art by Julie

MaeFoodBlog -- Wonderful food postings by Mae!

Seasoned Beauties

I've not spent nearly as much time I'd like at the lake this summer.

Lots of good reasons -- Myrtle Beach, family fun, festivals and one awful weather weekend. Still, summer is at an end, and I need to get my time in! So, I'm enjoying this last bit of summer -- Labor Day -- spending delightful moments hanging with the Gypsy, doing art, and loving it to the max.

My day began Thursday when I said goodbye to Rick and a gang of folks riding four 100-mile days on their bicycles to the Mackinac Bridge. I'll see him Saturday for a party and then pick him up Sunday afternoon!

Then, I took the Reluctant Traveler for his two-and-a-half hour car ride. We've done it with no kitty drugs this year, which is a great feat. And so far, only one hurling incident!

The first thing I did upon arrival was set up the "art studio," which in this case if the front porch. I'm ready for silk painting! (Results to be shown later!)

I did this and my unpacking quickly, and then hurried to meet up with my friend Annette. It was a good thing we planned on getting together -- she had to leave after our lunch and "unplanting" to return home for some medical tests.

What's an "unplanting?" you may ask. That's when Annette -- a hosta gardener extraordinaire and one who has a glorious and colorful garden of perennials -- divides some of her black-eyed Susan and artemesia for me!

Her garden is a joy -- it's a stop on the Gaylord Summer Garden Tour. Someday, my little hosta garden in the back may look a little like Annette's. (No, it's a nice dream. But probably not!)

Then it was home to paint silk, read, watch a movie and just enjoy the quiet of the lake before the Labor Day weekenders descend with jet skis and boats.

(When I was a kid I could never understand why my next door neighbors, Ray and Marie, used to stay up all during the week, but head home "down below" on the weekends. Now I know exactly why!

And, shock of shocks, The Gypsy caught a mouse!

This sweet little face had mouse-baby hanging out of his mouth. I think the poor thing (which did escape) died of a heart attack. The Gyp stood guard by where the mouse had hidden, but when when I went to corner him to take outdoors, he'd already died. RIP Stuart Little.

As soon as this post goes up, I'm headed to Petoskey to see Virginia,a knitter/quilter extraordinaire! Petoskey is about an hour north, hilly country, with beautiful views of Little Traverse Bay.

Virginnia and I used to work together at the station until she retired and moved north. Whenever we get together, I end up buying yarn. Note to self: bring checkbook.

And I'll never know all Virginia knows about fabric or fiber arts. Her work is still knocking them dead at the county fair, and I'm always excited to see which ones will bring home ribbons. Her husband Phil died earlier this summer, so I'm especially looking forward to enjoying our dinner together and meeting her new cat, Filbert.

Tomorrow morning I'll get to the farm market early. Peaches are due, and Michigan peaches are lovely!

And I love the end-of-season bounty with the fresh veggies and sunflowers.

Certainly tomorrow or Sunday, I'll stop by and see Fran, my mom's best friend. I look at this young face and wonder how she can possibly be 90+. She's beautiful and fun!

Fran tells me the stories my mother never lived long enough to tell. I hear about days at the lake when they were just small children. My grandmother being locked in the outhouse late at night. Singing at the tops of their lungs on the docks together. And knitting the very same clothes they would wear at their different schools the following year!

And if I'm lucky, my neighbor Eulah will be there. At 101, she is on a cruise; I don't know if she'll be back for the holiday! This photo was taken last summer.

These women range from their 70s to 101. I can't tell you how much they inspire me. They're active, they're sharp, they're fun, and when I'm with them I don't feel a 20 or 30 or 40+ year age difference. They are seasoned beauties and knowing them is an honor and a privilege.

I learn so much from them. Annette tells me how to care for the garden. From Fran, the family stories. I learned what it was like to teach in a one-room school from Eulah, and after Virginia makes me laugh, I'll have any knitting I could possibly imagine answered. They are my personal "Ladies of the Lake," (Well, Virginia isn't of the lake, but she is in spirit!)

Oh, it's so good to be here.

About Collage

The other day our station had a booth at MSU's freshman orientation. (It was pretty cool, because after we were set-up, I got to listen to Steve Lopez, author of "The Soloist" (see my take on Chopsticks and String) who was speaking and most inspirational!


But I digress. I was sitting next to a woman who teaches and does PR in the art and art history department. I asked her about her specialty and she said collage.

(All collage, art in this post is mine; this photo is by Michael Maurer Smith.)

As we spoke, she explained that when teaching a course on collage to arts and humanities students, she focused on how really, everything is collage. They took exception to that, saying they didn't know why they had to paste things together. It seemed like baby work to them.

But when you put it in that perspective, it's not only true, but oh, the places your thoughts can leap! And what a lesson that can be for someone entering the next stage of their own personal "collage."

For example, when we dress, we are layering bits and pieces that don't always belong together. Grandma's necklace. A scarf we made. A funky vintage top with modern jeans. Collage.

When we watch a video, think of the layers there -- the raw video (edited, putting bits and pieces together), the overlapping layers -- super impositions of names, for example. And if you go to a channel with a news crawl on top of that, logos, bits and pieces flying in and out of the picture? Collage.

The jewelry my friend Kate made last weekend -- or this bracelet she helped me make several years ago. Polymer becomes its own collage element -- layers of clay making canes. The twine that holds it together. Elements that individually mean something else or look like something else. Together. Collage.

Your house. A structure -- be it brick or wood. Shutters. A garden in front. Something attached to the structure -- a wreath, maybe, or a flag. Collage.

A recipe. Individual ingredients, combined together -- the quantities may vary, the result different. But the glue that holds it together may be the egg or the milk or the oil. This trifle -- pumpkin and gingersnaps and whipped cream. What if they layers were different -- raspberry, pudding? Collage.

Or the Christmas cookies we decorate each Christmas Eve. A cookie. Frosting. Another layer, a different color.

Add a little sugar and you have mixed media collage on a mighty sweet substrate!

The table setting. A cloth. Dishes. Silverware. A centerpiece -- how many flowers are in that centerpiece? What's the vase like? Do you have party favors at each place? Add food -- another element. Collage.

And of course, the collage we do as artists.

When you start to think of our lives as collage, it's really pretty fascinating. One layer of experiences upon another. Something that holds it together. Things change, new things surface, the design may change altogether or become a variation of the original. Our lives. Collage.

When I was very small, I didn't have all that many layers to my life. It was pretty simple. Eat. Sleep. Play.

Then I went to school. Reading added a whole new layer of elements to my life. I learned to write. I learned to think.

Teen time. College. More layers. Music and drama. Making my own decisions. Living with the consequences good or bad. Collage.

Adulthood. Being the responsible one. Caring for and about others in a different way. Collage.

If we dig past the layer of our lives that is this moment -- the stress of the day, the hot thing happening -- we can see who we are, what we have become and how we became that way. I see all the little layers in my life, those layers being experiences. The experience of being with Rick and his kids was so unlike those in my other relationships. One overlapping layer of joy, concern, laughter, worry, love.

The experience of caring for my dad when he was ill brought me responsibility. What goes around, comes around.

Loving a pet and having to let it go. Layer upon layer of feeling. A collage.

The experience of having a job brought reality -- supporting myself and discovering life wasn't an endless free-form existence.

It makes me wonder what layers will come next. What experiences will I have today or tomorrow or very soon that will change me in a significant way. Even if I don't realize those experiences are is significant for a long time.

I am a collage of many colors -- often bright, but sometimes more subdued. Sometimes, wild squiggles explode from my page, and there is plenty of texture -- smooth, soft; prickly, edgy. I have lots of layers, some transparent, others opaque. Maybe someday, I'll try to put myself on canvas!

What about you? What kind of a collage are you? Colors, textures?