Morning Glory Studio

Rainy Days and Mondays...

 

 

Another Monday driving in the rain... seems to be getting to be a habit...

On my way to my quilting group meeting this morning , I’d driven about 2 miles when I realized I’d left my wallet (aka money and driver’s license) home... I drove very cautiously home to retrieve said missing items...

At my quilting group meeting...today was the reveal of  a member challenge quilt...comes around once every two years. Theme this time was “memories;” several quilted  the 2017 eclipse This one received first place by membership’s vote. Because I was later arriving, I missed the voting...but it would’ve been my choice too!

Decided after the meeting to have a late lunch at Nordstrom...it’s been a good couple months since I was last there. Along with the above exquisite salad - full of seasonal berries, spiced candied almonds, goat cheese, dried strawberries and a vanilla bean vinaigrette,  I also enjoyed a very tasty cup of chicken noodle soup. Yum!

 Another Monday almost ended; can’t say the same for the rain. My Seattle friends are in town...hardly any rain there these days...Go figure!

Trusting your Monday has been dry, filled with lots of sunshine and a tasty salad.

Cheers~

sometimes mondays ...

 

begin the week with:

• flash flood warnings ...
• rapidly moving dark grey clouds ...
• heavy downpours of rain ...
• patches of blue sky...  
• a bit of sunlight streaming through... 

the promise of another beautiful day.

Post Script/ 2:41 PM :

I drafted this post this morning, 7:30 AM- ish and forgot to schedule publication. Remembered as I was having lunch @ Nordstrom. The  Turkish flatbread is delish! Here are the ingredients:

 Yummy!  

...and the weather's been absolutely crazy: rainy; windy; cloudy...it's still a beautiful day!

 Cheers~

 

sometimes monday ...

 

begins with a later than usual start to the morning (still adjusting to DST) and...

is sunny and bright with remnants of snow still on the deck and ...

includes the sighting of a possum meandering through the back yard - I live in the city!

how was your monday?

Cheers~

rainy days and mondays ...

 

just before sunrise, 8 january 2018, circa 7:10 am

     Shortly before sunrise, I was thinking to myself: how nice our 4+ days staycation - last week through yesterday (Sunday) - has been and as I made tea, debated: will I go to Milltown (quilt group meeting - we've been on vacation since December 14) today or not? I quickly dismissed that thought 'cause I've not been out of the house for days - just too darn cold - and it would be nice to see quilting friends, perhaps make a quick trip to Barnes & Noble on the way home - or even better, have lunch at Nordstrom.

Mulling those options, I decided Yes! I'm going! and proceeded with MSQT. About an hour later, Norman, announces  a winter weather advisory for the afternoon, starting in the area from where I'd be driving home and schools were closing 2-hours early, some systems totally cancelled, etc...and then I got a text from my friends in Columbia, also advising me to stay home...between  Norman and them, I was easily persuaded. And home I've stayed!

I'm not sure the snowy, wintry, sleety weather has quite arrived: I see two salt tricks parked on the street - they've been there all afternoon, waiting... Bottom line: wintry weather is still expected to impact the evening rush hour; areas north and west are experiencing a "mixed bag of precip..." I have had a pleasant afternoon reading; reviewing and purging  papers; and reorganizing my planner, a bit.  

Seemed strange  not to blog over the weekend... I found myself  thinking about what I'd write and then, I remembered, no need to go down that path...I didn't always come to my computer with a topic in mind. We had a quiet weekend, watched  a few football games and several  TCM movies...

So now, at 5:10 pm, I'll finish my paper purge  and planner projects and settle in soon for dinner and a quiet evening. Hope your weather's been good...

Cheers~

 

 

monday morning promise ...

 

~PROMISE~

Patches of blue sky

Peek through grey clouds, I wonder

what today will bring...

 I left on my morning walk about 8:30 am...My plan was to walk about 30 min. The air was refreshing and much cooler than it'd  been the  past week. So, I decided I'd just keep walking and go to the Franciscan Monastery - about 12 blocks north ...it'd been a while since I last visited. 

Great decision! The lily pond,  in full bloom, included a healthy crop of gold and koi fish. Flowers, of course, were beautiful, brilliant, colorful. This month's: begonias.  I sat at the pond and wrote a verbal journal entry since I'd left home with nary a pen or piece of paper to jot a note upon...thank goodness for my iPhone and voice dictation. 

This month I've been writing an Haiku a Day - many of which I've shared . When I wrote today's: "Promise," I had no idea how lovely the morning was going to be. The gods -  they shine down on us...fortunately.

I trust your day was just as promising.

Cheers~

monday 12 june 2017

                    Today dawned bright and early...and hot! And the temperature at 8 pm -92 degrees! I'm really not ready for hot and hot and more hot! About 6:21 am, I stepped out on the deck to get shots of the early morning sky and turned around to see the sky's reflection in the window...Intrigued me - almost looks like a far-off city in the sky. SciFi, anyone?

My quilting group started 20 years ago and today, we had our annual end-of year luncheon to mark the occasion plus install the new officers, whose terms run for two years. Normally we have a potluck for the occasion but this year, we went to a restaurant. Personally, I'd rather we'd had the potluck; our food tastes so much better. The table flowers  were lovely, featuring my favorite: alstroemeria lily. One person at each table got to keep the bouquet; t'wasn't me!

8:21 PM. Day is done. Gone the sun...til tomorrow...

Cheers~

hello monday | 9 january 2017

 

 

 (that glob of bright light is actually the sun)

Hello Sunrise: "6:50 am ~Watching the beginning of the sunrise...7:12 am~the sky still shows evidence of the sun rise- faithfully happening as the world turns, slowly- another three hours til the west coasters see - but it happens, even if obscured by clouds, snow, rain...I take comfort in knowing that the world is centered tho' tilted and turning...and the sun is there...7:19 am : the sky is ablaze with color. Streaks of yellow, orange, pink - remind me of the tree I painted with oils in my senior year of high school at the Toledo Museum of Art. I should recreate. I will try over this next month or so. Practice. Again. Again. Again. I stand at the window, facing east and watch the sun "rise;" birds and planes fly overhead; cars and people travel up/down the street; squirrels scamper through the trees, across the street, traveling on electric wires. The sky changes, changes. I feel heat rising from the radiator. I remember my "quilt," I began in 2011 - my second venture to Sisters OR for a week -long class with Jean Wells and the second phase of my quilting journey...I shudder, the piece, tho' inspired by just a similar sunrise ---and was I tending a cold, then, too? NTS: check my journal! And retrieve, reconnect, continue to create, to practice, practice, learn...

As I reflect, write, an occasional connection between Yesterday/Today surfaces. I seek a way to jumpstart, connect my memories, recollections of my current life to my previous. Sure I can do a chronological listing and work from there but I like the serendipitous connections created...and perhaps it is just this: a journal entry accompanied by word pictures and today photos. Perhaps this is the key. Perhaps."

 

 

Hello Art Before Breakfast: Time to  replenish my tea and as I turn away from the window, I spy four squirrels: one gray, two brown and one black scampering along two electrical wires... playing follow the leader? I grab a pen, index card,  make a very. quick. sketch and jot down an Haiku...At breakfast, I look at a few web sites with tips on drawing  squirrels... I think I'll recreate this drawing on real mixed media paper...so I make a note to check my stash... (Oops, I see I wrote 2016 instead of 2017 on my ABB drawing.)

 

Hello Flower Garden Quilt: Today my quilting organization reconvened after the  holiday break; I had full intentions of going...until I saw the temperature: a cold 16 degrees this morning. Decided without a demur to skip...for the simple reason that I did not want to tempt my cold or whatever this malady that I've had for 14 days and counting to stay any longer...instead, I inventoried the 24 blocks and four borders to see if I still need to applique´any pieces (found less than 5) and I washed/ironed  the fabric for the sashing strips that will be used to connect all the pieces. Clearly, I'm on the downhill slope and all things considered, this project may be d-o-n-e before the end of the month and ready to turn over to the long arm quilter.

Hello Monday: You are the start of my week and I look forward to 52 more starts. What did you greet on Monday this week?

Cheers~

 

 

 

hello monday | 2 january 2017

 

 

Hello Art Before Breakfast: In 2015, I embarked on a creative endeavor to practice drawing/sketching every day... and I did, lasting about four months into the year. During the time, I guess I'd say my drawings improved a bit...I am a firm believer that drawing is something we can all do and I'm the first to admit that some take to it more naturally or easily than others...I'm of the "others" crowd. I enjoyed spending 10-15 minutes in the morning, drawing whatever caught my eyes' fancy. Mostly, I found the practice meditative. I stopped because ???  In November 2016, I bought Danny Gregory's newest book, Art Before Breakfast, dipped into it a it and decided that I'd reintroduce the practice to MSQT (morning solitude and quiet time) starting in 2017. Today was the day...and above is the first entry. I also decided to recreate the drawing as a Waterlogue, thinking that it might help me see shapes and shading better as I practice.

I'll be the first to say I've a bit more practicing to do...and that's OK with me... ancora imparo ... I am still learning.

Hello POETRY: This morning, after breakfast, Norman announced he'd been creating something that he'd share with me in "a little while." Off he went to his computer and I, to mine. Shortly thereafter, he came into my craft room and read to me a poem he'd written this morning. He likes to write poems and is especially good at creating rhyming stanzas. He kept the poem to make a few edits...so, hopefully he'll return it soon...of that I'm sure 'cause he'll want me to type it... and then I will share.

Hello 2017 Plans, Goals and Practices: Fleshing out  ideas and desires for this year's endeavors is still  very much a work in process ... Thinking and eliminating. Thinking and appraising. Thinking and regrouping. Thinking and deciding. Did anyone ever mention that thinking is hard work? One practice that I plan to implement this year is to continue to blog everyday. I think I made that announcement at the end of NaBloPoMo.  I am happy to share that as of this day's post, I have blogged 63 consecutive days, beginning 1 November 2016. Why am I doing this? Well, there is a method to my madness, a raison d’être, to be shared soon ... aiming for the end of the week. 

Hello Monday: You are the start of my week and I look forward to 52 more starts. What are you greeting on Monday this week?

Cheers~

dec 26 | currently...

circa 5 pm est 26 dec 

feeling punk...I indeed did come down with a cold! My first in I don't know when ...

awaking after a 3-hour nap ! ...

sitting in bed, surrounded by Kleenex, a couple books, my journal,  pens, iPad ...

hearing Norman in the kitchen, chopping something ...

smelling just-baked chicken ...

realizing I am not hungry...a cold will do that to you ...

reading and finishing Slow Stitch and ...

thinking: There is a powerful magic in doing some thing, the same some thing at nearly the same time every day...for me, that magic time is early morning.  My desire (and one of my 2017 goals  ) is to extend the feelings and import of my morning solitude and quiet time - MSQT - throughout my mornings, everyday. A quest I've been on a few years and one that seems to elude me...or so I think. Perhaps I might stop thinking so much... Now, that's a thought!

 

Cheers~

 

 

 

 

dec 7 | @ the computer...

(sunrise today - 7:07 am)

        I don't normally catch sunrise from the front of the house...but this morning, when I looked out the window, I was pleasantly surprised to see it. I quickly grabbed my coat and ran outside to capture. Today has been quiet...still resting after wearing myself out yesterday. I had some tasks to complete here at the computer. And this is where I have spent the day: catching up on emails, blog reading, etc...even stitching a bit on the last flower garden block! At 6 o'clock, I am going to join an online event so I'll probably continue the stitching...

But first, here's the story of late Monday evening:  About 11:40 pm, I was @ the computer, putting the finishing touches on that day's blog post. Norman was closing up shop to go to bed and setting the security system. All of a sudden, the quiet is shattered with the tell-tale sound of  the alarm's panic. My fingers froze and my heart started beating fairly rapidly...and I hear his voice - words not repeatable. His phone rings...but he can't answer it because it's  in the basement. So, I wait for my phone to ring... "Hello. This is X -Security Company...and so we go through the drill:

• "Yes, we set off the alarm..."
• "Yes, everything's alright..."
• "No, we don't know what happened..."
• "OK...we'll wait"  (The company rep tries to cancel the call to the local police - no can do). ..
• "Yes, the police arrived ...and we explain the situation and they say...
• "Fine..."  and off they go. 

I finish and publish the post. We retire for the evening. And no, we don't know what happened. Just that it did. Perhaps because I was @ the computer at a time when I'm normally not.