Ah, Spring

Yesterday at the cabin rained, and it rained really hard in the morning. It was dark and gloomy and the fog descended until it looked like November except for the daffodils! There they were, bright spots of gold in the gloom, cheery with the promise of spring. I found a raincoat and headed out with my camera to snap some early spring, Easter photos. By 4 o'clock in the afternoon the sun was out and it had turned into a very nice day.
Today was lovely. The sun shone and the birds chirped. Everything is growing. The cherry out front is a little past perfect, but still is lovely and it smells wonderfully. The daffodils are in full bloom, the Camellia is starting to bloom and the bridal veil along side the house is perfect. I spend a happy hour at the local nursery today and found a few things for the yard and some starts for an empty pot out back. I even found an angelica plant. I had one when we lived in Shoreline but not since, and they are quite pretty in the summer and add some nice height to the back of the border. So, one of those is now planted out back in a sunny spot by the fountain. I love spring. I can't fill my lungs deep enough with air. I even love the smell of freshly turned soil. It has such promise.

I finally got my ArtFest ATC trades done. It's taken way too much time and they aren't very fancy this year, but they are hand stamped from hand carved blocks and that's all I've had time for. I rather like the look---peaceful and quiet, like a walk in the woods, which is the theme this year, after all. I don't think I'll have any time to do much more. Bee comes on Sunday, LK on Monday and on Tuesday next we all go over to Port Townsend. I can't wait for ArtFest!

And now, more spring from my garden.

Moccasin Flowers

All my life,
so far,
I have
loved
more than one thing,

including the mossy hooves
of
dreams, including
the spongy litter
under the tall trees.

In
spring
the moccasin flowers
reach for the crackling
lick of the
sun

and burn down. Sometimes,
in the shadows,
I see
the hazy eyes,
the lamb-lips

of oblivion,
its deep
drowse,
and I can imagine a new nothing
in the universe,

the
matted leaves splitting
open, revealing
the black planks
of the
stairs.

but all my life---sofar---
I have loved best
how the
flowers rise
and open, how

the pink lungs of their
bodies
enter the fore of the world
and stand there shining
and
willing---the one

thing they can do before
they shuffle
forward
into the floor of darkness, they
become the trees.

Mary
Oliver

What's On My Project Table

Paper Follies is a blog I read often and today there was a "Tag" challenge to post some photos of what is on your project table right now. Since I am away from home, in a rental house on North Captiva Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, my project table is somewhat different that it would be at home.
I have been working on some rubber stamps to use for ATCs for ArtFest trades...and I've got stuff everywhere on the dining room table. As usual, I've made a big mess! It's fun. I love art messes. I make them wherever I go!

Finished at Last

I am very happy to report that I have finally gotten both my 4 by 4 Fatbook pages and my ATCs for the swap hosted by Bee Shay for ArtFest finished and mailed off. Whew! What a relief it was to have both of those packages off and away, and then to hear that both had arrived safely. It hung over my head while I was south with Annie and family that the deadlines were fast approaching. I did manage to finish the little teddy bears for the ATCs while I was with them. (Finding time for sitting and cutting out and assembling things when taking care of a two-year-old and a newborn isn't easy! How soon we forget just how much energy the little ones suck out of their caregiver each day.) I came home last weekend exhausted. I am now getting caught up on my sleep, if not my chores.

I am happy with the ATCs. I like the little bear and had fun "designing" her clothes. The name, of course, comes from Teesha and Tracy Moore, hence TT Teddy. The theme for ArtFest this year is 'A Walk in the Woods' and for some odd reason all I could think of was that old song, The Teddy Bears' Picnic. That's where the idea for the teddy bear paper doll came from, I think....maybe not. The inner working of my mind is a scary, scary place and not one I really want to poke around in too much or too often.

Little TT should be well prepared for the journaling party down at the beach on Thursday night.

It was nice to arrive home to weather I associate with winter, rather than the 70 degree plus weather I left in San Diego. (Annie and I took Alex to LegoLand on Saturday and it was hot!) There have been two hummingbirds hanging around in the front yard in the flowering quince and I got lucky and got a shot of one of them the other day. He actually (she?) sat still for me. I can see that spring will come again as the crocus are coming up fast and the daffodils are pushing their way out of the ground, too. The early primroses are all beginning to bloom and the hellebores are all blooming, too. I am especially fond of a white one I got at the Flower and Garden show last year. I love the way the berries look when they are dripping with rain. The garden smells lush right now, full of promise. I am getting excited about having a vegetable garden agan this year as I don't have any long trips planned for the summer months. I have missed all my varieties of lettuce and the taste of home grown tomatoes. I think I'll try a few pumpkins this year, too. Maybe I will be able to provide Emma and siblings with their own Jack O'Lantern come October.