shining egg

watermelon and peonies

i've become obsessed with watermelon.

i've been eating the fruit like it's going out of season - which, clearly, it's not.  i read today that a whole watermelon stays good on the counter for four weeks!  i had no idea.  i might stock up at the farm truck on tuesday.

i've also been painting watermelons like crazy.  my kids have been saying things like, "another watermelon?!"  and, "mom, when are you going to do something else?"  it's bad.

today, i embroidered for the very first time in my life.  of course, it's a watermelon. 

it's tiny.  and not exactly how i imagined it, but close.  you couldn't pay me to show you the reverse side, though.

i've been admiring the embroidery floating around lately.  and then i found these tea towels.  i loved trying it, and i'm going to do a few more.  i'm not sure what i'll ultimately do with them, though.  i'm thinking about cutting the towel and turning it into four smaller napkins - that might be just perfect for eating certain drippy summertime fruit.  i have two more towels, too (that would make for a set of twelve small summer napkins) in two different shades of this pinkish-red color that i think i'll call "watermelon."

in perfect keeping with my current obsession, my mother brought these flowers to our dinner on friday night. 

there are so many photos of peonies around right now.  i love this flower.  and the palette is, of course, compelling, given the fixed state of my brain.

a layover

i've been thinking that maybe the small silver is trying to spite me.  after all, i have been complaining and complaining about her.  this morning, just when i thought i might be able to get a good shot, the memory stick was full – for no reason at all!  no files on the camera but the memory stick was full.  [i later reformatted the memory stick and all seems to be alright.]  and then the battery died.  ok, i’ll admit that’s supposed to happen when you take the camera to mexico for three days and then try for what seems like ages to take photos of seashells after you return, but still. 

but then i remembered that on monday, i took these photos with small silver - and they’re not too awful.  and i realized that maybe, just maybe, small silver is trying to save me from myself.

after all, i really shouldn’t be playing with the camera right now (i shouldn’t be typing at the computer, either, but let’s hope the macbook doesn’t start looking after me, too!).  really, i should be packing, because i’m leaving with the kids on saturday to visit my grandparents in israel.

this five days at home is like a layover between mexico and israel – just enough time to unpack, do laundry, pick up last-minute essentials (and requests from my grandmother - like a bottle of jean-nate?!), pack up again, and go.

it’s a long, long trip.  we’ll reach my grandparents' door twenty four hours (if we’re lucky and make our connecting flight) after we leave our driveway.  the kids have been troopers about the trip in the past, and i’m hoping that they’ll continue to be outstanding travelers.  it is so far.

but they're my grandparents (and dear cousins and my uncle, too).  i am lucky enough, at the age of thirty-four, to have three living grandparents.  and right up there on the list of top wonders of my life is seeing my grandparents with my children. 

besides, last november my dear aunt passed away.  she was my father’s younger sister, and my grandparents practically lived with her.  my father, the older of their two children, died eight years ago, so my grandparents are orphans of a sort - parents who have lost their children.  and so i bring them my children, their great-grandchildren.  for my grandparents to see the light in their eyes, the future in their very beings.

i feel, in some ways, like the steward of the future of the family.  is this something i inherited as the oldest grandchild?  is this a role i’ve been assigned?  by my grandparents?  my aunt?  is it something i’ve assumed?  i don’t know. 

what i do know is that i feel a tremendous love for these two older people who can be so stubborn and set in their ways.  they are my link to my own history.  they have lived fascinating lives, traveling through the middle east and africa and eastern europe as young people; and later, spending their days helping ethopian immigrants in the town in which they live.  and they are my grandparents.

so in spite of the burden (or is it a gift?  i'm never sure) of responsibility, the great distance between us, and so many other things that are insignificant compared to the power of family, i go.  on saturday, i’ll board a plane with my children and fly half-way across the world to visit the past, and see the future, all at once.

dogwood obsession

i have always loved this tree.  this is the fourth spring that we've been in our house, and i've loved this tree since that very first time i saw it bloom.  it has a gentle bend, this tree, that i can't seem to capture with my camera.  it's graceful in the way that it stands, curves, leans over the driveway.

i've been photographing one branch since the first warm day in march.  i have been delighted (as in, feeling delight) to observe this branch as it has blossomed.  i'm sad, suddenly, that i don't have my camera to continue to capture the unfolding.  tomorrow i'm going to try with my little "small silver" (thanks, again, to alicia) and see what i get. 

here is the series thus far:

dirt, a start

we're planning a garden bed in our yard for vegetables, herbs, and some flowers. 

but it's not ready yet.  and we were more than ready to plant.   

something about the dirt and the water, and tending to the living breathing plants is therapeutic for all four of us.

so we made a trip to the garden center today.  and then spent a marvelous afternoon with our hands deep in the dirt.

we dragged the watering can out of the recesses of the garage. 

i adore this watering can.  it was my gift last year on mother's day.

these pots are just a start. 

i hope the garden bed will be ready before too long.  but in the meantime, it's delightful to see this outside my kitchen window.

and somehow, it helps me to breathe deeper.  and easier.

see more here.

tulips tulips everywhere

earlier in the week, l. and i had a brief and lovely visit to a local tulip garden with friends.  we spent a perfect spring hour running among the flowers and trees, counting colors and playing hide-and-seek.  i had my camera with me, but the day was cloudy and the children were compelling, so very few photos were taken.

i went back the next morning, alone with my camera. 

what a different way to see the tulip garden. 

in spite of my itchy nose (a sure sign of spring), i was overwhelmed by the quiet of the garden, the quality of the light, and the beauty of the morning.

the pink tulips that were closed on my first visit were open the next morning.

and these orange tulips were open as if to show off their beautiful insides.

when i came home and loaded the photos from my camera onto my computer, i was delighted by the flowers all over again.

i've been enjoying the tulips vicariously over at yarnstorm.  i don't think i'll ever be able to plant tulips in my yard here - we have way too many deer roaming through the neighborhood.  even more reason to be grateful for this local treasure.

you can see more of my photos here.

(b. just reminded me that i've already posted about tulips - i do love this flower!)

note: this article appeared today in our local paper.  i had noticed, on my first visit this week, that the garden - though stunning - didn't seem as lush as i had remembered.  i wondered if the weather played a part in that change, or if i had remembered the garden from a child's perspective and so it looked different from my memory.  it seems i was on to something.

in full bloom

we were away for a few days, celebrating my mother-in-law's big birthday.  it was a surprise trip.  my sister-in-law arranged it - for all of the children and grandchildren to gather and surprise her mother.   so very much fun.

we returned home to find spring in full bloom.  the trees around our house are putting on their annual display.  this is a moment that i look forward to all year long.

i could see it - even in the dark - as we drove down the driveway late last night.  i think i dreamed about it, too, because this morning i could not wait to throw on some clothes and go outside with my camera.

this has turned into this:

i know it's not may 3, but i couldn't wait (of course!) until then to capture this beauty.  i plan to continue to photograph this tree through the spring and summer.

right next to that tree sits this one:

and on the side of the house is this:

a reminder of why it is that i love spring so.

pink

julie at handmaid is having a color week this week.  i'm a bit late to the party, having only stumbled across her blog yesterday!  but i'm joining in, nonetheless.  it occurred to me that i ought to catch up - posting turquoise and green today, too - but instead, i'm beginning today with these flowers from our recent trip.

ps - i just checked, because i had a feeling, and it turns out that pink is also a project spectrum color for this month.  i was so focused on green that i almost forgot about pink (and yellow, too).

under the wire

i've been away from the blog for a few days.

i did recover from the rotten mommy morning, and my children were just fine (tired, but fine).  thankfully, i remembered that those awful moments are actually a gift - that the worst times help me to refocus on my priorities.  by afternoon, i took the opportunity to remind myself of my values as a mother and a person in this world, and to return to the fundamentals of living according to my beliefs. 

wednesday was the sort of day that reminds me why we try not to watch television, why we don't buy into the consumer hysteria that surrounds us, why we don't participate in endless after-school activities, why we try to live gently in the world, why i stay at home to care for our children and our family - and then to resume behavior that reflects those values.

so much better.

in any case, i had mentioned days ago that i would post my project spectrum related work.

i was a bit late to the project spectrum party - i just "signed up" today (the last day of phase one).  i only discovered the project in late february, and so i had not prepared to work in this first color group.  but i did manage to do a bit of creative work in the blues and whites - some painting, some photography.

painting and photography are the two creative pursuits i'm most busy with at the moment - in addition to knitting (though i haven't started a new knitting project in ages - just trying to get through the things on my needles).  really, i paint with oils.  but since the vast (vast!) majority of my painting is done with my children or is based around their schedules, i've been using quite a bit of watercolor (so much friendlier for children and quick setup/cleanup).  all of my painting is abstract or abstract expressionist.

i worked on these watercolors over the past four weeks - some with the kids and some on my own.  they are mostly little doodles, but they were fun to paint.

 

the best thing, for me, about project spectrum is that it gives me some focus to my creative pursuits.  i found, over these past few weeks that even when i'm painting along with the kids, i am exploring color - and that gives me a point of departure.

the photographs were taken shortly after i first read about project spectrum.  a bit of white inspiration.

the thing is, as i've been painting with the blues (which i love - i have always loved blues) and photographing the whites, i've been itching for green - it's all about green in my head.  perhaps it's a sign of how deeply i'm wanting spring. 

it's a good thing, then, that the second color series is green/yellow/pink.  tomorrow i'll share some of my greens.

on the mend

today was a day of recovery.  for all of us.  unlike the sick day i had anticipated, we all woke this morning feeling better.  for some of us, it was physically better - the fever was gone and health was restored.  for others, it was mental recovery.

today was the sort of day that is a reward for having persevered through the winter. 

the sort of day that is a gift in anticipation of late spring and early summer.  the air outside today was tender.  as if it had no temperature at all. 

it was a joy to be alive and well on this day.

we spent most of the morning outside on the deck, glad for the fresh air.  the kids asked for bubbles right away.  it's as if they have a sensory memory, and when the air reaches a certain temperature, they remember bubbles after months and months without.  luckily, i had saved a few bottles from party bags and such.  so we blew bubbles and watched them float away.

 

the rest of the morning was spent painting with watercolors - a favorite activity for all.  the kids were delighted (and prolific) with the colors and brushes and being outside instead of painting at the kitchen table.

and although i have not (yet) signed up for project spectrum, it has influenced the way that i've approached my creative pursuits (other than knitting, which has all been on the needles for ages) over the past several months - since i discovered lollygirl's blog in february.  so i painted with blues.  and i'll share my project spectrum related work tomorrow.

for tonight, i'll settle down on the sofa with a book.  the windows are all open and the breeze is blowing.  and i'll savor the end of this day of recovery.

signs of spring