Judy – Page 14 – Dear Liza

Laurel and Me

Dear Liza,

I want to share with you some stories about my dear friend and former teaching partner, Laurel. We met in 1988, when we were being interviewed for two Developmental Kindergarten positions in Salinas.

This was going to be my first professional position, but Laurel was making a change in profession, from Physician’s Assistant to teacher. I grew to admire her wealth of knowledge and skills, as well as her “we’re going to get this done” attitude.

We made a perfect partnership, really. She was great at planning, but I was better at ad libbing when the plans went off the rails. We both loved working hard and making our classroom a rich, beautiful learning environment.

The four years we worked together were the most rewarding, exhausting years of my 30 year career. And since then, I have been blessed to have Laurel in my life. She celebrated weddings in the family…

and came around for Mother’s Day brunches at Katie’s house.

We moved to Portland years after she moved to Ashland, and even though we are at opposite ends of the state, we get together occasionally. I had lunch with her, her husband Milton, Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson just this past weekend!

Laurel is still in my life, and my life is better for it.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tiny Beauties

Dear Liza,

As well as cleaning up and tucking in my own plot for the winter, I had a few hours of service gardening to do at the Blair Community Garden. This is how the garden is kept in good repair; everyone does a few hours here and there.

My back has been sore from too much lifting of wheelbarrows, so today I sat right down to pull weeds. And, as so often happens, I found beauty I hadn’t expected.

This tiny mushroom was perched in the middle of the path. I didn’t pull it, because it’s not a weed. I just admired it.

These statice flowers are small, and the dew drops on them are even smaller! How pretty is this?

These spurge plants, lovely as they are when sparkled with dew, had to get pulled. They will just get bigger over our warm-ish, wet winter.

After half an hour of weed pulling and picture taking, I was wet, muddy, and ready to head home. I still have a half an hour before my service hours are fulfilled, but not today.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Jacket Season

Dear Liza,

It’s “Take a Jacket” season here in Portland. Though it’s not cold by any stretch of the Imagination, it may rain, probably, sometime during the day… so just take the jacket.

I walked out yesterday to mail all 200 of the “Please Remember to Vote” postcards I had filled out to send to North Carolina voters. Since I can’t send enough money to make a difference, this is how I contribute.

My reward for the walk was seeing how the neighborhood is improved with a bit of rain. Late summer zinnias are refreshed.

Also, skeletons are coming out to play as Halloween approaches. This fella is fishing with his kindergarten skeleton.…

They certainly are a welcoming bunch!

I hope Fall is lovely where you are, too.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Adding More …. And More

Dear Liza,

Once I realized what was wrong with my French map quilt, I got busy putting it right. Every inch on the embroidery is getting re-worked with more color, contrast, and texture.

For example, here is a section of Provence, in what I am now calling the Rough Draft stage. At the time, I thought it was done. But the olive trees are flat, and the lavender is almost invisible.

A few days later, I had added enough contrast that the area was what I wanted it to be… bright, vibrant, and inviting.

Looking further north, I realized that the glorious Loire Valley, the “Garden of France”, was looking very sparse. Too much flat fabric, not enough cultivation going on.

So I drew more lines of crops, and then more between those. Straight rows became waving hills and I got braver with colors. NOW the Loire seems like it’s living up to its potential!

I guess I’ll just keep adding stitches until it seems like I should stop!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Garden Update October 2024

Dear Liza,

Well, this summer’s growing season is over. I went to the garden yesterday and took out the mass of green that were my three tomato plants. They had overwhelmed my upright supports weeks ago, and were sort of leaning on each other.

They still had a few pounds of cherry tomatoes, especially the orange Isis Candy, but none of them were getting riper or sweeter. I picked a bunch as I cut through the tangled stems.

I took down the dahlia plants that were finished blooming and laid them on the trellis to dry. I’ll fetch them on our next dry day.

My busted wheel wagon did a good job of corralling most of the cuttings, including a fine, tall dahlia.

I covered the tomato and lettuce beds with burlap sacks to rest for the winter, and stopped before I was completely worn out.

I even got home with enough energy to put the tomatoes in to simmer for a sauce and put the dahlia in some water. Then it was time for a crossword with Grandpa Nelson.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Crayon Box Season, Again

Dear Liza,

When we first moved to Portland in 2017, I was stunned by the intensity of the fall colors. My amazement hasn’t gone away.

Just walking home from the market is a joy when you pass these lovelies. And I love walking down sidewalks when they become tunnels of ever-changing color.

Doing clean-up at the Blair Community garden is hard work, but I get to visit these zinnias… higher than my head, orange as the sun and very popular with the bees.

Yep, Portland is mighty pretty in the fall… a good way for the trees to let us know they are going to take a nice long nap.

But me, I’m not going anywhere.

Love,

Grandma Judy

The A-Maize-ing Corn Maze

Dear Liza,

We had some bright sunny Fall days this past week, so we got out to see what we could see.

We headed up to Sauvie Island, which celebrates Fall with corn, pumpkins, and all sorts of harvest goodies. This year, their corn maze (the Maize Maze) is all about the Peanuts comic strip, which Auntie Bridgett loves.

Here is the map of the maze. It was huge!

Of course, once we were inside the maze, we couldn’t see what it looked like. But we did see tall, beautiful corn stalks still growing. We smelled the sawdust mulch and heard the wind rustling through the leaves. It was a lovely walk out on a farm.

We made lots of wrong turns, and the whole maze took about 45 minutes to walk through. According to Auntie Bridgett’s Apple Watch, we walked almost two miles.

Being a “corny” maze, there were puns, such as this Cash Cow.

There were also lots of photo opportunities.

We really enjoyed our walk through the maze, but were happy to find shade and benches and snacks when we were done!

At the farm market, we got sodas and caramel corn, then drove through rush-hour traffic clear across town.

Another perfect adventure in Portland.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Ruthie Project Update

Dear Liza,

Our small ZOOm art group got together again this week, and I made some good progress on the fabric and paint thingee.

This almost-square piece of grey-and-silver fabric got painted with swirls, and then stitched with blue, white and oranges to follow the swirls.

Once I felt there were enough swirls, I found some quilt batting and some nice patterned fabric for the lining. This fabric, which I am very fond of, is up-cycled from a pair of pajamas.

I decided to use the same embroidery thread and quilt along the painted and embroidered lines, just enough to hold all the layers together. I love how textured and nubbly it is!

Now I just need to sew the side seams and put in a zipper to make a useful, beautiful padded sack.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Political Season in Portland

Dear Liza,

With just under a month until our Presidential election, politics is all over the TV, the newspaper, and even folks’ front yards.

And, since Portland tends to be mostly Democrats, there are lots of signs up for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

I’m sure there are Trump supporters who live here, but they are not putting out signs.

The lawn signs are the most interesting bunch I’ve seen, and I’ve been watching election signs since 1970 . I enjoy the artistic feel, the variety, and the frequent use of cat pictures in this year’s batch.

I know this election is important for our country. But I look forward to a little peace and quiet afterwards (but I’m not holding my breath)

Love,

Grandma Judy

Fall in the Hundred Acre Wood

Dear Liza,

My little bonsai forest, which I call The Hundred Acre Wood, is always changing. This last spring I removed my first transplant, Mr. Naito, after I realized he was not a Japanese Maple. I found a seedling that IS, named it Toranaga-sama, and planted it.

Here is the Wood on October 6, 2024.

Toranaga’s three layers of leaves show good health, and come spring, I will begin what is called Scissor Training. This involves lopping the top third of the tiny tree off, so as to encourage the growth of side branches and give it a more horizontal growth habit. This also encourages a thicker trunk, which gives the pleasantly aged effect of a bonsai.

The juniper, an evergreen, is getting taller all the time. I trim it often, dividing and shaping it into two uneven crowns.

I’m not sure what to do with the larch. Its natural habit is tall and straight, which is not what I am wanting for this forest. Two springs ago I wired it into a curvy shape, and now I have hung a weight (several coins in a mesh bag) from the top to give it a real bend, and we will see how it develops over the next few years.

Love,

Grandma Judy