Judy – Page 26 – Dear Liza

Building a Page

Dear Liza,

I am still playing in the journal Ruthie Inman got me started on a month ago. The cover is made of tissue paper built- up on fabric with thinned white glue, and has these pinks and greens.

I got quite a few of the pages done,

and then it was time to sew it all together. Using the awl and thread Ruthie sent me last year, I followed her directions and pierced and sewed the pages into the cover.

But I still had the center pages, the double page spread, completely blank. I wanted it to reflect the soft pinks and greens that are in the rest of the book, but couldn’t find collage materials I liked.

Finally, I painted them myself, using watered down acrylic paint. A sea green and a phthalo green gave me the look I wanted.

I kept building up layers of tissue paper, tissue leaves from napkins and such, trying for a sort of dreamy landscape look.

Then I made a mistake. I thought these pink worm-like bits of magazine paper would fit in, so I glued them down. The next morning, I realized that they were a bad choice. It took a few days for me to figure out how to fix it.

I got brave and used an exact-o knife to trim to awful pink bits away and repair the scratches with bits of deeper pink tissue. I like that every layer shows the layers underneath.

Now I have the dreamy landscape I wanted. I might find something else to add to it, someday. But for now, I love it.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Meeting Eloisa at Fort Vancouver

Dear Liza,

Fort Vancouver, Washington, is a historically accurate re-built fort that the Hudson’s Bay Company used as the hub of its fur trading network here in the northwest from 1825 to 1866. Seeing it again this week with a proper guide, I learned so much!

Britt, a wonderful Lone Fir volunteer who portrays “Bunko Kelly” on the Tour of Untimely Departures, had made the arrangements after learning that some folks connected to the Fort are buried right here in our own Lone Fir Cemetery.

Tammy Williams was our guide. She is so knowledgable and enthusiastic that she made the fort come alive! Her explanations of artifacts and the actual smells of the cookhouse let us feel the daily routines of trading pelts for goods, cooking for twenty people or more at a meal, and raising children of white, Indian, Hawaiian, and mixed lineage.

In particular, Tammy told us of Eloisa, one of Chief Factor John McLoughlin’s children. McLoughlin is often called the Father of Oregon for his running of Fort Vancouver in support of the American Pioneers who first came to Oregon.

Eloisa was born in Fort William, Ontario, while her father was stationed there. She was seven years old in 1824, when her family came to Fort Vancouver.
She married William Glen Rae, a man of violent temperament. They moved to Fort Stikene, Alaska, when William was assigned to the Hudson’s Bay Fort there. Eloisa hated the place, which was badly run and riddled with alcohol-fueled violence. She gave birth to her second child on the boat from Alaska back to Oregon.

William moved to another of the Company’s forts in Yerba Buena, what we call San Francisco. After her recuperation from childbirth, Eloisa and the children joined him.

Eloisa described Yerba Buena as a vibrant, interesting place. She saw bull and bear fights and partied with Spanish ladies and gentlemen.

William’s drinking and bad decision-making lead to his death by suicide, and widowed Eloisa and her children returned to Fort Vancouver. She re-married a manager of The Hudson Bay Company, Daniel Harvey, and had three more children. Sadly, Eloisa was a widow again at age fifty.

Eloisa’s life was exciting and tragic, full of experiences that were rare for women of her age, like traveling by steamship to Hawaii, and common, such as being widowed twice by age fifty. Eloisa passed away in 1884 at the age of 66, and is buried in our own Lone Fir Cemetery, alongside Daniel Harvey, Sr., and her sons Daniel Harvey, Jr., and James William McLoughlin Harvey. I will visit her next time I am in the neighborhood.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Mother’s Day 2024

Dear Liza,

Mother’s Day Sunday started slow here in Portland. Auntie Bridgett, Mouse and I spent some quality time in the couch, studying language and doing puzzles. Doesn’t Mousie look pretty on the new quilt?

I walked down to Auntie Katie’s, and we had some time together. Her cat Maggie and I helped her hang a newly framed picture. Maggie was so interested!!

We all did some planning for our upcoming SOAK camping adventure, and Kes and Maggie had a good snuggle.

We all enjoyed Speilman’s bagels for lunch, and then I headed home. The roses in the South Rose Garden of Ladd’s are just starting to open up. It’s going to be a pretty summer!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Fire at Fifty Licks

Dear Liza,

One of our favorite ice cream places, Fifty Licks, had a terrible fire on Friday. The fire started in the basement, climbed through the walls, and pretty much destroyed the inside of the shop.

As soon as we read about it in the news, we headed over to help.

We were sad to see the lovely interior torn up and smoky. It had just been remodeled last year after being shut for a long time after the pandemic. Once the fire was out, Owner Chad Draizin and his crew took matters into their own hands. They parked the ice cream truck in the car bay at Burnside Collision next door, and were serving up six of their delicious flavors.

We were happy to see so many people coming by, having read about the fire, to support this local business with sales and tips.

Get well soon, Fifty Licks!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Few Chores

Dear Liza,

We have had so many fun, busy days lately, there has to be some days to just do the stuff that needs doing.

I made an appointment for my annual “Wellness” check-up. That’s when the doctor makes sure my old brain and old heart are still up to snuff. It’s going to be a busy summer, so it’s good to get a tune up.

We are also predicted to have a solid week of sunny, over 70 degree days, so I spent some time in the garden, pulling out the invasive mint that climbs through the fence and (TAA DAA!!) putting zucchini seeds in the ground! Their packet says they should “emerge” in 5 to 8 days. I will hold them to it!

After I had washed up, I pulled your Daddy David’s oldest stufftie out of the cupboard. VIP TLC, as your daddy called him way back in 1981, was one of the Shirt Tales cartoon characters. I sewed this one from a printed fabric panel back in the days when money was tight. He was very cuddly!

It’s been 40 years or so since VIP TLC has been washed, and I want to bring him with us this summer. So he got unstuffed and put into the wash. While he was getting clean, I fluffed up the old stuffing. When he was dry, I put them back together. Now he is ready for a flight to Denmark!

My last ‘chore’ of the day was to bring my garden journal up to date. The last time I made a picture for it, the day was grey and wet.

But bright, sunny days inspire bright, sunny colors!

Swarming to OMSI

Dear Liza,

We went out to OMSI the other night for a Science Pub, a program that we have gone to before, but usually at The Kennedy School. Like other pubs, you can have beer or wine, sodas, snacks, and learn stuff!

The big show currently at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is about Dinosaurs, but we walked right past them (after saying a polite Hello from a safe distance, of course) and into the Empirical Theater.

Urban beekeeper Mandy Shaw was there to talk about her love of, and work with, bees. We are all interested in the buzzy, pollinating honey-makers and Auntie Bridgett’s main character, Auntie Beeswax, is a beekeeper, so we wanted to learn everything we could.

And we did! In Mandy’s hour long talk (complete with great video and even audio recordings of different bee activities) we learned that male bees don’t mate with their own Queen, but with Queens from other hives, at a place called The Drone Zone. This was a complete surprise, and now I wonder where our local Drone Zones are!

We also learned that if a hive makes too many Queens, the spares are killed by the bees swarming her in what is called a Murder Ball, or “Cuddle of Death”, where their body heat literally cooks her. Gruesome, but necessary. This Cuddle of Death is also used to protect the hive from invaders such as Yellow Jackets and Wasps.

Mandy obviously loves and admires bees, and told us about honeycomb ‘memory’, Mason Bees, and how bees build their own honeycomb in a process called “festooning”.

It would take another two dozen blogs to tell you all I learned, and there are folks on YouTube, podcasts and elsewhere who will give you better information. So, go learn! My brain is still processing!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Free Comic Book Day!

Dear Liza,

Saturday was National Free Comic Book Day, and we walked out into the Portland rain to celebrate.

At the Ladd’s Circle Park, we found Siri hosting some pool noodle Light Saber contests and handing out “Young Jedi” comics. As you can see, the rain did not dampen their spirits.

Further into Ladd’s, we found Cecily hosting photo ops with this troop of Charles Schulz’s Beagle Scouts and handing out Beagle Scout comics.Why are these little guys so cute? Because Auntie Bridgett painted them, that’s why!

We were getting pretty wet, but wanted to stop by and see Katie at her shop, Books with Pictures. After all, all these tents and activities had been masterminded by Katie and her wonderful staff as a way of building community with fun activities around comics.

We discovered that the shop was full to bursting, with a line out the door! That’s a lot of good vibes there, with folks chatting and staying dry. Sadly, there was so much going on, we didn’t get to hug Katie. A quick wave and a blown kiss will hold me until we see her.

Just up the street we found Charlie on the Abernethy playground, helping people hunt up Pokémon and giving out comics. This little fellow helped me find one!

The rain got heavier and we finally had to call it quits. We sloshed up to Floyd’s Coffee House on Ladd’s Circle for a hot beverage and a sweet treat.

Another volunteer for Free Comic Book Day was there! Felix had us draw pictures of things that frightened us and gave us a scary comic. It’s not my style, but I can put it in one of our Teeny Tiny Libraries.

When we were warm and fed, we waved goodbye to Felix and headed up to catch the number 14 home.

What a perfectly Portland day.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Bees and Birthdays

Dear Liza,

This past Friday was busy around here. It was Grandpa Nelson’s birthday AND First Friday at SideStreet Arts, where Auntie Bridgett was having a show.

The first part of the day was for presents and quiet puzzles. Grandpa enjoyed his refurbished clock and a gift card from Donna.

Later, we headed up to the gallery to see Bridgett’s art, along with the four other artists featured in the Love Buzz show. It was a chilly, drizzly evening, so the crowd was small. But the artwork was beautiful (and so was Auntie Bridgett).

She had paintings, moleskin sketchbooks, zines, buttons, and all sorts of adorable bits for sale. Her fellow artists Jackie McIntyre, Lea Barozzi, Michelle Gallagher and Brenda Scott and were showing paintings, ceramics, and collage works.

I think it is impossible to see bees and be sad. The colors and movement in the show even brightened the grey evening outside.

Grandpa Nelson and I visited with the artists for a while, then walked around the corner to Ankeny Tap and Table for his birthday dinner. Yummy sliders (my first actual beef in over a year… amazingly delicious) , French Fries, good conversation and a glass of red wine made for a fine celebration.

We waved at Bridgett as we headed home, walking quickly as the rain had started in earnest.
Love,

Grandma Judy

Back to the Clock

Dear Liza,

Last November, I found Grandpa Nelson’s old clock in the garage. His mom, Mona, had embroidered it for him and his sisters when they were little, about 60 years ago. Over many years and many moves, it had gotten stained and damaged.

I decided to take a chance on repairing it. I peeled the fragile fabric off its Masonite backing and gave it a wash. The stains faded, but didn’t go away.

There was still lots to do. The delicate fabric needed to be strengthened and stabilized. Looking online, I found Hemline Iron-On Invisible Mending and ordered some. Then “craft cowardice” set in, the fear that I would mess it up, and the clock sat waiting for me to get up my nerve.

With Grandpa’s birthday coming up, I wanted to see if I could get the whole thing back together. I pulled out the iron-on repair kit and gave it a try. It worked beautifully! From the front, the repairs were barely visible and the whole thing was stronger.

I added bits of embroidery to spiff it up a bit. A stitch here and there put some of the main lines back, while still letting it show its history.

I ordered a clock mechanism from Amazon, and it went in quick and easy. Polished glass and a red ribbon made it look ready for birthday giving!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Sister Corita and Me

Dear Liza,

Back in March, I got some books about Sister Corita Kent for my birthday. As you might suspect, Corita was a Catholic nun. She was also an artist and teacher at the progressive (as far as Catholic institutions go) Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles back in the 1960s.

I will not attempt a detailed biography here. There are dozens in print and online, by folks who have done their research.

What I want to talk about is how some of Corita’s “Ten Rules’ have affected me and my art.

Number 4. Consider everything an experiment.

I know Crazy Quilts are an OLD thing, but mine is a NEW thing, at least to me. Combining piecing, embroidery, beading and quilting in one totally original creation big enough for two people to snuggle under was a seven month expeiment. It worked out pretty well.

Number 6. There are no mistakes. There is no win and no fail.

This is comforting to me, after years in the classroom where I dreaded making mistakes in front of my students. Knowing I can learn from everything makes me braver.

Number 7. The only rule is the work. It is people who do all the work all the time that figure things out.

For the past few years, with help from Auntie Bridgett and Ruthie Inman, I have been reading, thinking and experimenting with art. The stitches in my Crazy Quilt were an experiment. Laying down layers of collage, then tissue, then ink. Three dimensional constructions covered in paper mosaics… all experiments. I like some better than others, but I learned from them all.

And, as Sister Corita promised, I am figuring things out.

Love,

Grandma Judy