Our Portland spring keeps turning out more flowers, and I just can’t keep up!
The chestnut blooms are about six inches tall and smelling sweet.
As the daffodils and hyacinths fade a bit, the tulips have come up. Giant red ones…
and tiny yellow ones.
Wisteria blooms are climbing all over front porches, smelling sweet as candy.
And every tiny yard is edged with the fallen peels of cherry trees, drifting like soft pink snow.
Spring always feels extra-exuberant in Portland, maybe because every single living thing is so grateful for the warmth and sunshine after our damp, chilly winters.
My jellyfish costume for SOAK is coming along! First, I had to make sure the battery packs for the electric tentacles would fit in my hat and work properly.
Then I made elastic straps so they would stay put inside the hat.
Once the mechanics were set, I needed to start making it look like a jellyfish! Sparkly fabric and tule got gathered and stuffed…
Then a ruffle for the brim got gathered.
None of the ruffled bits are glued or sewn on, just resting in place, so I can make adjustments as needed.
But I am sewing the tentacles on!
And here’s what I have so far.
Next, I give the hat-skirt thing a gather and add lots more tentacles, then see how the lights look with everything.
When Auntie Bridgett and I left the Quilt Show, we weren’t ready for our day out to be over. We knew two things… we needed lunch, and we wanted to see some new things. So we headed downtown.
For lunch, we got off the Yellow Line at Pioneer Square and walked up the curvy steps to the food carts. Nine dollars got us lunch at The Whole Bowl, with one bowl being enough for the two of us! We enjoyed listening to the waterfall fountain and watching people and pigeons enjoy the sunshine.
When we were full, we headed to the Main Branch of the Multnomah Library. I had visited with Cynthia a month ago, but Bridgett hadn’t seen it. Besides, there’s always something new.
For example, did you know that the library carries books in Danish? Two different staff librarians hunted for, and eventually Bridgett found, two of Portland native Beverly Cleary’s books translated into Danish, so I can use them to practice this difficult language.
In the map room, I started opening drawers at random and found this magnificent Trimet map of the light rail lines in Portland , shown as a video game! It was huge, accurate, and adorable.
And up on the third floor I found a large display of various interpretations of Shakespeare! T-shirts, comic books, and posters for movie adaptations filled glass cases. This poster is from a movie I had never heard of, (but will watch this evening, if it’s available.) Family friendly” versions, with the bawdy bits removed, were attempted in the 1800s, and have been carefully preserved.
I even had a flash of cross-reference bedazzlement when I saw this quote from Much Ado About Nothing and realized Lin-Manuel Miranda had used it in the flirting scene in Hamilton. (The rhyme is “I’m a trust fund baby, you can trust me.”)
By this time our brains were full and our feet were tired, so we caught the Magic 15 and headed home. What a day!
On Friday, Auntie Bridgett and I went up to the Portland Expo Center to see the Annual Quilt show put on by the Northwest Quilters Inc..
The weather was warm and sunny, so we took transit.
The number 75 took us north and through a lot of neighborhoods we had never seen before. It then headed west through the Kenton neighborhood and past the Paul Bunyun Statue. After about 30 minutes it let us off at the Yellow Train Line station on Lombard Street, and we caught the train to the Expo.
The Quilt show was an amazing combination of the art and craft of quilting and the business of selling sewing machines, quilting supplies, and sewing kits.
I was very impressed not with just the skill and care shown in piecing the quilts, but with the originality in techniques and subjects.
There was even a wonderful, small, old, Crazy Quilt, which was the one piece I would have brought home if I could.
I will tell you about the rest of the adventure tomorrow!
This week we had some of those perfect spring days. Cool and sunny, no wind, and just right for an adventure.
I also needed supplies for my jellyfish costume for SOAK, and Joann Fabrics and Crafts is down in Happy Valley. That is a half hour trip via the number 15 bus and the Green Line train.
So before lunch, Grandpa Nelson and I set out. I love taking transit through new neighborhoods. Since I’m not busy navigating, I can appreciate the trees, murals, and houses.
Our transfer from the bus to the train was easy, giving us time to enjoy the sunlight and some public art before whisking us down to Happy Valley.
The exhausting part of the day was the long walks across the ginormous parking lots!! My whole neighborhood of Sunnyside could fit in The Home Depot lot. Cars are space hogs.
After a quick lunch at Carl’s Jr., I found just what I needed at Joann. Lavender tule and sparkly fabrics, ribbons and yarn and some interesting ruffled lace will make a lovely jellyfish.
I drew the design on the back of a junk mailing so I have it in my head.
Our trip home was quick and easy, and after a bit of a lay down, I was ready for the rest of the day.
My friend Ruthie Inman is always teaching me new things! This week, we are making a new journal cover.
For our Zoom Art group this week, she asked us to pull together some muslin fabric, tissue papers or napkins, and some watered down glue.
So friends in Scotland, Illinois and Portland did just that. And the project, at least this part, was just as easy as it could be. We slathered the thin glue mixture onto the fabric, tore the tissue paper into pieces, and stuck them down.
I started with bright colors from napkins, and then softened them with the white layers.
We kept gluing until we had about four layers, pausing to let it dry a bit in between layers so the whole gooey thing didn’t disintegrate under our brush.
I finished my piece with some old wrapping tissue flowers and a butterfly from a napkin, and left it to dry.
And to make sure it didn’t stick to the mat and dried completely by tomorrow, I carefully peeled the fabric and paper layers off the mat and laid them on a cooling rack.
We’ll see what happens when we all Zoom Art together on Thursday!
You know I love our local Pioneer Cemetery, Lone Fir. It has been used for over 150 years and always brings me peace and perspective.
In the spring, it is full of dandelions and dogwood blossoms, birdsong and baby squirrels.
The very, very dead folks seem to balance out the newness of spring, reminding us that all this newness comes and goes quickly. “Enjoy the beauty!” They whisper. “It’s gone in a blink!”
This year is shaping up to be one of many adventures. Camping with SOAK, art boothing with Auntie Bridgett, and maybe even a visit to you. It’s good to know I can carry the perspective of Lone Fir with me.
Auntie Katie and Cousins Jasper and Kestrel have invited me to be part of their camping group at SOAK this year!
SOAK is the regional version of Burning Man, with lots of folks camping out, making art and music, and having fun together. SOAK is closer to Portland than the ‘real’ Burning Man, being just 93 miles away, and shorter, (four days) and in a more human-friendly area ( a grassy campground instead of a dusty desert). I think it is going to be a fun Adventure.
I haven’t been camping for a long time (here is a picture of your great grandma Billie and me about 56 years ago at Coyote Creek), so I will need to pick up a small tent, cot, and sleeping bag. But I’m sure there are folks out there to borrow from, so I won’t run out and buy those just yet.
Sunday, I went shopping for materials for my “festival” outfit. Since the theme of SOAK this year is “Electric Ocean”, I will try and make a jellyfish-like thing, with dangling lights and lacy bits. The first thing I needed was a hat from which to dangle the bits.
I walked down to Hawthorne Street, where there are lots of used and vintage clothing- type shops.
2nd Street was clean, bright and well organized. Most of their clothes were very current, with lots of jackets and high end atheletic shoes. Good stuff, and a nice staff, but not what I needed.
Crossover, just across the street, was also very current, with nice clothes and about three dozen ball caps, but not what I needed. The lady at the register told me that this store is part of a national corporation, which surprised me. Has clothing become so pricey that used clothes are a paying business?
I made my way a few blocks down to House of Vintage, an old favorite. This store is huge, with lots of corners and nooks and shelves to hunt in. Besides clothing, it carries kitchen knickknacks, fabrics and laces, records and books.
And it was in the middle of all the clutter that I found my hat!
It is a vintage straw hat made by “Billie” Ross of the Palm Beaches, and feels sturdy enough to hold all the lights, ribbons, and doodads I plan on attaching to it.
Now comes the collecting, sorting, and attaching of all the floaty, sparkly, electric bits. I’ll keep you posted. Wish me luck!
Well, the Crazy quilt is all done, washed, and ready to be used.
Of course, it couldn’t get finished simply or easily; it had to make me a little crazy first. You know how it is when your Mom tries to cut your bangs and she cuts one part too short, and then has to cut the rest to match? There was some of that.
I had planned on a wide plum-colored edge to frame the quilt top, but I cut too much off one side, had to cut the others to match, and got a really narrow frame instead. It was accidentally perfect, and I love it!
I sewed the finishing seam in the machine, careful to keep the edges smooth and even. To finish it off, I gave it a gentle wash in the bathtub and then a tumble dry.
It developed that lovely quilty crinkle that I love so much.
I am very happy to have made a pretty, useful thing. It is also a memory quilt, because it has fabrics from Auntie Katie, Auntie Bridgett, my friend Charlotte, and projects I made for lots of other folks. It even has some embroidery by Kestrel and Katie.
Along with the Crazy Quilt, I have been working on a new Adventure Grandma Story. It’s going to be bigger, better, and more complicated than the first one.
The first story was just you (Liza) and me (Grandma Judy) on a cycling trip around Denmark. We found Viking history, bog men, and learned a little about what we were made of. I enjoyed writing it and, even more, listening to you read it!
This one has an expanded cast of you, me, Cousin Kestrel and Auntie Katie, and a supporting cast of your Daddy David, Cousin Jasper, Momma Olga, and Grandpa Nelson. We are all involved in a Scavenger Hunt Quest to learn about the Vikings and their place in Danish History.
I have been having great fun doing research for the story…. Where did the Vikings go? How did they get there? How should WE get there? What sort of games can we play? I’m learning about train lines, ferry schedules, and ancient burial mounds.
Since this story covers more ground, it will take longer to write and probably won’t be done by our next visit. But be assured that I am pushing it forward everyday.
