As we start to see the end of winter, gardens can need tending to. It is too early for me to start in my vegetable patch at a Blair Community Garden…. I have tried pushing the seasonal limits and been disappointed there before.
But Auntie Katie’s garden at Books with Pictures doesn’t grow vegetables. It is full of hardy perennials like rhododendrons, irises and roses. She uses this lovely spot the other three seasons for story readings, lectures and book signings, performances, and as part of her Books with Pictures Comic Con.
This is me reading to some munchkins a few summers ago.
The garden has been through its second winter now and is well established.
But our week of especially cold weather took its toll on her irises, killing off the tallest leaves and even some early buds. Old weeds have died and need to be dealt with, and the last of the fall leaves have turned to slimy muck on the ground. So I get to go over and get my hands dirty.
Spring doesn’t officially start until next month, but many of the flowers here are ready and willing.
Camellias are always early to the party, and this multi-colored trio at Laurelhurst Park is taller than me and blooming like crazy.
Playing nicely alongside is this amazing striped one. It looks like peppermint!
I do not know the name of this spindly, skinny tree, but it is always one of the earliest to bloom. I love its tiny pink flowers against the dark green of the fir tree, a hundred feet over head.
Warm weather is due this week, and I’ll be out in it. But I love the soggy, as well.
My friend Ruthie Inman is always finding new ways to challenge our little zoom art group. This week she asked us to get a cream cheese box so we could cover it and make it pretty and useful.
The silvery coating on the box was very slippery and needed lots of gesso before it would take any paint. My first idea was to paint the whole thing bright orange and then collage over it. I didn’t take a picture, but trust me, it was awful.
I asked YOU and you said i should paint the whole thing black and figure out what to do next. So I did, and here’s what came next : really beautiful paper cut into teeny tiny bits.
I love mosaics, and black always looks good between bright colors. I got the top covered while Ruthie, Zoe and I chatted.
And to make the inside pretty, I found some gold foil (it came wrapped around pears at Christmas) and cut it to fit the bottom of the box.
This box still isn’t finished…. The black parts aren’t pretty and it needs a clasp to keep it closed.
And speaking of works in progress, I did another experiment with boxes… this time, a Yogi tea box. I was thinking of using it instead of the cream cheese box.
But as I held it, it felt too flimsy to be of any use. maybe I could reinforce it? I pulled apart the glued corners and laid it flat, laid tissue paper over the whole thing, front and back, with Mod Podge medium, then put it back together. It is stronger, but is still in its slightly-lumpy-tissue state.
But fear not. All will be well…and if it isn’t, I am only out a few cents of Mod Podge.
This winter has been very disconnected, and disconnecting. Being sick, or having Grandpa Nelson sick, since early December has made us be more stay-at-homey than usual. So Auntie Bridgett and I have started making an effort, every weekend, to get out and fall in love with Portland’s small businesses again.
This past Sunday we walked south. On Hawthorne, we saw the new Mochinut shop, which sells ‘corn dogs’ made with rice flour and other delicious things.
Continuing south to Division, we stopped in at The Whole Bowl for lunch. It is in the small food truck court between 35th Place and 36th Avenue. You can find it by looking for this mural and walking down the short alley.
This is the look of a woman enjoying the beans, brown rice, avocados, cheese, sauce and cilantro of a delicious Whole Bowl. Yum!
Well fed and ready for a shopping adventure, we headed into Artifact. This curated, funky, affordable secondhand store is always fun.
Bridgett found a tiny metal table that is finding good use in her crowded studio.
Collage art supply was our next stop. I found magenta embroidery floss that will be nice in the crazy quilt. Bridgett noticed that they have changed their inventory a bit, having more kid’s art supplies, fewer art papers and pens. They have also moved their back wall forward, so the main space is smaller.
By now I was starting to flag, so we headed north, stopping to see what’s happening with the Farmhouse Food Carts on SE 35th Place. We were worried that this delightful pod would disband with the departure of Reverend Nat’s Cider, but Migration Brewing has taken a short term lease and is hoping to have a fine summer. Shera Indian Food, Let’s Roll Sushi and Gyro! are all making use of the space, and will have increasing hours as the weather warms up.
We made our last leg home, stopping by Asylum to pay our respects to this cool shop that is closing soon.
As we have learned, small businesses in big cities are always a gamble, and if you like a place, you have to buy their stuff. Your sale may be what boosts that day’s sales over a bar.
Valentine’s Day is this week, and the world has suddenly gone very pink! Auntie Bridgett and I headed towards Division Street Sunday and found all sorts of pretty things. The Daphne bushes are blooming all over the neighborhood, smelling fabulous.
The Valentine’s Day decorations that are popping up in yards are sure pushing the pink agenda.
There is a new shop in Hawthorne called Mochinut, where they sell doughnuts, ‘corn dogs’ and other gluten free treats made with rice flour. They also carry all sorts of drinks and even soft serve ice cream. And their sign? PINK.
We saw a lot of new businesses, too, and some old favorites . I will you about them tomorrow.
I KNOW it is not spring yet. I KNOW there will be cold nights and even some freezing days before winter calls it quits. I have sworn that this year I will not get ahead of myself and think that warmer weather is just around the corner.
And then I go out for a walk and find these beauties, these bright sparks of spring, popping out of the mud.
And even tiny snowdrops will look you in the eye if you get down to their level. But it was not many years back that snow piled up on my garden in APRIL, for goodness sake. So I will not be fooled.
When I finished sewing curtains and walking in the sunshine the other day, I counted my pieced and embroidered crazy quilt blocks.
There are almost 100!!! When laid out in a 10 by 10 square (ish), they cover about a five foot by five foot area. I am so pleased!
I love how the colors, shapes and embroidery work together. I love the “aerial photograph of a fantasy world” look. I love the map-ish-ness of it. I want to get tiny and go for long walks on this quilt.
Cousin Kestrel has even been doing some embroidery when she comes by, and Auntie Katie, too.
Auntie Bridgett cut me a strong template from an old book cover (left from our friend Melody Bush’s book excavation art) so I can make sure the blocks are straight and even before sewing them together.
But is it enough? I still have enough fabric to make more blocks, and there is certainly no hurry to finish it. Hmmmmmmm….
I will take a break, think on it, and let you know soon.
With all this sunny weather, however temporary it may be, comes the need to be out in the world; so Auntie Bridgett and I had a short road trip to Multnomah Village.
This is a charming “Village in the center of Portland”, full of small shops, yummy cafes, and friendly people. To me, it feels far from ‘real’ Portland, even though it is less than 20 minute’s drive from our place.
We visited “Peggy Sunday”, a beautifully decorated shop of soaps, dishes, art, and toys, everything looking and smelling wonderful. We chatted with Judy Leach, who was running the shop, and learned that she loves France as much as we do.
As we walked down the street, we realized that despite the bright sunlight, it was very chilly. We stepped into Annie Bloom’s books to warm up, and I found a new collection of short stories called “Marple”. Think of it as fan fiction, if you will. Stories starring Miss Jane Marple, Agatha Christie’s geriatric British sleuth, but written by contemporary female authors. I have already finished one and am enjoying it immensely.
We continued to The Down to Earth Cafe for lunch, enjoying the delicious smells and the friendly hubbub of lunchtime. Delicious split pea soup, salads and sandwiches gave us the strength to carry on.
Having walked up and down the main drag of the Village, it was time for our next adventure. I realized that we were just minutes from The Nordic House, and that Auntie Bridgett hadn’t seen the Troll yet. Once we found parking (lots of people like this place!) we walked up the Troll Path and paid a visit to Ole Bolle.
This 30 foot high troll by Thomas Dambo is part of a series of trolls he has created in the Northwest. This one is shown opening a small red house as though it were a cookie jar to get at the goodies inside. It is so sweet and charming, with lovely details. It definitely brings out the kid in me.
We visited the Sauna Culture display in the Nordic House, then headed towards home. The sparkling clear skies gave us stunning views of the totally snow-covered Mt. Hood, just 90 miles east.
After we had our usual ZOOM chat with you and your folks Saturday morning, Auntie Bridgett and I headed off for an adventure. We drove up to Bolt Fabric. I needed to have my scissors sharpened and to pick up some new fabric for the ongoing crazy quilt.
The store has moved since November, and it took a while to find it! The new shop is at Alberta and 29th, and is a larger store, with lots more selection and fun displays. I left my scissors with Sharpener Marc Matis, who has a shop on Sandy called Sharpening 4 U, and we looked around a bit.
I was feeling a little light headed, so we found The Great North for coffee and pastries across the street. This place is also new, and very bright and sunny. And delicious!
We found the fabric I needed, along with some thread, since I have been going though a lot of it with the quilt, and picked up the nicely sharpened scissors from Marc. I love that his business sticker is on a bandaid!
On the way back to the car, we found a tiny new art gallery called The Blind Insect. Pepe Moscosos displays his art as well as other artists’ work. I like Pepe’s work, though they were hard to photograph because of the strong afternoon sunlight. He has traveled to photograph deserted places in the U.S.and then uses the photos as the basis for story-evoking multi-media art. I enjoyed making up stories about them.
When we are done, and done in, we drove home and I washed the new fabrics.
Some will work for the Crazy Quilt and some won’t, but they are all pretty… and certainly won’t go to waste!
