Judy – Page 43 – Dear Liza

Family Alert!

Dear Liza,

We had a wonderful visit this week. Auntie Bridgett’s sister Esther and her family came through town and we got to spend some time with them. We had so many neat things we wanted to show them!

They spent their first night at the McMenamin’s Kennedy School, so we met them there for dinner. Over pizza and breadsticks, we got to hear about the trip up and make plans for what to do in town.

Then we introduced them to the ghosts! Many of the McMenamin’s properties are rumored to have spirits wandering around, and the Kennedy School is one. There have been sightings of a little girl who wanders around and looks out the window. The artists have captured this eerie feeling in several murals.

As Grandpa Nelson, Auntie Bridgett and the kids were looking at one art piece, I took their picture in front of another one… and it got creepy. Look at that girl with the ribbon above Bridgett’s head. She is up to no good.

There was also art that didn’t give me shivers, of course. The skylights in the hallway all have mosaics that reflects light beautifully.

On this visit, we even got to see the inside of a hotel room, because the family had reserved one. They stayed in a room just down the hall from the movie theater. It was very nice and didn’t seem to have any ghosts.

We gave everyone good night hugs and headed home. More adventures tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tickled Pink About Babies

Dear Liza,

I love making baby quilts. They are small and quick and you can get creative with the colors, since they don’t have to match any sort of decor. The last baby quilt I made was yours, ten years ago, and I thought my baby quilting days were over.

But life keeps handing me surprises, and a dear friend has just become a parent. So that friend, their spouse, (and their little girl) get a quilt. Our trip to Bolt Fabric Boutique yielded lots of pretty pinks. I think The Barbie Movie has given the color a popularity boost.

I browsed online to get pattern inspiration, and came up with this interpretation of a windowpane pattern.

Using a rotary cutter and careful measurement makes all the pieces straight and even and makes piecing a dream.

It took me one evening to cut the pieces, the next afternoon to sew the pieced blocks, and another morning to get the black borders added.

I am very pleased with the top, and am still deciding how I ought to quilt it. Should it be hand-stitched and folksy? Or Machine straight lines, to follow the window shapes?

I love creative decisions!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Selfie Bot

Dear Liza,

Every time we go for a walk in Laurelhurst park, there is a surprise. Saturday evening, we found Selfie Bot!

Selfie Bot is the creation of artist Kelly Fry, a local artist who does animation, book illustration, and public art installations.

The way Selfie Bot works is…

You sit in the chair and Ben Denham, Selfie Bot’s assistant, rings some little bells to wake up the Bot inside (I’m guessing it is artist Kelly Fry).

Then you smile and wait a few minutes, and your portrait pops out the front of the Selfie Bot. C’est moi, non?

I wasn’t the first portrait of the evening, and I wasn’t going to be the last, either. After me, a lady and her family stopped by and had a lot of fun visiting with Selfie Bot. Art you can interact with is always fun!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Gary Hirsch First Friday

Dear Liza,

This past Friday Auntie Bridgett and I walked over to SideStreet Arts for their First Friday show. Gary Hirsch, who makes the Botjoy characters and murals that are all over Portland, was showing his paintings.

The artists at SideStreet provided snacks and beverages as everyone enjoyed Gary’s quirky paintings and happy company.

Many of the paintings sold even before the show opened, thanks to SideStreet’s website, but we could still enjoy them. Paintings that had been sold had a discreet red dot placed on their label.

The associate artists I enjoy were also on display. Julia Janeway had her delightful rabbit ceramics out.

And Jennifer Foran’s beautiful forests painted on slices of wood were as serene as ever.

As we headed home we enjoyed the window display, which included the title of the show: Thoughts, Feelings, Actions.

I feel very fortunate to be able to enjoy art, and artists, in Portland!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Real Bee Guy

Dear Liza,

Walking in the Going Street neighborhood was a real delight. Folks were happy and chatty about their gardens. Auntie Bridgett complimented a lady on her sunflowers and how popular they were with the local bees, and the lady referred us to a beekeeper, just around the corner. “He sells honey on his front porch,” she said.

Since Bridgett’s main character in her Auntie Beeswax comic keeps bees, we wanted to know more! We walked a bit, and found a house with espaliered fruit trees serving as a hedge. We could see a table and sign advertising local honey, so we knew we were in the right track.

On the other side of the hedge we found Glen Andresen, who is indeed a local apiarist (beekeeper). This is the busy season for bees, so he couldn’t stop too long and chat, but he and Auntie Bridgett found they have a common interest in both bees and cartoons, so they hit it off.

Glen works with a local beekeeping supply and education group called Bridgetown Bees, and judging from the busy thirty-odd hives we saw , he knows what he is doing. He and Bridgett will talk bees soon, I’m sure.

After we let Glen get back to work, we walked towards Bolt Fabric Boutique, talking about how often it happens that being early (or late, or lost) turns into a delightful adventure.

I’ve often called this navigating by serendipity, and this adventure proves that it still works!

Love,

Grandma Judy

An On Going Adventure

Dear Liza,

No, I didn’t make a typographical mistake. This adventure took place on Going Street in Northeast Portland. It all started when Auntie Bridgett and I needed some fabric for various upcoming projects and arrived an hour early at Bolt Fabric Boutique.

Wanting to make good use of our time, we took a walk in the neighborhood. We admired the gardens decorations and beautiful, intelligent and inspiring artwork that had been planted, painted and installed.

It was like an art gallery! I like the words ( too big to fit in one photo) “Respect Existence or Expect Resistance”. It is not often that yard decor, political commentary and up cycled road signs come together so beautifully.

There were also more mainstream, but still clever instillations. Decorated poles, flowers made from old tableware,

And this watering-can ivy planter made the neighborhood pretty and interesting.

And of course, Auntie Bridgett never met a sunflower she didn’t like!

We also met a really interesting fellow, but I’ll you about him next time!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Making a New Chair Bag

Dear Liza,

Summer means a lot of picnics, shows and concerts, and other good reasons to be outside. And, usually, this involves our camp chairs.

We have had them for years and they are very light to carry and sturdy to sit in. Their weakest part is the bags they come in, so every now and then I need to make a new one. It was Auntie Bridgett’s turn and she got to choose her fabric from my scrap box.

She chose these curtains we made years ago for her Seaside apartment. They were fashionably striped and even lined, so the bag will last longer.

I used the old bag for a pattern, then cut the curtains to fit and added a bit of other fabric to make sure the bag would be long enough. The straps and bottom panel were reused from the original.

With reinforcing bits below the slit and the drawstring in place, it is ready for our next outing.

Ta Da! Another project in the books.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Harry’s Birthday at the Kennedy School

Dear Liza,

One of our favorite local businesses, the McMenamin brothers, helped us celebrate Harry Potter’s birthday this past weekend. The party was at The Kennedy School.

We started with lunch on the Cypress Room patio and Zach took good care of us. There was a special menu of food and drink to honor our favorite boy Wizard, and we took advantage. I had the Leaky Cauldron Shepherd’s Pie and Bridgett enjoyed the Chamber of Secrets pizza in a gluten free crust. Our drinks were a butter beer for Grandpa Nelson, Felix Felicius for me, and Pumpkin Juice for Bridgett.

Once we were fed, it was time to shop! The classrooms of the School were filled with vendors of candy, books, art, and all sorts of Wizarding goodies. Honeydukes sold me some delicious peanut butter fudge. I passed on the “Cornelius Fudge”, which a fellow shopper guessed might taste of cowardice and bad management. (Don’t you just love clever smart guys?)

I met Christie Quinn, The BookMobile Babe, at her Banned Books booth.
She knows Auntie Katie and Books with Pictures and loves them almost as much as I do! In the world of “Folks Who Get Books to Kids”, these two are best buddies.

As always at McMenamin’s, we took time to appreciate the design and decoration of the place. We stepped into The Detention Bar for a refresher cocktail (and to get Bridgett the special stamp in her McMenamin’s Passport) and enjoyed the Oriental details as the The Chamber of Secrets played in the overhead screen.

Just down the hall was this lovely, ornate door, labeled Kennedy Night School. Our waiter, Zach, walked past as I was taking this picture. “It doesn’t go anywhere and is just nailed up there,” he said, “but doesn’t it look neat?”
Yes, it does.

When we had seen everything there was to see and gotten Auntie Bridgett a few more stamps, we headed home. I love that Harry and the McMenamin’s get together.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Different Sort of Shakespeare

Dear Liza,

Saturday evening was warm and pleasant, so we headed out for a walk around Laurelhurst. We found a totally new (to us) group of actors putting on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

This is not the Original Practice Shakespeare, or the Portland Repertoire, or the Reed College Theater. Apparently we live in a city with FOUR Shakespeare theater troupes!

We chatted with the director, Eleanor Johnson, and decided to pull up a piece of lawn and enjoy the show. And, even as the evening got cooler and the ground got damper, we stayed. And, after years of studying Shakespeare, I understood Julius Caesar as I never have before.

Oregon Adventure Theater rehearses extensively and works to understand and present the relationships between the characters. In this production, Brutus and Cassius do not just yell at each other; they disagree, hurt each other, cry, and make up. They are human beings, doing human things for human reasons.

Julius Caesar is not an evil person, but a flawed leader who has become dangerous because he is caught up in his own image of himself. The emotions and motives felt very real in these post January 6 times.

As the sun went down and the lanterns were lit, the drama became more dramatic and everything felt wonderful and magical.

When the final bows were taken, I was stunned to see that the entire play (with a cast list of dozens) had been performed by EIGHT actors. This shows great dedication and talent. Hooray for Oregon Adventure Theatre!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Kickstand Comedy

Dear Liza,

For the past few weeks, Auntie Bridgett has been taking Improvisation Comedy classes at a place called Kickstand Comedy and Improv. She is having a great time and meeting lots of nice folks.

On Friday, we walked over to Laurelhurst for a Comedy in the Park evening. It was sponsored by Kickstand Comedy, and featured local and out of town comics. As we approached the park, we noticed that every inch of street
parking was taken. Were all these people going to the comedy?

Yes, they were!

The nice folks from Laughing Planet, one of our favorite locals cafes, were giving away stuff. We got a turntable cover with their logo… and immediately put it so silly use.

The park was full when we got there, but we found a place off to the side for our chairs. The crowd kept growing and by the end of the evening, the official estimate of attendance was over 3,000! That is a record for a show at Laurelhurst, apparently.

Kickstand folks were walking through the crowd with donation buckets, because the show itself was free and they are saving up money buy their own building in order to survive Portland’s increasing rents.

Since it was a family-friendly show, the jokes were funny without being vulgar or foul-mouthed. One fellow told of his search for a pet dog at the shelter. “This dog was listed as a gentle lab mix,” he began. “I told the guy, that’s not a lab mix! It’s 150 pounds… and carrying a gun! That …. is a murder dog.” Even the dogs in the crowd were chuckling.

Another told about his visit to his bank. “I got recognized! Yeah, the teller said, Oh, I know you! You do comedy! How’s that going? I told her, “Don’t be mean, lady, you’re looking at my account balance.”

When our picnic was all eaten and the last Comic stepped down, the crowd of 3,000 applauded, packed up, and headed off. I was very glad we only needed to walk a few blocks… people with cars were going to be waiting a while.

Love,

Grandma Judy