We had a Valentine’s Day snow storm, so it was stay-inside-and-make-cookies sort of day. I made a salmon quiche for dinner and we had a lovely, quiet evening.
And for our Valentines cards, we got all arty!
My cards for Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson were projects I worked on with Ruthie Inman this week.
Soupy watercolor backgrounds were painted, left to dry, and pressed flat under three big volumes of Shakespeare. Then tissue paper and napkins were glued onto card stock and cut into hearts. Then the hearts were glued to the watercolors, and everything got glued to a card and pressed again. It was fun, not terribly exacting, and turned out very well.
Auntie Bridgett’s card to me was also very artsy! It is a line drawing inspired by her latest painting for GiftyKitty, which I just love. It featured cats, coffee, and lots of swoops, hearts, and spirals.
We are expecting a full on snow storm, and last night the temperature was nearing freezing. So, (of course), we went out. Our first priority was dinner, and we tried Mississippi Pizza. Their gluten free crust is crisp and delicious, and their garlic and onion pizza has made us vampire proof. It was amazing.
The pizza shop is also a music venue and comedy club, and has all sorts of smaller rooms and hallways. The decor is chaotic and fun and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Mississippi Pizza was perfect because our goal for the evening was GiftyKitty, which is just up the street. GiftyKitty is the delightful store run by Clody Cates, Bridgett’s business cohort. She was having a “Meowgical Forest” display in her shop. This was part of Portland’s Festival of Light. All sorts of art that glow under black light were being featured, and that sounded too good to miss.
The street was nearly empty because of the cold, and the storefront was very dark. That’s because the interior was only lit with the black lights that make the art glow. Once inside, though, the effect was , well, “meowgical”.
We walked around and gawked as Clody told about all the artists. Eventually, we had to brave the cold, get back to the car, and head home.
It’s amazing what’s out there, if you just put on the big coat!
Just before Christmas, I started this 50 year scrapbook, as a 50th Anniversary gift for Grandpa Nelson, a fun project, and a way for me to revisit all these wonderful, busy years together.
I collected old photos, scanned and printed them, trimmed, collaged, typed and swore quite a bit. I typed the minimal text on Auntie Bridgett’s vintage Corona typewriter, shifting from third to first person as I went.
With all the cutting, I managed to aggravate a wrist injury so I am having to invent new ways of pouring coffee and folding clothes while it heals.
But I love it! It isn’t perfect; it is even missing (at least) one trip to Hawai’i. But it has served its purpose! It made Grandpa Nelson chuckle, let me play with paper, and fed my brain with re-visited memories.
And it got us all caught up and ready for whatever the heck comes next…. All while barely fitting in the recycled book it was built in!
It has been a while since I’ve written. I felt like I was repeating myself, didn’t have anything good to say, and just needed to stop talking for a while.
Several things have helped me out of my rut. First, I ran into a group called The Portland Raging Grannies, and have joined them. This group of local women write songs and march at rallies to chant for justice. I think all our small voices taken together can help change the injustices currently washing over us, and give people hope.
Next, I found the Portland Food Project, which collects food from local folks and distributes it to food banks. I have thought I couldn’t help because I don’t drive, but the Food Project comes by twice a month to collect the food! This is a very convenient way to make sure our local folks are fed….Because fed people are happier people.
Then there is Positive Charge PDX. This group was founded by Sally and her daughter Jordan, and their sole mission is to amplify kindness in the world. This year they have collected over 1,700 Valentine cards which will be distributed to old folks homes and Meals on Wheels, so folks with no friends or family can still get a smile in Valentine’s Day. I met them at Tov Coffee when I was dropping off our donations.
I realized that since the election, I have felt a bit beaten down… like there was more ick than joy in the world. But meeting these positive, creative, power -of -the -people groups has given me new hope for our countries’ future.
Auntie Bridgett and I walked out in the rain the other day to see the new show at Happy Anyway. This small, delightful shop is just a few blocks down on SE Belmont here in Portland, and is one of our new favorite places.
Besides the usual quirky antiquities and tchatchkies, there is a show this month and next of Allie Yacina’s sketchbooks and art.
I quickly fell in love with Allie’s color palette and blend of observation and style, almost like Matisse… but not quite. I stared at the opened sketchbooks posted on the wall, and flipped through the one on the counter. Each one seemed to show me a new way of seeing.
Because these are Allie’s sketchbooks, we see the lines and corrections, the process of how she makes the image happen. This makes all this beauty feel very “do-able”… very possible, even for me. Allie is holding a small workshop and “sketch time” on January 19th, so folks can all hang out with this talented lady and do art together!
Since Allie lives in our neighborhood, and paints what she sees, many of these sights are familiar to me. Lone Fir Cemetery. Shop fronts on Burnside. Laurelhurst Park.
Steph Sheldon, the owner, is always fun to talk with, about art or any other subject. She has a positive attitude that is not starry-eyed, but strong and almost defiant. “Happy anyway” is her response to “The world is a mess”.
We spent a delightful hour at the shop and walked back home through our dear, soggy neighborhood. As so often happens after looking at art, every curb and branch became an object of wonder and appreciation.
I have become sort of obsessed with this Fifty Plus Years scrap book I am making.
Trying to include highlights from Grandpa’s and my time together has made for many trips down the rabbit hole of photo albums and memory lane.
There are the historic bits I want to get right and can’t always remember, and then there are the layout and artistic bits. Is this color okay with this photo? Why is this shiny paper so hard to work with? Where is that ticket stub?
So far I have worked by way from 1974 to 1992, with most pages having some text with my take in what was happening.
It won’t take Fifty Years, but it won’t be done anytime soon. I’ll bring it with me this Summer.
This year, Christmas Day evening was also the first night of Hanukkah, so of course we combined the two and had a fine time with Auntie Katie and the Cousins.
But first, there was a pork roast to start, presents from out of town to open, and a table to set. It was a wonderful, if slightly overwhelming, morning.
But once things were settled, and before company arrived, I needed to take a walk out in the fresh, rainy air of the neighborhood. My pretty new scarf from Grandpa Nelson goes perfectly with my sweater and hat from Donna! Whoever thought I would be wearing a coordinating, purple outfit?
Outside, the puddles were wide and no one was out, but it was the quiet and calm I needed in a busy day.
And once the family showed up, all was well. We ate and talked and were silly, like always. I love that with kids, every year is different. Their tastes, ideas, and conversation always surprise and amaze me.
After dinner we lit the candles for the first day of Hanukkah, and Katie set them up with some tin foil. “Putting the candles in the window is a mitzvah,” she explained. “Dripping wax on the sill isn’t.” Auntie Bridgett agreed. I like this picture of the menorah and reflections, through the window to John and Stacy’s balcony lights.
We opened presents, including a book of Charlie Brown mad libs and some fabulous books from Katie’s shop. There will be some good reading on these chilly winter days.
Then came the dessert/ artsy portion of the evening. My Christmas pudding was delicious but wouldn’t light… let’s hope the superstition about that (no flame, no good luck) is inaccurate.
Screenshot
Other activities were more successful. Katie and the Cousins had spent their day baking sugar cookies and making royal icing, and we all got to decorate, if we wanted.
Just like doing art online with Ruthie, we all enjoyed each others company while doing our own thing.
I love that Katie has a huge variety of cookie cutters, collected over many years. We had Teddy bears, ninjas, duckies, stars, and what seem to be tiny, baby monsters… wonderful, odd, and sincere. Like us!
Katie even made sense out of Grandma Billie’s Santa shape. It looked wonderful, with gummy bears coming out of the sack!
We watched an old Dr. Who episode which included Vincent Van Gogh, which I enjoyed very much, and then took a group photo… with some difficulty.
Balancing a thin iPhone on a flower vase and then pushing the button with JUST enough force to activate the timer but not enough to knock the phone over is a tricky maneuver. But after many tries, it worked!
The day after our anniversary celebration, we headed downtown to see all the pretties and hustle and bustle. Our first target was the Tuba Christmas at Pioneer Square, which is called The Living Room. This concert involves more than a hundred folks, ages 11 to 89, playing low brass instruments, like tuba, sousaphone, baritone, and euphonium.
This concert is so popular, we could only find spots to stand on the level above and hear the concert, rather than see it. Still, it was lovely. The music swells up and bounces off the buildings as pigeons fly around.
Around the corner and down the block we found some Dickensian carolers. Beautiful costumes and sweet four part harmonies made it really feel like Christmas, with smiling crowds and busy traffic.
Further along, we found Director Park. During the summer, the fountain here is great for splashing, but today it is better for running and climbing. Also at the park were cozy fire pits,
our old friend Jay Ringer playing music on his pocket trumpet and melodium,
and some young men making s’mores with Graham crackers, marshmallows and blow torches. Not surprisingly, they were exactly what we needed on this chilly day.
In the small building in the park was a whole shop of goodies from our local artist Mike Bennett. Stuffties, stickers, glasses, and lots of other delightful things were selling very well.
About this time, we realized that, even with the s’mores, we were pooped and ready to head home. We walked down Alder to the bus stop to catch the magic 15.
I’m making another book, because I really love making books! Also, with Grandpa Nelson and I celebrating FIFTY years of marriage, it seemed like a retrospective was called for.
My first thought was that it would be a simple photo album, maybe a picture or two from each of our 50 years. But the more I thought about it, I realized that I have some skills and imagination, and if I put them to work, this could be something worth sharing, maybe even passing down.
First, I needed a book to build the album in. Down at Belmont Books, Joe has all sorts of possibilities. I chose this one because it is sturdy, lays flat, and has enough (probably too many) pages to work with. Collage always makes a book much thicker, and I can tear out the leftover pages when I’m done.
For the covet, I found just the right papers in Auntie Bridgett’s collage boxes. A very 1970s vibe….
I went through my own collage boxes for postcards, maps and ticket stubs that will help tell our story. I also pulled dozens of photos. Since original photos from back then were printed on stiff paper, I used my scanner to make more flexible copies.
I’m afraid Grandpa and Bridgett are putting up with the dining table being a bit cluttered!
Still, slowly, page by page, front to back and with lots of moving and shifting (and not gluing anything down until I’m sure it’s in the right place!) it is coming together. I use mod podge as my adhesive, making sure to let each page dry and get pressed before building the next one. Each page will also have some sentences about what was happening at the time… I’ll type them in Bridgett’s vintage typewriter to feel old fashioned and cool.
As I collect pictures and remember more adventures, I keep shifting things… like real life, this project is going to be more complicated than I first thought.
But each page will tell of another adventure… even though some are not very detailed yet. All I can promise is that it probably won’t take a whole fifty years to get it done!
I went for a walk around Laurelhurst the other day between the rains, and there was a lot going on!
These lovely people were working at the horse shoe pits, cleaning up the edges and digging out the mud to make them beautiful and useable for the next season.
They are, left to right, Kimber, Brian, Taylor and Dylan. They all work for the Portland Parks Department, and Dylan works full time at Laurelhurst.
The horse shoe pits are his “Passion Project”, approved and funded by the City, with work done by he and his friends.
There are about ten sets of horse shoe pits, so this is a big job. I am so glad our park has such enthusiastic support!
On my way out of the park, I ran into this fellow sweating at a giant puddle. He was trying to unclog a storm drain, working with a regular household broom and a pick-up stick, neither of which were doing the job very well.
Every time he got a spot draining, a glob of leaves would wash in and stop it up again.
As we chatted, a City truck came by and checked in, and seeing the need, the driver pulled over. He pulled out a fine strong crowbar and, after just a few strokes, got the blockage cleared.
Now the puddle won’t block traffic or make a mess for dogs and bikes.
With our rainy season just picking up speed, these improvements will keep our park in good shape for years to come. Love,
Dear Liza 