A Fine Day at the Zoo

Dear Liza,

Since we had such a nice day Friday, Grandpa Nelson and I took the Number 15 bus and the Blue Line train and went to the zoo. This was a very popular idea, and even on a weekday morning, there were a lot of happy people there.

The animals seemed happy, as well. The Spoonbill pair was nesting, with herself sitting on the nest and himself bringing leaves to make it better. He seemed like a clumsy, but dedicated, workmate.

The African porcupine was having his lunch, right up by the fence. We got as close as I ever want to get to one of these stabby dudes.

At the Charles Darwin statue, someone had put a knitted hat on the little girl, maybe so she wouldn’t get chilly as she listened to the great man speak.

As we were heading out, we saw some other changes.

The Africafé, where we usually have lunch, has gotten a facelift and a new name, The Aviary Café. The menu is the same, and lots of families were enjoying a lunch and sit-down.

The mountain goat statue that I have posed grandkids on for years has been moved closer to the Mountain Goat enclosure, to celebrate some new arrivals.

These goats have gotten onto the Olympic Peninsula where they are not native, and are causing habitat problems. Some young goats who have been orphaned are being placed at the Zoo. Adults are being moved to the national forests.

Isn’t he handsome?

And just because I can’t resist including a picture of cute kids, here’s a five year old shot of Cousins Jasper and Kestrel on the goat statue.

Love,

Grandma Judy

And the French Just Keeps on Coming!

Dear Liza,

This past week, I passed a new milestone: 1200 straight days of French lessons on Duolingo! I started being diligent about it after I retired and moved to Portland , and Auntie Bridgett makes sure I don’t skip a day.

I like learning on Duolingo for many reasons. I am on the FREE program, so it doesn’t cost me anything.

I can learn silently if I’m sitting near someone and don’t want to disturb them, or turn up the volume and hear how the language sounds.

The little green mascot owl, called Duo, is always encouraging and never appears to think I’m an idiot, even when I’m sure I am.

And now, because of my streak, I have three days of cool extra French lessons. I have also had fun learning a bit of Danish, so I can read menus when I visit you.

Seriously, I wish I could have gotten my students as pumped about learning as I am right now. I did try. But I’m not as cute as Duo.

Love,

Grandma Judy

67 and Having Fun

Dear Liza,

Yesterday was my birthday, and my lovely people turned it into a two day celebration. Saturday was predicted to be the warmest, sunniest day of the year so far, so we went out and about. We drove about 20 minutes east to McMenamin’s Edgefield resort to enjoy their St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
It was so warm, I didn’t even wear a coat!!

Like most of the McMenamin’s properties, Edgefield has a history. Back in the early part of the last century, it was the Multnomah County Poor Farm, where folks with no resources would go to have food and a roof over their heads. After it closed, it was empty and vandalized for many years, until the McMenamin brothers found it and brought it back to life.

I love all the McMenamin’s places, but Edgefield is the largest and most creative. We started in the Black Rabbit Room, with murals, smiles and good food. In keeping with my healthier diet, I had a tofu tikka masala instead of a hamburger. I did enjoy a fine birthday stout, however. I’m only human.

Wandering around in the early spring sunshine, we enjoyed people watching and the art-y , country-ish nature of the place.

There was traditional Irish music on the lawns and corn-hole players. Barns, bars, and happy people were everywhere.

Outside the Distillery, we watched well-equipped golfers practice tipsy putting and joyful little girls following a St. Patrick’s Day pony.

And of course, Harold came along. We have really missed having our stuffed friend on our adventures. He always makes things more fun.

I think I’m going to like being 67. I have lots of adventures planned!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Warm Spring Sunshine!!

Dear Liza,

Today was the first day in months that I have gone out without a coat, hat, scarf, and gloves. It was in the 50s, sunny, with just a little breeze. Spring is on the way!

The cherry trees are getting ready to bloom!

The teeny tiny Heather is blooming!

The roses are getting leaves and the crocuses are blooming!

And this afternoon, when I picked up Cousin Kestrel, we ate ice cream from Cheese and Crack in their delightful, warm, sunny, OUTSIDE seating area! Just like honest to goodness not frozen people! It was wonderful!

Once we got home, Kes worked on embroidering her jacket and I water colored a new map of Paris, to help me remember the city. Later, I used the map to show Auntie Katie where things are in Paris.

Life sure gets interesting when we get together!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Spring… At Last?

Dear Liza,

This winter has felt extra cold and wet. We have, in fact, had four inches more rain than last year, and a few more nights that went below freezing. But spring can’t wait forever!

We are seeing tiny signs of it everyday. Snowdrops have sprouted in yards in our Sunnyside neighborhood, cheering up some very muddy gardens.

This amazingly tall azalea bush in Laurelhurst Park bloomed last week in a burst of energy. This week, leaves too tiny to photograph are showing up.

The local daffodils are thinking about blooming, but aren’t sure. With the cold and snow we’ve had lately, I don’t blame them for being a bit reluctant.

But on our walk yesterday evening, we had a clear sunset, and today we have sun! It is predicted to get above 50F, which means I can spray the protective coating on your book cover and wrap it up for delivery.

See you soon!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Happy Nutty Pi Day!!

Dear Liza,

Did you know that March 14th is a special day for MATH? It’s Pi Day! Since the number Pi (which is useful for figuring out the area and circumference of a circle and lots of other things) is usually rounded to 3.14, March 14 is a day of celebration for all things Math and PIE.

This year, instead of going out for pie, I made one. Actually, I made a bunch of little blueberry tarts. And since Auntie Bridgett has some problems with gluten, I made my first ever nut-based pie crust.

I used the Basic Nut Pie Crust recipe from the FOOD52 website. It is very simple, just ground walnuts, a little sugar and salt, and some butter and egg white to hold it together.

When all the ingredients were mixed together, it was a nutty, delicious sort of play dough!

I sprayed muffin tins with baking spray, then used my wet fingers to smush the dough into a crust in each tin, and baked them at 325F until they were all light brown and smelling delicious. Then I went hunting for a recipe for the filling.

I decided on the Allrecipes site, and found their recipe designed to be used with frozen berries. The filling thickened quickly and I spooned it into the cool tart shells. The recipe calls for baking the tarts for 30 minutes, but after just 10, the crusts were getting too brown, so I pulled them out.

Once the tarts had cooled, I put them in the fridge to wait until after dinner. I served them with some yummy yogurt, and from the look on Bridgett’s face, I’d say they were a success.

I love trying new recipes, especially when they turn out so delicious!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Back to Collage

Dear Liza,

I had a lot of fun making the illustrations for your story, and I learned a lot about composition and color while I was doing it. Now I’m back to making postcards with it.

I used one of the first drafts of the ‘people’ in your story for this one, along with the intense colors from our Portland Art Museum magazine. The words are the packaging from the Awesome Socks I get every month from your dad. I love their motto, “Don’t forget to be awesome!”

This cutie-pie pirate skeleton dude was in an Animation magazine and just needed an acrylic speckled beach and some vivid sky, again from our PAM magazine. The tricky part was cutting out all those skinny bones! The sun helped fill up that bare corner.

Auntie Bridgett’s adorable cartoon of an artist’s mannequin was in a years-old pile of scrap paper. I used it and a page from an out-of-the-garbage Rand McNally Atlas to make this card about heading your way soon.

My most recent project is the cover for my travel journal for the trip. Pages from the Atlas, joined with a fashion eyeglass picture, a scene from the AAA travel magazine, and a bunch of words made it look just right.

And yes, I admit to altering the map of Europe so that Amsterdam and Paris would fit in the same pair of glasses! So sue me.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Making a New Stufftie

Dear Liza,

One thing I love about spending time with Cousin Kestrel is that she is always thinking of new projects. These keep me on my toes as we work together to problem-solve.

All projects involve problem solving…. What fabric to choose? How big should it be? How will we connect the bits? What will we do next? These are the sort of teachable moments that I love to watch happen.

A few weeks ago, when Harold came home from San Diego, Kes said that we should make a new stufftie to keep him company. We dug through the big fabric box and she chose the remnants of the same fabric I had used years ago to make placemats for your mommy! It was very pretty, but there wasn’t a lot left.

Kestrel cut pattern pieces out of newspaper, trying to make them big enough to allow for the seam allowance. She pinned and cut and quickly got the hang of running my old Pfaff sewing machine.

Once we started hand-sewing the parts together, it became clear that our new friend’s head wasn’t big enough! There wasn’t enough fabric…. Or was there? Some clever piecing allowed us to make a head of proper proportion, and was barely noticeable on the back of his head.

By sewing and stuffing each section of the stufftie separately and hand-sewing the sections together, we created a delightfully floppy friend. Kes said the fabric pattern looked like a teacup, so we named him Chashka, which is the Russian word for teacup. Kes chose some weird, wonderful spiral buttons for his eyes, which she will attach later on.

Thursday afternoons sure are fun around here!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Little Birdhouse in Our Soul

Dear Liza,

I know Spring is coming, even though we are still under chilly, drippy skies, and I want to be ready. It’s way too early to start any plants in the veggie plot (as I learned last year), but I want to do SOMETHING!

But let me start from the beginning.

Last month, our dear friends Kitty and Mike came to visit with their sons Isaac and Rhys. I took care of Isaac when he was tiny and am very pleased to see him grown up and applying to colleges.

While they were here, we visited Creative Culture. This is a wonderful space where you use their tools and supplies to make your own crafts. It isn’t cheap, but it sure is fun! They also serve amazingly huge milk shakes, which Isaac enjoyed as his 18th birthday dessert.

The boys made nail and string art, which was interesting but very noisy. Bridgett made a small terrarium. I painted a birdhouse, and I am really happy with the way it turned out.

This morning, Auntie Bridgett got up on a ladder and hung it on our balcony. It looks fabulous! All I need to do is put out the “For Sale” sign and wait for some birds to move in.

Of course, we will call them Kitty and Mike.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Getting Revved Up

Dear Liza,

We are starting to get ready for our trip to visit you!!

We have dusted off the passports, bought the tickets, and arranged for a sweet cat-sitter for Mouse. We are looking at all our travel books, feeling homesick for dear Paris and three other cities we have never even been to.

With weeks still to go until we leave, I have been channeling all this travel energy into an art-y calendar. This has allowed me to do my worrying in advance, looking at days that will be spent on planes, trains, and bicycle.

Each day has a color that shows what sort of energy I’m expecting in that day. Some days are bound to be more chaotic than others… our first day in Paris (notice the green swoosh of the Seine flowing through those days) and the Sunday when Auntie Katie and the cousins will join us (and you) in Horsens.

Of course, this is all speculation, but it is a harmless place to get my ideas and dreams for the trip down on paper when words escape me.

See you soon, my love.

Grandma Judy