Early Morning at Mill Pond

The owl says hoo-oo.

Mister Jones

I chose the little cat card for this page because this cat looks just like Mister Jones.  The background paper is both the front and back of Figgy Pudding, a Basic Grey Christmas paper which I use all year round, and the colors match those in the card image perfectly (or PURR-fectly, as Mister Jones would say).

Inside the card:
We (my son Andrew and I) rescued Mister Jones from Clara's basement where he'd been living in isolation (for maybe a year or more?) because her other cat did not like him.  He'd never been outside.  He was so glad to move in with us and our other cat Tinsel.  He loved being able to go in and out, and he never strayed from our yard on Wellington Road.  He decided to become an inside only cat after a close encounter with a skunk when we lived in Newcastle.  He lived with us for about eighteen years.  He was quite the snuggle cat.  We miss him.

The envelope on this page is for photos of Mister Jones.

He was the best cat.

Nature Notes

Robin Card inside:
Folklore
Forecast Weather
If the robin sang on top of the bush, the weather would be warm; if it sang from within the branches, then rain was on the way.
When the red red robin...
Rockin' Robin
Robin's Egg Blue
Red Robin
cheerily   cheeriup   cheerio   cheeriup

Lavender card inside:
Directions for making lavender sachets

Bird on Package card inside:
The early bird gets the worm.
A bird's-eye view
A little bird told me.
That's for the birds.
He flew the coop.          A feather in your cap
Feather your nest.          Something to crow about
Eat like a bird.               Wise as an owl
Free as a bird                 Watch like a hawk
Out on a lark                  As the crow flies
Eagle eye                       Voice like a nightingale
Night owl                       Birds of a feather flock together.

Helmetier

Here's another of William Wegman's beautiful dogs.  I love these postcard images that came inside the 2010 calendar (which, by the way, I purchased for 50 cents after the first of the year!).
I've been experimenting with mixing papers from different lines within one company and also looking for coordinating papers from several companies that I can use on one card front.  These two papers from different companies both pick up a bit of the pink in the dog's helmet.  The flowers further emphasize the pinks and yellows in the main image, and the blue flower pulls the eye toward the bits of blue in each of the background papers.  A little round bling in the enter of each flower echoes the helmet eye-holes.  A handlettered and faux stitched title tag finish the page.

DOG is my Co-Pilot

I should have counted the number of dogs I saw riding in the front passenger seats of cars this weekend! My favorite was the big black lab sitting up perfectly straight looking out the windshield at oncoming traffic.  I spent a good part of the weekend cruising Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Cape Porpoise in a Saab Convertible, and the dog on this page would have fit right in!

Robin's Egg Blue

I have a tiny cracked open blue eggshell from last year's nesting.  It is very small and a lovely shade of blue.  As I look at the image on my journal page, my eggshell is about the same size as those in this nest.

Every year I watch for the first robin, trying to catch the good luck that comes with the first sighting.  Mom saw one this spring before I did, so she won the good luck for this year.

I am certain that I hear the song of robins early every morning.



"...Wake up, wake up, you sleepyhead.
Cheer up, cheer up, the sun is red.
Live, love, laugh and be happy..."

Wednesday, May 12 BIRDS

Mom spends hours and hours every day watching the birds that come here.  Dad feeds the birds every day and spends a good chunk of his retirement money every month on black oil sunflower seeds and coarse cracked corn, suet and jelly, oranges and other treats for our feathered friends.  Mom used to write down important sightings but she is still making those mental lists.  Since Mom starting keeping track of them, the Baltimore Orioles have shown up on or before Mothers Day almost every year--I remember one year when they were days late and how she fretted over their arrival.  The most interesting bird connection this spring has been the one between Mom and the tiny Tufted Titmouse.  This little bird flies up to the window nearest where Mom is and either clings to the screen or sits on the window sill, looks into her eyes, and sings away.  She talks to it, too, in a tiny soothing voice of nonsense syllables.  They seem to communicate quite well with each other.  Mom assures me that she speaks its language.  Dad is sure that little bird would come into the house if he opened a window for it.

Butterflies Tri-Shutter Card 5/11/10

This is a card I made today and I've been posting it everywhere!  It's on the Outside the Box blog for today with directions.  It's on the Your Maine Stamper blog because people in my class today made them.  And it's here because I haven't posted anything to this blog in ages and I'm really pleased with it!

I've also finally found a new journal--7X10 with BLACK pages-- that I'm starting and will get back into posting on this blog regularly starting tomorrow.  I've been having computer issues for a week now and finally got a new modem today and things seem to be working better.  Keep checking back to see what I'm up to.  The April to early May journal ended up being more of a written diary-style notebook which I felt did not need to be posted on this blog.  I'm ready now for something different and can't wait to get back to working on black pages again.

Anne