Italy Arrival

Arrival in Sorrento

Last week I was away for a family wedding in Italy. The city where we stayed was Sorrento on the peninsula south of Naples. It sits on high cliffs overlooking the Bay of Naples and has a long history of invasions, by Greeks, Romans, Turks, Normans, Hapsburgs, and both sides in the World Wars.  It has been important strategically as a port area, and economically for fishing. All the tourist towns along the coasts were only accessible by boat for eons, until a coast road was built only some decades ago.

Some of us stayed in an apartment, in a very old house, once inhabited by a boat maker.

Enter your abode. Behold the door knocker.

Very close by was this church with gorgeous wood work furnishings.

A view of the bay from the end of the street. Nearly all the coast line is lined with fancy hotels to get the best views.

This is the staircase where we stayed. One sees painted tiles everywhere.

The apartment was on this very narrow street. Many of the first-time-abroad- Americans were astounded by the closeness of everything, the smallness of the vehicles - and gas stations - and the minuscule allowances for passing.

I am sorry about the poor quality of this picture, but this door knocker was so pretty.

A house, so picturesque

Gelato, so scrumptious

A tiny produce truck, so colourful. Note the arrays of blooms behind. This was just outside the train station.

Wouldn't we all like to have this on our street?

Some people wanted to sample the cuisine, a lot. So after a fish dinner, then gelato, we stopped for platters of mixed sea food (which one of us declined), at this tiny cafe late at night..

Do you see why I declined?

So this was my very first attempt to do a blog post on my own with all new equipment and systems, and my little black book of notes. I have much to learn, but maybe in time mine will look as nice as Katie's and Pam's. In the meantime, please forgive my blundering.

Tomorrow, we will, I hope, see some lovely thing from Sarah Y, then on our Wonderful Wednesday something from Maria. I will be trying to learn more in the meantime.

Back Home and New Skills

Returned

YOHOO! This post is done on two new computers, with the assistance of my at-hand expert, Maria. Thanks, Maria. So, she set up an App so I can also do posts on the Pad, which would have been handy last week, but time did not allow. Anyway, I am learning dizzying amounts of techy stuff, and am trying to keep it all straight.

First item for this post is to say THANK YOU to all who put up lovely posts while I was away. I really, really hope you continue. I have requests for more, on chickens, coops, jewellery, flowery cakes, and other wonders. Painted furniture, too.

I have pictures from the trip to Italy for the family wedding, so those can follow over days ahead, BETWEEN other posts of your things. Also I have started my summer on-line craft classes, so will show progress on those, when I finally make some progress - I am starting late now.

Before I went to Italy for the wedding, Daria and I went into town to the glass studio to make some fused glass plates. Mine were for wedding gifts. They were accompanied by some some boxes of scrumptious special chocolates, which I suspect might be remembered longer than the plates....

Glass Plates

As I wrote to the bridal couple, this plate is intended to remind them of the lush spring greenery of Italy at the time of their wedding. Flowers were blooming everywhere, and the greens were well watered and not dried by summer heat. 

This plate in blues is a sun rise, significant of the beginning of their new life together. I told them that when they are ninety years old and looking back on a good long life together, they can say it shows a sunset and think of the story told in their Best Man's speech. He was the groom's brother. He had prepared a standard "wonderful people" speech for the bride and groom, but said "We all know that," so he scraped it at the last minute and decided to tell about something that moved him deeply. Thus (paraphrased), " When we were in Pompeii a couple of days ago, I saw an old, old man and an old, old woman stopped at a step. The going is not smooth on those ancient streets, but this was a mere six inch step down, and they were figuring out how to negotiate it safely. These people were nearly dead! really, really old.! So, I went over and helped the old woman to step down. We got to talking and I asked what they were doing there. The old, old man said it was their seventy-fifth wedding anniversary and his wife wanted to do this for that occasion. Seventy-five years! I asked how they did that. The old man said, "Do you see who went ahead?" (All laughed.) Then he said, "I promised to take care of her." Then, when I offered to help him down the step, he refused and managed himself. He was still determined to be her caring man." This speech was complimented by many as the best wedding speech ever. (He told it better than I did here and included other incidents of life with his brother - it was good.)

 Next up from me, if I have this computer stuff figured out, pictures from Italy. 

Creativity in Different Forms

The wedding season is in full swing so my creativity this weekend involved some very beautiful flowers and some lemon cake-

                                  

I swooned when I saw that pale pink peony. I must find a root to plant...

I loved the pink hypericum berries and the other greens with berries (don't know their names) and felt like this combination of blooms and greens needed lots of loose, drapey style and movement. I used the large deep colored peony as an "anchor" for the design. 

Putting the flowers on a cake is my favorite part of the wedding cake process. I never know what the bride orders from her florist until I pick up the bouquet at the shop. The flowers always kind of tell me what they should do.

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I also want to show Alyssa's very creative project (since she is not blogging herself). A couple weeks ago when she and her new husband were here for a visit they looked at the old furniture we have stored in the barn. They chose to take home an old vanity/desk that belonged to one of her grandparents years ago. Unfortunately, we don't have a photo of how it looked originally but here are photos of the surprising transformation after Alyssa applied paint and fabric to it-

                                       

                                           

It will now have a new life as a sewing desk! Alyssa received a nice sewing machine from her husband when they got engaged. Now she needs some good sewing projects.

Digital Photography is an Art

Last night I took this photo of unripe goosberries in my garden.  I think they look like a happy string of Chinese lanterns.

I am a baby in the world of photography, but I find it such good practice for composition of an image.   I shoot with my brother's ancient Cannon Rebel, which is starting to limp a little and show it's age, but I still love it.  I was given (as a wonderful gift!) the Adobe Lightroom program for editing, which I also love.  I still have a long ways to go in learning to use both camera and computer for tasteful, judicious and appropriate editing, but the learning curve is a fun one.

The digital camera is incapable of detecting and recording as many levels of light and color as the human eye.  Using an editing program is not cheating.  It is simply another tool.

For the sake of comparison, here is the shot above, SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera), before edits.   I actually like it quite well as it is, with more muted tones.

The choices and levels of adjustment in editing are very broad, so I have to be careful not to "overcook" the image.  I tried to simply "plump it up" with deeper color, attempting to make it appear more like my eye saw before taking the photo.  I tend to use a little "artistic license" and have a hard time knowing if I've gone too far.  But I think I'm satisfied with this one.

Chicken Coop

Several years ago, my husband wanted to build a new chicken coop.  The spot he wanted for it is at the corner of the garden, in full view of the house, kitchen porch, driveway, road... pretty much all over.  I agreed to the site on the condition that we make it cute.

So he pulled out the weathered red barn wood, cute window, and red tin and it turned out pretty well.
Then while waiting for Andrew to be born, I was looking for things to do, so I got out my favorite stencil and prettied up the door a little.  I always intended to do more, but this is how it has remained ever since.

Necklace Makeovers

I have a few necklaces lying around that I don't wear, but like certain elements of. So I thought I'd revamp some, and then maybe I will actually use them.

I started with two old necklaces, some chain, string, a locket, and findings. I took the two necklaces apart, saving the pieces that were still good for future projects.

I measured out 33" of chain for the long necklace, and attached a jump ring to one end.

Then I strung on the two pendants, taking care that they would face the right way.

And added a second jump ring with the lobster clasp to finish.

For the second necklace, I used the clasp from the original, and attached the string to the first part with a lark's head knot.

I strung on beads to the halfway point.

I used this cute split ring to hang the locket charm. The thin string won't slip through the cut, like it might with a jump ring!

Then I finished stringing the beads, and tied on the other end of the barrel clasp with many knots.

Ta-da! Two new necklaces!

 

This project took me a little under three hours to complete, but hopefully these pieces won't just sit around on my shelf, now. Have a good crafting week!

A Movie Quote for My Wall

I've had this idea rumbling around for awhile, but hadn't found just the right thing for it.

A couple weeks ago at a yard sale, I found this sign, decorated by some child with a marker and not so pretty as a result.

So I took off the little metal heart and painted the board with a stain-blocking primer to make sure that marker wouldn't come back to haunt me.  I followed that with a couple of coats of a nice greenish gray paint that I had around.

After some sketching, planning and a heap of masking tape (which was possibly more hindrance than help), I painted this quote from The Princess Bride.

I love words.  I love art.  Words + Art = Bliss.  Maybe the letters aren't perfectly spaced or straight, but it wasn't done by a computer, and I like the slightly rustic style.

When I went to hang it on the wall in my living room, I realized this:

I hadn't checked for the top of the board before I started painting and the hanging slot was at the bottom.  Sigh.  Details...

So I just hung it up by the edge of the board and I'm sure it will be just fine.  I like it.  And my husband and oldest son will daily shake their heads in bemusement at my strange ideas of decor...

Mt. Hood Timberline Lodge Wedding

I just received these photos from the bride who had the woodland wedding on the mountain a few weeks ago. 

Incredible dinner table for forty guests-

And the cake was made lovely by the florist. The description was for many more cascading flowers so I'm glad she used restraint. The simplicity is much nicer.

                                               

                                           

From Katrina

Fantastic Lands

Katrina drew a series of pictures as colouring pages, maybe to be collected in a book. She likes fairies and fantasy, as we see in these works.

Detail

These are very creative works, Katrina. Thank you for sharing. When you have a book, do let us know.

Virtual Garden Tour, The Good Parts

My garden is not much to look at, really.  Mostly utility, so many weeds...  But the nice thing about a camera is that I can just show the best parts.  I can "edit" out the vast swaths of neglect and just show you the delicious details that I am feasting my eyes on daily.  And these flowers are even more of a feast after such a long winter and minimal spring.  

I have planted many, many things that simply disappear because they just can't hack the harshness of life.  Delicate plants need not apply for a position in my yard.  I've have learned the hard way what not to bother with.  There is a reason that the midwestern staples are always lilacs, daylillies, peonies and irises.

One thing that has continally surprised me, however, is this pink weigela that I put in six years or so ago. It never complains, never asks for more that a little pruning, and it puts on a riot of blossoms, beloved of the hummingbirds and honeybees.

I have this damask stencil that I have used for various projects and several years ago I used it to stencil on my garden gates.  I like the contrast of a fancy stencil on the weathered wood of an old packing crate made into a gate.  The red currant bush beside it is huge this year and starting to hinder the opening of the gate.  Time for a trim, methinks.  

I do have plenty of irises.  I think I have about six colors, and I hope to collect more. 

This fluffy white one was a surprise this morning as I took photos.  This is the first time it has bloomed (I think it is anyway... Maybe it did last year and I don't remember?)  I have a frilly peach one that I moved last year and is not blooming, so I'm hoping to see it next year.

This purple and white is one of my favorites.  I got it from my Mom years ago.

Last summer when we visited family in Oregon and Washington, I was so inspired by my Mom's container plantings.  It seems like an expensive indulgence, but I decided to do my best to step up my planter game this year.  I didn't buy ceramic planters, but rather I re-purposed some other containers. My sweet husband found me these great tall galvanized buckets.

I'm looking forward to this variegated sweet potato vine trailing down the side of the tallest one.

This container is an old coal bucket I found at a yard sale.  Near it I have a big old washtub planted with some perennials.  I'll have to get a picture of that some other time.

This calibrachoa was an impulse buy... such sweet little blooms, I couldn't resist!  I had thought it was a type of petunia, but on doing some research I learned that it is a different species.  No wonder I like it (since I'm not a big fan of petunias).

And here we have my once favorite cooking pot... it's an enameled cast iron dutch oven (and red!!) in which I cooked many meals and loved so much.  Suddenly one day the enamel on the inside started to chip and it soon flaked off, rendering the pot useless for cooking.  I sent it out to the trash.  Recently I found it still hanging around in the barn (bless my husband!) and filled with with the sedum I dug up when my husband installed patio block for the new back porch.

In the interest of keeping it real, take a closer look at the little brown spot on the side of that red pot.  Yes, that is what you think it is.  No, not a spider.  A tick.  Yep.  I didn't notice it until I got the photo off my camera.  The ticks are prolific around here, and so gross.  I always wonder why God made them, and then that silly children's song goes through my head, "Every living thing gonna shine, shine, every living thing gonna shine along..."

On the positive side, it makes my photo very traditionally Dutch, don't you think?

This is the table on the kitchen porch where I keep the seedlings waiting to go in the garden.  I start most of them myself, and buy a few at the Amish greenhouse a mile down from my house.  There are fewer now then there were a week ago, and soon they'll all be planted.  Our soil is such heavy clay that I long ago abandoned direct-seeding.  I only plant seedlings and my garden's "infant mortality rate" has decreased significantly.  Infancy is the most dangerous time...

Here endeth the tour of the "good parts" of my little slice of paradise.  I'll have to show more photos later in the summer when my containers fill out.