the remaking of a kitchen

this is the follow up shot to the aptly named by sarah, first ever standing snow angel. the snow does appear to be melting, but more could come any day now.

Labels: sarah, snow angel

we visited sam and jewlee in their lovely home and i just realized i have NO home pictures, just animals! amazing! it was hard to get everyone smiling at the same time....jewlee and sam seemed to get it, but as you can see the fur people couldn't even face the camera in unison. there is a picture of jewlee holding baby zucca, and another of akai showing how smart she is and shaking hands with jewlee.
it is a beautiful home in a beautiful setting. animals and their humans seem equally content there. well, ruby may not be that content, but she manages. :)

Labels: akai, jewlee, ottis, ruby, sam, turkey and zucca

we are back home after a week + away. it's always good to be home again, but i have to say this was a great trip! we were able to meet up with brother jack along with jewlee and sam for lunch before the senior recognition luncheon for the interior design students. yes, i did eat another lunch there. egads. it was fun to see jack and we ate at lucile's and had fabulous food. everyone enjoyed!
the second lunch was great too. it was good to see jen, and she even received two awards. no surprise that one was the spirit award. to anyone knows her, this would be a given. the other was FABULOUS......she got best of show for her capstone project. pretty darn impressive!!
she gave all of us at her table at private review of her project. she used the old power plant and recreated it as a gallery and artist studios using as much green materials and technology as possible.
that's jewlee's cashmere clad arm holding the light bulb signifying jen's talent for coming up with great ideas.

Labels: jack, jen, jewlee, sam, senior luncheon

too bad this isn't a video of don and i driving around all these little towns searching for libraries. met a lot of people who were extremely helpful and pointed us in the right direction. the funniest was in crawford.....we drove around town several times and finally stopped for gas and don asked the question. the guy looked at him a little funny, then chuckled and pointed across the street. we all chuckled then.

Labels: libraries

a very unusual thing happened this week. i googled my friend milton.....something i do from time to time. it's interesting to see if his paintings have sold or to see what other information might be appearing on the web. this time there were several things i hadn't seen previously. one of the items was about yokohama in post-war japan. the absolutely bizarre thing was that there were four names listed, and one of the others was a potter, known to me, well known in minnesota and the world for that matter.
i walked into the gallery last evening, planning to look for the friend i was meeting there, and who was in front of me but that very clay artist and his wife. i couldn't resist of course and waited until he finished with another conversation and then told him about my googling and finding his name listed along with my friend. his eyes lit up and said, who was it??? his wife immediately said it must be the yokohama listing about the book. warren was absolutely delighted and went on to tell me the whole involved story of the whys and wherefores of how these four ended up together in japan after the war. he was laughing and talking and just thoroughly enjoying himself with all the stories. we talked for more than 20 minutes when finally his wife called a halt as they were already late getting to another gallery. they said i must come to their home and see the book that was printed and gave me the phone number to ensure it happens. it will! i will have to have them over so they can see my paintings and other things from milton. what a rare treat! now that is truly a small small world story!! i love it!

Labels: friendship, milton, warren, yokohama

this has been a pleasant week. i am continuing to feel good and that is a treat. i had lunch with kay and lee and we had a good long visit afterwards.....good for all of us. i miss the two of them when they are gone for most of the winter. we ate at maude's and i enjoyed this meal a lot. it was a smoked salmon blt.....just delicious! it was accompanied by a fresh green salad with a citrus vinaigrette that was perfect.
last evening i went to the gallery for an opening and was pleased to see a couple of my pieces displayed prominently. hopefully ann will get some nibbles on them....i guess people like them, but not enough to have to own them as yet.
one of the clay artists at the opening was a former neighbor at the hx center show. it was so nice to see him and to see the growth evident in his pieces and hear about his family and their life together. he is just one of the world's good guys. i have one of his tea bowls in my collection, and i'd like to get another one of these days.

Labels: artists, friends, lunch

we liked the bread so much that i decided to make another batch. it was nice to be using the recipe the second time around.....a bit easier. this time i used the peel with corn meal and the new pizza stone. i think the texture was better and the bottom of the loaf was as crisp as the top. good ideas sarah and david.....thanks!
we sampled some this evening with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and some corn pudding that gary shared. all quite yummy and EASY!
it's so nice to feel good today.....i raked and planted some grass seed outside the fence, pulled grass in a couple of beds and then the baking. yea!

Labels: dakota bread

the dutchmen's breeches have been blooming for a few days so i went to snap a few photos. when i was out there i found that the periwinkle is just starting to bloom and the little white bleeding hearts in the rock garden are covered. it's been such a long dreary winter that these little flowers in different spots are a grand treat! i received the dutchmen's breeches a good many years ago from my friend ila in omaha and have been planting them in different places ever since. the original spot was at the base of a new evergreen at the south side of the concrete thing, and of course it has grown and totally hides the remaining plants. i have moved them various places and see that they are continuing to create new little babies each season. they are ephemerals, so it's a brief time they are with us. the periwinkle is also from ila's garden and it is in many spots in the garden.....lately i have planted it around the stepping stones leading from the steps to the garden gate and on the terraced area to the south and east of the garden shed. it seems to grow happily wherever it lands.
this weekend i ordered some replacement coreopsis......this is in lieu of the ones eaten by the voles over the winter. they left only one clump of the six that grew so vigorously last summer! i also ordered some other ground covers that i hope will grow on the terrace and around the stepping stones in front of the shed.....it is often damp around there. the other plant is a clematis that i hope will cover the small trellis in the garden by the autumn blaze maple. some height and color will be lovely there!

Labels: dutchmen's breeches, periwinkle and white bleeding hearts