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May 30, 2008

A summer full of classes coming up

MoreAllium2008 Even though I just recently posted a photo of allium, just had to share what they looked like wide open.  The picture was taken yesterday, but it rained hard last night so today they look a little beaten up today, will cut some & bring them inside-may as well enjoy them while I can!  Metal Face Last fall we found out that there was a blacksmith shop on the property when it was first built.  Between that & the way metal & garbage in general was disposed of throughout the years, Gary's been finding all kinds of interesting metal pieces while he's digging, transplanting & planting.  And he's been having fun with it, looks like a metal detector might be a good idea for Father's Day, keep him busy doing something he enjoys.  He's also been stressing out over the 2 classes that he's taking with me this year, all worried that he won't keep up, but he'll be fine.  But all his talk about classes keeps reminding me about the classes I'm taking, making me even more excited than other years for the calendar to roll around to class dates.  Not that I'm in any hurry for summer to end, but I am in a hurry to get myself into the classroom!  Unearthed










The first class will be in July at Peninsula Art School, my first visit there so that'll be a treat.  The rest of them will be held at Valley Ridge Art Studio, and you all know how much I love it there!  First there's Nina in August for her Gatherings class, and you also all know how much I adore Nina and can hardly wait to see her again.  Followed by Misty Mawn 2 weeks later for her Mixed Media for all Seasons class. Misty & I have known each other online for a long time so I'm very anxious to meet her, and I admit a tad bit intimidated at the thought drawing & painting in front of her-yikes!  The last class of the year for me is in September with Katie Kendrick who is teaching Intuitive Mixed Media Collage, an absolutely perfect way to end my classes for the year.  Besides that being a beautiful time of year at Valley Ridge, Katie & I have been online friends for probably as long as I've been doing mixed media (and that's been awhile) yet we've never met in person, making this long overdue.  I've adored Katie's work from the beginning, and have thoroughly enjoyed watching her grow as an artist, and have the successes that she's had.  We're about the same age, each have 2 kids about the same ages, and enough in common that I feel like I already know her.  Have you seen what her students did in her Collaged Faces class at Artfest this year?  If not, click here and be prepared to be blown away!  I can hardly wait to learn that technique, along with everything else that she's going to teach!  The only way to make it better than it already will be, is if a bunch of my online friends all descended upon Valley Ridge and met for a class-sound like fun?  Seriously, if you've never been to Valley Ridge yet, you owe it yourself to go there at least once (although I know you'll want to go back again & again---) and for those of you have been there, you know what I mean-it's a special place with special instructors, and a place where magic can happen and frienships for life are formed.Metal Critter  






So now you know why I'm anxious for classes, but on the other hand am not wishing summer away.  I'll just look at it as the perfect way to end the summer:)

And on that note, I'll end this with Gary's creation from some of the metal that he's unearthed lately.  And he's worried about classes?  He's got an eye, now he just needs a little more confidence.  Jeremy will be home for the week end, so I may not post again for a couple of days-enjoy the week end!

May 26, 2008

Alpacas & Architecture

DodgeStreet1 So what did you do exciting for the holiday week end?  We didn't go far, but did take in the everyday sights of the area, visited some friends, and just chilled out.  Had Gary not retired last year, this would have been his week end to work, so he was thoroughly enjoying being able to just go & do whatever he wanted.  It was kind of funny, a little like a kid on Christmas morning:)  We drove through the little town of Kewaunee yesterday, and went down Dodge Street, which has some of the coolest old homes, all renovated, painted up in fun colors, some are Bed & Breakfasts, a few single family homes, but all fun.  So thought we'd share a few of the house in that few blocks.  Hope you enjoy!  DodgeStreet2

Too bad there wasn't a little sun shining, but you should still be able to see all the trim work, they paid attention to detail!  DodgeStreet3

Still trying to get used to the new format here on typepad, need to get my sizing figured out!  It's funny how each of these house are painted a different color, I always wondered if they held a meeting or something to make sure they were all painted different colors.DodgeStreet4 You can't tell by the picture, but this one is painted a shade of pink.  I remember when they started it, thinking it was an odd color, but they did it up right!  If you look close at the shingles near the peak on the front, the different colors form flowers.  And the gardens are spectacular here!  All done up in pink, a wonderful arbor to walk under, with a matching martin house behind it in the yard.  it's called Hollyhock House and is a bed & breakfast-it would be tempting to stay there, I have a feeling that the inside is spectacular!  DodgeStreet5 Blue is my least favorite color for a house, but once again they paid attention to detail & pulled it off!  These homes are huge, maybe they give tours at Christmas or something-----something to watch for!Gargoyle A pair of gargoyles flank each side of the driveway of the first house in the picture, a perfect fit for the house.  Are you still with me on this little tour?  I'm really hoping you enjoy seeing these homes as much as we did!  From here, we went on up Hwy 42 to go to a little antique shop that we both like.  It's run by the nicest man, and his big old black dog named "Bear", I always breath a little sigh of relief each spring when I see that the dog is still there, he's old now & has a snow white muzzle, and the man obviously adores him.  He is pretty cute-the dog, that is:)  We picked up a bunch of old books there, one is an old dictionary that had several dried flowers and a 4 leaf clover pressed between the pages.  Makes me wonder who did it, what was the significance, there had to be a story behind it!  From there we stopped in at Amanda's to drop off some extra plants we dug up, dropped off a couple of chairs to see if her husband could spot weld them to fix them, and have a cup of coffee-nice visit!  From there, we went abut a mile up the road to Kele Alpacas to get a picture of the new baby Alpaca that was born during the week, and were treated to getting to watch them shear one of the older ones.  A lot of work goes into this process to make those wonderful soft fibers that you fiber artists love to use!  Shearing A specially made table keeps the animals safe, as well as those shearing, so it's a relatively stress free situation for all.  Kieth & LeAnna were so calm, had a system worked out, that they didn't even really have to talk-they all knew just what had to be done and when.  They're a couple of the nicest people we've had the pleasure to meet out here, so it's always a treat to pop in, see the critters, & chat for a bit.  Shorn Here's "Gabby" with her new haircut:)  There's not much left to them after you remove all the "fluff" is there?  Such sweet animals-when I was grooming my dogs for show, they weren't nearly as well behaved!Mama&Crea And here's the baby (they're called a crea" with her mama.  We took so many photos of her, it was hard to choose, but this one will do:)  Gary walked right into the field with them to take the pictures, and the baby was curious enough to walk right up close to him.  They have the longest, blackest eyelashes that you've ever seen!  Ajax2 No visit to Kele would be complete without a pictuer of Ajax!  He's 16 years old, and a great ambassador for the breed, always curious, friendly, and willing to pose for a picture:)  When I met him, is when I fell in love with alpacas, how could you not??  Now I want to follow this shearing thing through with LeAnna, watch how she turns the fibers into roving, uses the spinning wheel, all that fun stuff!  One of these days, I'd love to try the spinning wheel out-not sure if I'd be any good at it, but it looks like fun and would have the potential to be calming-maybe not in the learning phase, though-lol!  Today was beautiful-80 degrees & sunny-finally!  It was warm enough to actually be able to sit on the lake for awhile, first time this year, and it felt good.  When we got home I picked up a book to read that I had barely started the day before, but more about that tomorrow.  Fair warning though, you're going to want the book-it's a great one!!

January 28, 2008

Laughter really is the best medicine!

RobynSaturday afternoon, we made our usual week end run over to The Flying Pig for some good coffee, and good conversation.  Little did we know that we'd be entertained as well!  There was a Mardi Gras party going on in Algoma later that evening, and we were treated to a preview of the masks that were made just for the event.  As the masks were tried on, trimmed, adorned, and accessorized, we laughed so hard that our faces hurt!

This is truly a case of "a picture is worth a thousand words"-lol!  Can't wait to see photos from the party, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll post some photos of the event on their blog.  My wish to anyone reading this, is that you are all treated soon to an afternoon of good fun, but if you can top this one, I want to hear about it!  Actually, what have YOU done fun lately anyway, lets hear about it!   Susan

October 01, 2007

A meme today

Reflection Last week, I was tagged by Susan. The rule of this meme is to name five things I would like to be when I grow up – five things that I’ve always dreamed about.  You'd think that would be easy, but it has really made me sit back & think, reflect on what I've done so far and where I want to be.  In a few weeks, I'm going to be 55 years old-how the hell did that happen!  For some reason, that particular number sounds horrible to me, so I've been pondering lately anyway, that maybe it really is time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  But the list may change tomorrow:)

1. First & foremost, I want to be pain free, happy, comfortable in my own skin, and just "be".  Sounds simple enough, but that can be a challenge, having a chronic pain issue, enough so that my nightly mantra is to "confident, creative, and strong". 

2.  Like Susan, I've always wanted to be a shop owner.  Nothing big, but filled with all the little treasures that I Iove.  And I want it to be here, in a building on the property, so I can walk out the back door to go to work.

3. I want to be an avid journaler, recording everything in an artful, spontaneous, brimming over the edge of the page kind of manner.  Filling journals that I can pull off the shelf in years to come, that will bring back wonderful memories. 

4. I'd love to be an artist that has a light filled building to work in (attached to the shop?), and be surrounded by all the plants that I love so much.  A greenhouse/studio would be excellent!  I'd like to have creative energy coursing through me all the time, making art that pleases me, and if it pleases someone else it would be an added bonus, not the focus or point of doing it.  Ahhh, to be able to slop around in paint & dirt at will-I can just smell that soil now:)

5.  Lastly, I'm not sure I really want to grow up at all, so I want to keep the child in me, alive & well.  Always able to appreciate and see things as though I'd never seen them before.  Not taking anything for granted, having the good sense to always notice what's around me and allow myself that moment to think this one thing-how cool is that!

Now I get to tag 5 people to make their list:  Annie , because we share the same birthday.  Jen because I admire how she lives her life.  Judy because her art blows me away & I'd like to know more about her.  Vickie because she sends me bitter melons in the mail.  And Miz Carla because I miss her & love her laugh, and her southern drawl:)

August 09, 2007

Happy Birthday, Becky!!

Meet Becky---we've known each other for over 30 years, and have been through it all together.  She turned 50 today and I know she didn't want a big deal made out of it, but it can't just go by without a little fanfare!  And believe me, if you knew her, it deserves a HUGE bunch of fanfare.  Beckyandsue To know Becky, is to love her, and that's no cliche', it's the truth!  We first met when she was in high school, ended up being roommates, and she was my maid of honor for our wedding-in fact, it was Miz Becky that was hell bent that I met my brother's roommate, the "guy with the hairy chest" that she thought was so hot (boy, have times changed!), that I ended up marrying 29 years and 5 days ago.  Even though we don't see each other much (umm, the house next door is for sale again!) there's never a doubt that she's there for me, the kind of friend that makes me fortunate to know her.  This picture was taken the day before New Year's Eve in 1980-I was in labor with Jeremy, but just hadn't told her yet:)  I can hardly remember ever looking that young, and she still looks the same-Beck, I still need to know what's the secret that keeps you looking the same, year after year!  I hope your day has been wonderful, and you have no idea how much I wish I could be there with you to celebrate.  Love you!!!

July 05, 2007

An opportunity to help--

I have a friend , Heather, whose Mother is battling cancer.  Even though she had a kidney removed just a few months ago, the cancer is already back, so she's not able to work.  The family is planning on holding a benefit for her, so that her energies can be concentrated on healing, rather than worrying about finances.  That said, they're asking for items to be donated to be used for a silent auction, to help them raise some money.  I'm posting this on my blog, hoping that someone out there will have something they could send to help-I know this is a caring crowd, and I'm pretty sure we all have some extra art or even a household item sitting around that we could live without.  At least I sure do!  I know this is short notice, the benefit is being held on the 15th of this month, but it can still be done. 

Any donations need to be in Onalaska, WI by July 12th.  If you have an item to send, contact Heather at ha_reader@hotmail.com and she'll give you the mailing address

  • Cash donations can be sent to:
    Patti Strub
    C/O Community Credit Union
    943 12th Ave. South
    Onalaska, WI 54650
    Checks should be made out to Patti Strub.
  • The benefit and silent auction will be held Sunday, July 15th from 1-6pm at the American Legion, 731 Sand Lake Road, Onalaska, WI  54650.
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