CREATIVE SURGE

I feel a creative surge coming on, which is inconvenient, as I'm super busy just now. I wake in the night with ideas. Still have my handsome new man, Bates, at Timber Grove Farm for training. Visiting him takes a big chunk out of most days. I made the decision last week to give him a couple more weeks of training there. We are still figuring each other out, and last week's rain kept me from riding as much as I had planned. Also, in just two weeks, my guys are embarking on their father-son road trip to LA. I am calling it Mike and Patrick's Excellent Adventure. I am hoping to have Bates home and settled before they leave.

I took advantage of the wet days last week to fling some paint around and stitch. Painted a few background canvasses, and made a new version of one I've used before. This time, I printed it on flax linen, which gave it a lovely sepia tone and inspired my choice of additional fabrics.

Paint and collaged paper on art board.

Mixed-media art quilt with vintage fabric, hand and machine stitching, etc...

Yesterday, we mowed, and I spring cleaned the barn, then went to the farm and rode Bates. When I woke up this morning, I could hardly move, but two ibuprofen and a hot bath later, I was on my bike. We did thirteen miles around Cambridge, before ending up at Stoked, our Sunday place for lunch. I always pedal more cheerfully when there's a nice meal dangled in front of me. It was a glorious day to be outdoors on the Eastern Shore.

Wild roses on the roadside.

The fishing bridge.

Cambridge light house.

Oh dear.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and got to spend some time outside. It was 79 degrees here...a day to be relished. Too soon, it will be stinkin' hot. XO.

WEEK OF GOOD THINGS

This past week has been so packed with good things...I've been too busy enjoying them to stop and write.
We took the grandmothers out for a late lunch to celebrate Mother's Day last Saturday, leaving us free on Sunday to drive up to Baltimore and meet our kids for a whopping breakfast at Golden West Cafe in Hampden. From there, we drove to Monkton to visit the Ladew Topiary Gardens. Love hanging out with these grown up children of mine.

It was hot and steamy but the tulips were gorgeous, and my girl and I had a great time with our cameras.
On Monday, I had the first riding lesson on my new horse. He is settling in nicely at Timber Grove Farm, and finally has a name...Bates. You Downton Abbey fans will get that.

The very best thing about last week? On Thursday, Mike, my MIL, and I went back up to Baltimore to hear our son defend his thesis at Johns Hopkins University. He now has a PhD in physical chemistry and is officially Dr. Cottingham. Hurray!! Such a proud and happy day!! After champagne and cake with his department, we were off to The Thai Restaurant for a celebratory lunch. Love that place!!

Our guy, loaded down with graduation swag.

Both kids were home for the weekend and we continued the celebration with family, on the Boardwalk in Ocean City and at EVO Public House in Salisbury.

The carousel at Trimper's on the boardwalk.

That was a lot of celebrating for one week, so although Sunday was our 35th wedding anniversary, we decided to postpone those festivities until next weekend when we can give the occasion the attention it deserves. We had a nice leisurely day with our girl, lunching at Stoked because it was Sunday, and they might think we'd died if we didn't show up, eating strawberry shortcake, and walking the dogs down to the river for a swim. Nigel and Scout are teaching Gus to swim. So far, he's just a wader, but he will be spending a week with us in June and I expect that will be enough time for him to learn.

It's super quiet here today. Even the dogs are exhausted. Weekends with our grand-dog, Gus, wear them out. This week, I plan to focus on Bates, trying to make the most of this month of training board, refreshing the blog, and getting back to my workroom. The folks at Outstanding Dreams Alpaca Farm have invited me to sell my photos and artwork at their Alpaca Festival in September. I want to see how much I can get done in the next few weeks...lots of almost finished projects laying around and new ideas banging around in my brain.

Wishing you a week stuffed with good things. XO

SPRING THINGS

Although this week began with some wheel-spinning, and a loss of creative mojo, and a bit of unfocused dithering around, things are looking up.
It finally, truly, looks like spring...

It even feels like spring, now and again, which has brought Miss Mathilda out from under the "cat toaster" in the tack room, and outdoors to glare at the birds.

Yesterday, was delightful. My aunt and cousin came for a visit, and a Girls' Day Out at Blackwater. We're all budding photographers, so auntie brought some appropriate boardwalk bling...

And some goodies like this worn, but oh so lovely old quilt from her sewing room de-stash, which just happens to coordinate perfectly with the watercolor I painted earlier in the week. 

Now my stitch-y wheels are turning and I envision a fabric version. Mojo unblocked!
A camera day in Blackwater is something we've planned for a long time. We were lucky to have a gorgeous day and very obliging wildlife.

I'd never caught more than a fleeting glimpse of a muskrat before, but we were able to get quite close to a pair who rolled around in the shallow water, and nibbled on green twigs, seeming not to mind us at all.
We watched an eagle catch a fish so large that he could barely carry it, and this osprey sitting in a tree with his lunch.

A late lunch at Stoked and some shopping at Sunnyside, and A Few of My Favorite Things, and it was time to go home, to take care of my critters and dash off to photography class. 

A lovely long spring day.

Have a dandy weekend, blog friends! XO.

ON THE BOARDWALK

Yesterday was a picture perfect fall day. Ideal for the boardwalk in Ocean City. 
Thrasher's fries, Dumser's milkshakes, and Dolle's caramel corn to eat. Playland for games, and Trimper's for the bumper cars. Every year the same. A family tradition.
Trimper's is home to one of the oldest continually operating antique carousels in the country. The figures are hand-carved, and they are magical. The first ride on Trimper's Carousel is a right of passage for Eastern Shore folks, one most of us make as infants.

Beautiful, right? One other very fond memory of the boardwalk? The dime machines in the back of Playland. Oh, what bags of treasures we use to take home from those. Super balls, yo-yo's, bubblegum, whistles...cheap and cheesy. It was heaven.

They're a quarter now, but still. Fun.
Grateful for a lovely weekend with family. It was awesome, big brother!
Just so you know, it wasn't all french fries and caramel corn. Great meals at these three. Sobo's Beerstro and EVO Public House in Salisbury, and Stoked in Cambridge.
Hope you had some good food in good company this weekend. XO.