So Far This Weekend

Hi everyone.  I want to start off this post with a journal page for latest Art Journal Journey challenge by Eileen:  Dreams. 

I used a little bit of a lot of things to make this page, including a stencil, paint, scraps of paper, some ribbon bits, some die cut bits, an old ticket, a couple of stamps and a TH found relative.

The foliage has really started to change around here . I think we might be at peak or close to the peak of color. Here's some photos from my morning walk today.

 This photo (below) may not be focused but I like how it shows motion. My daughter is home for the weekend  and walked with me this morning.

 I've shown you this before, but this is my dream house. I love this old farm on the rolling land. It also looks like it has some great outbuildings, one which would probably make a great studio.

I think I need to make this the topic of Eileen's Dream challenge at AJJ. I don't think this place will ever be in my budget.

And the swamp maples at the farm pond and in the beaver pond have already shed their leaves.

And there's a bit of color left in my garden.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Yesterday was a busy day but today I managed to watch a seasons worth of episodes of Mad Men with my daughter. I did force myself outside for a bit to work in the garden since it was a nice day, but then there seemed to be so many mosquitoes. We've had some local mosquitoes found with EEE (Eastern Equine Encephalitis), so after a short time I came in and went back to Mad Men.  What we need is a hard frost and then a nice weekend day so I can get out and finish all my garden clean up. There's a lot to do since the garden has been pretty much ignore since school started.

Oh well, what gets done gets done.

I have one more day off with this long weekend. The daughter has lunch and shopping planned for us.

Enjoy the start of the new week.

Halloween is Coming

Hi everyone. Happy Friday! I have a long weekend ahead of me. I think the holiday is now called Indigenous People Day, but used to be called Columbus Day. Maybe. No one I talk with seems to know what the official name is. And it's also my mother's 90th birthday tomorrow, so my daughter and I are off to throw her a little party, even if it is just the us as guests. 

A fun thing about October is being able to get a little spooky. This fall I have been having fun collaging in a couple of board books. You've seen some bits of my Autumn book  in previous posts, and today you get to see a bit of the Halloween one. 

My main theme is witches for the whole book, but that doesn't mean you can't add in a little other fun spookiness.

By doing all this collaging, I've really been able to clean off my work table too. Big smile. It really needed it.  And there's just something relaxing about collaging, especially after a busy day at work.

Enjoy the start of your weekend!

A Few More Museum Photos

Hi everyone. I have few more photos from the Wright Museum  to share with you today. 

Back in September my husband I visited visited the Wright Museum of WWII, which is more of a museum of American life in those years, but also did have some military exhibits too. Today I will show you some military views.
I enjoyed the local connections this museum made to places in the general area where I live.
Like the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I didn't know they used to build submarines since in my time their mission is to refurbish nuclear subs.

 And Fort Devens, Massachusetts is now known simply as Devens. This is the base where my dad went out from in 1942.

 This map listed all the forts/fortifications. There were so many in seacoast New Hampshire, some still there and some I don't know anything about.

And the Boston Duck boats are always a fun ride.

And there was also this model from a shipyard over o the Maine Coast. This is showing Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.
And here is some prisoner of war materials from a man who lived in the town south of my home.

And a few uniforms for you.

Did you expect them all to be about women in military?
(I was bad and didn't take any of the men's uniforms. )

There were a few military vehicles also.
And one of the most fascinating military parts (to me) was an art exhibit they had. Here is one example, as I somehow didn't get any other photos.  The artist , Thomas Sanders, took modern photos of these veterans  holding some object that told a bit of their war story. I love stories, and these are more poignant as this generation is soon to be history themselves.

The exhibit was called the Last Good War.
I know the local stories may not be of interest to you , but I hope you enjoyed today's photo visit.
Thanks for stopping by.

Childhood Dreams

Hi everyone. Today's post is a pre-post since my daughter has decided to be around for a few nights this week. (And will be back this weekend also.) It's good to have her around since she hasn't been here for a bit, but she does keep me busy, especially since we both  are still going to work. (smile)

So today I have another page for Eileen's fun Dream challenge at Art Journal Journey. 

My page today looks at dreams in 2 different ways, or whichever one  you prefer. Are the adult women eyes looking back on their childhood dreams, or are the children dreaming of the women they will be as adults?

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday.

T Stands for Baking

Hi everyone. Tuesday is here again.
  I had a nice relaxing weekend and kept myself busy without having any commitments, which was great. My last few weekends have had a lot going on.

One  thing I did this weekend was make some chocolate sourdough bread. 

Let me offer you a slice. Not sure you can see the inside very well in this photo.

The bread is coco based, and then I altered the recipe a bit by adding whole chocolate chips rather than melting them and then adding them. I also added some walnuts.

I lightened it up here but not sure this photo is any better.

And since it is Tuesday it is  time to link up our drik related posts at

Here's my baking mess. (Plus all the counter clutter that I just pushed aside rather than putting away.) But can you just make out the teapot on the right (it is blue)  and behind my bowl an almost empty Diet Coke bottle? They are my entry to T day this week.
Stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog   to join the T Day fun and see what everyone has been up to.
And how about bit of art today also. I want to remind everyone that the Animal Magic challenge is still going on at Try It On Tuesday.

Here's a page from my autumn board book with this vintage owl book page.  I created a frame for the page with some torn pieces of wood paper, added some blue plastic "dots" as well as a metal key and tag which I painted with some brown paints to make look a little more worn and vintage. All this is put down on a light brown inked background, which is just peeking out around the owls.

Hope to see you at Try It On Tuesday with some Animal Magic.

And  before I forget. several of you asked if I liked the Downton Abbey movie that I mentioned seeing last post. Yes, I did very much enjoy it. And so did my husband. who can be a tougher critic. It was very well done and a good story also. I guess the only thing I will say is that if you aren't familiar with the show,  skip the film, as it would be hard to pick up who was who. Does it need to be seen in big movie format? No, but it was a lot of fun to watch an extra long episode on the big screen.

And also wishing you a Happy T day.

Weekend Catch Up

Hi everyone. Hope you are having a nice weekend.

It is quite chilly here. Look at the first frost on my husband's truck's windshield Saturday morning.

I had a blissful Saturday with no commitments. I did go see the Downton Abbey movie also. (Which the teenage ticket seller insisted on calling Downtown Abbey Who am I to argue with a teenager?) 

And I brought in my winter clothes and bedding from the attic.

This is the mountain that got brought in and later got moved in front of the washer. I went through it first and did manage to make 3 bags to give away.

At least I can wash it as I go.

And I have a journal page for Eileen's Dream challenge at Art Journal Journey. I am also liking up to Moo Mania and their Count Your Blessings Challenge. Dreams are a blessing in life, aren't they?

I made my page by first painting the leaves with acrylic on my journal page. Then I used a brown marker to create the veins and stems.  I also used a mica based acrylic paint wash over the leaves to give them a bit of shine.  The background is colored with 2 shades of blue Gelatos. To give the page a bit more motion I used bits of a black and white striped napkin. Finally the quote is from a piece of acetate quotes I've had forever in my stash.

And I will wrap up this post with a few photos from my morning weekend walks.

 My heirloom chrysanthemums are now blooming,

 A view of the sugar shack which has been quiet since early spring.

 The leaves are turning but are not at peek yet. But there are some bright berries with all the dying back foliage.

 They were out the other day and remarked the snowmobile trails. I don't snowmobile, but the trails around here connect to Maine, Vermont and even up to Quebec, Canada. Or at least I have been told.

If you are checking in and it is the weekend, enjoy whatever is left of yours. 

Thanks for visiting.

A Bargain!

Happy Friday everyone. The autumn chill is here, and this weekend is definitely going to be  quite crispy. Think I will need to dig out some warmer clothes because unless it warms up, we are really getting into autumn weather.

Look at the bargain I found at Hobby Lobby last week.

They had a whole bin of Copic Markers on the discount rack for $1.99 each.

What?  Aren't they usually like $7 a marker?

So I picked up some fun colors that I didn't have. Not all the markers in the photo. (The photo is the bin at Hobby Lobby before I picked out the colors I wanted.)

And then I went up to the cashier to pay. And the amount the cashier said my bill came to didn't make sense, but it was the end of the day and the woman behind me in line was talking to me while the cashier finalized my purchases. So I didn't really think about it too much. But then when I went home and looked over my receipt I realized she only charged me 99 cents per marker. 

And to think I only went into Hobby Lobby to get some extra steps walking.

Really! 

(Hobby Lobby is right next door to the grocery store and that's where I actually needed to go.)

So my art today is some colored pages. 

I had stenciled some backgrounds for my Art Journal Journey challenge last month, but then I never got around to using them. They made a great coloring page to play with my new markers.

Hope you like them. You may end up seeing them again if I ever do anything else with them.

Thanks for visiting today.

And happy weekend!