Collecting 2019 – Morning Glory Studio

collecting september 2019 …

Published on October 1, 2019 by Honoré5 Comments

Here we are into another month. Seems just yesterday September was beginning! September was hot, almost too hot to spend outside but I managed to get my fair share of the outdoors in. Memories of the days:

1 – The first brings the latest One Little Word prompt from Ali Edwards; t’is how I usually begin that morning …

3 – Chris returning home from his first day of school and l’il brother Elias ever so happy to see him; t’was a long day …

4 – Lovely flowers and discovered a new yoga studio on my morning walk; Note To Self: remember to look into the offerings …

5 – For sure, a sign of autumn, as also in 16, 17, 19, & 20. It’s been hot and dry; not sure what the Fall colors are going to look like this year …

6, 10, 26*, 28 & 29 – AM and/or PM sky, always a study …. * 26 is a photo of a plane flying toward the moon ( kinda hard to see); reminded me of the popular phrase to the moon and back …

7 – A beautiful day, weather wise. I walked to the Franciscan Monastery and enjoyed being out in the nature, as Dolly – now 33 – characterized when she was a little one …

8 – Hazel, niece Chris’ pup, is no longer hazel in coloring; 14 – meet Tiki, dog of one of my quilting friends …

9 – A quilt pattern I’ve added to my someday maybe list …

22 – Celebrating friend Pat’s birthday, happy Happy!

25 – Me, waiting at DMV to renew driver’s license … still waiting …

29 – Trying to capture the sunset; the mesh screen added a different look to the photo…

30 – UMD marching band practicing… college football season is here!

And thus it was: many moments that contribute to a grateful life.

Cheers~

collecting august 2019 …

Published on September 20, 2019 by Honoré5 Comments

Twenty days into September! Two thirds of the month gone. TODAY, realizing I totally forgot to post August’s “Collect” post…so, here t’is…

Highlights of the month – Photos:

3, 4 & 5: taken on the Saturday friend Margaret and I attended a full day’s preview of Fall’s new book releases, presented by Washington DC local/area indie booksellers. Photo #4 was taken underground at a Metro station, while waiting for a train; first time I’d ever seen a musician playing inside a station ~ maybe ’cause it was a weekend?
9, 10 & 11: weather was absolutely perfect – an early preview of Fall. I walked to the Franciscan Monastery and just enjoyed being… Did you see the butterfly in the 10th’s picture? On the 11th, a friend held her annual Summer Fling – last year, rained out. This year, Mother Nature redeemed herself and we had a lovely early evening love affair under blue skies, tall, elegant trees, a setting enhanced by music from a jazz trio and good food!
13 -19: I participated in a mini LOAD – Layout A Day this week. I used a Traveler’s Notebook for my album and enjoyed the compactness of the 2-page spread for each story/layout. I see more on the horizon ~ possibly soon. The October 31-days’ session is just around the bend.
20 & 31: 20-tieth was actually sunset on the 19th ~ such dramatic clouds! 31st was taken in the morning – I loved capturing the sun peeking out from behind the tree.

Always, when I look back and reflect on the month, I am so very grateful for these lovely moments in and of my life!

Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers~

welcome july …

Published on July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 by Honoré8 Comments

~sunrise today 7:03 am~

Welcome July! You arrived complete with sunshine and delightful temperatures. It’s been a real treat to greet you with the deck doors wide open!

This morning not only started a new month with a new calendar entry but also, a new Scribbles journal. It felt so good to “open it and begin journaling, again, for the first time.” I have big staycation plans for the summer months, ending with the arrival of the autumnal equinox. But more on that down the road. First, a look at this past month, June:

You will note quite a few photos of flowers: Spring – and now Summer – was especially gorgeous, a result of all the rain we had. Trees and shrubbery are fuller and a lusher green; les fleurs, more abundant and vibrant. I’m even convinced the sky is bluer – when it is blue!

#1 and #14: two excursions to Zeke’s, my neighborhood coffee roaster/shop ~ warm enough to sit out!
#2 and #4 from Kayla’s and my trip to the new Apple Carnegie library…
Swans – # 7 and #25 – are this summer’s Journal Club animal spirit guide; seems that everywhere I look these days I see the swan image. My subconscious brain at work‽
# 8 – flowers in are an example of thread painting with a sewing machine; I saw them on a pillow at Target. The picture reminds me that I plan to try the technique this summer, just for fun…
# 9 – friends, Margaret and Ed, have a sweet new rescue dog: Hannah; I got to meet her for the first time…
#11 captures sunlight streaming through a wooded area…
# 15 and #16 – are from Chris’ 5th birthday party at the Climbing Zone. He decided not to climb, tho’ he gave it a try; niece Kayla did make it to the top!
#17 – June’s full Strawberry moon – a stock photo coupled with a web article I read; unfortunately, the sky was cloudy so I didn’t get to see the moon in real life…
#19 – I thought the tree was interesting; not sure how it lost all its leaves but it made for a different photo of #blueskyblooms – or not!
#20 – a delicious Caprese mini pizza, without onion, made by friend Hilary for me! Onions and I don’t get along. I discovered that the blurry photo was the result of my camera lens needing to be cleaned!
#23 – Norman all dressed up for Men’s Recognition Day at church…
# 26 and #27 – sunset and a sunrise shadow…
#30 – #blueskyblooms of a Crepe Myrtle; they are quite luscious this year, tho’ the photo doesn’t give justice.

And that’s a wrap for June 2019 and this post. Hoping your July is off to a fantastic start, as is mine. Looking forward to spending July with you!

Cheers~

PS. Oops! #1 was taken outside the Clarice Performing Arts Center; I was waiting for friends to arrive and sitting outside with a glass of wine before the concert!

collecting march 2019…

Published on April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 by Honoré7 Comments

March was filled still with lotsa cold temps…not much outside time and when those days did arrive, I – along with the rest of the world – certainly made it my mission to get outside. Every budding flower or tree was just one more affirmation that Spring, indeed, was going to arrive. Oh, we of little faith…

I kicked off the month with an email from the host of Sunday Baroque: I’d written because I wanted to listen to the program as it was being broadcast and I wasn’t having any luck finding the right channel! Listening has been wondrous every Sunday since. To that end, on Sat, 30 March, I attended the 5 hours’ long live presentation of Wagner’s Die Walküre, boradcast in High Definition and shown in local movie theaters – in over 70 countries. T’was magic!

Quilting was the main focus of the month as we get ready for the soon-to-be-here quilt show, May 3-5. Photos 4, 11, & 18 show works by others; #12 is asnapshot of my sewing studio…

Loved the #blueskyblooms: photos15, 17, 19 & 24 … especially 15. If you look closely between the pink blossoms, you will see there’s actually a person sitting on the bench, pen and journal in hand…and no, it “ain’t me!”

The merry-go-round – # 22 – is a just.because. #27, my friend Kathy. Our newest family member, Hazel the labradoodle – niece Chris’s pup: #s 8, 9 & 29. Chris informed me that Hazel has her own Instagram account. She, Hazel, that is, has been approached for modeling gigs ~ she’s very photogenic, according to Chris!

Looking forward to all that April will unfold. Have a great weekend!

Cheers~

collecting february 2019 …

Published on March 8, 2019 by Honoré7 Comments

Every year in February, since 2010, I’ve participated in the month long scrapbook challenge – LOAD, Layout A Day. Each day we received a prompt and a challenge based on a theme. This year’s theme was inspired by the 80th Anniversary of the movie “The Wizard of Oz” and great fun!

Tho’ we’re not required to keep to the theme or the prompts – for the object is to make a layout a day of favorite memories – I found that the prompts certainly recalled memories and inspired my layouts. Most of mine featured Kayla, the little boys, the weather, events, etc…in short: snippets of me, family members, my life and memories!

Days 1, 6 and 21 feature Kayla, circa ages 2-4; she is now 18. The little boys are in 4, 8 & 18.; they are ages 4 and 14 months. I – or a facsimile of me – am in 7,9,11, 20 & 21. The photo of me in # 20 was taken when I was about 42…a while ago!

Sadly, my god doggie ( # 27) Watson’s life on this earth ended this month but we take solace in knowing that his last seven years on this planet earth were spent in a home filled with love. (Watson was a rescue dog, found abandoned on a PA roadside).

Strangely enough, looking through my stash, I found a cutout from a birthday gift card – #28 – that my friend Margaret gave me at some point in time…and it was perfect for the last day’s creation: my Ode to LOAD.

And that’s a wrap for February…

Cheers!

PS. A click on the photo (or use command /+ key on a Mac) should make the image larger.

collecting january 2019 …

Published on February 1, 2019 by Honoré13 Comments

January has been a full month, filled with:

time with good friends;
moments spent with the little boys;
several stitching gatherings;
good food; and
winter/wintry weather – which also meant fewer treks outdoors.

I read, stitched, knitted and also took a few photos of the sky and winter trees – have I ever shared that I like “naked ‘ trees the best? So much of their character is revealed with the sky as background. We watched a couple Super Bowl football playoffs and plan to watch the game with pizza and champagne. Years past, tho’ not recently, Norman’s had Super Bowl parties.

On the 12th, I stumbled upon The Cleveland Symphony Orchestra’s performance on PBS! The pianist, Lang Lang, played my favorite Mozart piece: Piano Concerto No. 24. The entire performance was superb, especially the camera work. Watch here .

The quilt shown on the 28th was part of my quilting group’s weekly show and tell; I especially liked these two blocks of one, and in particular, the flying goose surrounded by flying geese quilt pieces…

Sunday the 27th and Thursday the 31st, I joined stitching friends. I thought I’d make a Waterlogue collage; the top row of photos, L to R, show knitting, and needlepoint. The bottom row features needlepoint, hand applique´and machine quilting on a wall hanging.

This is the quilt (lower right photo) – made by friend Diane- without the waterlogue. The quilt consists of gorgeous Asian fabrics, quilted with shiny gold threads. All very lovely.

And that’s a wrap for January! We’ve had snow all day, since about 6 am this morning; it rather looks like it might be ending. Tomorrow’s to be sunny and 44° Guess ol’ Phil will see his shadow…We all know what that means!

Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers~