Camden (Maine) is fortunate to have a wonderful Teen Center which is open free of charge to 5th through 12th graders here. It is mostly enjoyed by the middle school kids and younger teens (and it happens to be located a short walk from the middle school), my oldest son among them. They have had a fun fund-raiser the past year or two at least, and this year I got to be a part of it. Folks donate chairs or stools, which artists of various sorts then gussy up for sale at the auction. When I went, there weren’t a whole lot of options… I wanted to do something larger than a stepstool, so this tall stool was about it. Alas, I forgot to take a picture of it in its initial dark brown stain, which I sanded. I then painted it with the same aqua that I used on my new fabric shelves (shelving seen here — note, all photos are clickable to view larger).

Then I got out my craft paints, selected as many fun colors as I could find (bright blues were gone, and the fuchsia, alas, was solidified beyond using…sob!). The palette above is lovely, don’t you think? Here is a view of the chair while being polyurethaned (and does anyone know why my craft paints might have smeared a bit when coated????):

And a view of the front when done:

And the back:

And a close up of the seat (that light spot in the center is just that, a light / reflection):

Well folks, it’s that time of year again: WRESTLING season for the middle schools in Maine. And coincidentally, I’ve had a couple folks ask (thank you!) how Joshua is doing after that nasty accident last summer (if you’re new to my blog, he was on his bike, got hit by car, 3 weeks in hospital with badly broken leg etc–lots of blog posts after July 17…). Well, I’m thrilled to say, not only is he healed, but he WON BOTH of his first two matches of the season! WOOOT WOOOOOT WOOOOOOT!

You could tell by the look on his face from the moment he walked on to the mat (photo above, start of first match) he was determined to win. (As an aside… if you look at the side of Joshua’s left leg in the photo above, you can see the shorter of the two scars he has on both sides of the lower leg…wicked!) Before he left the house (it was a home meet so we had an easy day getting there!) Joshua said he WAS going to win all his matches today, and he did! The first one was fairly easy—here’s Joshua pinning the other boy (who was clearly younger and less experienced)

But the second match was supposed to be a tough one–The Camden-Rockport coach said he knew Joshua’s opponent and it should be a good match. As you can see, the boys are similar in size and build, tho I thought the other boy looked a bit more muscular than Joshua.

Hah! Here’s my boy (typed proudly) moving in straight away:

Joshua pinned BOTH opponents in the first round (matches are 3 one-minute rounds, scored on points, unless someone gets a pin sooner).

I must say, it does reduce a mom’s stress level to see a pin in round one versus a win on points at the end of round three! And after three seasons, I FINALLY got a good picture of Joshua with the hands-up for the win pose!

Thanks again to all who sent good wishes and good thoughts our way during Joshua’s ordeal last summer. The blocks many sent are waiting for me to have time (after  my mom is moved to Maine and the book is done) to make his new bed quilt (will be ready in time for cool fall weather I’m sure, I hope…..famous last words?), and we are all so incredibly grateful that he is alive and well — and rocks at wrestling!

Yes, I am alive. Yes, I have been working like a madwoman. Yes, family life happens (and means you don’t get to blog). Yes, I have been teaching. Yes, I have been quilting!

Earlier this week I came across a post on the quiltart list by Sonja Lee, and a link to her blog, Art Textilian, with her contribution to the World Beach Project. WOWIE ZOWIE! Instant inspiration! The Beach project is sponsored by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, and a collaboration with artist Sue Lawty. Immediately I wanted to participate, despite the bone-shattering cold this week

So on Friday at sunset when it was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit (minus temps in Celcius) with a nice breeze blowing to make it feel chillier, Eli and I went to town to buy Pigwidgeon (the pug)  a birthday present (a new bed), go to the post office, and just before dark (well, as dark was happening at 5 pm) make our piece on the beach. The photo above is of the beach below the library and amphitheatre park. You can see the schooners wrapped for winter and the ice (yes, ice) on the beach at low tide at sunset.

I guess I didn’t read the instructions too well, because the project is supposed to be made of stone, and ours is made of mussel shells, a few rocks, and tumbled, broken bits of brick (so it is totally New England!). When I asked Eli at breakfast if he wanted to do this with me, he asked if we could make the yin and yang if we could find white and black stones, so of course I said yes. Well, he didn’t remember what it was called, but I knew he meant yin-yang. When we got to the beach, he decided red and blue of brick and mussels would be better.

Anyway, I don’t know if our project will make the V&A website since it isn’t exactly mostly rock, but we had fun anyway. It got so dark in the 20 minutes or so that we were freezing our fingertips (some of the shells were frozen to the sand and we had to scrabble to pry them loose!), so I had to photoshop / lighten this last picture so you can actually see both the harbor and our project.

Can you tell I love snow? And taking pictures… here, some more winter inspiration, starting with the tree in the cemetary (not that you can tell with all that snow), Mt. Battie in the background:

Here’s the Village Green:

And the Harbor, from in front of the library:

I love the “dinosaur ridges” on the tree branches (near our house):

The reflections in the not-yet-frozen run-off creek near the house:

Eli playing in the snow with ‘Widgeon:

and Joshua playing in the snow, too:

And the snow at least a foot deep blanketing my studio over the garage:

The snow-bound creek (which will freeze over before too long):

And the laden pine boughs alongside the driveway:

Let it snow:

Let is snow (some more):

Let it snow (even more!):

We had a White Christmas this year in spite of the warming weather last week, mostly because there was about 22 inches of snow on the ground. Quite a bit melted off before New Year’s Eve day, when we got more. Then the night of New Year’s Day, we got even more….. We now have more snow than I’ve seen in our short 3 1/2 years here. The snow plow ridge at the end of the driveway is SO high I can’t see over it to look for oncoming cars! So of course, since I love the winter and the cold (and being snug inside our house and quilting and reading and fixing tea and listening to the kids …well…. most of the time listening to them), I took pictures. LOTS of pictures! Here you go! Plenty of inspiration for art quilts, I think…. (a late note…too many pics! will post more tomorrow!)

Here’s our house:

And the mailbox:

The house end of the driveway after being plowed and shovelled…notice how high the pile goes compared to the basketball hoop!

And here’s Eli at the street end of the driveway…Widgeon loves the snow, at least when it is in the 20s. Today it was around 0, yep, ZERO Fahrenheit (which is well below zero centigrade!), currently with a windchill of minus 10! That was a bit too cold on his little tootsies!

More pics tomorrow, including ones of town and the neighborhood.