It's National Coffee Day!

Autumn is Here!

Let the fall color show begin!

Memory Bear

In a previous post you may have noticed a little teddy bear sitting on the chair in my grandson's nursery. Well, let me tell you the origin of Mr. Teddy Bear. 

My dear hubby had a favorite chair in our living room. He wanted a recliner and although I've never been fond of the look of recliner chairs, I have to admit they certainly are comfortable.

As you can tell, George wasn't the only one who loved the chair. Our grand-dogs, Hank and Shooter loved the chair too. Or perhaps they just loved George. After George passed away, those dogs sniffed and sniffed that chair. Eventually they sat in the chair with me. I think we all felt closer to George when we were in that chair.

After a while, the chair finally broke. It was fine as long as I remembered not to recline in it. But somehow I always seemed to forget that simple rule. I managed to fix it temporarily many times.  But eventually it could no longer be repaired. I decided it was silly to hang on to a broken chair. It had served it's purpose of comforting me (and the dogs). So one day I dragged it down to the curb for the garbage men to pick up and at the last minute something told me to grab the arm covers off the chair.

When my grandson Jase was about to be born, I remembered those arm covers I saved from the chair. It made me sad to think that just like my daughter never got to meet her Grandma Jane (my mother), Jase would never meet his grandpa George. I wanted Jase to have something that he could hold when I tell him stories about his Grandpa. I never made a teddy bear before and I wasn't sure how this one would turn out. He's a little wonky with his crooked button eyes and his short little legs, but somehow that that made him more endearing. The arm covers were just the right size to make him...I used practically every inch of them. I hope Jase loves his teddy bear as much as his grandpa would have loved him.

Healthy Living

Yesterday I made up a batch of this Detox and Body Flush Water.

Today I had my first taste of it and it's not bad at all! You can find the recipe here.

Bargain Chair

When my daughter became pregnant she told me that she and her hubby wanted to get a glider-chair for the nursery. 

 Practically days after she mentioned it, I came across this one at The Saver's Store in our area.

Just look at the price tag! And on the day I was at the store furniture was 25% off, so I got it for only $15!

I found this cute polka dot fabric at Hobby Lobby and covered the cushions to match the color scheme of the nursery.

Creatively Made Home for the Holidays

I'm thinking of taking this new e-course of Jeanne Oliver's. I took the original Creatively Made Home e-course and it was wonderful. What fun it was to go inside the homes of all those talented ladies. Jeanne is having a giveaway now through Monday with the opportunity to win free admission to the all new Creatively Made Home for the Holidays e-course. You can check out the details by clicking here.

Baby Update

My grandson, Jase Edward, is two weeks old today. Hard to believe that so much time has gone by already! I remember how quickly time flew by after my daughter was born, and now it seems to be going by at lightening fast speed with little Jase. Moral of the story: Enjoy EVERY second!

I'm a grandma!

This has been the most exciting week! My daughter went into labor this week and very early yesterday morning my little grandson Jase Edward was born! At 8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long, he's quite a charmer! Jase and his mom are 30 years apart just like my daughter and I are. And the three of us have birthdays in consecutive months - August, September and October!

They say that a baby is such a miracle, but seeing your own daughter have a baby of her own is an even bigger miracle. That hit me when she first went into labor. Ten fingers and ten toes - perfect in every way.

I got to cuddle with Jase yesterday afternoon. What a joy he is to hold!

Isn't he adorable? Of course being his grandma, I'm a little prejudiced!

As his daddy looked on, Jase just couldn't take his eyes off him. He is just SO cute!

Back to School

Target's back to school catalog arrived in the mail the other day. It makes me want to go away to college. Never mind that I'm a few decades too old for that! They have some pretty cool dorm room items. What fun!

Brave

“Brave” - awesome song and video by Sara Bareilles.

(Found this on Jeanne Oliver's blog and just had to share.)

You can be amazing

You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug

You can be the outcast

Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love

Or you can start speaking up

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do

When they settle ‘neath your skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight

Sometimes a shadow wins

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there,

Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy

Fallen for the fear

And done some disappearing,

Bow down to the mighty

Don’t run, stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since your history of silence

Won’t do you any good,

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty

Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

See you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

Fire Boat Light House Cruise

Plein Air Festival

The French phrase "en plein air" means "in the open air" At the end of the 19th century this type of

outdoor painting was practically unheard of. Then along came English painter, John Constable. He 

was kind of a rebel in the art world deciding to forget formulas, find truth in nature and trust your own vision. He began to create sketches outdoors and then finished them into full sized paintings in his studio.

Our cottage is near an art school and every year they host a Plein Air Painting Festival. It is fascinating to watch these artists create small masterpieces of everyday flowers, houses and scenes using their oil paints.

This particular piece (above and below) is one of my favorites. He is painting a couple of old summer cottages, but what this photograph does not capture is the thick texture the artist has built up on the canvas using the oil paints. I've never been a fan of working with oils because I like instant gratification and oil paint takes so long to dry.  But watching these artists work makes me want to give it a try. Perhaps someday.

I was amazed at how close to each other some of the artists placed their easels. That was because  sometimes there was a favored subject more than one person wanted to paint, like this pair of old bicycles in back of this house.

Old and young alike participated - age doesn't make a difference when it comes to creating art.

When I arrived I parked my car near this artist, at which time her canvas only had a background of purple paint. When I returned to my car, she was finished and rushing off to get her painting turned in to the judges. You see, the contest this day was to create a plein air painting in under two hours! Can you imagine? Sounds like a fun challenge, but much too much pressure for me....especially with people looking over your shoulder why you work!

Life is Good

It's a beautiful day here today. The heat wave is over and cooler, less humid temperature have moved in. The wild flowers in front of my house are in bloom. Life is good!

xo

jeanne

Seattle: Final Pics

Space Needle

Argosy Scenic Boat Cruise

Cruise Ships Docked

Seattle Skyline

Chihuly Garden of Glass Museum