Wow, we are 13 days into the New Year already. It has been some time since I last posted. I have to say I do a lot more sharing on Instagram. Right now I'm waiting for dinner to finish cooking so I thought I'd take a visit to the ol' blog. It was a test to see if I could even remember how to make a new post! I should update the home page of this website with new work. Happily I can say that I have had a commission for the New Year and have made my first cutting for 2018. It one that is celebrating a wedding and blending of two families. Here it is: 

The four seagulls represent the children of each parent, and together they are tying a Celtic
love knot. The couple had a humpback whale on their wedding invitation and enjoy sailing.
It was good to be back at my cutting board after the holidays. I hope to be there more and doing pieces just for fun. It seems I need a deadline to follow through and finish things. Well the oven timer is ringing, so I'll dash! Happy New year to you, dear reader!

Hello dear Reader. On Saturday I hit the Church of St. Augustine's yard sale. For once I tried to go when it opened and I think I will do it again. I didn't expect to find much and therefore didn't have much cash. Happily one of the reference librarians was helping at the sale and hid my goods, while I dashed out to a ATM. I found such good treasures, well, to me they are. One of them being another Beatrix Potter figurine. Shari and I are starting to collect them after being inspired by Susan Branch and also for their cuteness. I'm not familiar with Appley Dappley, but that's who I spied on a table of tchotchkes. Mr. Bubbe, was front and center examining everything. 

This just like new rug was $10! I overheard that after 12 pm, everything was 1/2 priced. So I went back for this one and it was $5! It looks and feels like silk, but it's Viscose. 

If you have read my previous post dear Reader, you know I'm trying to play catch up. This past week in Rhode Island we had a two day spell of hot summer weather. Friday, was in the high 80's and I had the day off. One of my co-workers at the library recommended taking a walk at Rome Point. She had been on a bird walk there and had seen Bald Eagles. I set out with a bottle of water and sunscreen. Bug spray would of been a good addition as well. It was beautiful and some of the scenery was looked like from the pages of One Morning in Maine.

My only encounter on my walk was with a deer and a few mosquitos.

I am shocked to see, that it's almost been a month since my last post, dear Reader. I do a lot more
​updating on my Instagram site. It's so easy to use my iPhone, snap a picture and post it then and there. But at any rate, here's some of the happenings of late:

Mother's Day weekend got off to a sweet start, when I received this box of chocolates on Friday night.

I spent a glorious time on Saturday, enjoying British decoration magazines and noshing on a warm apple tart, delicious!

I also visited a new home SUPER store, At Home. It's like HomeGoods on steroids. Everything looks like it was just spat out of the factory in China. Not much in the way of charm. All I came away with was a bunch of lilacs, that I picked in their parking lot. They smelled heavenly.

On Mother's day, I was on my own. The kids were working a full shift selling last minute chocolate  gifts for M-day procrastinators. Marc spent the day with his Mom, who is housebound. 

I made dinner and we all ate together, which was a nice change. I spent the day putting away Easter 
decorations and puttering. It was relaxing and very calorie laden! 

Hello dear Reader. Today I felt like I was walking in a rainbow. Gail and I visited 'Wicked Tulips' in Johnston, RI. We weren't sure what to expect. Well it did not disappoint and we had such a great visit. I had the pleasure of chatting with Jeroen and learning a bit about tulip farming. For instance all the bulbs will have to be dug up this summer, by hand. They replant with new bulbs every season!

Gail and I got to the field a half hour before they opened. We had purchased tickets ahead of time. This is my first selfie with my new i-Phone that I LOVE! 

We are finished picking our tulips. They are $1 a stem and we each pick 15. It's fun to see everyone's bouquets. 

They provide a wrapping station and this worker showed us the ropes.

We left just as it was getting crowded. We had brunch at Cindy's diner. A very cute Elvis themed diner. Guess what, no we didn't see the King slinging hash, someone, who wanted to remain anonymous paid for our check! Can you believe it? Gail had chatted with two diners while I washed up and we think it was them. Such a nice thing to do! After brunch, we hit a FABULOUS antique consignment shop, the Find on 6. I was in heaven. I had trouble leaving this corner:

I LOVE this table, above. 

These pillowcases almost came home with me.

Shari, are those your dishes at the top? The teapot was $56!

There was a whole hothouse filled with different vendor booths. The natural lighting made everything look just beautiful.

I love the paper doilies! What a great idea!

HEAVEN! I only took home photos, btw!

The brat, he lost no time chewing on the tulips!

Hello dear Reader. We hosted Easter this year and had 21 for the occasion! On Saturday I started baking. This was what the kitchen looked like after I baked this:

Marc and I got so much done on Easter eve! Power washing lawn furniture, washing windows, weed whacking, taking winter coats and boots out of the closet and setting up tables and chairs.

Bubbe meets the 13 lb ham. He's not impressed.

The star of Easter was the beautiful and warm weather!

We ate outside, well my family did, as there wasn't any seating left indoors. The kids played whiffle ball. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos.

Moments from slicing: the traditional lamb cake made by Kirsten and decorated by her girls. In the rear Mom's Apricot and marzipan torte. She also made her divine Lemon chiffon cheese cake, which always gets rave reviews. Bobby brought an apple pie. I made the chocolate babka and the chick cake. I used the chocolate cake recipe from the Hershey's cocoa tin. 

Today was the first class for Pet Portraiture. I'm teaching a 4 week session at the Handicraft club. One student came to class today. I don't know if Good Friday threw off the other students, but I was grateful that one came. She is doing a portrait of her dachshund Wallie. For my demo I was working on Shari's dynamic duo: Huckle and Hobbes. I've never taught in this wing of the club before. It is a wonderful studio, filled with light and plenty of work areas.

After class, I had to hustle over to Bristol for a Daffodil tea at Blithewold. Gail had made the reservations and it was fun to see the gardens. Our last tea, was in December. The house was so beautifully decorated then. This time Gail had her sister, Edna had her sister and Jeanne was my fill in sister! The weather couldn't of been more perfect. It felt marvelous to be outside in this setting.

My photos don't due justice to the grounds and hothouses. I think it was a case of just enjoying the moment and not looking at it through the camera lens. You can see more of it here.

Hello dear Reader. Today was my first class that I hosted in my home. Lately I've had difficulty with classes not running due to low enrollment. So by hosting in my home, I could determine the class size. Happily we were a nice group of 4. It was super handy to pop upstairs to get something to show, or find a book to reference. I  hope that I can make these home based sessions happen again in the future. 

Here is Annie moments before unfolding her fraktur cutting. 

We didn't have lunch, but had a slice of this to keep up our strength. It's Kirsten's Almond flour torte. So good!

Today was the start of a new season of soccer referee-ing for Andrew. On the right, is him on his first season, 2 years ago. He had a shift at Sweenor's after his game and is pretty pooped.

I was inspired to make an Easter card after receiving one from Doreen (thank you Do!) this week. Here's my sketch on the left and the snitte in progress on the right.

Here's the finished cutting. I brought it to the copy shop, to reproduce it, so that I can...

add color with watercolors. I'm pretty happy with the finish. I'll show it later, so that they can be a surprise to those getting one via snail mail.

Hello dear Reader. Today I was in Wethersfield, CT. I had the pleasure of doing a talk and workshop for the Charter Oak Chapter guild of craftswomen. They were all so enthusiastic and I felt so welcome. Here they are posing with the first cutting of the day. We all enjoyed a pot-luck lunch and got back to work. 

They meet in the basement of this charming Chapel.

Sandra, the Chairman,  brought some of her rabbit themed craftwork. She explained that the image of this leaping rabbit is based the earliest image of a rabbit with a basket of eggs. 

This was a group who had a great skill set, having done cutting before. A handful of these ladies preferred to cut on glass, instead of the self-healing cutting matt. 

Above are some eggs that were made for a previous event, as table favors. LOVED them! The dish that they are displayed in, is a terra-cotta pot saucer. How clever is that?

Everyone is focused.

They were so sweet to send these tulips home with me. Just what my mantel needed. Thank you for a wonderful time, Charter Oak Chapter crafters!

Hello dear Reader. Hard to believe that I was dining with my folks, this time last week. I stayed with them after flying in from Atlanta. So what's been life like after Folkschool? Take a peek and see:

Clearly the folks of Brasstown have a good sense of humor! Kirsten and I stopped at Clay's corner for 'Possum drop t-shirts, on our way to the airport. Yes, they drop, slowly and safely in a crate, an Opossum on New Year's eve. Peta isn't fond of this Time's Square alternative. 

Did you want a closer look, of course you did:

Inside we chatted with Clay and some of his buddies. Somehow, the fellas guessed that we were not locals.

There was a gallery across the street as well. Super nice owner and place.

Hope to see you soon again, JCC Folk School.

The week was a blur, catching up on everything that went on while I was away. In fact, I was only able to bake on Wednesday! Kirsten gave me a great recipe for an almond flour cake, so good.

I was trying to represent spring, since the weather was wintery. It helped to be at work this week and share my experiences with the folks at the library. Btw, the horse shoe is a gift from Kathy. She generously let Doreen and I have our pick of her MIL's pin collection. Today I wore this beauty:

After I caught up on grocery shopping, vacuuming and laundry, I had time today to decorate for Easter. We are hosting and I still had a Valentine themed mantle. I somehow forgot how much Easter decor I have. It was fun changing things around. I was actually ironing some of the vintage linens I've thrifted over the years. It'd be a shame not to enjoy all the pretty stuff I've collected.

Ready to lend a paw, knock something over or shed. Just pay him in kibble. Below he is trouble shooting my scanner.

My circulation partner at the library has chickens. They lay such pretty eggs.

See the two papier-mâché heads above? I bought them at a local consignment shop yesterday, before seeing how much Easter decor I have in the basement. Good thing they were only $2 a piece.

Trying for a creamy themed mantel.

10 rabbits just in and on this shelf. I have a weakness for white rabbits. On instagram, I was doing a
hashtag for i love white bunnies, and i love white boys, followed close behind, i love white bitches came up. Oh my.

Sophia brought these candle holders for me from Denmark this summer. I was so happy that they fit on these Ikea candlesticks.

I did cut two small pieces this week. One for a get well/heal fast card. The other is a commission for Kirsten. She is gifting it to a classmate who had a turkey vulture problem. 

It took hanging a dead one from a tree to get the 79 vultures to leave her home. UGH! I'll leave you with the Almond flour cake recipe. I had to bake it longer than TJ said to, btw. Enjoy.