There would be no butterflies

Although I am double posting for a small while, I invite you visit the blog at the new website. This blog will no longer be current by the end of this month. There is opportunity to resubscribe to blog posts over there.  You can get there with either of these two addresses:  dianemoline.com or oneredchairstudio.com. Please do come join me at my new home! I am still "moving the furniture" through the month of July; watch it grow!

 

My intention to post every day this month got sidetracked yesterday, a full day of planting and our neighborhood regular Pour @ 4, always a welcome 90 minutes. But that's okay...I forgave myself around noon when I could see the writing on the wall. I planted lots of things that are supposed to attract butterflies - dahlias, foxglove, Bishop's Hat, Echibeckia - HAH! bet you didn't know that last one, unless you're an avid gardener. My botanical vocabulary has skyrocketed this week. 

Another Christmas Day

...is unbelievably almost over. All day I have meant to mosey on over to this keyboard to wish all who enter in a joyous and memorable day. Pesky things kept me from completing this adventurous goal; you know, opening up lovely presents from husband, family, and friends. And having a fine and traditional breakfast including bacon crisped up to its perfect spot, AND walking the neighborhood (we have the best street in Tehaleh and a view of the mountain, so there), AND getting into some new books, AND having another fine and festive dinner meal so, you know, things like that.

Mt. Rainer looms over the neighborhood

..our street twinkles,  yes it does. 

That's one red chair in there!

But here in the perfectly wintry but not icy cold Puget Sound, it has not yet reached midnight, so I can still qualify this as a holiday wish, for whatever holiday you celebrate. I hope this finds you well and content and filled with joy on this day that comes around so fast and goes away faster still.

Bob and I are blessed and we are so thankful to have health, family, and friends, 

and a country we love, despite its potholes, pranks, and pitfalls. 

More than ever we all will need to work extra hard in the year ahead to

speak in friendly tones, practice our values, be an informed reader and listener

of events and news from trusted sources, 

and hold on tight to optimism and hope but

stay ever aware and thoughtful and assertive. Let us not take
anything for granted and let the past serve up wisdom 

for a challenging future and

a test of our strength for a country we all hold dear. 

Home again, home again, jiggly jig

Arrived home to the good ole US of A late Sunday (well, late for me, Paris time!) My day was nine hours longer and felt every bit of it. I am always profoundly grateful to arrive home safe and in one piece, especially after a trip with complexities. I had such a wonderful time on the tour and in my solo week in Paris AND I am also delighted to be home to husband and cats, despite the boxes and piles I have yet to organize as I set up my play rooms!

May I also say I am enjoying watching the World Series at a regular hour and in comfortable seating. No more 2:00 a.m. sleep interruptions. Oh, yes, I know what you are saying. But you are wrong. Yes, indeed, I had to do it. There is no choice in the matter.

I have been diligently working on the 2017 calendar. It will be little late this year (mid-November) but having an unplanned house move and a big trip I could not reschedule, I'm proudly patting myself on the back for having one at all. Thank you, past customers and supporters, for hanging in there. I'll be sure to post when it is available for sale on my web site or Etsy.

Here is a preview page of this year's calendar :  Not Imaginary Flowers: an artistic take on real flowers that only look imaginary.

I had this cookie on Monday and it came to me. Pretty amazing. This cookie was on a grocery shelf in Paris on Saturday and I am eating it two days later over 4000 miles from that shelf. Don't you agree...pretty amazing!?

While I was gone, our built-in shelves were completed so I've been busy finally getting our living room in shape and bringing autumn in. Our trees are bare from the record rain the Seattle area has had.  Rainiest October on record. Glad I missed it: Paris and Seattle are on the same latitude, more or less, and experienced the same climate. While I was there, we had some drizzle and rain but mostly it was dry if not sunny. We did not experience the rain that Seattle has had. Oh, well, all the more green, come summer. Here's a peek at a corner or two of the house that is ready for prime time. 

I love my collection of glass pumpkins. My friend Kay got me started collecting them. The sparkly ones are from Pottery Barn, though. 

Yellow things I saw on my walk tonight

Our days are numbered in the neighborhood in which we live. While I am excited about the new home and look forward to new adventures there, I am going to miss this neighborhood and home so so much. So I am taking as many walks as I can to enjoy the view and set it in my memory bank. Tonight I saw some yellow things that gave me pleasure. I would really like that car yes i would.

Missing in action

Yes, that's me. All my projects - the MegaZine (nearly finished), the calendar, the blog, the journals....all by the wayside for a few weeks while we move from here...

oh i do love this home...there will be tears.

to here...

...and still room for One Red Chair Studio.

Anyone who has ever moved from a  home they have lived in at some length (for us, 20 years), knows what a (coining a phrase here)...YUUUGE endeavor it is. More so, if you are moving a large studio space. It is sucking all the other time I have for those things mentioned above (and a few other of life's pleasures as well). We are happy about our move but oh so busy. I will return. Soon. Don't give up on me. On the Diagonal MegaZine coming and new calendar or two in late fall. And  France trip on the schedule in October.

I am very aware that my life is blessed and I am drinking in every day, whether it is filled with the hassles of life or not. I am thinking about the pain felt by so many right now in a world filled with anxiety, violence, and uncertainty. I hope the world can find a way out of the mess we humans are making right now.
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Merry Christmas from our house...

to yours.  And now that the work is done, I plan to sit by the fireplace every day and take it all in. Also, there's a new (Not-so) Daily Amazing on the web site.

Painting inspired by the work of Jill Mayberry.

Deck the hall

Finally....5 days before Christmas Day...we have a finished tree.   A couple of years ago I cleaned out the ornament bin of ornaments I didn't like anymore. (Bob has no opinion on the ornaments and leaves me to my executive decisions regarding Christmas decor. Good and bad. But I digress.)  What is left are all my favorites. Last year we took a break from having a tree, opting for decorating the house.  I need the break because it comes around so dang fast; really, it seems I put it all away (hours of work on both ends, isn't it?) and it's time to take it out and start over again. And find a place for the autumn things, which replaced the spring things. And the wheels go round and round.

This is one of my favorites. Looks like carved wood, love the jester he's holding. Probably one of the only more traditional ones on the tree.  I'm instead into shoes and spheres and whites. More than you needed to know.

AND over at the web site home page, the Daily Amazing highlights a 3 meter long children's book that struck my fancy. Where's Waldo on steroids.

It's That Time Of Year...

...so I painted a pumpkin.  

A bit of catching up

Oh my I see I let August and September fly by with few visits here. But indeed I was a busy girl this summer...

tiling an outdoor table (we break a lot of dishes around here)....

 painting....

pictures for the walls...(inspired by Jill Mayberg)

and the walls...Good-bye turquoise: you were fun but it's time to go.

sewing....

colorful bedcovers (using a collection of vintage hankies)...

and new frocks for windows, 

downstairs.....

and up....There's those hankies again!

I still managed to read a lot of books, tho hardly touching my pile.

...and, best of all, having lifelong friends visit us for games (lots and lots of games), hanging around, and a side trip to Vancouver over the border, a hop skip and jump from Bellevue. 

Fresh Paint

My art table was befuddling me. I needed a more restful place. I started by completely clearing every little stub, pencil, scrap, and project piece off the top of working space. It ended with painting and reorganizing the whole kit and kaboodle.  I like it.

It's a nice big working area when I can get things off of it…or at least on its perimeter.
Lots of light, even on a gray day. 

I love the little girl gardener. She's a Hummel. I don 't collect them
but it was my Mom's and it delights me. 

That's Little Lulu peeking out there. From a distant past.
Ah, Little Lulu and Tubby. And, yes, it IS good to be queen. 

I still wasn't done. 

Work in progress...

What else can I find to wield my brush to now?

Hmmmmm….