Tales of a Magpie

Weekend Fun!

This past weekend was a very fun weekend indeed!  The weather was beautiful, cool, but nice.  On Saturday, I went to The Garden of Beaden for a trunk show held by Serendipity Salvage, a company formed by a couple of friends.  It was a really fantastic trunk show and I came away with some wonderful finds.  Serendipity Salvage specializes in mixed media vintage, something I really love.  They had the old fashioned wooden baby blocks, old baby shoes and vintage aprons.

There's quite an assortment of game pieces, keys, kitchy charms, lace and do dads.

There were buttons and you know how I feel about buttons.

Beautiful old perfume bottles:

Wonderful dolls and scuffied up figurines:

Isn't this a beautiful old pair of shoes?

They had a great selection of frozen Charlottes, which I have been experimenting with lately in a new project:

And these doll heads, which I use for the tin dolls.  They had some great old tins, too.

I believe their plan is to travel around to various shops and hold trunk shows, so if you are interested, you can contact them for your own wonderful trunk show.  Guaranteed fun.

That was Saturday's fun.  And I rode the motorcycle to the show and then around running errands, so that made it even better.

That leaves Sunday.  I decided to go on a bicycle ride in the morning to Claremont village.  It was a beautiful day and just a little ride.  I figured I would stop for coffee, maybe a bite to eat.  What I didn't know was that Claremont has a farmer's market on Sundays.

There were artists set up selling their wares along with the usual produce you would expect to find:

And flowers:

I think that might be yarrow, but I'm not entirely sure.

But there were a few favorite things at the market.  Like the Ukelele Girls:

I'm sorry I didn't get all their sign in the photo.  They were singing away, having a grand time, making a few dollars, too.  Love it.

And then there was this:

Looks like one might do fairly well with insta-poems!  This was a fine young lad with his portable typewriter and paper.  I just managed to catch him before he left for church:

And my poem?

Sometimes you must rush

even if you want hours

you get a minute.

 

How true, how true.

It was a fine weekend but as I like to say on a Monday morning, It's back to the flour mill!  Well, not quite but nearly.  While I was in Claremont, I happened upon a bicycle shop, went in a inquired and plan to ride my bike back there this morning where I will have a rack and baskets put on the back.  Then, when I happen upon a farmer's market, I can buy that beautiful bunch of yarrow.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The saying that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction just might be the case.  Or is it that the truth follows fiction?  But before I elaborate on that phrase, let me tell you a story...

I woke up this morning to gray skies and started on my morning walk, just a short one, what I have time for today.  The air was cool, damp and I was thinking that rain might move in.  I walk and my mind wanders.  So much is blooming now, I noticed as I walked through the neighorhood.  I passed by some honeysuckle and smelled them before I actually saw them:

I remember as a kid they were prolific pretty much everywhere you went.  We used to pick the blooms, very carefully with our fingernails detach the back of the bloom and pull out the stamens, capturing a little drop of honeysuckle juice.  Then we would put the drop to our tongue, tasting the sweetness.

I continue on up the hill.  More blooming and I realize I don't know the name of 99 percent of the things that grow here in California.

I'm enjoying all the blossoms, the heavy smell of green that the damp air provides.  I continue up the hill and think maybe it's just a different climate up here because it is a bit higher.  But the blooms are definitely getting larger and maybe just a bit more sinister looking.

It is beautiful, almost leathery looking and I wonder if it could be poisonous.   I admired them a bit before I continued on.

Then I saw these:

The vine seems to be everywhere, trying in earnest to cover every tree around.  And there were...things...hanging from it.

Rather large things.

So you can see the size I have held my hand next to one, but not too close, they are sharp, prickly and I wonder, do they bite?

It looks like it has grown a little tail and I looked a little closer at the others.  Uh oh, look at this one:

Is it opening?  I'm afraid so and when I crouched down...gulp...this is what I saw:

A pod full of aliens!  And it looks like they will be coming out head first.  It's kind of nasty looking and I am sure the movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is just one green pod away from becoming real.

What are they?  Just some run of the mill invasive vine?  I think not.  And just in case, I'll be keeping my eye on these little creatures.

And speaking of green things, the San Dimas Farmer's Market is starting tonight.  If I see anyone selling green prickly aliens I am going to run.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week! 

Spring has arrived...or is it summer?

I do believe the Gods have declared it to be Spring!  But then again, it might be summer.  Sometimes, here in Southern California, I just can't tell what season it is.  More than likely, that comes from living most of my life in places where it actually snows in the winter and the seasons are delineated with such physical presence that we are left with little doubt.  True, it gets mixed up once in a while, and here?  Well, I like to say the seasons are subtle; there is a change in weather, just not so drastic.  

A few weeks ago, poppies were blooming on a nearby street and I walked over to take a few photos of them.  I love the tissue paper quality of poppies, like someone's skilled hands constructed them of various colored paper, glued them on stems and during the night, stuck them in the ground, fooling us into believing these are real flowers.

Interesting how these two decided to merge:

I've always enjoyed closeup photos of flowers, so hard to take at times.  There seems to be no wind at all until you try to take a close up photo of a flower.

For the above photos, I used the digital SLR, a Nikon D-70 with my lens and macro filters from my old, non-digital Nikon SLR camera.  The only downside is that you have to use manual focus, hence noticing the wind more.  But that is also one of the reasons why I am loyal to Nikon; I can use my old camera lenses on the digital SLR.  I use the little CoolPix for most of my blogging because of ease but really, the big one takes the best photos.

The weather has been very up and down lately but I am glad the warmer weather has arrived.  We planted a few herbs, a tomato plant and a few pepper plants over the weekend and that always signals the start of better weather.  

And work-wise?  The shows are over for now.  I had so many things back to back, which certainly made things busy but good that it is all done at once, too.  I am working on some new projects and hope now to return to and finish some older pieces that have been sitting for a while.  And I hope that soon, I can start experimenting with some new materials and combinations.  It's all exciting to me and I want to make the most of taking the time off from teaching.  

And when I can, I'll go for a motorcycle ride!

Waterstroll

Still, it rains.  It hasn't let up and I am amazed and wonder when I have ever seen so many days of rain.  I have tried not to let it keep me indoors but last night I just couldn't bring myself to go out again.  The rain finds it way under my umbrella and I am beginning to think that clouds have formed under it.

But this morning, I decided to go for a waterstroll around the neighborhood.

The skies are so gray and heavy:

Little rivers and lakes are forming:

Flowers, heavy with water, gallantly hold up their heads:

But others succumb to the weather.  They give up and throw their petals to the earth:

The woods nearby are moody with a damp haze:

I hear water running and don't think I have ever seen this stream so full:

A little nativity has flooded and I am thinking they better retreat to higher ground:

And I will end this winter wetland post with a rather strange Christmas greeting I saw on my waterstroll:

I am guessing they want everyone to have a Merry Christmas but not too merry.

I hope everyone is having a great week!