photo

Perhaps the best photo ever taken of me.  So much going on here, a lot of it I don't even understand.

tuesday

portland sampler

Why I travel to Portland as often as I can.

The grandkids. My great nephews, Jude and Auggie. Need I say more?

This photo was taken by Ruth's neighbor, Cathy. We were about to set off on a treasure hunt around the neighborhood.  Ruth had written rhyming clues and hidden then around town. We walked (ran, climbed, explored, picked up sticks, horse chestnuts, and other treasures...) to each clue.

 One clue was in Ruth's community garden plot where parsley and kale are still growing, the next in a hedge, the next at the public Library tucked inside a book by Patricia Polacco (can you find the P section?)  the next clue took us to Whole Foods for a hot chocolate and in the end we were back at her apartment where a box was hidden surrounded by tiny lights under a lush hedge. Auggie found it. Inside was a tiny hand made ceramic basket for fairy treasures.  As he opened the box his brown eyes grew wider and wider.

 "The fairies are going to love this!" he said.  

ART. 

We each made a book last year and they are now filled with our writing and glued in things. So we had to make books again this year. We made paste paper for the covers.  Then we assembled the books by sewing signatures together, attaching to covers and more. This is a long process, took us all week, so I won't try to explain it all here.  We both have hand made books to write in for the coming year.

Most of all, I come to Portland to see my sister.

barn

Good thing the wind took care of this old ark!

barn foundation

Seeing the barn in the previous post sheds some light on the "silo garden" that mom created and painted so often.  With the barn gone, the foundation provided a protected area for a garden.  The barn had housed dairy cattle at one time, so the soil may have been enriched by that.  The silo, once dwarfed by the barn became a focal point for the garden and a fun place for children to play.  My parents installed a spiral staircase which many of us remember climbing and peering out the two windows, one to the garden and one to the lake.  Creating a garden on an exposed hilltop in southern Quebec with a short growing season had it's challenges, but what did mom like better than a challenge?  I recall gooseberries, blueberries, flowers and an abundance of vegetables. I also recall tenacious burdock roots; weeds  that I was contracted to pull up for a small hourly fee.

The middle painting shows two year old Sarah McLean in the garden.  This painting now lives in Hong Kong with Sarah and her family.

UPDATE FROM Portland, Oregon

"When I visit members of my family, I have the surprise of also "visiting" my mother. In each house, apartment or cabin hangs a Martha McLean painting, her brush strokes, color choice and compositions  all so familiar."

from Martha Lamb McLean,  a book that I recently compiled of my mother's art.

Here in my sister's apartment in Portland hangs a painting of the barn at Potton Hilltop in Quebec painted on a window screen. My mother was a master at painting on recycled materials and  this choice of a screen was brilliant. The barn hovers like a ghost below the house. 

The barn was blown down during a fierce storm of wind and rain which swept across the  exposed hilltop. My father was in the house at the time probably listening to a Boston Red Sox game on the radio. After the storm, he walked outside to find the barn completely gone. The roof had sailed off down the hill and the walls fell in on each other like a house of cards. Wouldn't that have been a sight to see?

Another sight to see is sun in January in Portland, Oregon. It lasted one day and now we are deep in what is called by the weather people, "freezing fog." 

Sun at breakfast!

january

Last fall my dog Calley took to early morning barking.  I have a habit of rising early, before the sun is up.  At this early hour, Calley greets me.  I usually open the front door to let her out and then head to the kitchen to make my tea. I look forward to quiet time for reflection, reading, writing, checking email.  I settle in and take my first sip of delicious tea and then I hear it. The shattering sound of my brown dog barking at the perimeters of our property. I can imagine she hears deer rising from their hidden sleeping places and the raccoon who has wandered over to check out our compost pile and the owl who is hooting in the pine tree at this hour.  There is also the early morning jogger who expects to silently pass through these streets before the day has begun.

I don't want any of this disturbed so I call her and she usually comes. But this fall I decided to go out with her. To take a walk and let her run with abandon rather than let out her considerable energy by barking. So I chose a loop that takes me straight from our house to Valley Pond, up and over Moccasin Hill.  Calley and I set off each morning in the soft light. And then I saw what I had been missing.  We got to see the moon set and the sun rise, we saw shadows and reflections on the pond, I heard the ethereal sound of an owl.  I loved watching Calley explore and race through the woods sniffing and exploring.  And I had the pleasure of a walk at the beginning of the day, my favorite time.  This photo captures the feeling of that solitude and quiet.

Happy New Year from Lincoln!

A sibling happy birthday to Ruth!

January 4th is.....

My sister Ruth's birthday!!

 Planner and planter of gardens

Mother

 Explorer

Grandmother

Traveler

 Writer, teacher and learner

Sister

Artist, paste paper and book maker.

And yes, a wild Oregon soul.

How lucky we all are to have this force for all things creative, new, challenging and fun in our lives.

Happy Birthday, Rue!

HNY!

Eliza and her  pals from college days have a tradition of sending holiday cards. What better way to enjoy a vacation at home than breaking out the art supplies and spending a snowy afternoon creating new years cards?  I am glad to see the chickens that once lived in our barn have not been forgotten.  They knew how to celebrate in their ever earnest way! I remember the year they broke out the party hats!  We can learn something from our feathered friends. Let's all try to have some fun in the new year!

Happy 2013 everyone!!!