Taking Life's Reins With a Book and Some Coffee

This morning, I am quite happy because I have coffee again. I didn't have coffee in the house for a week and I missed it. I've been substituting it for tea but it doesn't work. Coffee to me means "It's morning and time to greet a new day." whereas tea is something that should be shared socially with friends. I can recall numerous conversations I've had with great friends over cups of tea (especially when I lived in the UK), but coffee is what helps me greet the morning (I'm not a morning person).

Anyways, today I have a cup of coffee in my favourite Eeyore mug and I am sitting out on the deck in the sunshine and reading a book. Life is pretty good.

The book I'm reading is called Taking Flight. I'm only a few pages in but so far I really like it. I've been needing to read something like this. I need to get my creative energies back and take back the reins on my ridiculously busy life.

At the moment, I am working 3 jobs, trying to play in 3 musical ensembles, attend a regular small group and have a social life, and go to church on Sundays. Let's face it. My life is crazy. It needs some balance. Fortunately, I have time today to take a step backwards and get some perspective.

My plan for today:
-drink coffee
-read some of my book
-bake and ice a cake
-do some cleaning (my parents are coming this week)
-make art

The Need to Create

“Artists reach into their colors or to the notes of a musical score, into the developing solution in a darkroom tray or to the flow of words on a page, they are interacting with the eternity God has placed in their hearts. They are trying to be significant in their universe — trying to mean something more than a random collision of molecules. Though modern philosophy tells them they are nothing, their hearts tell them something else. Because their minds cannot fathom what their hearts know, they feel the weight of the God-placed burden. Art often seems irrational, because the heart is reaching beyond the mind. A modern art museum displays the heart reaching beyond what the mind knows, trying to find the meaning of its existence.”
~ John Fisher

I finally have some free time this weekend (yay for Labour Day long weekend!). I haven't had any creative time for myself in a while so my plan is to spend most of the weekend crafting or painting. Funny how making art is like an addiction or an itch that needs to be scratched. I read this quote by John Fisher not too long ago that I thought explained my own need for creating perfectly.

Cutest Bumble Bee Ever!!

I am frequently blown away by the quality of artwork that the kids at my workplace create. There are not very many places where a person can teach and create art on a daily basis and make a bit of money doing it. It truly is an awesome job and every time I'm there I feel very lucky. If you're interested in the franchise that I work at, check out www.4cats.com Maybe there's one near you!

One of the tasks I worked on today was stretching canvases for some of the kids that have been coming to our summer camps. When I unrolled this painting I was absolutely in love with it. What a priceless piece of artwork- and too good not to share. So here I am, sharing this happy little bumble bee, which was made by Abby, age 3.

Cake Decorating

For the last two weeks, I have been taking a Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Michaels. It was really fun and I'm glad that I did it together with my good friend Melissa.

For our last class, we had to bring in a cake to decorate. My friend, Megan, had just recently shared a recipe with me for a Mocha Coffee Cake and I'm so glad I made it. That recipe is delicious!!! I shouldn't be surprised really; Megan got it from her mom, who used to be a home economics teacher. She has all the good recipes!

Anyhow, we learned how to make roses and lettering in our last class and then we spent the remainder of the class decorating the cakes we had brought. I decorated mine with roses, star flowers, daisies, and a scallop edge. I must say, I am quite proud of my little creation. Sure, it's no Ace of Cakes, but I'm quite pleased!

An Evening with Robert Bateman

Although this happened a couple weeks ago, I really wanted to blog about my meeting Robert Bateman because it was such a cool experience! If you are not familiar with his work, he is an incredible Canadian artist and he was one of my heroes when I was a teenager (I was obsessed with painting very realistic-looking animals in my late teens).

My boss is an alumnus of Royal Roads University in Victoria and she was able to get tickets for myself and a colleague to see Robert Bateman. It took place at Royal Roads (where they filmed X Men). It was a great setting for the evening. The old castle is such a neat building.



Bateman did a two-hour talk called 'The Mind of Bateman'. He admitted that the title was kind of pretentious but what he was aiming for was to show and tell about the things that happened to him when he was young. He wanted to explore the events and experiences that shaped his life and ultimately led him up to the point where his career became very successful. I found it very interesting and it seriously didn't feel like 2 hours!



He spoke about many different things; what he did in the free time of his childhood, where he grew up, different 'clubs' he was in, his first jobs, and what his early drawings looked like.

He is a fairly opinionated man. This didn't bother me too much; probably because I pretty well agreed with everything he said. Besides, if I had all the experiences that he has, I would probably be the same. I like to think that at age 81, I will have earned the right to express my opinion. :)

He gave us his opinions and perspectives on a variety of topics including Native peoples of North America and their culture, separatists groups, the short attention spans of today's youth, loss of natural habitat, etc.

It was a very good evening and I took home a book of amazing artwork that he graciously signed for me. Cool hey?!

Veggies in Newspaper

The veggies in my planter box are coming up nicely and I just wanted to show off something different that I tried this year when I was planting.

I didn't have any peat pots to start my plants in so I used newspaper instead. I'm really happy with the results! It was so easy.


DIRECTIONS
First I folded the paper over a few times in the same direction to make a long rectangle. Then I wrapped the rectangle around my right hand to make a shallow tube. Next, pinching where the end of the paper was with my right thumb, I folded half of the tube inside itself with my left hand to form the bottom of the pot.

These weren't amazingly sturdy, but that didn't matter because I tucked them all into a shallow cardboard tray (box) and filled them with soil. The weight of the soil and the squishing of all of them in that tray, made them strong enough to start my plants in. After a couple of weeks of regular watering and sunshine, the veggies were ready to be transplanted into my garden, newspaper and all!

I can't say I'd recommend this for all veggies. It's not good for root vegetables like onions, carrots, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, etc. But for other veggies, it's worth a try. It was a fun little money saver!

Spring in Full Swing

Spring seems to FINALLY be underway here on the island. Until recently, the weather has been very cool and rainy but the May long weekend seems to have brought the sun along with it. I've been busy gardening. Here are some photos from what's been happening in my little yard.



These are the bulbs I planted a few months ago in pots (previous post: http://horncat.blogspot.com/2011/04/peek-outside.html ). Last time I posted a photo of them, they were just poking their heads out of the soil. Now they are in full bloom and looking beautiful. I especially love the tulips (Luca Banja).

This is a rhododendron that a friend gave to me. It never bloomed for her and we hoped it would be happier in my yard. As it turns out, the plant liked the change and we now know what colour it is; pink! The rest of the bed is still a work in progress but I am happy with how it is turning out.