Hello, July. I am so glad I am filling my days with some whimsy so I can avoid thinking about the looming July holiday that this year won’t feel like something to celebrate at all.
Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to be themselves. ― Betty Friedan
I am glad that SCOTUS is in recess until the first Monday in October. Very glad. Although I did get a bit teary-eyed when I watched Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson become the first female Black justice! I am eagerly looking forward to her dissents!
But let’s bring on the whimsy, shall we?
My inspiration
And my interpretation…
The watercolor painting continues and this week I finally “broke out” some actual watercolor paper and taped it to my brand new gator board and even started painting! Yes, I am done fighting curling corners… oh boy. My inspiration this week was a photo from Presque Isle on Lake Erie. As you can see… the learning curve on color mixing is steep but I am not giving up!
A bit of whimsy for the bathroom!
There was non-gnome whimsical knitting this week as well. I had unearthed a bag full of the long discontinued Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille. I think I originally bought all that yarn to knit this washcloth which was originally published in Melanie Falick’s Weekend Knitting book. But I thought it might be perfect for the Bodhi Leaf Washcloth from Ease and it was! I have knit two (one is in the shower currently) and I have plans for several more. I also knit one from linen, but it is very small. I have not tried it yet, but I think it would be a good facial exfoliator. This knitting is in the Super-fast Gratification category… I can knit a Bodhi in less than an hour. Really. Cast on to weaving in the two ends… in under an hour and I can easily get two cloths from a skein!
Finally, some garden whimsy… or perhaps necessity? I present one bee watering station!
Ignore the weedy yard… there is little to no grass, but wow! Can we grow weeds!
I took the plant saucer who’s planter had broken and filled it with a couple of scoops of pea gravel and voilá! A place for bugs to drink! I have seen bumble bees, tiny butterflies, as well as a couple of large wasps all partaking! (Okay, maybe I am not so happy for the wasps, but they seemed to have no interest in myself or Sherman… they were just thirsty!) I have to fill it a couple of times a day… the evaporation rate is fast but repurposing things for the win!
And there you have it… some whimsy for my week! I hope you find some whimsy this weekend. I will be back on Monday! Have a good long weekend everyone!
The wee break I took last week inspired a new way of thinking about blogging…much needed inspiration.
Welcome to A Bit of Whimsy!
I am a person who is incredibly serious. Joking around is not easy for me and I don’t spend enough (any?) time creatively playing. However, I am working on including more lightness in my days.
These whimsy posts will help me be accountable to adding some playfulness to my week! (And if you find that you need some whimsy in your life, I invite you to join me!)
You must not ever stop being whimsical. ― Mary Oliver, Wild Geese
Okay, Mary Oliver… I am lisenting!!
One thing I did not imagine when Sarah Schira launched her Year of Gnomes was the whimsy that it would bring to my days. Silly me… can a gnome be anything but whimsical? Previous gnomes were fun, but this with this month’s gnomes – whimsy took over!
You might have seen Gnombleberry and Gnewt on IG, but here is another look at them. I stepped outside of the pattern and created something that fit me… a poem reading gnome with an over the shoulder bag. And a wee pocket for Gnewt… who is not at all certain that poem reading is for him, but he is going to try! It was all so much fun!
**Details for those interested. I knit the bag per the pattern instructions then I pinned the bag where I wanted it to sit on Gnombleberry and knit a single I-cord. I threaded the I-cord on a darning needle and went through all layers of the bag to create the folds you see. I knotted the I-cord and secured it with a stitch or two under the hat brim to make sure it stays on the “shoulder”. I used florist wire in the arm to bend it how I wanted. Gnewt’s pocket had zero fore-thought… I determined where it looked best once I had attached his arms and then picked up three stitches, and knit them in stockinette for 4 rows, slipping the first stitch of each row. I used the tails to stitch it to the body. And stitched Gnewt’s hand into the pocket to keep it secure. Look for more gnome creativity in the coming months!
The other very whimsical thing I have been engaging in is watercolor painting. It is very much a work in progress… and the struggle is very real. But I am sharing my latest attempt… the lavender in the tiny Patrón bottle. I am learning every time I pick up the brush and for now – that is a comfortable start. FYI… highlights and watercolor are a true challenge for me so the wee bits of highlights you see here are courtesy of a white Gellyroll pen which shows up more in the photo than it does in the painted image. But… I am learning!
Finally, the last bit of whimsy for this week came courtesy of Krista Tippet and The Pause.
And there you have my whimsical beginning! Now, I am heading out to spend some time soaking up the peace of the wild things (while pulling the gajillion thistles that pop up seemingly overnight in my gardens!)
Happy Friday everyone! See you all back here on Monday with my June word update!!
I pondered doing a “what I did on my blog-cation” last week… and I will share, soon.
One thing I did not do until late last week was open my laptop. Nope, I did not look at it once and it felt so good. I realized that in not looking at my laptop also increased not looking at my phone…another win, imo. I needed a dose of digital detox… ahh!
But here we are on a holiday (if you click this link, Google will remind you of the holiday, lol) … or at least the day of no mail delivery and on the cusp of summer solstice…as someone pointed out to me last week that I jumped the gun a bit in my thoughts that summer was starting last week but who was not ready to usher in summer early? Surely not just me, right? lol
I did spend some time pondering Juneteenth over the weekend. I read some poetry… and I rewatched this several times…a good reminder of how fragile freedom is. I also listened to this and I was reminded how much I appreciate Tracy K. Smith and so I tumbled down this lovely rabbit hole. I tried to stay in Digital Detox Land over the weekend but was not as successful as I was earlier in the week… sigh.
One thing I did discover was that a break from “normal” was a very good thing and I hope to bring some of those things with me into this new “back to normal” week…at least, that is my hope! And so I wish you all a very happy Monday!
Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds. — Regina Brett
Summer solstice officially arrives tomorrow and though it felt like we did not have any kind of spring, I am hoping that these next few months slow down so I can savor these long days.
One thing I am going to be entirely lazy on this week are blog posts and though I won’t be sitting on any branches… I will do a good bit of porch sitting where I can watch the summer sky!
Yep, I am taking a bit of a break here… I will be back soon!
Allergies to dust and grain, maladies, remedies and still these allergies remain. — Paul Simon
Spring is … wonderful … well, except for that little allergy thing that happens every year. I have some generally mild allergies to tree pollen and usually I can count on 5-7 days of itchy eyes, a scratchy throat, and – of course – a runny nose. This morning brings Day Fifteen of the most horrible spring allergies I can remember in … well … a long-ass time! So I did a quick Google search yesterday to see if my Off-The-Charts allergies were a one-off, or not… (really, I should have included a box of Kleenex™ in the above photo because we spent so much time together! lol)
So this weekend was all about not thinking about my allergy symptoms (and not rubbing my eyes, gah!)
My Mind Over Matter things… knitting, that water color class, and some Word contemplation (this month Ali Edwards is having us look back and look forward a bit, which is such an interesting way to consider my word at the “mid-year” point!)
First up… Knitting. In my Year of Never Not Gnoming, I began my June Gnome (a repeat of Gnombleberry that I had previously knit for Steve’s mom.) I have Gnombleberry’s body done… as well as the start of his “backpack”… which I am going to change up a bit and make it a cross-body messenger-style bag I think. Stay tuned.
Next… that watercolor class. I have watched the “make thumbnail sketches” video twice. The first time, I just watched what Rick Surowicz did. Wow, is he fast! LOL Anyways, the second time watching I picked up my pencil and managed to get two thumbnail sketches done in the time he did four. The first is perhaps too detailed for the watercolor process and the second might be a bit closer to how Rick did his four. The best thing about a video class… I can play the video’s over and over and over if I need to. I am working on letting go of my desire for perfection… but gosh, the struggle is real. Haha. Today I am going to watch the value study video … likely several times.
And that word work… I have made some notes from each month that fell into the “out of sight, out of mind” hole. A mid-year reflection is exactly what I needed to gather up some pieces I do not want to lose!
Finally, another list… and boy, I really wish that this would be the last ever list like this that anyone has to make:
Philadelphia, PA
Omaha, NE
Chattanooga, TN
Summerton, SC
Phoenix, AZ
Mesa, AZ
Socorro, TX
Chesterfield, VA
Macon, GA
Saginaw, MI
That’s right… 10 cities, 10 mass shootings, 15 dead, 60 injured…during the weekend.
Bring poppies for a weary mind That saddens in a senseless din. — William Winter
One of the most fleeting of things… my poppies… and yet, perhaps I love them so much because they are so fleeting.
One thing I hope is not fleeting… our outrage at the gun violence of the last two weeks. May our fervor burn red like my poppies and light a fire under those who think doing nothing is our best choice.
