My friend Sue

My friend Sue is a hoot.  She is one of the most hilarious, creative and inspirational people in my life.  I miss the crap outta her.  She moved year ago to North Carolina.  I tell her everytime we talk that I wish she was on Facebook.  "We could stay in touch more often," I tell her.  "You could see pictures of all my projects, and I, of yours."  Each time I tell her this, she just laughs.  She's not on Facebook because she spends her free time reading, watching cool documentaries, walking in nature with her dogs, or creating amazing things. Right.  How could I possibly argue with that?  All things I would love to make more time for in my days.  Things I crave.  The very reasons I love and learn from her so much.   Sue sees life artfully and she humorously relays all of her experiences on the phone, or in a hilarious poem or short story.

Well, Sue and I finally caught up a few weeks ago.  I had found an amazingly colorful (reds and purples) knit sweater at the thrift store, and I knew it needed to belong to Sue.  In turn, Sue had something for me that had been sitting around for months.  No doubt something handmade and fabulous.  To get anything from Sue in the mail is exciting and without doubt, fun.

A nest full of baby owls.  Crocheted, probably from used sweaters with cute lil eyes and pig tail ears.  A serendipitous chain of events led her to read about a program for youth in foster care to receive crocheted owls and then keeping them in their rooms to watch over and protect them.  Sue then adapted their pattern and sent me a nest full of baby owls.

I hung them in the fake tree on my front porch.  The tree provides mood lighting, and the owls perfectly fade into the tree until they become visible.  I love that I see them every day when I come or go, and I think of Sue.

it all began...

the backyard creative volcano has been brewing for the last two years.  i would say we are mid creative explosion today.  it all started with the gate.  well, actually, it started as a completely empty lot.  i replaced my chain link back fence with a block wall.  i had a bit of grass installed, some concrete poured, many wind chimes hung, and some flowers planted.  then, i decided to paint the gate.  i used some turquoise indoor latex paint.  i had previously used this color in a bathroom.  epic fail.  but here, i love it.  i used sharpie markers and acrylic paint to add whimsical flowers.  i topped with a few clear coats.  boy oh boy did this gate start something.