When the moon is so full that it looks like it will break your windows, you know that the Blots are on the move. The night deceives you – do not trust the calm and the silence, for the Blots make no noise as they rise up like smudges against a dark sky. They have no mouths, they make no sound, but their inky presence swells and spreads as they search for places to stain.

Continue reading “Friday, July 30, 2021 Erase the Blots” →

When flowers are born
It’s a staggering sight
Slap-happy colors –
Petals sitting tight.

Continue reading “Thursday, July 29, 2021 When Things Decay” →

Now that I’m at the end of the Watercolor Travel through Italy lesson book, I can admit that I didn’t really understand until several lessons in that each of the paintings in the book are from different places in Italy and you can use your phone to access the maps to each of these places. I guess you’re really supposed to feel like you’re traveling through Italy as you paint. Just call me “slow on the uptake!”

Lesson 17 is a quaint little vineyard scene in Passo S. Giovanni.

Continue reading “Wednesday, July 28, 2021 Watercolor Italy Lesson 17 and Final Exam!” →

When I was a senior in high school, I was taking an English class from Mr. S. and one day I noticed that someone from another period had written “I’m a star!” on my desk. I couldn’t let that go unanswered, so I wrote in pencil underneath it “Boo Hoo – I’m only a square.” Oh, the wit. I thought that was the end of it. The next day, the anonymous writer had added, “I’m so sorry for you. Who are you?” to which I replied, “I don’t want your pity and I would like to remain anonymous.” Bam! The writer replied the next day “So sorry again. That suits me fine. To each his own. Tell me this, then, are you a foxy lady? Tell the truth.”

Continue reading “Tuesday, July 27, 2021 Desk Pal” →

These are a few of my favorite things…to hoard. I have a hard time getting rid of:

Empty shipping/packing boxes (of all sizes)

Empty card boxes

Product boxes that things came in because if we move, I can just put them back in their boxes!

Pretty much any empty box, actually

Continue reading “Monday, July 26, 2021 Favorite Things…” →

There was a young man named Bert who noticed at an early age that he had a strange appetite for dirt. He ignored it for a time, hoping it would go away, but the compulsion lingered. “Why am I this way?” he wondered, distressed at this thing which seemed so unnatural compared to all those around him.

Continue reading “Friday, July 23, 2021 The Dirt Eaters” →

The Ballad of Michael and Betty
and Their Terra-cotta Love

When Michael first saw Betty
His eyes lit up with pleasure.
“My terra-cotta beauty!
You’ll be my life-long treasure.”

When Betty first saw Michael
With his stylish beard and mustache
She nodded with approval –
“I like a man with panache.”

And so they were together
Companions in all their hours
Romance bloomed and flourished
Like a spray of purple flowers

And when the season ended
As seasons always do
Their flowers dried and faded
But their love was always true.

I inherited these beautiful planters from my mother, who named them Michael and Betty after her sister and brother-in-law. Their season ended in the not-too-distant past, but I think their love was always true.

I’ll probably delete this when my season has ended…

Last year I spent some time practicing how to paint bluebirds. I found a couple photos on the internet, did some sketches and then painted a whole slew of them. This means I painted six, just in case you thought a “slew” ought to be a lot more than that. Anyway, when I was done doing that many, I thought I had probably mastered the bluebird and decided to paint one without doing a sketch or looking at a photo.

I can’t help but think of that song “Both Sides Now.” Remember the refrain?
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all.

So here’s my version:
I’ve looked at bluebirds from both sides now,
From up and down and still somehow,
It’s the illusion that I can paint them I recall…
I really don’t know bluebirds…at all.

But you know what? I like my primitive little bluebird – he’s got a certain pathos about him that quite appeals to me.

I’ll probably delete this post after looking at it from both sides, since I don’t think I really know it at all.

I did a fair amount of babysitting in my day, but it wasn’t my favorite thing. A young family, lived two doors down from us and used to have me babysit now and again. They only had one child,a toddler (Jimmy?). I made the mistake once of watching an episode of “Sixth Sense” after putting Jimmy to bed and when it was over, I was almost frozen with terror. I turned on most of the main floor lights and a radio and tried not to think scary thoughts.

Another time while I was there, I was having a conversation through the window with a couple neighbor boys who were asking me and my friend from next door to go to the state fair with them the following day. Be still my beating heart!! As we were talking, the parents drove up the driveway past us. I was pretty sure they’d never hire me again after discovering me idly chatting with boys while I was supposed to be devoting my every moment to little Jimmy. However, they were surprisingly nonchalant about it, although they did ask me not to repeat the offense.

A family down near the end of the other side of the block once asked me to babysit. I showed up at the appointed time and to my surprise and extreme discomfort they were still eating and in absolutely no hurry to get going. I offered to leave and come back again, but they insisted that I stay. There was a fellow there who was about 8 years older than me and he spent some time talking with me; I found him vaguely creepy and tried not to encourage the conversation. Ugh. I bet it was an hour before they finally left and they stayed out so late that I was asleep when they came home. Never again!

A couple across the street used to have me babysit as well. I was at their house chatting merrily with a friend on the phone after the kids were in bed and I absentmindedly sat down on a little end table which promptly broke under my weight. I am thoroughly ashamed to report that when the parents came home I LIED about what happened and told them I tripped and fell on the table. I tried to refuse payment in light of my transgression, but they insisted. Oh, the guilt!

One time when I was babysitting for a couple that lived farther away, a man came to the door and asked to use the phone since his car had broken down. I should never have let him in – I was uncomfortable about it but not assertive enough to tell him no. He really did just use the phone, but it could have been a very bad situation and I determined that if it happened again, I would say no.

I started getting jobs farther away because of references, but I didn’t like it when the fathers drove me home – it was awkward; they didn’t know what to say to me and the feeling was mutual. I was at a new job one night – there were several children, the oldest being in 7th grade (I was in 9th) and the youngest being 3 weeks old. I knew absolutely nothing about babies and called my mom more than once for advice (the baby won’t stop crying – what should I do?). Meanwhile, the 7th grader was perfectly capable of taking care of the baby and I finally just let him do everything. I’m not sure why they hired me when they had their son to handle things, but I suppose it gave them the illusion that someone more mature was in charge. The son must have told them how the evening went because they never asked me again.

In general, I did not like babysitting except for the money and was glad when I was old enough to get a job and could end that chapter of my life. I used to worry that maybe I was not going to enjoy being a mother because I didn’t naturally love taking care of other people’s children, but when I got married and we started a family, the worries disappeared as soon as I held our first baby in my arms. I loved being a mother and still do, even now that they are all grown. And I love being a grandmother!!

This has been Tuesday True Stories with Lynniebeemuseoday. I’d love to heard about some of your babysitting experiences. Am I the only one who didn’t love it?

I’ll probably delete this, but maybe not. I need to sit down and think about it, hopefully not breaking any furniture in the process.

Summer Haiku
Eleven photos.
Mid-summer Minnesota.
Much better than words.

I’m not known for brevity, so enjoy this departure from my usual multitude of words.

I’ll probably delete these mid-summer photos mid-morning.

Fig Newton sat on the Lucky Lucy as it floated, anchored near the shore. Miss Agra and her companion Grimpus Leatherfoot had gone hunting blueberries and Fig was enjoying his solitude. He held a pencil in his webbed hand and alternated between staring out at the sky, closing his eyes in thought, and jotting down some froggie ideas for the list he was making. When he was done, he read it out loud:

Ten Things I Will Need to See and Do Before Returning Home

1. Perform an act of derring do. (Fig was pleased with being able to use that phrase and hoped that when the time came, he’d know it).

2. Save a memento from every stop to remind me of my journey. I won’t turn around until I have 12 of them at least.

3. Take the Lucky Lucy out on the open sea.

4. Battle a sea monster.

5. See the Magical Lily Pad Pond. (Fig hoped this was a real place, and not just a rumor)

6. Go on a quest with someone of like-minded spirit to find and/or accomplish something important.

7. Sneak into and out of a castle (or something like one) without being detected by people. (He knew this was risky – people were so unpredictable when it came to frog-kind.)

8. Hear a concert given by the Matchless Froggy Chorus.

9. Win a leap-frog contest.

10. Find Mrs. Newton.

Fig thought long and hard about this last item, but realized that with all of his desire for adventure and travel, in the end he wanted his own lily pad, a frog lady with whom to share it, and a bunch of tadpoles to whom he could tell his stories and raise up to take his place.

He posted the list on the boat, ate a fly that had landed on his oar, and took a nap.

I went through all sorts of iterations of that illustration, starting with a complicated version with Figgy in his boat which made me realize I needed to simplify it drastically in order to match the drawing with my level of skill. Then I did some sketches.

Drawing a frog holding a pencil and paper was not simple, but it was easier once I left out all the other background stuff.

Figgy Fiction Friday has been brought to you by Lynniebeemuseoday.

Fig Newton Part 1
Fig Newton Part 2
Fig Newton Part 3
Fig Newton Part 5

And now it’s time for me to post this blog, eat a fly and take a nap. Maybe I’ll delete it when I wake up.