Family Tree

Our eldest son and his wife are expecting our first grandchildren in March!

He recently climbed around in our family tree as they consider names for two little boys.

He used an online service and shared the login so we could take a look. The truth be told, soon I was printing various graphic organizers and assigning ancestors' names, birth dates, and places of birth to various branches and limbs.

High up on one branch I met his great, great, great grandfather. Joseph was born in England in 1825 and passed away in Tennessee . . .  on July 12, 1864 . . . on Lookout Mountain. It's amazing what you can find. Soon I was searching old newspaper articles naming Civil War battles and rosters of soldiers. I found a historic photo of Lookout Mountain, the site of more than one battle.

Just a few weeks earlier I had discovered a holiday gift tag below the cardboard liner of the box that has forever held my mother's pinking sheers. It is one of the objects that secures my memory of her. The hand-written note said,

 "Merry Christmas, Mabel! Love, Mom and Dad"

And now, here they were, my mom's mom and dad, looking at me from my computer screen. Seeing photographs of my maternal grandparents midst the virtual pages of the site took me by surprise. It was suddenly personal.

It is our story . . . our family tree  . . .  with two new little budding branches!

Drawing Tutorials

I'm thinking about this great sketchbook I picked up over the holidays . . .
It is spiral binding   :)   and the paper is thick with just a little bit of texture . . .
And it is still blank.

Maybe I should draw some trees!

I did a Google search for "how to draw a tree".
The results were endless in quantity and variety.
This will be a good thing.
A great way to better appreciate something is to spend time with it!
I'll let you know how it goes!

New Sketchbook

Having spent a little more time

with my new sketchbook just now,

photographing it . . . 

I notice the cover design has a tree theme.

Funny!

and kind of embarrassing . . . 

Spirals Sighting!  

Thanks RB!  (A little bit of spiral . . . a little bit of tree!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron_hf/4629657471/

@

Typeface/Font

So what about typeface?
Which has the best snail symbol?

Blogger offers me these few options for posting:

@    Arial

@   Courier

@     Georgia

@   Helvetica

@   Times

@    Trebuchet

@   Vernana

Take a moment to explore the computer fonts at your fingertips!

Typeface is what you see. Font is the delivery mechanism.

--Taken from The Anatomy of Type. Thanks, Scott!

"Fontastic!" Thanks, Carol! You create the most amazing words!

New

Happy 2013!

New Year's Snail

I think back a few years: I set aside a can of Spam before I went to bed on the slim chance that the world would grind to a stop as I slept.
It was New Year's Eve, 1999!

Time passes . . .
                                time flies . . .

and now I find myself at the end of a blog year.

I raise my glass of eggnog 

to snails

 and to YOU!!!  

Thank you.

What JoY! What FuN!

What next??

I have a few more snail thoughts to complete . . .  there's the sundial project, the results of a font investigation with CF (for the best @), the container of papier-mache gel wishing very much and waiting very patiently to become part of a little snail pinata, and a few more "finds" and figuring outs!

And perhaps a second theme!

Trees and stars come to mind.

In the Get Moving Dept. there's the Hutchinson Water Carnival 5K in June. It would be fun and good for me to step it up and head for the start line once again! (Seems good to have a goal, my bike riding brother reminds me!)

2013

I think we can. I think we can!

@

Getting A Head Start

Santa Snail

Being a bit s-l-o-w-e-r, 

Santa Snail sets out from the North Pole 

a few nights earlier 

than Santa.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas!

@

Thanks, Brenda . . . 

this one's for you!

Relaxing

Tea and the treat of a book!

Helpful Snail

Thank you, Sandy!

The book I am enjoying is titled,

Cloth & Comfort:

Pieces of Women's Lives from Their Quilts and Diaries

By Roderick Kiracofe and photographer Sharon Risedorph

Online Recipe

The kitchen staff at school served a wonderful treat yesterday . . .  cinnamon rolls!

I just realized this morning as I sipped my coffee, that a roll would have made a GREAT snail photo!
I was obviously driven by my sense of taste more than my sense of snail-sight.

So here is the next best thing . . . a virtual roll!

Sweet Snail

If you crave all things bacon, you are going to want to check this one out!

Here is the link:

http://bacontoday.com/bacon-cinnamon-rolls-o/

Have a good day!

@

http://bacontoday.com/bacon-cinnamon-rolls-o/

Symmetrical

Day 346
Challenge:
Cut paper with repetition.

Snail Quad

I cut this long ago and just discovered it in my snail folder the other day.

There is something about cutting paper that I find relaxing.

IF you are caught up in the busy preparations that come with this season, consider setting aside a few 

moments and cut some paper!

Another option!
http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

@

Charted

Day 269
Challenge:
Create a diagram.

Venned Snail 

Not much overlap.

I have very little in common with a snail:

1. I carry my stuff with me where I go, just like a snail . . . and I leave a trail (of sorts!)

For example, in recent days I've left behind my clip-on sunglasses as well as my avocado green water bottle. I don't know where. 

2. Snails have poor vision and so do I.

3. We both love gardens!

@

Findings

I found these snails in the desk drawer among our collection of rubber bands!

Rubber Band Snails

The tight little bands in the lower right are the focus of my attention.

They are unlike the others in texture, and line. Clearly transformed beyond rubber-bandness!

@

This discovery reminds me of a surprise in my sewing drawer earlier this blog-year!

I have the habit of cutting the buttons off my husband's old work shirts before we toss them.

I've accumulated plenty of buttons, all in a little plastic tray I keep in my sewing machine cabinet.

Searching for a spare button one day, moving my index finger among them in search of a specific size and color, I noticed that as the buttons shift the loops of thread that held them to the shirts leave the buttons and travel to the bottom and corners of the tray while keeping that tight little spiral.

Thread snails! 

I suspect snails are lurking in unsuspecting places in your habitat!

@

FYI: According to eHow.com you can increase the lifetime of your rubber bands by storing them in a dark cool place . . .  like your refrigerator.  

Warmed Up

Day 151
Challenge:
Use crayons.

Stove Top Snail

[on tinfoil]

This process requires a flat stove top or a food warmer tray, foil, old crayons with paper wrappers removed, and caution.

As you slide the crayon across the heated surface you will leave a trail!

@

In Stitches

Day 207
Challenge:
Use paper like it is fabric.

Stitched Paper Snail 

Puppet

This photo includes:

a glue line snail on a transparent cutting board,

a photo of that glue line snail as it appears on my computer screen

in yesterday's blog,

and a crayon rubbing of the glue line snail as a stitched paper puppet!

And then there is the image of this post as it appears in my brain via my eyes.

AND the snail images lingering in my imagination as alternative answers to this day's challenge.

@

What FuN!!!

As a child I was 

fascinated by the creation of multiple images.

I discovered if I placed two mirrors so they reflected one another and I placed 

my hand between the two and pretended my fingers were dancers' legs doing high kicks

it would look like an infinite number of Rockettes performing at 

Radio City Music Hall!

@

Textured

Day 300
Challenge:
Focus on the sense of touch.

Glue-Line Snail

I might do a crayon rubbing of this!

Transportation

Day 229
Challenge:
Be inspired by the bicycle.

TwoTired Snails

Right

Day 182
Challenge:
Work with your hands.

Handy Snail

Word Play

Day 233
Challenge:
Create a portmanteau, which is parts of two words and meanings made into one.
Example: spork with attributes of both a spoon and a fork!

smail

snail + mail

meaning Postal Mail 

No disrespect to the US Postal Service.

It's just that when email came along, the postal service

became relatively slower in delivering 

some kinds of mail.

Much slower!

And, like snails, postal carriers often travel on foot!

@

Beyond Expectations

             

             Gurgle Snail

This summer we discovered an amazing blue fish gurgle pitcher. 

It brings day-changing joy in the simple filling of a water glass--
a wonder-filled balance of form, function . . . and FUN!

Think low hollow gurgles and an occasional random splash!

[I will not use the word "spit" although it is a better fit.]

You can often hear it across the table and sometimes across the room!

The act of pouring additionally allows you to feel the "rumble" of its gurgles!

Does the water taste colder and sweeter?  

Indeed, it does!

It is a multi-sensory experience that we love to share.

@

Tonight I was saying my goodbyes [long overdue] to a miniature snap dragon that spent the summer blooming in the little white snail pot. [See July 3rd post titled Today.]

I bid the greens farewell as they began their journey back to the earth and washed the remaining soil from the pot.

As I put it aside to dry the snail whispered in my imagining.

"I gurgle."

Hmm . . .  !?!?

I filled it with water, tipped some out, and then leveled it again.

A tiny clear bubble rose to the surface and burst in a delightful little sound that I can't describe in a word.
And again!

There is no rumble . . .  and you must lend an ear. But yes, it gurgles!

@

Beyond Expectations!

Day 119
Challenge:
Create an animal.

Snake Acting Like a Snail

The Best it Can

@

Life Story

Day 128
Challenge:
Write a 10 word autobiography.

Call me Ishsnail.
From an egg, underground.

Shell all around.

: )    Thank you, Herman Melville.

Tall Tale

Day 138
Challenge:
Be inspired by a fictional character.

Gus, the Green Snail

You've heard of Paul Bunyan.

You've heard of Babe the Blue Ox.

Meet Paul's snail!

: )

@

Book:  The Bunyans   Author: Audrey Wood  Illustrator: David Shannon 

I imagine when we wake up some early summer mornings and find the neighborhood yards sparkling with dew, and again some late fall mornings when frost clings to every stone and twig, that it's Gus we have to thank, and his amazing slime work!

@