hello friends. i’m taking stock.
- Making : travel journals for sweden!
- Drinking : an ice cold fizzy bottle of club soda
- Wanting: THESE animal pom poms all over the house
- Marvelling: at the deer i saw today on a walk!
- Needing: to find a good book to read
- Eating: a planchita from lemon poppy bakery
- Wearing: my new sleeveless flax linen shirt. every. single. day.
- Hoping: wyatt’s surgery on monday to remove a tumor on his nutcracker goes well
- Opening: a letter from sweden
- Feeling: easy like sunday morning on saturday night
thanks for the red bookcloth tape penny. it’s coming in v.v. handy for travel journal sketchbook production!
the textiles are from my trip to sweden last summer.
thanks ingrid for the paper! i put it as the endpaper and your envelope is going to be my journal nametag.
i await news of your great summer adventures! xo
Mary Ann,
I can’t find your update about Wyatt. Is he doing okay?
Susan
Hey Mary Ann
Wanting to know if you’ve ever been to Copenhagen.? One of my daughters is going there for the Fall Semester. Wishing I fit in her suitcase…. Lovin your blog as always. Taking OMG but ended up returning to Sketchbookery first. Somehow realized that I hadn’t completed it??? Duh…
Best
Susan
by the way m a …the Ove author , fredrik backman has a new book out, i haven’t read it but the Ove chatter reminded me to mention this to you. Title is: My Grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry.
yes, just as i thought..lots of referrals.
I positively loved Bettyville…george hodgman. he is quite a smart ass, hence hilarious. Insane.
Ann Leary The Children. A houseful of smart asses.
Have a tony the tiger G R E A T trip.
karen
Happy Trails as always Mary Ann! You know no matter what I’ll be taggin’ along in some form or another. I know you will have a grand time. I am hoping Wyatt is doing well and on the mend. Hope the cone isn’t driving him too crazy. Your new journals are looking mighty spiffy. They will come home full of surprises and your adventures I’m sure. Thinking of you.
Howdy MAM! I haven’t comment in a while so I thought I’d give you a shout from NW Florida. It is as hot as a two dollar pistol here so time spent outdoors is few and far between! All the more reason to find artsy-crafty kinds of things to do inside. But first some re-organizing and over hauling in my craft room is in order. The only fly in the ointment with that is I keep finding cool stuff I forgot I have!! Next thing you know I am playing with that instead of working….
I hope you are enjoying your summer so far. How could you not? Fun stuff to do at your house. Planning for another amazing journey to Sweden. Laying low and finding good stuff to eat and drink. What’s not to like, huh? Hope Kitty Puss (aka Wyatt) is on the mend and back to his old self again soon. Ta ta for now and keep those posts coming for your adoring fans!
Mary Ann how is Wyatt? I have been thinking about him…and you.
Best good wishes for Wyatt! No one wants their noggin to be messed with. Here’a a brief Stockholm funny. I lived in Sweden for a year (20 years ago) and while there my mother came for a visit and we set off to explore Stockholm. I’d learned almost no Swedish but I did recognize the word Gratis (free) on a sign on a bus in front of the information center. I grabbed my mother and we hopped on the tour bus. There was no guide (hey – it was free) but I blathered on in my mother’s ear about what I recognized – until I realized we were headed out of town. We ended up at Ikea. No one had any luggage, just big empty shopping bags. In the end, we had a wonderful morning of shopping, bought some Indonesian inspired fabric and managed to find an actual tour bus later that day.
ha ha ha ha!!!!!!! those are the very best kinds of stories! and so nice to share it with your ma
Hello! Love all your posts! Walking in the Tahoe woods last week and saw a doe and fawn! First I’ve seen in a long time so know your excitement.
Just finished Before The Fall by Neal Hawley – walking around can’t put down book! Also, although it’s not Sweden, loved Norwegian by Night and it’s my book club pick for September.
Best to you, Nan
Sending love and good wishes to Wyatt and you across the Atlantic!!!
What size are these fabulous travel journals? And how many pages per day do you make? My Sweden travel journal has too many pages. Managed to write every day, glued in some ephemera and did a few sketches, left empty pages to add more sketches, but still I have more than a signature left in there… I find it really hard to figure out how many pages are just right for me, but I haven’t filled many travel journals yet. The one I made for Norway last year is almost completely unused, I couldn’t figure out how to find the time and energy to journal. We were traveling with friends, had an overfilled schedule, and I was fighting a really bad cold…
they are 5×7 inches. my plan is to make 13 fold outs in total to allow for 6 pages per day..
i’ve gotten pretty good at knowing how many pages to make after lots and lots of travel journals.
it’s easier for me to work in them because i either travel alone or with people who also travel journal/sketch. the process is very much a part of each trip i take. i work/play inside them a couple of hours per day, sometimes more, sometimes less. i can’t take a trip and not write. hell i can’t do anything and not write. just a habit. also i NEVER have an overfilled schedule. ever. my travels include naps, lots of cafe time, and evenings in the sketchbook.
you can always take a tiny notebook and jot down thoughts/ideas/etc. and complete your travel journal at home by drawing from photos.
i usually seem to take about a month when i get home to add photos, a few more sketches, etc., i do almost everything SLOWLY. but in the end i have a completed book.
Thanks, Mary Ann!
My Sweden travel journal is 7×5 inches, I really liked the size, small enough to carry around and big enough for sketching. Looking back I wrote about 4 pages a day. I took my time to write in the evening (and on the ferries), but didn’t sketch much because it was getting dark earlier than we thought (about 10 pm) and we didn’t have a lamp for our tent. Needed to force myself on some days, but I am glad I did, skipping a day usually ends with an half-empty journal…! But I am adding more sketches now from pictures.
I brought a small notebook, too, but didn’t use it much while traveling. It mostly contains planning, booking numbers, timetables for the ferries, addresses and stuff like that.
Looking back it seems like I started with about the right amount of pages, all watercolor paper. Then I thought it would be great to add some vintage paper, and some patterned paper, and some map pieces. I like it this way, but I should have taken out some of the watercolor paper to keep the page number the same! I’ll have to figure out over the next years, and in 10 years I’ll be good at knowing how many pages I need, too!
I will never travel again like we did to Norway/Tromsö. It’s lovely there, we saw whales and northern lights, the landscape is beautiful, but travelling with a group (even if they are friends) just isn’t for me, especially when sharing a cabin. I need alone time, lots of it, and I didn’t get any, and it ended with arguments and tears and hurt feelings on both sides (and an empty travel journal, but I have no desire to read about that stuff later. Just made a Blurb book to remember the good moments!) No, thanks! Travel time and friendships are just too precious for stuff like that!
Kitty Love and best wishes to sweet Wyatt! The envelope from Ingrid is gorgeous.
I am at my place in Idaho again. In the back yard I have bunnies, squirrels and a family of quails that are so cute when they run across the grass, up the steps to the deck and over and down the other side. So fast I can rarely get a photo. Yesterday hubby and I were driving downtown to go walk by the river, and there was a large herd/flock of Canadian honkers, just strutting across the street in traffic. It happens all the time here. Traffic patiently stops and they just go on their merry way. It cracks me up every time. Walking on the greenbelt later in the morning, we saw 2 deer. My heart skips a beat…deer is my spirit animal.
Ooh, love linen shirts. Can we see yours, please? Yesterday also, I bought a pair of beige linen slacks at the thrift store, along with an interesting striped cowgirl shirt embroidered with roses.
I just started reading When I Found You, I think you may have mentioned it already.
Sending love to Wyatt! Bea and Teddy wish they were there to lick his ears and cuddle him until he feels better. And sending a hug to you Mama Moss, being a parent to a sick kitty is no fun.
LOVE the red binding. I used it for my Canadian trip sketchbook, so fun!
Sorry that I neglected to wish a speedy recovery to your much-loved Wyatt. Cats are incredibly stoic. They are all saints and we are so honored to have them as partners in our world. I hope he will be creating havoc on your art table ASAP.
Wonderful to hear from you as always. I love spotting deer. I usually visit Virginia Lake in September and last year we saw quite a few. It’s one of the highlights of the trip. Not the bear though. I have seen them fairly up close and personal and still would rather not. They are pretty tame in that area but I always worry if they’ve told the bear that. Love what you were eating. I think I’m going to snack on some banana bread. Love to hear from you.
Howdy, MAM! I can’t help you with a book selection because I haven’t been reading much lately, and I won’t talk about bunnies due to the baby bunny massacre at my home recently. Don’t want to be reminded. When I do read, I am taken away by true life adventures. Two of the best books I have ever read were both true stories about women sailors who circumvented the globe by THEMSELVES! And one was just a teenager! Can you even imagine?? I guess I am not the adventurer type, but I so admire those who are. I love the ribbons and binding tape on those journals, and adore the envelope…everything on there! Prayers for your kitteh Wyatt, that all goes well and he is back to cat napping in the middle of your art table and lurking under garden greenery soon. He’s a fine looking fellow and housemate.
My daughter has a photo shoot here later with a photo club she belongs to, so I have been sprucing up the gardens a bit…just lopping off dead blooms and such. I think they are doing some kind of mock wedding shoot? Letcha know later. Also, I forced myself (it was hard) to go purchase some cupcakes and delicacies to paint in gouache later. I had to warn husband not to eat them first. Something to do with him coming up one hand short or something:). I think they will be safe.
Love the deer pic. They are such lovely and delicate creatures. They come around here sometimes, but there is always a risk out here of losing them to hunters, during season. I root for the deer!
Yesterday I went to our local small town and just wandered around. I went to a used bookstore where I was looking for pretty book covers to make into journals later. I found three rather nice ones. Then I sauntered over to a local art/craft fair and browsed their wares, and listened a bit to a lone female singer in the park, who was quite good! Not many people there tho, which is a shame. I love small towns!
Take care girly, and let us know how Mr Wyatt does.
OH! EM! GEE! I just looked at those animal Pom poms! I want the birds and some bun buns! I know I said I wasn’t going to mention bunnies but… How stinkin’ cute are THEY???
For a laugh-out-loud travel book, read “The Road to Little Dribbling” by Bill Bryson.
I never see deer, though my neighbor said he saw one in his yard. I do sometimes see them at night in the state parks. We’ve got bunnies and squirrels, and my neighbor swears that a raccoon lives in her yard and it growled at her.
Oh, and big fat groundhog lives next door.
i get regular raccoon visitors. they like to stare in my back patio window and spy on me. sometimes at night they have parties underneath my bedroom window. boy can they scream!
Blessings on Wyatt! Peace and calm for you, Cat Momma!
My house is Deer Central – I have a resident herd. And I’m filthy with rabbits this year – bunnies everywhere. I have a bunch of regulars who come up on the front porch to eat throughout the day: squirrels, chipmunks, a groundhog, birds, a wild turkey. Two croaking frogs in the pond out back. And, of course, coyotes, red foxes, raccoons, possums, skunks, blah, blah. No bears lately. I’m not complaining. Summer is critter time, and I love it.
Reading Mary Reynolds Thompson’s “Reclaiming the Wild Soul” (How Earth’s Landscapes Restore Us to Wholeness).
oh that book sounds good…i am continually restored by earth’s landscapes.
send me a litter of wabbits please.
i need them.
i need them bad.
Try The Cure for Death by Lightning by Canadian writer Gail Anderson-Dargatz….our literary festival group just hosted her yesterday and she’s amazing…this well-honoured book is about to be re-released for its 20th anniversary but still a great read. And Sweden! How fun!
i am off to investigate said book. sounds intriguing!
Love, hugs and kittie cuddles to you Wyatt! You’ll be just fine! Hang tough MaryAnn. ?
Am reading “The Summer Before the War” by Helen Simonson which is a gentle comedy of provincial manners and is funny and delightful. She also wrote “Major Pettigrew Takes A Stand which I loved.
Good luck Wyatt. I will be thinking of him because I lost my kitty last summer and I don’t want your summer blanketed in the darkness mine became. At least for a few weeks of my last summer. It is hard for me to stay down all summer. Love all your Swedish bits and bobs for your journal. I have been painting fabric, dyeing yarn, journaling and boating off the coast of New Hampshire. Got a journal to make for my trip at the end of July to Iceland. So much summer fun!
ICELAND! will look forward to seeing those pics
Best of luck to Wyatt–those nutcrackers can be a real pain sometimes. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Books I’ve read this past month: MODERN LOVERS and WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR
Currently reading: SO YOU’VE BEEN PUBLICLY SHAMED
All good, all different. 🙂
xoxo
SBtC
hey sara berry the cute,
the books sound promising.
always good hearing from you.
love to hunter xo
I’m happy to pass them on to you. Let me know and I’ll get them over to ya! Also read AFTER THE FALL, pretty good, too.
Wishing for good outcomes and future mouse chasing (mostly the toy ones) for Wyatt.
Love the fact you are going back to Sweden. Which area are you visiting?
stockholm again with small daytrips to various regions. i fell madly in love with stockholm last summer and can’t wait to get back there.
Here’s hoping all goes well for Wyatt!
I’m reading Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children and enjoying it just fine.
Hi Mary Ann, praying that Wyatt’s surgery is a success and he has a quick recovery.
Good vibes to your kitty and you! Love your blog and classes so much!! Makes my day!
Good luck to Wyatt. I love your sketchbook squirrel. –Deb
Fingers crossed for Wyatt. Love his pink kitty nose and toesies.
Love the magic of seeing deer on a walk.
You may have already read these two books (and I can’t remember if I’ve already recommended them to you):
A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Backman
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah
Happy Sunday to you. 🙂
oh i DID love AMCOve!