The Toymaker's Notebook

I keep a small notebook of new toy ideas, flourishes or new ways to fold paper.

Here's a peek at some pages from it.

 

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. ~ Gilbert Highet

Typography practice

Trying some lettering just for practice... What's your favorite word?

"Learning is a treasure which follows its owner everywhere." ~ Chinese Proverb

Dragonfly

Orange dragonflies live by the koi pond. They have the most wonderful wings. Beautiful things are everywhere. Click on the photos to make the picture bigger.

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky.
~Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Neemo

A long, long time ago, before the Boy was born, the Wonderhub and I went to the Pet Jail to adopt a kitten. There were lots of wonderful cats there, all saying, "Pick Me! Pick Me!" And they were so beautiful.

Down on the floor, in a small cage, was a small kitten, all by himself. The lady who took care of the cats said that he had to be in a cage by himself, because he was so wee and small the other cats ate his food.

The Wonderhub picked him up and this tiny little kitten the size of his hand just melted into him. So we took him home and named him Neemo.The adoption papers said, "Remember, you are making a lifetime commitment..." That was eighteen years ago.

For the longest time no one even knew we had a second cat. Neemo hid under the bed most of the time and rarely ventured out. And so the years passed, the Boy was born, and Neemo lived a quiet cat life, loved by his people.

Then about three years ago Neemo got sick so we took him to the vet and they kept him for a couple of days. They said he was very friendly. When he came home he was a totally different cat. He started sleeping in new places, venturing out in the garden from time to time, drinking out of the pond like a mighty lion of the Savannah. He found that if he yelled at us loud enough we would feed him chicken and extra snacks.

As an old man cat he became completely bossy and ran our lives like a retired British Colonel. He kept us on a strict schedule, morning, noon and night.

Yesterday, he passed away and there is a giant hole in our hearts, left by the tiniest of old man cats.

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What greater gift than the love of a cat?  ~Charles Dickens

What's in your garden?

I love when Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial posts updates about her garden. (She has chickens!) It's winter in Sydney and yet her garden is still blooming.

http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/06/18/winter-garden-update/

It's the end of spring here so I thought I'd post a few picts of what's growing in Southern California.

 

The wonderhub brought home a huge bucket of sunflowers from the school garden.

Tomatoes! We got 'em coming in!

This is an heirloom "Black Zebra" It should turn red and dark burgundy in a week or so.

 Blueberries

 Herbs, basil, cilantro, parsely, catnip, and dill

 A giant purple basil bush for the bees

 The last of the artichokes

 An artichoke about to bloom purple 

 More tomatoes!

Morning glories on the tangerine tree.

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No two gardens are the same.  No two days are the same in one garden.  ~Hugh Johnson
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Art Show This September in SF

I've been working like crazy on a bunch of new pieces for a Studio Five show this Fall at the Thatcher Gallery at the University of SF. Studio Five is my artist group.

http://studiofiveart.org/gallery-show-downloads.html

Cat not included...

Desks

Yesterday I went over to my friend, Alice's house. Here's a picture of her desk. I love her New England pitcher that she uses for a brush holder. It has pictures of the presidents.

 We had tea.

When I got home I realized that my desk was too cluttered. I counted 18 bottles of ink alone.

Here's mine before the great tidy.

And after.

TahDah!