Molly Bee's Attic

I decided to do this week's Diva Challenge as a true meditation; no noise or distraction, with healing thought focused on someone special. The challenge was to use a circle as a string. The compassionate meditation was for my friend, Joey  who has to say goodbye to his best friend, Dakota the Boxer Extraordinaire. Dakota has been an amazing friend, always ready with a smile and snuggle. You will be sorely missed friend. My tears , thoughts and prayers are with you Joey T. Thanks again for the wonderful challenge Diva, an the opportunity to spend some time in quiet contemplation.

This time of spring in Wisconsin, it's all about morel mushrooms. Folks hunt them in the woods and jealously guard secret spots where they grow in the leaf litter. But where I come from, the Northwoods of Maine, this time of year means FIDDLEHEADS! A fiddlehead is the edible frond of the Ostrich fern.  It grows near streams and other wet areas and is picked as the first, spring shoots break the ground. They are still curled up in a spiral that looks like a 'fiddle's head' . There are many ferns that grow in the woods and some of them are poisonous, but the Ostrich fern can easily be differentiated by it's grooved stem and the brown papery substance that covers it's curl. I think fiddleheads do grow in Wisconsin but they don't eat them here. I live in the city and don't have access to growing grounds.  I am fortunate to have some frozen ones when I go home to visit and on occasion have scored some cans of 'Bell of Maine' fiddleheads that hit ...

I've been thinking a lot about the postings I've been seeing on Facebook about not 'celebrating' Memorial Day. Memorial Day in Wisconsin means getting the camp opened up, going to BratFest, taking the tarp off the pool and grilling out. It's celebrated as the official kick off day of summer.  But the more I read from veterans, and the more I think about the losses in my own life, the more I am tending to agree that Memorial Day should be just that; a quiet day to reflect and give thanks for the people in our lives who have gone on ahead. I have a little ritual I on the birth and death dates of those I hold dear.  I write a note or sometimes a long letter, depending on the circumstance, then I take it outside in a fireproof bowl and burn it, hoping that the smoke will carry my gratitude and thoughts to wherever they are now.   I like the idea of setting aside an entire sacred day to turn off the phones, unplug the computer, maybe take a walk in the woods and reflec...

We had an awesome weekend last weekend. The weather was beautiful and we went to garage sales on Saturday morning in a local affluent neighborhood. Not much success in the treasure department as they all had their stuff marked at retail prices! But as we doodled around, we came across a house with Silky Chickens.  This is Steve. And these are Steve's babies..... I think 'Steve, has some 'splanin' to do ! Steve is a little camera shy but here is is pecking around the garden. From the back he looks like a Muppet! Dropped by the farm for a visit with the new guy, Wilber the potbelly pig.  I sat in the side pasture with him and had a cantaloupe and strawberry picnic followed by a nice belly rub.  Mick the Llama... and his buddy, Thor, had just gotten a bad haircut the day before. And were being all 'Drama Llama' about it, Winnie the pig and I took a stroll around the fence line. I hadn't had much tim...

Went in to work this morning. Sore throat. Went and got a rapid strep test-positive. Crap. So I was back working from the home office from 10:00 AM on. By 4 PM I was exhausted so evening plans I had for a meeting and errands got put on hold and I put myself of the sofa.  I just sat and doodled the entire evening away and tried to ignore the fact that I am gargling glass and my head if filling up with Dog know's what!   First up at bat was the Diva Challenge. It was to use the tangle 'Tink' which is the kind of tinker-toy looking design. I decided to do it on a precut bookmark this time around. I found them when I cleaned out a craft drawer. When I found the bookmarks, I also found my rapidograph pen and some gift tags. It was a match made in Heaven.  Then I ran out of tags so it was back to the bookmarks.  And more bookmarks (The one on the right is the one I like best.) And more bookmarks... Actually, I found the top two in the package with...

Yesterday was May Day and it was a pretty stellar day despite the rain and gloom. I'm thankful for yesterday because the wheels fell off today pretty early and I've been riding the rims, showered in sparks, ever since. But that's a story for another day.   My work sponsors a wee Farmers Market in the summer and the first one of the season was yesterday. There were baked goods, jams, jellies, honeys, wool, spring flowers and the early lettuce and spinach. One lady was selling berry boxes of wee cukes that she had grown in her greenhouse. Look! There's even a blossom still left on one! Oh. My. Dog. are they good! I sliced some last night to go with sandwiches.  Just the ticket. A little taste of FRESH green after a long, hard winter. I had been thinking about May Day all day and remembering how we used to make tissue paper baskets and put candy and dandelions in them when we were kids. We'd hang them on someone's door, ring the bell and run. If they ca...