Molly Bee's Attic

I just love Laura Harm's blog . In addition to the challenge she posts every week, she posts the cutest pics of her sons and this week, the pic of Artoo in his little plaid shirt and sun glasses was too much. I could just smooch his whole face! She is blessed to have two adorable little boys.   This week's challenge was to close your eyes and draw a 'blind string. The first one I attempted was more off the tile than on so this is my second attempt. Mostly on there....not bad.  I decided to tangle it with new tangles I haven't used before. Some of them are new from the last Zentangle Harmony weekend update and some I had just scribbled in my sketch book. I'm horrible about their names and who created them, but I am eternally grateful to all of you creative souls who come up with such neat things! It's a kind of different look for my tile. Less cluttered than I usually do. I was all about the decluttering this weekend! Remember the cabine...

I came up with (what I think is) a new tangle pattern. If I've stomped on anyone's toes, please, please let me know.  The pattern is called OBAD. I wanted to call it Soleil, but it was already taken so I looked up synonyms and found this: That'll work. Here is the step out. And here are some variations. This one lends itself to a ton of variations including positioning. I've used it here by rotating it so it makes a complete 'sun'.   I'm working on another tile where they all go in the same direction but the grid is curvy.  Lots of fun.  So enjoy OBAD and let me know if you were able to use it in your tangles! Tangle On!

Sunday morning found me breakfasting with brothers-from-other-mothers, Scott and Michael. We were kind of bummed because the weather was a little crappy and we had wanted to go on a trip to Baraboo.  We settled for a walk around the park in Belleville. I can't get enough of that place. It really soothes my soul. You know me and water! Such a beautiful little park. And usually not crowded at all, even when it's hot.  The water was quite high.  It usually doesn't flow over this part of the dam. Or these rocks. It makes such a soothing sound.  Scott is always on the lookout for photo ops with their beautiful dog, Duchess. Sometime there are bugs in the posing process that need to be worked out. One out of two facing in the right direction isn't bad. Almost there! Ta Da!  Gorgeous! Working it for the camera! I am so blessed to have such peaceful places to get centered again and such  a wonderful Wisconsin family of frien...

♫ The Lion Sleeps Tonight...♫ Went to a Big Cat sanctuary north of Madison on Saturday with friends Hope and Matthew. I hate that there has to be sanctuaries at all, but if I was a tiger and I needed to be in one, this is the one I'd choose.  There were spacious, clean enclosures with lots of things to enhance the animals lives, like giant cement culverts for the cats to lay on and hide in. Each had shelter from the sun and bad weather if they chose to use it. All had toys of some sort to play with and plenty of fresh water.  Unless they were bonded pairs, each tiger had his own space. Male and females that were bunking together were spayed and neutered.  All of the cats were so beautiful,healthy and content looking, well fed and had great coats.   You could tell they were well cared for and as happy as you can be in a sanctuary. There were Bengals, Siberians, Lions, Cheetahs and Panthers. Many of them were rescued from a place ...

One of the surprises that this summer  held for me is the discovery that I have birth siblings back in Maine. It was by happenstance that we found each other. Youngest sister, Shelly, passed away this spring and I saw the obituary that had my name of the woman on my birth certificate on it. (My own MUM was the one that discovered it and called me to take a look. She is just SMOTHERED in awesome sauce, that one!) I contacted Shelly's best friend via FB as she had posted a lovely tribute to Shell. I told her who I was and that I was sorry I never got to meet Shelly. She informed me that I had more brothers and sisters in the area!   I contacted them all by Facebook and arranged to meet them when I was back in Maine this summer. It was an amazing experience! We met at a restaurant and spent the afternoon looking at family photos and getting to know each other a little. Doris, Dan and Dina have welcomed me (and my Mum) with open arms and are the sweetest folks. It was a...

I haven't participated in the Diva Challenges for the past few weeks and I've been extremely negligent in my blog postings. I have no excuse except for....well....LIFE!  So now that autumn is upon us and winter is around the corner, I need to rededicate myself to sitting down and keeping everything updated.  First order of business is the Diva Challenge for this week: Use only two tangle patterns-Phicops and Diva Dance.I hadn't used either of them before. I really like Phicops alot. Reminds me of a seashell. I'll be using that one more I think! Thanks for the great challenge, Diva! I joined a Facebook group called 'Random Acts of Zentangle'. You leave little Zentangles in public places for others to find. On the back of my tiles it says " Congratulations! You've discovered a Random Act Of Zentangle. If you've found this tiny piece of art, it was meant for you. Enjoy! Please remember to pass along a smile!' I started by doing act...