Monet and Me

 

and Miro and Bruce admire some happy mail from colleague, Dave the Mailman. Spooky lettering on the front and the cancellation mark is spooky, too. It looks like it got stuck in the cancellator. I wondered if it was a seasonal cancellation. I can make out "Dog Bites". The cancellation mark features a Labrador Retriever and is to highlight awareness about dog bite prevention to US Postal workers.

More spooky writing on the front of the card

Inside, Bruce loved the pun. Thanks for the fun surprise, Dave.

Monet and Me

 

and Miro and Bruce are looking over the Red Book. It's the book that the Massachusetts Secretary of State sends out during state elections that explain the referenda questions to be voted on. This election there are an unprecedented 9 questions to be voted on.

The Red Book explains the pros and cons to voting for each question and helping voters to make informed choices. With 9 questions on the ballot, voting times may be longer than usual. So prepare ahead of time and Vote!.

Monet and Me

 

along with Miro and Bruce are trying to decide which X-acto type blade will work better to remove ink from fine art paper. Will it be the standard metal, curved #10 blade or the curved ceramic blade?

Monet and Miro are going with the traditional metal blade. Bruce thinks the ceramic blade will work just as well, if not better. Testing is planned for later today.

What are your thoughts?

Monet, Miro, and Me

 

are admiring a gift my student, "N", made for me. "N" is an incredibly, talented artist. This is the 5th class she has taken with me. What's astonishing about her talent is she just learned a Blackletter script this past Summer. Which means she taught herself this stunning variation!

The piece reads Valar Morghulis. It comes from Game of Thrones and means "all men must die". The typical response is Valar Dohaeris meaning "all men must serve."

"N", thank you so much for this incredible gift.

Monet and

 

Miro helped me figure out dimensions to make a log cabin quilt square for a future lesson for the art journaling class I am teaching. The quilt square is paper because I can't sew. 😊

Monet, Miro, and Me

 

are brainstorming calligraphy topics for continuing students. Beginner topics are pretty much set in stone as they cover the basics. Classes at the museum start next week.

Monet and Miro

 

are admiring the folio cover I made from the Happy, Little, Time Waster tutorial posted on Saturday.

I was not going to have enough pages in the journal I made to take on the trip to Ogunquit. I didn't have time to make another, but I did have the mini-Composition notebooks.

Front covers

Back covers

The cover pages were taken from a travel brochure for the Lakes Region of New Hampshire where Two Old Ladies went on their latest adventure. 

Monet and Miro

 

are waiting for me to get home. Two Old Ladies are on the road, again.

Monet and Me

 

and Miro admired Happy Mail from Columbus, Ohio. I knew it wasn't from the Young One because she was here when the card arrived. The card had to come from the one and only Finnbadger of Envelope 100

I love how he coordinated the Star Wars card with the Star Wars stamps of the droids issued by USPS in 2021. Not only that, but Monet was tickled that the envelope coordinated with his coloring.

The inside sentiment. I am Amaze, Amaze, Amaze! Thank you, Finnbadger for remembering me.

Monet and

 

Miro waiting for me to get back home after antibiotic allergy testing.

Monet, Me, and Miro

 

are looking over the journal I kept while two old ladies were on the road in Ogunquit, Maine. Day 3 started at 8 am and rainy. We had a leisurely breakfast in. I had tea and a cinnamon scone

Late afternoon cleared so we took a drive to York Beach and had lunch outside at the Sun and Surf Restaurant. After lunch, you'll never guess where we went? That's right, in the cheap seats. We visited Nubble Light. The views never get old. 

Thunderstorms were predicted and the sky got a bit threatening. We drove to Ogunquit Beach maybe hoping to see the storm, but the sky cleared. We found a parking spot and the parking app worked.

We sat on the beach. I got brave and put my feet in the water. The water temperature was around 61 °F. (16 °C) I thought my heart was going to stop as the water was so cold. I thought if I waded around a bit, I'd get used to the water. All I got were blue feet (embiggen the above photo)

On the way back to the motel, we stopped at Big Daddy's ice cream. I had a small dish of Chocolate Almond Joy. Chocolate ice cream, almonds, and coconut.

Monet and

 

Miro are waiting for This Old Lady to come rolling home.

Monet With Miro

 

modeling the new magnifiers I bought to go in my travel kit. I really wasn't going to buy anything new. I was just going to use what I have, but the magnifiers I have are big and klunky. Much needed because the eye sight of the Old Lady isn't what it used to be.

I really wasn't going to buy anything, but then I happened up these magnifiers. They clip onto your eyeglasses! and flip up! I thought they would be perfect and would fit into the travel tin. They would have if the case wasn't slightly curved. The lid to the tin doesn't quite close. Still this was a great find.

Tin and magnifiers will have to go into a bag. I'll just have to make sure with the extra room, I don't take a lot of extra supplies.

Monet and Me

are admiring the new front doors installed by our Nephew

Monet shows off the fancy lock. Like lots of things, it requires an app to work from your phone. You can also gain entry by using a fingerprint, passcode, or if the electricity and the Internet fail, you can use a key.

Monet is showing off the fan window and the fact the mullions are embedded inside the glass making glass cleaning a breeze.

The Nephew also fixed the storm door and now it closes and locks properly.

Monet and Me

 

and Miro are showing off the bottom panel for the baby gift. I still have to add my name and particulars. 

The baby block will be on display at the Worcester Art Museum All Staff, Faculty, and Docent Exhibit. Exhibition Dates: 6/6/2026 - 7/12/2026 There will be an  Exhibition Reception: 6/9/2026, 11:30am - 1:00pm

I'll have the baby gift back in time for the annual family gathering in July when we will get to meet the new baby.

Monet and Me

 

were surprised when Miro decided to show off the date panel for the baby gift.

Monet and Me

 

finished the weight panel for the baby gift

Monet and Me

 

finished the Great-Nana panel.

Cobbler, cobbler mend my shoe 

Have it ready by half past 2

recited by

Great-Nana

Thank you all for your input last week. The Young One was the first to leave a comment on the post. So after reading her comment, I had already made up my mind how I was going to handle the attribution.

Monet and Me

 

finished the first panel to fit inside a 3.5 in. x 3.5in. photo cube to be given as a baby gift for our niece. This is the top of the block.

When the niece texted that her daughter had arrived, I asked for the baby's statistics. Name, birthdate, time of birth, weight, and length.

I also asked if there was a theme like teddy bears or bunnies for the baby's nursery. I was told there was no theme just the colors mauve and green.

The niece has two tuxedo cats so I decided to use them as my theme along with the color scheme.

One side down. Four more to go. 

Monet and Me

 

are working on a new baby gift for our niece's new baby.

What are you working on today?