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?

Monet and Me

 

are admiring the tie dyed paper towels I used to make tie dyed eggs for the Easter bread. I pulled the two ply towels apart and now I have vibrant sheets to use as art journal fodder.

Monet and Me

are admiring the Happy Mail we received from Finnbadger at Envelope 100

He sent a First Day of Issue of the Year of the Horse Stamp. As you can see this gorgeous stamp from the Chinese Zodiac series was issued February 3, 2026 in Houston, Texas

Finnbadger also included a stunning postcard with wishes for the year of the Fire Horse. He noted the attributes of the Horse include strength, energy, motion, passion, and creativity.

Finn, you spoil me. The envelope arrived in the clear envelope in pristine condition. Thank you so much for thinking of me.

Monet and Me

 

are admiring the Easter card sent by Nan. Monet is excited because all the colors of the envelope and card match him. Even the little green stamped bunny on the front of the envelope.

Thank you, Nan. I hope we'll be able to get together soon.

Monet and Me

 

put up the Spring wreath. We found the floral pick and ribbon at the Dollar Store.

Monet and Me

 

Settling in the watch Lindsay Ostram's The Empty Page class on Facebook

Monet and Me

 

are admiring the St. Patrick's Day card from Nan. She always sends me a St. Patrick's Day card to remind me I'm honorary Irish. She always find the cutest cards, too.

Monet and Me

are showing more pages from the February Hearts journal

On the left, a musical card from the Eldest and on the right the top of a box of chocolates from Teague.

Every heart sings a song incomplete

until another hear whispers back - Plato

This Lindsay prompt reminds me of a quilt square

Home is where your heart is

This was a mashup of Lindsay and a classmate's design.

Monet and Me

are showing more pages from the February Hearts journal

The Supberb Owl

A Valentine from Nan. Her envelope with the sweet kitty Love stamp tucks inside the bag opening.

A Valentine from Deb over at Learning 2 Just Breathe. It was too big for the book, but worked with a little sticking out if I turned it sideways. I made a heart paperclip to hold the valentine in place.

Teague introduced me to this John Denver song: Friend, I will remember you, think of you, pray for you. And when another day is through, I'll still be friends with you. The teddy bears were stamped and cut out. The right hand page, slips into the tuck spot created by the bottom of the bag.

A Valentine from Calli and Quill: Rose are red, Violets are blue, Put food in our dish, And clean up our poo.

From my tablemate, Lee, when we took the 2017 Reggie Ezell year-long class. Lee always draws lambs and has sent me a valentine every year since our class. The envelope with the 2026 Love stamp featuring birds and hearts and a very clear Love postmark slips into the bag opening.

The Valentine from Himself was too big for the book. A little slice and dice solved the problem. The bottom heart acts as a pocket. When opened, it also has his signature. The top of the card fits into the pocket and is held in place with the paperclip.

Lindsays' suggestion was S.W.A.K. Sealed with a kiss. How we used to decorate the back of an envelope back in the day.

On his birthday in memory of Darrell, I met him in computer school, and he became the brother of my heart.  The quote from the Wizard of Oz to the Tin Man: ...a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you were loved by others. Happy 84th Birthday, Derry!

Monet and Me

would like to show the February journal made from paper bags. This is the project I chose to do for the Creative Hand Lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay had suggested decorating a small box, but I didn't have anything that would work

The title page is the group project page folded into an origami heart with pockets. Inside the pocket, an origami cat.

Lindsay's suggestion for the first page. Washi tape, watercolor hearts, and faux calligraphy

For most of the pages, I decided to go my own way. So celebrating Ground Hog Day. The nasty groundhog saw his shadow meaning we get 6 more weeks of Winter, and the groundhog goes back into his hole. In this case, the groundhog gets tucked in the flap provided by the bottom of the paper bag.

This idea was a combination of Lindsay using the John Lennon quote, "All you need is love" and a heart doodle that was done in the Monday Doodling for Stress Reduction class. To all you need is love, I added and chocolate along with a Love and Kiss stamp from an envelope I kept.

Lindsay did a tag with Start each day with a grateful heart, tucked inside a belly band on a card. I used a piece of origami paper for the background.

Lindsay had talked about the candy hearts with saying we used to get as kids. I punched out a bunch of small hearts, colored them with Tombow markers, and wrote the little setiments.

Another hybrid piece. Lindsay painted flowers and cut them out. I think she mentioned hearts and flowers, too. I colored a heart using the bottom of the bag as a tuck space for the flower. The sentiment was something someone had written in a photo album my mother had when she graduated from high school. "Hearts and flower go together, True friends part never."

I saw a meme that had and image of a heart which said normal person's heart

and my heart was a cat in the shape of a heart. Perfect image to go with soul. I was Ink's heart and he was my soul. It will be 10 years this year since he passed away. I still miss him.