Have you begun to think about gifts for the upcoming holiday season? I like finding unique, handcrafted ones for friends and family.

In May, several of the Portland Kidlit community hosted an on-line silent auction for our friend Bridget Zinn (battling stage 4 colon cancer). One of the auction items was this fabulous silver bracelet created by Laura Ludwig Hamor:

Bridget modeling the “write” bracelet.

Not only did Laura send one bracelet, she sent three! One went to Bridget and the other two were big hits in the auctions.

Well, Laura had told me that she was working on getting a blog of her silver work together and her store at etsy.com. I recently received an email from with an update.

So here is a fabulous wonderful place to visit if you are looking for a special gift for that creative person in your life. Her new silver website is over at etsy. You can find it by going to www.SilverFreckles.com.

At her blog, Laura Ludwig Hamor, she says this about her work, “I love the process of creating silver pieces, and most of all I love the result. As a clay artist with a love of jewelry it is the best of both worlds.”

She has a blog contest going for her birthday, November 12. Anyone who promotes http://www.etsy.com/shop/silverfreckles will be entered into a drawing for one of her fabulous creations.

If you have bought a bracelet from her in the past, go to her blog and let her know. You will be entered in the contest and if you should by chance mention that you read it here, I will get another chance!

Otherwise, I am putting her website on my Christmas and birthday lists. Generous people such as Laura deserve support.

And you can follow Laura on facebook at SILVERFRECKLES! I am looking forward to reading her blog about her creative process as it unfolds.

Thank you to Laura for allowing me to use  photos of her work.

Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect  proposed writing a poem about “what’s not there” based on this poem.

Missing the Huntress

no soft diluted calico fur
purring weight
upon me while
asleep
no more treats
those
disemboweled mice
population explosion
now
no catnip frenzied feline
missing the huntress

Mocha has been gone  four months.  The mice know it. Miss her terribly.

maple leaf
once a woodland umbrella
now carpets the path

caught between seasons
squirrel gathers nuts

See what others say about the shift in time at  One Single Impression.

My husband and I had a pizza restaurant fifteen years ago. A wonderful place where scenes unfolded daily.  The prompt at Read Write Poem was perfect for me to give a second look at some work that has been percolating in a notebook all these years.

two lovers
eat pizza
weekly
always order
pinot noir
by the bottle
mozzarella strings loop
around forks
feed each other

come in on saturdays
leave on wednesdays
table one
their nest

it’s thursday
lover one
arrives
sits at table two
orders a beer
one personal pizza
pays the bill
yells  out
“gotta start a new life”
door slams

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

dog and I walk
through
stale cigarettes haze
loud music of
the  neighborhood tavern

woman storms out
tall
black dress
her second skin
shadows
fella with
cowboy boots and stetson

her stilettos strut
hand smacks
the van as a drum
bellows
I
loved
you
you
killed
my
soul

dog and I
move on
dog
sniffs the ground

Please visit Read Write Poem to see what others did to create a poetic scene.

Last year our church embarked on creating an “outdoor sanctuary” behind the church.  We were awarded $7,800 from Portland Metro to restore 3.5 acres of wetlands on Kellogg Lake, removing invasive species, replanting native trees and shrubs and creating a refuge for wildlife.

Throughout the spring and summer volunteers have been working to create a trail while ridding the area of the invasive species, particularly the ivy.  Amid the world of heavy electronic use and lots of noise, this place will provide a respite and a place to hang with nature.

An outdoor sanctuary. 

The presence of the divine at work. 

A place to walk

Sit

Be still for a while.

Pat Lewis introduced the world to his new poetry form, the “zeno” on Monday at The Miss Rumphius Effect.  It is a mathematical pattern featuring syllables of 8-4-2-1-4-2-1-4-2-1 with an “abcdefdghd” rhyme scheme.  While this is considered a “hailstone” sequence, Lewis didn’t want to confuse it with the classic book, Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill so he named it after the philosopher, Zeno.

Here is mine:

night wind howls through skeleton trees
elusive voice
evokes
tears
memory haunts
many
years
long forgotten
silent
fears

Ahh, and since I used the word  “elusive”, it counts for One Single Impression.

Poetry Friday is hosted by Jennie at Bibliofile.  My students tried this form and they are posted here.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a cookie which my friend Randy and I made every October in our first years of teaching.  I make them every year because they are sooo yummy!

Here’s the recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Cream together:
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup shortening
Beat in 1 egg

Mix in and alternate with 1 cup pumpkin:
1 & 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Stir in (except for the chocolate chips other things are optional):

6 oz chocolate chips
1 cup raisins ( I use the yellow ones)
1 cup chopped nuts

Spoon on cookie sheet.  Bake 14-16 minutes.

“The Surprise Package, Marcelle, Aunt Betty, and Moi”

Time flies.  Cannot believe that it has been two weeks since I left for New Jersey.  I arrived in record time and waited for the surprise package (AKA my niece, Marcelle) from Los Angeles.  Her flight was early as well. 

Well, our aunt was shocked at the package and laughed hilariously when I announced that in the luggage was an air mattress for me to sleep on. (She has accommodations for a visitor  but not much more than that. 

Our time together included a trip to see the Cezanne and artists inspired by his work (which makes me wonder why artist are allowed to be inspired without it being a case of plagiarism), a trip to the old cemetary behind the First Reformed Church( another post soon), and lots of laughter.  We also visited  Ringwood State Park and see more trees in full autumn color. Missed the peak season by a week.

Sunday, we rose early.  This is not an easy feat for my aunt. She likes to sleep in.  But we needed to be at the church gallery to meet and greet the parishioners.  The gallery had thirty photos displayed.  It was really wonderful to hear that people like our photos.

Church House Art Gallery

My niece’s photos

Some of my aunt’s photos

Some of my photos.

Historic Pompton Plains First Reformed Church. Build before the Revolutionary War.

three generations
three geographies: shore, coast, beach
graced with love

Last year, my aunt’s friend encouraged us to have a two generation photography show at the Church House Art Gallery in the First Reformed Church, Pompton Plains, NJ.  Over tea and talk, my aunt and I decided to include a third generation, niece/great niece, Marcelle.  There are thirty photos on display.

Here it is that  day which I board a plane bound for the “Garden State.”  What it not known by my aunt is that Marcelle is arriving with me.  A weekend of “Rush MacCulloch” women.

It is possible that my computer won’t be out much. My aunt does not have Internet.  I have not gotten Internet service for my Blackberry.  I may be the only person in the world like that.

Journal  I have.  I will keep notes for posts when I return.

On another note, the beginning of the school year has been challenging.  Later start time means later get home time.  I am still adjusting.  Do you know how many posts I have written in my head?  It didn’t help that in September there were two deaths in our family and news of  family/ex-family that have terminal illnesses.  Brings you up short, makes you think about what is important.

Have a wonderful fall weekend.

Solitary Panda provides the prompt, “colors”  at One Single Impression today.  It has been a while since a prompt was presented and there was the poem.  Perhaps all the smells and senses of yesterday’s canning adventure left its mark.

grandma’s recipe
green tomatoes firm, onions sliced
mingle in the pot

vinegar’s  amber tang
 earth spices: mustard, allspice
cinnamon, ginger, clove

revived traditions
zesty fragrance permeates
jars respond, “plink, plink”

Labor intensive but oh, so worth it.  A great marinade.  For more ways to see color visit here.