Beaver Pond

June 28th, 2010

Beaver pond

New Beaver Pond in Connecticut.

Spent the weekend in CT visiting Senter and Bitty. They live in a log home over looking a wonderful pond and fields, where they have created a sort of sanctuary for lots of critters. Birds of all sorts, deer, wild turkeys, muskrats, frogs and, it seems, a beaver. Back in the back pasture, which Senter keeps mowed better than most front yards, off to the right is a small stream that beaver have dammed up, creating a whole new environment. Of course this required a trek through the woods to see it.

We also took a trip to the Fisher Museum at Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA to see their forest dioramas. That was more than a trek through the woods, but it was a beautiful day, through small New England towns. I had read about the dioramas when I was at the Arnold Arboretum a few weeks earlier with my garden gals. The dioramas were created in the 1930’s and are incredible. They have to be seen to be believed.

Later that day, my nephew, Senter, came for the weekend. He has a Mooney airplane which he gets serviced in NJ once a year. As he lives in Alabama, he used the trip as a chance to visit his folks. That was a bonus to the weekend we hadn’t expected.

On the way home on Sun we stopped at Storm King in NY for a few hours. I’ll save that for my next post. Right now I’d better get busy with work.

Garden Hoax 2010

June 15th, 2010

friends

This year my garden friends from Moore College of Art went to Brookline MA outside of Boston. Visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Wed and the Arnold Arboretum on Thurs. Sally couldn’t make it as she had horsey things to do and Jane had to leave early Thurs but here are Mike, me, Marge, Jane and Pam at the Arnold on a rainy day by the Smoke Bush!

(Several people have asked me about the use of the word Hoax. It comes from a friend, Joe, who used it for a trip which was mainly for fun. Our garden trips are educational but the true purpose is to have fun together. I suppose, today, getting away to just have fun is a bit of a trick.)

May’s Over

June 4th, 2010

Last entry said “School’s Over” Now, May’s over. Been a busy time—all the stuff I put off until school was over. Dr’s apt and the like. Visited my Mom for Mother’s Day and Fletchie for his birthday. To NJ to see Pam’s exhibit. Her work just gets better and better.

We’re part of a group that has theme dinners each year and we did “Spring in France”— made a Mediterranean fish dish and everyone brought wonderful things. Had drinks in the garden but the roses were best the weekend before – mind of their own!

Springtime in France, Theme Dinner.

Table setting for Springtime in France

Last weekend did a lot of cooking, food for a memorial day picnic, then house guests with dinner and a brunch, then another picnic. Lots of cooking for me anyway, anymore.

Had a quick Public Service Announcement Video to make in one day – not too bad but wish I had more time. Working on a pro bono job for a neighborhood organization, and teaching my self PHP coding. Revisiting our web site to add the video we’ve been doing. All in addition to my normal client work.

Next week I go with friends on our garden hoax to Boston. Will visit Holly and see Jane and Jane and Marge and Mike and Pam. Will miss Sally!

My goals for the summer are three fold: 1. Up my technical skills—working on php, 2. Work on creative skills—my drawing gets short changed during the school year, and 3. Get in shape. Been drawing and working on the computer—but getting in shape . . .

School’s Over . . .

May 12th, 2010

Spring semester 2010 for the School of Design+Media at Philadelphia University is over! Classes are finished, reviews completed, and my grades turned in! Perhaps now I can get back to this blog. At least I updated the header image with the above spider web. View previous header images.

Finished Ruddy Dance Project!

April 22nd, 2010

I’ve been working on a retrospective project for Jeanne Ruddy Dance’s 10th Anniversary Season. This video was presented full screen in the theater on Opening night and then in the lobby for the run of their 2010 concert Season. Lot of work—lot of fun! It was done in Final Cut Pro software to edit and design using lots of existing clips and images from the last ten years. Ellen Fishman-Johnson supplied additional music used at the end.

They came to their senses. . .

February 11th, 2010

Philau is closed for Thurs. I had already assigned work to my students in case of closure and am glad they don’t have to be on the roads today. What with computers and plenty of heads up most people in my field can work from home—when they aren’t shoveling out! Don’t know if that’s a plus or not but it suits me.
I’m busy updating my Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro skills for an upcoming job and can use all the concentrated time I can get. Friends say they are sorry that I have to do all this but this is what I do, what I like to do. And all I learn goes directly into my class room as it becomes who I am.