Olivia

I like the name Olivia. It's a nice name. I don't know why, it just reminds me of the colors pink and yellow, of kites on a windy hill, or an antique rocking horse. Yes, it's a nice name.

When I think of the name Olivia, one of the first things I think of is a little picture book pig, who in turn reminds me of a few little girls I know.

Partly because these little girls owned the Olivia books, and partly because they acted like Olivia, are why these girls are brought to my mind.

When I was young I was very shy. Painfully shy is a term often used. That was me. (I recently had someone questions me as to the validity of this statement. I suppose because I seemed not-shy. But it's true.) I remember the absolute terror of accidentally grabbing a stranger's hand instead of a parent's. The humiliation of that episode, seemingly slight to everyone else, haunted me for years, probably.

So imagine my horror when I started babysitting girls who were certainly NOT shy. Quite otherwise. Although I hope I have sufficiently gotten over my own shyness, finding audacity in children under eight still shocks me. I really cannot relate to that. I often think it's adorable, but totally beyond my comprehension.

I think of all this when I think of Olivia.

But recently, I've begun to think of something else.

Last summer I went to Desperation with my youth group. That's another story entirely. Just know that it's an awesome youth conference put on by the New Life church youth group. Thousands attend.

In the buzzing foyer, along with lots of merchandise and people, was a booth for Compassion International. If you haven't heard of it... you live under a rock. But that's ok, I've heard the undersides of some rocks are really nice. Anyway, it's a child sponsorship organization. I had been thinking for a long time of being a sponsor, but procrastination is a fickle friend. So instead of putting it off any more, I went to the table, gave them my info, and walked away with an envelope.

Her name is Olivia. She'll be four this month. She lives in Burkina Faso, Africa. According to her letter, she likes to play with bottles and gather wild nuts with her sister. She has a dog named Kare. She drew a motorcycle for me. Maybe she will take art lessons in school.

The picture I have of her makes me happy. She's standing there in a soft white dress, ribbons fluttering around her in the breeze, dark, tidy cornrows, and an unreadable expression in her deep, brown eyes. Wild African desolation in the background makes her look like a little dessert rose.

 

Even more exciting was the first letter I received from her- I could read the original translation; it was in french! Of course, that in itself was translated from her original African language (probably Moore) which isn't written. But she will learn french once she starts attending school! Then she can write me letters herself in french, and I'll write her back in french! *sigh*

Why in the world are you telling me about some girl in Africa, you ask? Well, I have an idea. I just took a very round-a-bout way to get to it.

I think I'd like to offer a custom painting for people of their sponsor child. It would be a more artistic than a picture (let's face it: most pictures of sponsor children aren't as nice as mine.) and then a percentage of the proceeds would go to Compassion International itself. Doesn't that sound like fun?! I think so.

So, be looking for it in my shop in the coming weeks. Or, if you can't wait that long, email me and I can start painting right away! :)


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Rubicon Kind of Excitement

I admit.

I get really excited about little things. A green blade of grass poking through the spring snow. The smell of wet, and the sound of near thunder. The rare occasions when I wake up early. Clever business logos. The color blue. Eggs Benedict. Weekends. Socks. Fruitcake. Sunshine.

Paper.

You're thinking, yeah right. No one gets excited about paper.

You have not met the lady who prints my posters. I can see her now, briskly walking back and forth in the back room, looking for the perfect weight and texture. Her eyes light up when she finds the one. "Look at this one!" she practically bounces, "Isn't that fabulous?! Oh, and I've got this new vellum that you just have to see!" It's so very easy to be happy around happy people.

I may not quite have her enthusiasm for everything printable, but when she showed me her new paper the other day... I fell in love. (no, I am NOT being dramatic.) It's for the Epson printer!!! It's heavy!!! It looks and feels like watercolor paper!!! The texture is amazing!!! It's called Elegance Velvet!!! Be excited!!!

I'd kinda always regretted the fact that my prints are so different from my original paintings. It's almost as if they lost some of their original character and handmade look. They look like the "mass produced" version, as they are. They look shiny and slick. They also have a few glitches, because they were just done on a digital scanner/printer. It's... ooh-kaaayyy.

Then why in the world would I have had them printed that way? What if I did my prints on an Epson printer, amazing quality, with that awesome paper, then what? It would be eight times as expensive, that's why in the world.

But you know what? I'm gonna do it. I'm going to bite the bullet. I'm going to swallow the pill. I'll cross the Rubicon. ... Who am I kidding, this is gonna be WAY BETTER!!!

Oh... wait. What do I do with all that inventory under my bed? All the *really-absolutely-fantastic-but-not-as-fantastic-as-they-could-be* posters, already packaged?

Now, everything in the store is fifty percent off! From today, November 15, through January 15, 2012, get all the prints you've been wanting! Perfect for Christmas gifts! This is exciting!

Whoa. New prints AND a sale? Two exciting things in one blog post? This is crazy. You might feel a little bit dizzy.

Don't worry. This happens a lot with art. The side effects are not permanent.

Usually.

End of an Era

Ah, it's the end. Blue Nutmeg, as we know it, is over. Well, not "kaput" or anything. Oh, no. Of course not! Can you imagine me not painting???!!! Oh, goodness, no. I'm just, say, moving things around.

In January, I had very set ideas as to what I was going to paint. I usually have very set ideas. In January, I had very organized plans about how I was going to paint. I'm usually very organized. In January, I failed to realize that I was being unspontanious and un-artsy. I usually fail to realize my un-artsy-ness. (I'm not sure if that's true, but there was a theme here I couldn't break, so...)
Note: My set ideas, overorganization and un-artsy-ness are not limited to the month of January.

The point being, I decided to make all my paintings the same size. 12"x16". Now, I'm not saying that I did. I tried. The first two I kind of forgot to measure... And the latest one was downsized based on printing paper. Not everything works out, ok?

But partly because that's a lot of paper to paint, and partly because it's a lot of wall space that people may not have, I've decide to downsize to 8"x10". So, as far as marketing and all that goes, I'm "starting a new line". That's code for "I'm doing something different".

For the first one, I used a painting that I had done a year ago and added words!!! *corner cutter* Wait, what? Who said that?

It's actually one of my favorites so far. Be looking for it- I'll put it up on the website soon!

But as far as the bigger ones go, well, it has been a good era. It's been fun, but now we must say goodbye, for the time being at least. Who knows, maybe I'll resurrect it again. Kind of like Lazarus, but not. Yeah, definitly not.

A Find

Last year, on a very nice day in summer, I went garage saling. I do that sometimes. Usually I look around and notice that there aren't very many "good" items, but I continue browsing to be polite. On occasion I find something that has potential to be interesting, if it isn't  too old, or too warn out, or too broken. But it's a very rare to come across "a find."

So, I was garage saling. When we pulled up to the house just on the side of the road I thought it was probably going to be one of those polite browsing sessions. Lots of smiles and pretending-to-be-interested, but really nothing but some flower pots and unheard-of VHS titles.

I was wrong. In a few minutes I spotted "a find." It was next to the house, behind a table, hidden* in the shadows. Sure, it was covered in fake moss and parts were rusty and broken. But that didn't matter to me at all. It was exactly what I had been looking for, even though I hadn't particularly known that three minutes earlier. It doesn't matter whether or not you know what your looking for, as long as you know it when you see it.

And if you're me, the price also plays an important role in the "exactly what I had been looking for" criteria. But you see, it was perfect in every respect, even price. Although I may, or may not, have gotten it for five dollars less than what the lady asked for it because I asked. It's possible.

But of course, I've left you waiting. It was a dress form! Smile.

Of course the immediate problem was to get rid of the moss. My mom had questioned the wisdom of buying it in the first place, on the objection of the moss. To be fair, I have seen green, mossy dress forms which looked very whimsical and woodsy, and a little bit like Grecian statues that have been overgrown with lichen over time. Unfortunately, that's not what this one looked like. It looked a bit more like someone had drizzled hot glue over the whole thing and dumped a large bag-full of peat moss on top of that. And it smelled like dust.

So that very day we put her (the dress form) in the driveway and proceeded to remove the moss. Easy, right? Not right. We found that we had to use a heat gun and chisels. You know, like what you would use to chisel wood? The really sharp carving-type tools? Those.

Step number two: cover the ugly discolored foam with something else. There were lots of options of methods I could have used; paint, paper-mache, fake flowers, glitter... ok, so maybe glitter would have been a bit excessive. My choice was a layer of batting covered with fabric. Just a plain ivory cotton. Sounds simple.

Until you start to think about it.

Sooo... how do you do that? I looked online for dress-form-covering-directions and found some... but not any helpful ones. It was mostly people who said "...and then I covered the dress form in fabric and this is what it looks like!...) Wait... so how did you do that?

After years I've finally come to the conclusion that if at first the internet doesn't help, wing it!So I wung it. ;)

I actually sewed it to fit the form. And made it up as I went along.  And it only took me about a year from start to finish! Super speedy. ;) I also added some antique-looking upholstery tacks, which remind me of miniature railroad spikes.

So here she is. I've named her Cachette (ka-'shet) which means hiding place* in French. (see first asterisk)

She's made my room that much smaller. But that's ok. She's a very good hat-holder.

Back in the Swing

I had a ton of great ideas for this summer. My book list was a least a yard long. (Ok, you got me. I didn't actually write it out. But if I had, I bet it would have been at least a yard long!) I imagined long, lazy days of hiking, camping, and swimming in lakes in the middle of the woods. I had a pretty long project list too. Some sewing, some beading, some knitting, and of course, lots of painting.

I read, I went hiking, camping, and swimming in lakes in the middle of the woods, I did some sewing, some beading and some knitting. (TWO make-up-the-pattern-as-you-go hats, thankyouverymuch!) So, I didn't exactly get to all of my yard-long book list. And there are still some project pieces, waiting to be finished, hanging around my room. I'm never really finished with those sorts of things. :)

So... painting... Yeah. I listed the last poster on June 21st. Since then, well, I haven't done anything.

What happened?

Life.

Which means that I lost motivation. That geeky Star Wars painting I posted about?  I really tried. I pro'lly tried too hard. So, um, that's not gonna happen. As in, there are other paintings I'm supposed to be doing.

I find it ironic. I had all that free time this summer. And now, on the first day of school for me, I'm telling you that I've got the painting bug again.

So stay tuned! 'Cause I'm back in the Swing of things. :)

Galaxy kind of Geeky

Pretty recently, my family went on a vacation to California. Although I could write a lot about CA, I will abstain. Instead, I want to talk about the drive home. Through Utah.

Yes, Utah.

If I didn't know better, I would say there was nothing in Utah. Nothing except rock and an occasional scrub bush. I'll be honest, I slept through a lot of it. I probably missed a lot of action. Maybe there was something amazingly exciting and dangerous. It's possible that I would never encounter something so incredible again. Or maybe not.

No offense to people who live in Utah. It's not that I don't like them. I just don't particularly like Utah.

Ok, so maybe that isn't true. There was one thing in Utah worthy of note that made me laugh really hard. (note: that isn't hard to do, but it felt good after being in the car all morning.) What was it? A sign. An advertisement. Is this normal for me? Yes. And it still cracks me up.

My mom was looking at me and my brothers like we were crazy.

But that's not really important to the story. I just had to put the picture up. 'Cause I like it.

Anyway, somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere, Utah,  my brother wanted to watch a movie with me. We had borrowed some movies for the drive, so we flipped through them to see what our options were. Batman, Evan Almighty, Bolt, Superman Returns, Star Wars.

Now here is the kicker. The big climax... I had never seen Star Wars.

I know, I know, I live under a rock. In fact, if you ever have any doubt as to whether or not I've seen a certain movie, the answer is a 94% chance of "No." and a 93% of "No. I've never heard of it." I'm not kidding. Really.

So anyway, we watched Star Wars. The second episode, but we can overlook the fact that I don't do things in the right order, because at least I watched it. Right? You're probably wondering where in the universe I'm going with this. What does this have to do with anything? Do you have a POINT???!!! Yes, but patience you must have.

I'm doing a geeky poster. Yes. You guessed it. Galaxy kind of geeky. I'm sketching it out now, but it seems like it's taking light years. That's right. Pun intended.

Don't worry, I'm still doing a Bible verse. And I hope that the finished product will be really pretty. But I KNOW that it will be awesomely geeky. For inspiration, I just watched Episode 5. Incidentally, I also watched it while riding in a car. Again, we will overlook the fact that I don't do things in order.

Also, considering the fact that my brother's name is Luke, I may need to take advantage of the "Luke, I am your father!" quote and make something geeky for my dad. *giggle!*

Love of Grace

The second event in two weekends!

I sold my posters at the second annual Love of Grace Art Exhibition this past Saturday. There were other artists from around the Denver area and it was really cool. 20% of all the proceeds went to Love of Grace- a non-profit organization which helps families with children in Children's Hospital.

The art gallery where we had the exhibition was in the art district. Hmmm, if I had more time...

I just really liked the gallery's skylight. Ultra industrial. Super cool.

Who can resist an art gallery... WITH twinklie lights??? Nobody.

So it was a really neat idea for an organization fundraiser. The problem was... not very many people came. Oh well. That just means that next year, you will all have to come. :)

Super Conference

This past weekend was amazing craziness at the CHEC Super Conference in Denver, Colorado- one of the largest homeschool conference in the nation. I was one of the youth entrepreneur vendors. Even after all the frenzied preparation- wrapping posters, printing last minute, business cards, order forms, coupon codes, frame stands- after all that, combined with a total of 22 hours spent behind my table, well, I was tired. But it was a total success and a great experience!

Back stock. Color coded, of course.

My brother helped man the table. When he wasn't having foam rocket wars with other vendors...

Blue sparkles are the best!

I'm really excited now about what Blue Nutmeg is going to do next! At the conference I had a couple offers for selling at other venues, was inspired for how I could expand, and got so much great feedback from the customers. I made new friends and had a blast. So thanks to everyone who made the Super Conference a success. It was super. :D

Today's Adventure

It’s a beautiful morning.

The little green spikes of tulips are peeking up in the front garden and it’s pretty warm, although I still need a sweater to fend off the mountain breeze. I really don’t think I would be doing this otherwise, but it’s the last week of school and I don’t have as much to do. I’m quite boring and non-spontaneous when there’s schoolwork to do. The wind messes with my hair. Dad grabs one of the boy’s longboards and rides down the road… a rousing demonstration.

I swing my leg over the seat and take off down the road, along with mom and the boys, all riding bikes and longboards, respectively.  My skirt and sweater and hair flutter behind me. I imagine that looks rather funny, me flying haphazardly down the path. Jonathan grabs my handlebars and has me pull him along while he does absolutely nothing. Figures. There are little, white-capped waves dancing over the lake today.

We arrive at the library, a little out of breath, and scatter- each to our own devices. I, for one, make a beeline for the fireplace and the overstuffed chair. There’s a big window right there that overlooks the main street. The season hasn’t hit yet, otherwise I would be looking out on a sea of shopping tourists, all looking for the perfect souvenir t-shirt. But all I see now are a few people moseying around and cars drive by at intervals.

Reading Chance to Die by Elizabeth Eliot. Sorry, for a while there I was in India, I guess! The story of Amy Carmichael is really amazing. I think anyone who is willing to live what they believe will make history. I also think people are really interesting, and it’s fun to watch them while you pretend to be reading. Note to self: I really should get a Starbucks and some yummy pastry for breakfast sometime and come here to read and sip.

Ok, gotta go.

I just love springtime. That bush there has cute, little, white flowers on it! Luke’s the one to hitch a ride this time. It’s a lot easier to ride a bike without an extra eighty lbs. holding on to your handlebars. The mountains look rather imposing because some dark clouds are sweeping up from behind and around their sides. But the sun is still shining brightly on the snow in the glacier fields and blinding my eyes. It’s almost like it’s a painting that someone propped up behind the little, pine covered hills; it doesn’t look real. If I hadn’t been on top of that peak last summer I guess there would be no way for me to prove that it wasn’t just a movie prop. But I have.

The grey clouds are gathering. I know that a storm is coming because of that sharp, icy wind cutting through the warm air. The willows stand stock still and then bend over in writhing contortions with each fresh gust. A herd of elk raise their heads and scramble out of the way as I pedal up a hill. The hooves echo on the concrete sidewalk. We beat the rain home. Well, I guess there’s no reason why it has to be rain. It could be snow. It snowed last Thursday. A lot.

Ah, but this time it’s rain. I love rain! Lightning just hit the mountain. We’re all in the living room and look out the window. We have to bring my dog inside because he doesn’t like the thunder. He barks at it and looks at the sky with concern.  When he’s in the house he runs back and forth and jumps up on the windowsill to look outside.

Rainy days like this make me happy. I’m not sure why. Most people like sunny days, and I do too, but nothing is quite like a rainstorm, when the water splashes the ground in a million places a second, and water-trails run down the windows. The worms all come out. The leaves tremble as they get hit with little water missals. The colors of the world look darker, and deeper, and all the dust is washed away. I like to take walks in it.

So anyway, I guess the point of all this is “Welcome to my little town in the mountains”

Lady of Shallot

Anyone who's read Anne of Green Gables, or seen the movie, will recall the memorable scene of one of Anne's many scrapes. She reenacts the poem by Alfred Tennyson called "Lady of Shallot." Of course, since she's Anne, it goes terribly.

If I had to choose a favorite Anne moment, that would probably be it. I mean, it's so Anne; she heedlessly takes the opportunity to be as dramatic as possible, waxing the death and despair and the sorrow. Then everything falls apart when the death part becomes a possibility, and the melodrama is suddenly overcome by panic. Oh, then there's Ruby in hysterics, the gallant hero who comes to the rescue, and the timeless quote "What are you doing?"

"fishing for lake trout."

Then I read the original poem by Tennyson. Epic. Quite literally.

I'm a sucker for tragic poems.

The Lady of Shalott started showing up everywhere. There's a country song called "If I Die Young." I don't usually like country, but it's such a tragic song. (maybe "tragic" isn't a word that usually refers to something being likable, but I think it applies in this situation.)

Then I was recently reading a murder mystery book by Agatha Christie called "The Mirror Crack'd" which referenced the line "the mirror crack'd from side to side, "the Curse is come upon me!" cried, the Lady of Shalott." I highly recommend that book.

Oh, and Loreena McKennitt recorded the poem beautifully in song form.

So I finally decided to memorize the poem. I just had to! Six stanzas down, thirteen to go. How cool would it be if someone asked if I'd heard of it, and I could just say "Oh, yes. I have it memorized. I can sing it too, and I have the collectible figurines."

I'm such a geek.

In case you were wondering, not everything I do is related to murder mysteries, Arthurian death legends, and depressing songs. I also like ice cream. :)

Oh, and there are no collectibles figurines. I made that up.

An Easter Bunny

I want a bunny.

A lot.

I found this one breed that's really cute; it's called a Netherland Dwarf. They're small compared to most domesticated rabbits and have short, little ears.

I can't help it, you just have to see them!



Awwwwwwww...

How fun would it be to cuddle one of these while reading a book, drinking iced tea, eating mangoes, and swinging in a hammock on a beautiful sunny day, with the breeze in your hair? Hmmm, maybe a little far-fetched. But seriously, you could stop at "how fun would it be to cuddle one of these?"

Maybe I caught the Easter bunny fever, but I even looked up how to take care of them, what they eat, and what kind of cages they need. And I found a Netherland Dwarf breeder who lives nearby.

I want a bunny.

Well, now that that little fact is sufficiently noted... Happy Easter!

"Before long the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." ~ John 14:19

"Behind the Scenes"

I recently did a new poster of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. It took me a while, so I was able to (well, more like remembered to) take some pictures. Thus, you get to see my pictures.

So, it’s a sort of “behind the scenes.”

A “sneak peek.”

A “how-to.”

You get it.

I had a ton of fun doing this one and I hope you enjoyed seeing how I did it! I think it probably took me about twelve hours.

Working on another one right now. Lukily for you, I'm kinda forgetting to take any pictures...

Not-So Piano Lessons

I have been taking piano lessons for eight years. I started when I was eight.

I should be really good at piano by now. But we don't need to talk about that.

I have to say, the best thing about my piano lessons is my teacher. And when I think about her, I don't usually think about piano. But wait a second, I really have to start at the beginning. When I was eight.

When I was eight I was really shy. Painfully. I really don't know why I wanted to take piano lessons. I suppose it was just the fact that I've really always been the person who aspired to do everything. And piano looked fun. So my mom found a local teacher; Miss Shirley. I've always called her Miss Shirley. She wanted me to. Everyone I know calls her Miss Shirley.

I remember the first lesson. Miss Shirley lives in a little house just big enough for her piano and her plants. I don't have any experience with other methods of musical teaching, but I know for sure hers is off the beaten path. Being the introvert that I was, she scared me a little. Everyone scared me a little. But truthfully speaking, I'm not so sure that my reaction would have been different had I met her five or ten years later. She's the sort of person that takes everyone off guard. Still happens to me every once in a while!

Let me explain. She's seventy-six. A young seventy-six. About five feet tall with an abundance of white curls. She walks with a bounce and speaks with a chirp. A loud chirp. She knits with a fury. She says what she thinks. If you have the pleasure of hearing her opinion, you wouldn't think of trying to change it. If she starts to tell you her opinion, be prepared to stay a while. If she asks your opinion, you'd better give it.

She has her own language. Mistakes are "mistrakes." She pronounces Bach and Beethoven like they're spelled, just to throw you off. My brother is "Lukie-duke." Even musical terms have their own names, like "dead spider." (D.S. al Coda)

If you're in a hurry, avoid the following subjects:

• Charlotte Bronte. According to Miss Shirley, she was "wicked." I will just take her word on it since she has read the 1,200 page biography of the Bronte family.
• Camouflage. She hates it. Still a little fuzzy on why she hates it.
• Fingering. As in, where you put your fingers on the piano. She claims the people who write them on music have six fingers. So she changes it all. Here comes the white out!
• Orange. A little less repulsive is olive green. ("kind of like that shirt you're wearing" she says)
• Paco Vacunas. More specifically, their hair. Well, actually, anything related to fiber arts.
• The personal lives of composers. You might forget the lesson entirely while perusing the Oxford dictionary of music looking at pictures. (Her Oxford dictionary is a full inch thicker than her old teacher's music dictionary, and don't forget it!)
• Tucking in the tails of her knitting. She will perform various feats of knitting ingenuity to avoid tucking tails.
• Politics. Enough said.

I had a lesson today. Starting out on the topic of migraine headaches and hereditary "diseases," the conversation soon turned to the consequences of drinking an alcoholic beverage just because it has a pretty flower floating in the top. Then we talked about Israel, the definition of piu (Italian for "more") geraniums and Prince William. You know, the norm. Really quite impressive, considering how far we usually get off track. And I think I might be getting somewhere in the Mendelssohn!

Her typical goodbye? "Well, I guess I should stop yelling at you now." I love her.

Alright, I'll stop talking so you can go ahead and look up what in the world a Paco Vacuna is.

Number One, Number Two...

I have a tendency to make lists. Long lists.

I make lists for everything. Usually it's "to do today" or "things I want to buy" or "blogs I want to write." But that doesn't mean I can't break out of the shell sometimes and make some crazy lists. But here is a list of the lists I will never make:

• Books I have read. That would take me a couple centuries.
• Places I want to go. Because all I'd have to do is copy the index from the world atlas.
• Favorite food. For one, I could never decide even on multiple favorites.

I almost put "bucket list" on there; because if you want to do something before you die, and you haven't died yet, you should do it right away. But I can't be quite sure that I'll never make a bucket list. You never know when the mood will hit me.

Here's the list of books I want to read. Condensed.

• Jane Austen's Letters- Deirdre Le Faye
• 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen- Patrice Hannon
• Villette- Charlotte Bronte
• Moby Dick- Herman Melville
• War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy (I think it would just be cool to say that I have read it)
• Cranford- Elizabeth Gaskell
• North and South- Elizabeth Gaskell
• More of Lynn Austen's works
• More of George MacDonald's works
• All of Charles Dickens' works that I haven't read
• All of C.S. Lewis' works that I haven't read

Again, I nearly added "and most of the books I see in the library"... but then it wouldn't have been quite as condensed.

Here is the list of plants I want. Prepare yourself.

• A Clematis jackmanii
• Bleeding Heart
• Lily of the Valley
• A pink Agastache
• Delphinium- tall purple ones
• Peonies- lots of them
• Climbing Roses
• Double Poppies
• Regular Poppies
• Cyclamen
• Orchids- lots more
• Asparagus
• Rhubarb
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries (a variety that doesn't freeze before they ripen)
• Any vegetable or herb, really

That, too, was a condensed list. Trust me.

And just for fun, here's a list of what I learned from my brothers and their friend yesterday.

• Squirrels make good gifts
• Ninjas have anger issues when it comes to fruit
• The Grand Canyon was made by the Pilgrims (didn't know that, did you?)
• Make sure you have food if there are boys in the vicinity. Lots.

Well, that's all for now. I should probably start doing some of things I have on my many lists...

Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Connecticut

I like nutmeg. You probably got that already.

I thought it would be nice let you know a little more about nutmeg. So I went to Wikipedia to learn about nutmeg. Really fascinating. Here's what I found out.

The nutmeg tree is any of serveral species in genus Myristica. It is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Spice Islands in Indonesia, although it grows in many places. In fact, Grenada's national flag features a stylized split-open nutmeg.

Ok.

Two spices are derived from the tree- Nutmeg and Mace. Nutmeg is the seed and Mace is a red, "lacy" seed covering called an aril. (As in the aril of a pomegranite. Did you know that? Pomegranite isn't a fruit, it's a false-fruit. An aril. Anyway.) Nutmeg is the only tropical fruit that is the source of two spices and its true fruit is also edible. The fruit looks like an apricot, and a popular way to eat it is candied. But it's easily bruised, which is why it's not exported.

Hmmm.

At one time Nutmeg was one of the most valuble spices. Evidently in England, if you could sell a few nutmegs, you would be financially independent the rest of your life. The British, Dutch, Arabs, French and Portugese all battled for a claim on the nutmeg monopoly. Today, Indonesia is the main producer and exporter with 70% of the market. I think I'd like to go to Indonesia, if ONLY to eat nutmeg fruit off the tree!

That'd be awesome.

However, I learned that you really don't want to eat very much of the ground nutmeg seed. Really. I mean, it would take a lot, but just don't. Don't smoke it either. Unless you want to experiance halucinations and all-over body pain. Get this; nutmeg is illegal in Saudi Arabia. Don't freak out though, even generous culinary servings are fine.

Yikes.

Also, (since I'm certain you were dying to know) Connecticut is only called the Nutmeg State because- as legend goes- certain people there carved fake nutmegs out of wood and sold them as real ones. Which seems like a lot of work for one nutmeg. But I guess (as previously stated) that they were worth a lot more then.

So, that concludes our lesson today. That was a mouthful. I hope you enjoyed learning about nutmeg. I leave with these thoughts:

#1. I wish that the nutmeg fruit was exportable.
#2. I wish I could say that I've tried mace, but I haven't. Not even in spray form. :)
#3. I wish that I didn't have to worry about nutmeg over-consumption.
But (#4) I will never willfully down three ground-up nutmegs in wine. Unlike certain, rather stupid Czech physiologists.

And #5. Nutmeg is pretty awsome.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

So what’s Blue Nutmeg? I mean, isn’t nutmeg… you know… brown? So why blue? For that matter, why nutmeg?

I will tell you.

At the beginning of 2011 my mom asked my brothers and me to find a Bible verse that would be “ours” for 2011. Kind of like a pet rock. It isn’t really yours but if you play with it long enough it feels like yours. The similarity ends when I realize that a rock (in my limited knowledge) has never been a great source of comfort or wisdom. So forget that. It isn’t like a pet rock. I guess the common term “memory verse” would fit better. Who has a pet rock anyway?

But the verse; I chose Psalms 86:11. It’s not a well-known verse, and it didn’t even stick out to me the first time I read it. It took a while. And I’m the sort of person who takes forever to decide. So after I had read my runners-up three… or seventeen times… I made my choice.

Then came the hard part. The whole point of a memory verse is to, well… memorize it. I’m not so good at that stuff. So I used some creativity. I’m pretty good at the creativity. In fact, I prefer creativity to school, dental work and hard labor. Ever since I was pretty little I’ve made this and that. Drawing, painting, cutting. Clothes for my stuffed animals out of Kleenexes. Small houses (for the fairies, of course) out of sticks and rocks. Anything, really. I carved my carrots instead of eating them.

So it seemed a matter of course that I should paint my Bible verse. And I did. And I had a great time! I found the perfect kinds of fonts and sketched it out, and mixed the perfect colors. My favorite colors. I had so much fun that I decided to do it again! And as the ideas for new and different painted verses sprang into my head I got more excited.

True, I have thought of starting a business before. Selling other things I’ve made, or things other people have made. That always seemed like a vague, rather daunting dream. One of those things that you say “Oh, I suppose I may do that someday.” Or “It’s possible, I guess.” But never did it seem like a near, or even feasible, reality. Extravagant reality, yes. Hard? Most definitely yes. But even for me, painfully slow and indecisive, it was a no-brainer.

Sell my Bible verse paintings? Yes!

The decision was made approximately forty-eight hours after the paint started flowing. It was that easy. Alright then, what will the business be called? Aw, rats. Another decision? This would require much more thought than a simple “yes” or “no.” This required an actual thought process. This required some effort. Maybe even a little creativity.

But as it turned out, I only needed creativity. Maybe I used a thought process, in a twisted sort of way. But I know that I didn’t exert any effort. This was how it went. I was looking out on the moonlit river as we drove the curvy road home. Very nice scene, the moon and the steep, tree-covered slope to the ice encrusted river. But that has nothing to do with the business name. But I had a song stuck in my head, On the Blue by Joel Auge. Good song. I can’t really say that has anything to do with the name either. All it did was lead me to think about how much I like the color blue. Favorite, in fact. A light, greenish blue. Seafoam. Has anyone noticed how that color has recently become popular? I’m a trend-setter, what can I say?

This is where I lose all sight of a thought process. Really. Don’t know why or how I started thinking about nutmeg. The only comparison that I can find is that it’s another favorite. Yes, nutmeg is definitely a favorite. In coffee, hot chocolate, applesauce, hot cereal… the shavings by themselves. You either like nutmeg or you’re wrong.

All that was left was to put them together, which I did very quickly. Voila.

So, here comes another job, another distraction, another thing for my to-do list. But another beginning, another challenge, another pleasure too.

So, here comes Blue Nutmeg.