hello & happy day to you! this post is a tribute to my little duck, MJ. if you're new to my corner of the world...that likely won't have much meaning. but if you dig a little bit back into my blog you will soon discover what an impact she had on me this summer.
today marks exactly a month that she spread her wings & took {what we hope was} the flight south to warmer weather that northern minnesota doesn't offer in the winter months.
now...jump back even FURTHER into my ramblings and you might remember the start of a project i was monkeying around with...
at the time i had been seeing alot of neat takes on recycled wood into signs. i had plenty of weathered wood myself & figured i could add another variation to my sign selection i already offered at patinaWHITE. well. despite having the wood + the inspiration...i didn't take {make} the time to follow thru on my creation.
so it sat in the garage in a pile. once and awhile i would catch a glimpse @ the one & only painted slat and smile. because...i figured...love is ALL i need, right? and then i became distracted by something else that had come into my life around the time of this concept. my tiny ball of fuzz...a baby duck who i named MJ. do you remember what she looked like? adorable to say the least. here she is {below}...day 1!
i decided late summer to revisit the project motivated by the many random, inspiring quotes i had jotted down. plus at this stage of raising MJ, she was well into her routine of floating at her home away from home for hours on end. AND i wanted a form of creative expression while on the visits i made to her pond daily. MJ would climb up the bank when i arrived and play about while i painted. she made me laugh w/ her constant peeking @ what i was up to {like seen below}
painting the slats took quite awhile. it became an act of personal expression. i'd throw on my dickies...pack up my paint + brushes & walk across the fields thru the woods {almost sounds like a christmas carol!} w/ the sign tucked under my arm like a canvas. i'm sure if the neighbors saw me they would wonder just for a moment what the "eccentric" lady next door was up to.
as summer drew to a close...i was near the end of painting the quotes on the sign. and MJ had grown into the beautiful adult wood duck many of you enjoyed reading about. even a month later my eyes still are swelled over typing & show this {below}...one of the last photos i took of her.
i had originally planned on selling the sign. but found that as i painted...i became very attached to it on many levels. mostly because of the memories i hold when i look @ it. that & i think it just looks darn COOL! so i hung it in my kitchen. where i see if daily. and...if you ask me...whats neat about it not only the random thoughts...but ultimately how i decided against the perfect ends & straight lines. leaving it rough and all most unplanned in appearance {random again!}. you be the judge when you see it {below}
the date on my little calendar gives away the fact that i took this picture awhile ago. i meant to show it sometime back but had to stop due to the writer's block i faced. decided that today would be the day.
and as long as i am on the topic of random thoughts + calendar dates...i am finishing up the little collage of art to announce the miniEVENT that i have decided to go forward w/ here in the very near future @ my home studio. i will be doing that this friday...so you all can mark your calendars!
with that i am off. time to do some seasonal transformations on the outside of our home today. we have been granted a peek of sunshine & that always motivates me. that and the long term forecast calls for highs in the mid 20's. and unlike MJ i don't have any plans on flying south. so i will make the most of the onset of winter and whatever randomness the day may bring!
and here's hoping you are enjoying yours!
