Powdertown: Our Garden

Powdertown: Our Garden

The only thing that was longer than our extensive clothes line was our huge vegetable garden.  The garden stretched out almost the length of our back lot and was located behind Dad's workshop and adjacent to the apple tree.  The garden was massive and full of a variety of vegetables including: corn on the cob, green beans, potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, but best of all red, ripe, beautiful tomatoes!  One of my favorite things to do was to pick the tomato off the vine and eat it like one would eat an apple.  It was such a treat and so readily available.

Here we are with my little blue wagon, the real "work horse" of my childhood.  The wagon was not only good for playing and for walks to the lake, but also for helping out with chores.  "Little Blue" was small enough to fit between the garden rows and large enough to carry the daily yield of veggies.  Once the harvesting of vegetables was done, my Mom would start the laborious task of "canning."

Dad worked that garden after working long hot days in a factory and Mom would stand over a steaming pot for days "canning" veggies in a non air-conditioned small house. They didn't have to do this, they just did it!  I feel immensely blessed to have grown up in my family.  My parents always provided for us, taught us about hard work, and most importantly,  how to enjoy the simple things in life.

Thanks for stopping by this week!

Powdertown: Wash Day

Powdertown:
Wash Day

Just like any growing family there were always heaps of laundry to be done, so really just about every day was considered "wash day."  Upon the early years in Powdertown, Dad made us a long clothesline that stretched the length of our side yard.  If the sun was out then so was our laundry! Part of our chores growing up was to hang out, take down, fold, and put away the laundry. That clothesline became the backdrop of my childhood! 

This was an ordinary, uneventful, routine part of our everyday,  so why even write about it?  Because there is something very special and precious about the ordinary routine of everyday life.  It is comforting to a child and reassures them that everything is right in their world, ask any parent.   I can remember it like it was yesterday..... a bright sunny afternoon, the cat is napping on the warm sidewalk,  kids are playing throughout the settlement, and I can hear the sheets on the clothesline flapping in the gentle breeze.  Yes, everything is as it should be!  Who knew you could pin fresh laundry and "contentedness" on your clothesline?

I think my Mom liked hanging out laundry because it is what her Mom did as well as many generations before. I'm sad to say that with my generation, the convenience of the dryer has made this tradition fade away.  I did have my Dad build me a clothes line when I moved into my own house,  but unfortunately it doesn't get used very often.   Sometimes when it is a sunny summer day and the mood strikes me,  I like to hang out a load of laundry and when I breathe in the fresh linen scent,  I can't help but think of Powdertown.

Would you like to read about more of my Powdertown memories?

• Feeding the Ducks (Chatfield Park)
• Fowler's Apple Tree
• Our Brown Chair

Powdertown: Brown Chair

Well this week marks the third week of my Powdertown Series and that means we are half way through the series.  Hopefully you have been following along and didn't miss out on Chatfield Park or Fowler's Apple Tree.  If you did go ahead and take the time and get caught up.

There is nothing that feels quite like home so much as a comfortable arm chair.  It welcomes you with soft silent strength and then quietly whispers, "home, home at last!"  Like any other home, we would have chairs "wear out",  and then they would be replaced. In my life there has been a parade of chairs,  and for what ever reason this "brown chair" has parked itself in my memory banks.

Powdertown Series:
Brown Chair

I remember every thing about it.  It's wide flat side arms that could serve as extra seating, the raised diamond textured pattern, the soft extra wide cushion that could fit two or three of us kids.  I remember curling up on it with pillow and blanket for afternoon naps while Mom would watch her "stories."  But perhaps my favorite would be throwing a quilt over the top and creating a tent which would mean hours upon hours of fun!  Tell me why everything became more fun under that tent.

During this series I have really only talked about imagery, and have not said much about my process, so let's talk "color schemes".   I wanted these six illustrations to have some unifying elements that would help say, "hey, we belong together" and I felt the best way to create that is through a color scheme. So before I started to paint, I went shopping for a color scheme.  Now I had to take a few things into consideration such as what colors needed to be represented,  I needed to include a coral for the drapery, brown for the arm chair,  a teal blue (you will see why in a few weeks), and a nice green for all of the outdoor scenes.  

Now you can shop for color schemes in many places,  a favorite painting, a photograph, or fabric.  My favorite place would have to be Adobe Kuler.  Kuler is an awesome site where you can can find thousands of color palettes or just simply create your own to use in your next design project.  Best part is that you can upload any color palette into your Adobe Creative Software and it will become part of your color swatch library...how cool is that I ask?  However, since my illustrations were not done digitally, I simply took a screen shot of my color palette and printed it off.  I kept it at my art table as a reference while mixing my pools of paint.  The color palette I chose is called "Everyday Veggies", look it up if you like.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.....I really do appreciate it. Take care until next week.

Powdertown: Fowler's Apple Tree

I have been on a journey of reminiscence lately.  Hopefully, if you are reading this week's post it is because you enjoyed last week's about Chatfield Park and you want to see some more.  If you missed last week, please take the time to read it now, I promise  I'll be waiting here when you are done.

Last week,  I explained how Chatfield Park was so much a part of every Powdertown kid!  It amazes me how one place can hold countless memories.  How there is no need of photographs to help us remember, as it is forever etched in our minds.  

One other such place would have to be our back lot which was centrally located in the settlement.  This was not the lot where our house was located but rather across the alley.  It was the "unofficial" Powdertown playground.  At the far end was a baseball diamond, marked only by the worn dirt paths that lead to each base. This lot also hosted my Dad's workshop and a huge vegetable garden.  

For me, the most memorable part of this lot would have to be our beloved apple tree.  You are probably laughing at me right now for speaking so affectionately about a tree.  I'm counting on at least a few of you to recognize the love one has for that perfect climbing tree from your childhood.  If I am right, your mind probably just flashed to it!  As I mentioned, no need for photographs as I could recall each branch by heart and am told, by my sis, that I got it just right! 

Powdertown Series:
Fowler's Apple Tree

Not only was this tree great for climbing,  but it also had this one branch that was perfect for flipping and hanging upside down.  It was way better than any swing set or jungle gym could ever aspire to be. We loved the green canopy of leaves, as it was a great way for us to stay hidden from any passerby or from the neighbor boys playing baseball. We all have our different reasons for loving this tree,  but one I think every kid in the hood could agree on is that it produced the most amazing little green SOUR apples.  Much to my father's dismay, no kid could ever leave the apples alone so they could ripen into sweet mature fruit!  Despite all of his pleas, no one could resist the tempting little sour apples!  So sorry Dad.   Anyway, the tree got taken down years ago and I do remember feeling sad when I got the news...I think I was in college.

So glad you took the time to read my blog this week.  Hope you take time this week to think of some of your own special "happy places" from childhood.  Maybe think of your own unique way to record these for your children, I know mine love to hear the stories.  Hope you come back next week to see the third painting in the Powdertown Series.