This Month Around The Yard

This month I have had more time to spend in and around our yard at our old house and have noticed little creatures teeming with activity all about.  I wonder if it is just me, being a more active participant, or if they are all busier in preparation for the shift in seasons and a possibly cooler fall and winter.

The past two years I have been able to mark the subtle changes in seasons by being aware of the insects that seem to suddenly appear.  Crane flies are the first to appear and announce that Spring has arrived.  I know the hummingbirds will be in soon when I spot the first of the crane flies.  The indigo-blue mud dauber is next on the list as temperatures begin to rise.  Dragon flies are just around the corner at the peak of the summer season and the majestic butterfly glides in just as the shadows begin to grow longer.  Spiders then begin to hang their webs in curious places as if they are vying for the greatest attention; high in the trees, in between the bushes, dangling from a power line, and framing doorways and windows with their glistening traps.  This week it is the afternoon chirp of the crickets and watching them in abundance as they leap through the grass just ahead of my step that reminds me cooler temperatures are soon to come.

Activity around the yard this month

I still sometimes have trouble with directions and if I am facing N-S-E-W, but it is nice to be in touch with these clues again and to tell time from a deeper reservoir. 

I would love it if you would share what you are noticing while you are out and about these days?

Map Table

Map Table~Barcelona

I have long loved maps, a love likely developed while living with my grandparents where National Geographic magazines, The World Atlas, and travel maps were always readily available as reading material.  They loved to travel and visited almost every state within the US in addition to visits to Canada. 

On all of our trips we not only use maps to get to know and to get around the city, but I hoard them almost as much as stones and sea shells.  Each map has something different; some are hand drawn, some include famous sites, some are enlargements of particular parts of a city, some are colorful like a metro map, and some are black and white, but each are unique and have their own story to impart.  The idea to create a collage of our maps, ticket stubs and other paper ephemera has been ruminating since our honeymoon.  I often take these saved items out of the boxes I keep them in and arrange them in different fashions looking for something to speak to me on how to display and arrange these treasures.  There are also coins mixed in amongst the papers and each of these shiny jewels get added to the lot or sometimes lined up in an orderly fashion with the idea to mat and frame just the coins.

Well an opportunity arrived and while it was not the collage I imagined or even the map I originally intended to use, I was pleased with the outcome and the new display for this map.  We rented our condo out for the Democratic National Convention and I needed a bedside table for our guest bedroom.  I had several inexpensive round plywood tables that are intended to be covered in a tablecloth and then topped with glass and decided to try using one of these for my project.

The steps for creating the table are below.

• Using the glass table top as my template with the map placed underneath the glass I used a sharp razor knife and cut around the glass.
• Since the table was unfinished I sprayed it and the legs with one coat of primer and sanded the rough edges after it dried.
• After removing the sanded dust I coated the wooden table top and bottom (covering the metal areas where the legs are inserted with painters tape) and legs with white oil paint.
• After the paint dried I applied Liquitex varnish to the table top and the round cut out map and carefully placed the map on the table top smoothing out air bubbles as I went.  I did have a hard time with some of the air bubbles and had to gently pierce the paper where they appeared with the razor knife and then push the paper down.  I would recommend a brayer or other type of roller to ensure all air bubbles are removed.
• After the map was attached to the table, I covered the map and wooden edges around it with the same Liquitex varnish, sealing it and giving it a shine.
• I purchased small silicone disks from our local home improvement store and attached 4 of these to the glass to separate the glass from the table, protecting the map and providing a sturdy base for the glass.

I didn't take many "in process" shots but did take this one when I first cut the map and prior to painting the table.