Pi Day Leftovers

Anyone for pie? Yes, I know that National Pi/Pie Day was four days ago, but it's taken me this long to digest the whole series of events that took place that day.

WIP-sketching at the kitchen counter

We weren't actually aware that it was Pi Day on Tuesday, but the overwhelming number of others who were observing the occasion possibly created a subliminal influence and we had pizza pie for dinner that night. After dinner our granddaughter texted from Haagen's, a local grocery store, to let us know that ALL their pies were half off! Well! We do like their chicken pot pies for a cozy dinner on a stormy night.

My husband grabbed the car keys and he was off! Some time later, he returned with most of what you see here! Four days later and I am overwhelmed with pie. I couldn't think of what to do other than put them all out on the counter and sketch them. I was planning on leftover pizza for a late lunch, but as usual, when I'm sketching food I forget all about eating it until after I finish sketching. I could smell it, though!

In an uncanny circumstance, I finished sketching at exactly 3:14pm. Huh!

Read my journal sketch page to see how I accidentally got even MORE pie from McDonald's!

After class, Wintergrass

Since the Ad Hoc outing of Seattle Urban Sketchers was scheduled just 15 minutes away at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, I drove over there after my Kirkland class this afternoon. We were there during "Wintergrass".

Wintergrass is a family-friendly Bluegrass music festival, with concerts and dances at 4 different stages. There are also music education programs for kids and adults, workshops, impromptu jams, and a chance to see and hear some great music. Acoustic Sound produced it with the mission statement:
Acoustic Sound is committed to preserving and promoting traditional acoustic American music through presentation and education, with special attention given to the bluegrass music community.

You could purchase tickets to see performances by legends and featured performers, or just wander the hallways and lobbies to see impromptu groups forming up and playing together.

In the hallways of the Hyatt Regency, Bellevue, WA today.

In one of the hallways on the main floor, a group of about 13 people were in a circle, facing each other. John played bass and another musician played the "Dobro" guitar. There were banjos and more guitars, fiddles and singers. All this was played at a very polite level of volume, taking advantage of the acoustics in the hallway. At one point bystanders closed in and began singing along as they played an old classic, "Let the Circle Be Unbroken." The quiet, understated volume lent a very touching, tender quality to the music.

 Upstairs in another hallway, Mack was playing his favorite instrument, a Gibson guitar that he bought for $600 in 1972. "That was a lot of money then", he said, "I turned 66 years old this year, and it's still my favorite."

Shabby French Market Journal Page-A Memoir

Sometimes it takes me a while to decide what part of my sketch page will be written and what I want to say. I was so full of thoughts about The Shabby French Market experience with the Anacortes Sketchers that it took me until today to write them into my sketch page. (After putting down my thoughts, I have to say that I have a ways to go in the antique French script writing department.)

You enter the building from the street and immediately have so many options: up two more floors on a beautiful, wide, handcrafted wooden staircase or into one of the many doors leading off the foyer or to your left around the corner and downstairs into a treasure of shabby French nostalgia. Our rainy day meet up with the sketchers was planned for the basement. It's warm, cozy, with clear lighting and a sofa and a dozen or so chairs you could use. There's a bed, too, but it is definitely not meant for customers' use.

Last page in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook click to zoom

So I walked around the shop, like wandering through a memoir, stopping to sketch with the colors of fog and mist. The things that caught my eye were the hand-tied raw silk lampshade on its leaded crystal base, the silver hot chocolate pot with its aged patina, the fleurs-de-lis everywhere, along with delicate bouquets of dried hydrangeas. There is a little key-shaped wall mount for hanging your keys. "Mais oui!" Everything had the feel of treasured, though time worn objects with yet another home to grace. In the background, 1940's pop tunes and French-sounding jazz added to the atmosphere.

Many thanks to Elizabeth and Tom for welcoming our little group for an afternoon of sketching in their delightful shop.