Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

We arrived in the Philadelphia area on Friday evening.

A drive that should have taken us about 6 hours, wound up being nearly 9 because of long traffic delays.

Double ugh!

Besides the history of Philly,

I came to see this truly amazing public art installation.

Mission accomplished yesterday on a very steamy day in the city.

The mosaic garden is the largest art installation of artist Isaiah Zagar.

After he and his wife served three years in the Peace Corps in the mid-1960s, they settled in Philadelphia and began a lifelong career of creating public art.  

In 1994, Zagar started working on vacant lots near his studio on South Street.

He spent two years molding and sculpting multi-layer walls from found objects, but when the  Boston-based owner learned of his work, he decided to sell the land.  

The community did not want to see the art installation destroyed, so they rallied together, and after a 2 year long court battle, Zagar's creation became a nonprofit organization, given the name Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.

Zagar's work can be found on more than 200 public walls around Philadelphia and the world.

I have never done mosaics but have always loved it and this definitely makes me want to learn.

Truly inspiring.

Amazing!

And magical!

Have a blessed day!

So Far

We've been from Kuwait via Istanbul to Toronto where my oldest son met up with us.

Road trip number 1 took us to Albany where my youngest attended his college orientation.

 

Road trip number 2.

 

Where we visited New York City and several towns in New Jersey

Road trip number 3 took us back to Ontario for a few days, where we left our Colorado boy to fly home.

And now it's just me and college-bound boy in Boston.

 20 days of travel so far.

About 19 more to go.

I don't usually bring my laptop on vacations, but needed it for several reasons and so here I am.  

It's a drizzly day where we're at so we are hanging out and I'm catching up on things that I've been neglecting along the way,

Hope all is well with all of you.

Best wishes,

Peaceful Energy

I  stopped watching tv and reading the news several years ago to limit the constant bombardment of negativity, yet now I am caught up in it particularly because of what's going on in Turkey.  

We are flying Turkish Airlines soon.  The US had temporarily cancelled all incoming flights from there so I guess the bright side is that this year I decided to fly into Canada to visit some of my in-laws before heading to the States.

This Prevention article from October 2007 entitled

"What a Wonderful World" is very relevant for today and voices how I feel.

I have to remind myself that there really is more good than what is reported in the news.  That it is a wonderful world.

Right now there just seems to be a whole lot of crazy which can be very unsettling.  And I wonder, is it crazier?  Or do we just hear more than usual?

I've been spreading a bit of crochet love around my corner of the world the past couple of days.

And today received this wonderful wooden plaque from a friend.

Inspiring advice from a rainbow.

Sending peaceful energy and thoughts out into the world as we view the full moon tonight.

Hoping and praying for a period of peace after so much chaos the past few weeks.

With light and love,

A Hank of a Mess

Yarn hanks.

They look so pretty.

But I never buy them.

Because of this.

What a mess!

I bought the yarn at a craft bazaar in November last year.

Wish I would have looked up how to properly unwind a hank but it's a little too late for that now.  At least I was able to yank enough out to get one pair of baby booties made, my first ever.

The pattern is from Wooly Wonders on YouTube.

Sweet Sunday Wishes,

Drop a Rock Day

I have never done Facebook or Twitter.

And never could get into Pinterest.

But Instagram, I LOVE for instant inspiration.

 @love_is_action_movement declared today, Sunday, July 3rd, as #droparockday ... asking people around the world to join in by painting a word or quote on a rock and dropping it in a public space to help make the world a kinder place.

I was up for the challenge and did the best I could with a few rocks I had laying around and old acrylic paints.  Also hung a few hearts that were donated by a friend in my craft group.

First stop, the playground at the park a few blocks from where I live.

Next was the playground at my local walking path.

 

And finally, the playground at the beach just down the road from me.

I hope that a few kids along with their moms will find these little gifts and appreciate them.

Mission accomplished so had a quick walk along the beach.

Lots of jellyfish spotted today.

And even found my own little gift.

Another heart-shaped rock.

Happy Sunday!