by Marja-Leena 
With the weather dry and sunny at last, garden chores have been beckoning me outdoors. Hence it’s up and down the weathered back stairs many times a day. This just caught my eye as I was coming up with my camera in hand after taking a few photos of some of the flowers in the garden. As you can see, I like this image better than the flower ones. I love the surprise of suddenly seeing it and wondering how I could have missed it before.
by Marja-Leena 
As I am packing away my late mother-in-law’s lovely piano shawl to pass on to our eldest daughter, I feel an urge to play with it. Very gently I arrange it on the scanner, this way and that. Yes, these are for me to keep. Danke schön, Omi.
by Marja-Leena 
I have been peeking into some of my late mother-in-law’s boxes which my husband brought home from her house, now sold. Her obviously very old handwritten cookbook intrigued me, reminding me a little of my mother’s Finnish cookbook.
While my mother’s book was a published one, “Omi’s” is all handwritten by many different hands in an originally blank and indexed book. I imagine that her mother, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and friends may have written many of these, perhaps for her when she was a new bride, or when she was emigrating to Canada. The handwriting is exquisite and often seeming too tiny to read.
I don’t recognize her handwriting in the book itself unless it changed later, though some of the loose slips may be by her hand. Like in my mother’s cookbook there are numerous slips of loose recipes and clippings inserted throughout, and some glued in, like the one above with Gothic text. My German is poor, and the handwriting hard to read (even husband has trouble) but I do recognize a lot of kuchen (cake) recipes! Omi loved to bake cakes so I’m not surprised.
by Marja-Leena 
a crocheted silk lace piano scarf
made by my late mother-in-law many decades ago
bringing forth memories of it gracing her piano
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
– William Blake – Auguries of Innocence
by Marja-Leena 
the first fallen flower from several on the phalaenopsis
gifted to me by my sweet three months ago
by Marja-Leena 
I know I’ve been quiet here lately. We’ve had a full and wonderful week, first with friends visiting from Alberta whom we had not seen in something like a decade. Then yesterday friends from Victoria came for lunch. The weather was glorious all week as was the garden, most impressive for the Albertans! We are back to rain today.
Tomorrow we will attend the memorial and potluck for my late and dear aunt (as mentioned here), so I’ve been busy printing a card, gathering old photos of her to scan and print, and writing a few little ‘memories’ to share and reminisce over with her daughter, grandsons and several cousins.
I thought this image captures some of those deep heartwarming feelings of this week. I’ve actually used it before in another variation here. (However it is not part of the HANDS series of prints.)
Life should be back to normal next week when I’ll catch up with visits and comments at your blogs, dear friends!
by Marja-Leena 
My hand goes out to you, gentle readers, with wishes for a sunny, warm and happy Easter long weekend. Hauskaa Pääsiäistä, Joyeuses Pâques, Frohes Ostern, Happy Easter… if that is a tradition for you.
I like to think of it as a celebration of spring with daffodils and pussywillows and tender new green leaf buds. And of course, Easter eggs! Most of our treasured Easter egg collection has been made over the years by our daughters, especially the youngest. More photos of those Easter eggs: Easter 2006, Easter 2008
I am looking forward to seeing our granddaughters’ plant-dyed eggs, works in progress…
by Marja-Leena 
After scanning a moth and a fly, along with a comment about scarabs, I remembered another insect, a chafer beetle perfectly preserved in resin, a paperweight I think. it was given to me as a gift many years ago. Of course I had to scan this too. I started with just the object but the resin has scratches and imperfections so finally I went back to my technique of ‘hand with object’ with much better success. Beautiful beetle, isn’t it?
Besides thoughts of ancient Egyptian scarabs, which are actually dung beetles, I’m reminded that the Greater Vancouver area has a serious chafer beetle infestation destroying many lawns, including ours. I think our beetle is the brown European one rather than this gorgeous green. The grubs root under the turf, then raccoons, skunks and some birds dig up the patches in search of tasty meals. I must remember to buy and apply some nematodes on it this summer (I forgot at the recommended time last year).
So that’s the story of a beauty and a beast!
by Marja-Leena 
about to sweep the floor
saw the dead dark fly
what would a scan show?
iridescent colours, dust and fibres
invisible to the naked eye
by Marja-Leena 
found in studio ‘junk’
wound up and tied
remembering a frayed basket edge
unwound and free
captured and filed
for future use
then a revisit of jute, more jute and twine(d)
Added 19th March:
My dear friend Susan, in the comments below, has challenged me to do a re-scan with my hand holding the twine. Behold:
