Hi Folks:
All of Marcia and Mike’s parents are gone now, but we have two sons and a son-in-law and five beautiful grandchildren. We are Grandy and Grandalf! 🧙♀️&🧙♂️
As with those who are moms, Happy Father’s Day today to all of the strong, loving men who are fathers, to those who are chosen dads, surrogate dads, step-dads, adoptive dads, and to the women who are also dads.
Special thanks to all those who love and support them.
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks:
June 8 is a very special day for us, for several reasons. First, for the world in general, June 8 is World Ocean Day. Not only do the world’s oceans cover over 70% of the earth’s surface, but they hold 97% of the world’s water. Keeping our oceans healthy is vital in so many ways it would be impossible to begin to list them all.
Second, June 8 is the Anniversary of Marcia’s marriage proposal. Yes, it was 26 years ago, and after giving it due consideration (for less than half a second), of course Mike said yes. No fool he. We continue to feed each other every day.
And third, June 8, 2010 was the advent of our Free Hugs sessions in downtown Victoria. In 11 years we shared hugs with locals and tens of thousands of visitors to our fair city from (at least) 88 countries. Every hug is unique and special and we treasure each and every one of them. Our only rule was that we offered, but those who were interested had to come to us.
The illustrious Marcia, Free Hugs poster in hand, during our first Free Hugs session (image © A. Licht)
Mrs. Claus, Twinkles and Krinkles at the Bay Centre, Victoria, BC. Still much waving to do!
Taking time for a refreshing cup of tea!
Hi Folks:
We haven’t done much chalk art recently because of the rain (no complaints – it refills the aquifer and we’ll appreciate it next summer). Unfortunately rain isn’t very kind to chalk art! We’re expecting another major storm this weekend so we’ll have to put out something else for Hallowe’en, but in the meantime, remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks:
As Labour Day weekend is upon us we’re starting to wind down summer once again. Vacations are (for the most part) coming to an end, children and adults are going back to school… Still, we wanted to offer a reminder that even as seasons change, some fundamental things don’t. Self-value is inherent, and not linked to what we do. And kindness is always the right response.
To that end, we wanted to offer you a reminder to put on a happy face and engage your world with love. 💗
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. This drawing took two whole sticks of yellow! But it was worth it… 🙂
P.S. II, the sequel: This is our ninth Hugs chalk art pattern for 2024. If you’d like to see all of them, click here: 2024 Hug Zones.
Happy Canada Day folks … to all of those born here, and to all those who have found their way to our shores. Remember to hug the ones you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. A shout-out today to our wonderful friend Glennis, who wrote this beautiful poem back in 2019: Free Hugs
P.S. II, the sequel – a reminder that next Saturday (July 6, 2024) is International Free Hugs Day! Let your hugging inhibitions go and embrace the love!!
Hi Folks:
All of Marcia and Mike’s parents are gone now, but we have two sons and a son-in-law and five beautiful grandchildren. We are Grandy and Grandalf! 🧙♀️&🧙♂️
As with those who are moms, Happy Father’s Day today to all of the strong, loving men who are fathers, to those who are chosen dads, surrogate dads, step-dads, adoptive dads, and to the women who are also dads.
Special thanks to all those who love and support them.
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. For anyone who’s interested in knowing how the spherical pattern was made, click here:
Father’s Day Hugs (behind the scenes)
Hi Folks:
This is a short post that covers a bit of what went into making our latest chalk art drawing, for those who might be interested…
To start with, credit and thanks to @the.world.of._drawing on Instagram for the design! Much appreciated.
Now, if only sidewalks came with grid squares we would have been all set. Unfortunately, they typically don’t. So, in order to create the design in sidewalk chalk, we had to get a little inventive. The first step was to create the pattern in CorelDraw, like this:
The second phase was to take that pattern and cut it into 12 pieces. Each section is contained with an 8″x10″ rectangle so as to fit on a sheet of letter-sized paper. An X-Acto knife was used to cut out the red lines in the paper, leaving gaps at the junctions to hold the template together. 
The next step was to assemble the cut-out pages of the template into three strips of four images, using painter tape to hold them together:
These strips were reassembled on the sidewalk, and a piece of white chalk was used to transfer the cutout lines to the sidewalk. After that, coloured chalk was used to complete the pattern. The final result looks like this:That’s it!
Hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!
Hugs,
M&M
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the world’s Mothers and to all those who fulfill the role … step-mothers, chosen mothers, adoptive mothers, surrogate mothers, soon-to-be mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, brothers, uncles, dads and more. And let us not forget the Earth, the great Mother of us all. 🌏
Remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. As Marcia’s dad used to say, “Remember Father on Mother’s Day“!