10-2-17



Today has been such a strange, strange day... 
and I am finding that it is suddenly 7pm... and am just now doing my blog.
There seems to have been so much tragedy in the last few days...
including a murder/ suicide here; that I just can't seem to wrap my head around anything. 
Things just don't make sense... violence never does.

On the plus side, today I took a short walk with ZeeZe, and had some nice chats with neighbors and friends.
For those of you following along, we still have the remains of a massive LEGO pile on our living room floor that we are sorting... 
but thankfully, it is only about 1/6 the size it was. Yay!

For today.... I took some photos of the asters in our yard. We have pale ice blue asters, and amazing white! asters. 
There are also a very few deep purple ones down the street. It is amazing how many varieties there are -- even in this short an area.
Right now, the fire whistle blew.... the Fisher cat is screeching in the distance.. and ZeeZe is howling. 
Have a good night, and I will see you all tomorrow.

for the weekend


A parent's nightmare!
piles of pieces everywhere
Don't step on a brick...

-----------------------------

For those of you following along on Facebook...
You know that I have decided to sell off our massive LEGO collection.
Turns out, it's 90 pounds worth! Who knew <#$!

So. The hubby and I have begun the sorting process to divide up regular bricks .. which will be sold at $10/ pound...
 and specialty bricks and pieces; which will be sold in small lots.



9-29-17


It's been awhile since I made a mandala... mainly because the programs I was using for part of the process
 are no longer available, so I am trying to find alternative ways to make them.
In the meantime, I made one (with a different program) from the flower photograph featured in yesterday's post.

I love making mandalas from my photographs... 
it is a very relaxing thing to do when I am having a rough time. 

Hope you are all able to get some sleep.... see you tomorrow.

9-28-17


what a gorgeous day outside!

Today I am sorting and trying to think of the best way to sell off our massive LEGO collection.
But in the meantime; there is music... coffee... and puppy snuggles.

Let the games begin!



9-27-17


Back in June 2016, I started a new "series" of posts... if you will... 
 And so on Wednesdays; I've been posting an old photograph to inspire your creativity.
Write a poem!   
 Plot out a short story.
 Have inspiration for a piece of art or composition.... let your artistic soul shine.
--and occasionally I write my own sordid story or poem. 
 (you can click on the photos in this post to make it larger to see).

~~~

Coraline never knew her mother, which probably should have made her a very sad girl...
but truth be told, she loved her life.
She loved the vastness of the sky... and the crispness of the wind.

Coraline's mother was an English Missionary to the wandering tribes of the Mongolian hills.
A young, impressionable woman, she died during childbirth.
Coraline's father was a tribal leader, and caretaker of the tribe's most prized horses.
They were a nomadic tribe... hunting the vast plains and wild hills of the Arkhangai Mountains.

Once, when she was about 14yrs old (she often lost track of exactly how old she was),
she was scooped up and taken on a long flight to her maternal grandparent's home in East Sussex...but she hated it.
She hated the buildings... the food... the clothing...she hated it all.
(photo above was taken while in the care of her grandparents)

She longed to be out in the wilds with the sheep and the horses.
She needed the sky.
The mountains were her breath and life.
And so she was sent back home; labeled as"incorrigible"...
and thankfully, never had to leave again.

9-26-17


Sometimes it's the seemingly little things that completely make my day.
Yesterday, I received a package in the mail... a raw stone specimen I had ordered off of Ebay
 and hope to make the focal piece for a neat necklace some day. In the package, there was also a letter from the seller, 
telling me that she had looked up my blog... and was happy to see that we were sort of kindred spirits. It was very cool... 
and thoroughly awesome... and it made me smile.
I think, far too often, we miss those little "gems" that show up and remind us all that it's still a nice planet
... and there are lots of good folks still on it.

See you all tomorrow.

9-25-17



Today we had a really interesting HALO around the sun... with several "Sun Dogs" as we called them in New Mexico. 
My hubby came home from running errands, and said... "Get your camera and come here quick!".. LOL.
It was incredible... and seemingly right over my house! 

It's an unusually hot day as well... and I find that silly things are wearing me out... but alas.
I was able to get a few things made in the studio this weekend; and am excited about photographing and listing them into the Etsy shop. There will be 3 pair of earrings, all of which feature charms by Vincent Cav of Inviciti Jewelry. There are also 3 pendulum sets to photograph and list, and 3 more that are almost finished. I also made a Sterling Bar Necklace, and complimentary earrings that have the most stunning Herkimer Diamonds on them. 
Every day I get to do work I love... and it makes me happy.
See you all tomorrow.

9-22-17


Well, I am slowly getting through the books we have in the house 
(as well as some I have borrowed from the library)... 
so I thought I would do a post on the ones I have finished up:


* Duke (a bio of John Wayne) - Ronald Davis. Not sure how factual it is, but it was really good.

* A Consensus Handbook - Seeds for Change
* An Electronic Silent Spring - Katie Singer
* The Green and the Black - Gary Sernovitz
* Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
-- all books on fracking and ecological concerns. Good, but depressing.

* Gift from the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Written in the 50s. Still good.
* Twenty Days with Julian - Nathanial Hawthorne. Who knew Hawthorne wrote this? I didn't. Probably the first ever... "dad alone with the kid" kind of books.
* Confessions of a Pagan Nun - Kate Horsley. Didn't like it. Really thought I would.
* Toujours Provence - Perter Mayle. A collection of short stories from an ex-pat living in France.
--all older books I had, that I was saving to read.

* Hardcore Zen - Brad Warner. Interesting.... but a bit hard to follow at times.
* News of the World - Paulette Jiles. Surprisingly awesome. I really wasn't giving it much credit, but couldn't put it down til I finished it.
* The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic - Emily Croy Barker. Here again, I thought it was going to be bad. It was LONG (600 pages) but surprisingly good.
* The Anthropology of Turquoise - Ellen Meloy. Reading it right now. I think it's been on my "To read List" for over a decade... it's really good.

And there you have it... the latest books (13!) that I have read in the past month.
See you all tomorrow!

9-21-17


Gigantic old crow
screeching from atop a pole
"Fall is here! Fall's here...."

And now a blue jay
is singing a sweet refrain
"Leaves are turning! Fall's here..."

Even the deer, who ate
the few of my brussel sprouts
said, "prepare for Fall!..."

as the fog rises
slowly from the mountain tops
"at last.... Fall is here."

9-20-17


Back in June 2016, I started a new "series" of posts... if you will... 
 And so on Wednesdays; I've been posting an old photograph to inspire your creativity.
Write a poem!   
 Plot out a short story.
 Have inspiration for a piece of art or composition.... let your artistic soul shine.
--and occasionally I write my own sordid story or poem. 
 (you can click on the photos in this post to make it larger to see).

~~~

Irma and Ira LeFond could not have children. 
So when they were presented with a smiling baby girl at the Catholic Charities home in  Natchitoches, Louisiana, a  mere 5yrs after they had married... they couldn't say no. Not that they would have. They didn't care if the baby was a boy or girl, black or white, sick or healthy. Of course, they preferred healthy... and she seemed to be a strapping, cheerful baby.  She slept well, she ate well.. and she grew quickly. In fact, almost too quickly. By the age of 9, she was as tall as her mother. By 13, she was taller than her father. And by the time she was 16, she was 7 feet tall.

Faith, as she was known, had a somewhat lonely child... her height not-withstanding. She was a bit awkward. She fell a lot; never really getting used to her long limbs and loose muscles. She was shy. She was smart. All these things set her apart, and by and large, she didn't mind so much. Her parents were kind, and she liked where she lived. But she longed to see more. 

One day, an "Oddities and Wonders" show came to town. Like traveling circus shows of the day, they had dog shows, small people dressed as clowns, feats of wonder and amazement on the flying trapeze and so much more. Most of all, Faith noted that they had a very handsome Ring Master named Charlie. Charlie noticed her too... and was smitten. Soon they were married... very much in love... and traveling with the show. Faith became the "Giant Woman of the Swamp" .. .eluding to her bayou roots. ... and she loved being in the spotlight on occasion. They had a good life, and Faith had no regrets. 
Here in the photo, you see Faith, her husband Charlie, and her parents Ira and Irma
 -- on the occasion of Faith's birthday (see her flowers?). 

9-19-17


Happy Tuesday!
The leaves are changing so incredibly fast here...
I am afraid to blink for fear I will miss the changes of the colors. 
Today is a Spanish music... tacos and margaritas kind of day. 
I can almost smell the roasting of green chile peppers in the offing... 
Have a good one! I am off to the studio.

9-18-17


Somehow, I have lost track of not only today... but this entire weekend.
I'm not quite sure how that happened... but I feel like I need a sort of do-over.
Fall is coming very fast these days... and it seems  like the leaves are turning much quicker.

I've been working hard at trying to finish up some projects... but my mind keeps whirling at 100 miles per hour
 coming up with ideas for new projects... such is the nature of the beast, I suppose.
I did, however, get 3 new scarves finished up and photographed so they will soon be going into the Etsy shop. YAY!

So for now, I will be content with what I have gotten done... and will see you all tomorrow.

9-15-17


I love these plants.
A couple years ago, I was at wandering by a friend's house and noticed she had some in her garden. Graciously, she gave me some stems.
These are Chinese Lantern plants, and when I was very young, my grandmother had some in her garden. 
When I was a bit older, there was a patch of them in the woods near our house. 
Now, you hardly see them anymore... which I suppose is good as they are not native, 
and fairly  invasive. But... I still like them 😏


9-14-17


This is a photo I took 4yrs ago (today) and never edited. 
It was taken on the way up to Buffalo... so it's probably from New York State. 
Today it's a bit dreary, rainy, and I am having trouble getting myself together... 
so I am just trying to be kind to myself and take it easy.
See you all tomorrow.

9-13-17



Back in June 2016, I started a new "series" of posts... if you will... 
 And so on Wednesdays; I've been posting an old photograph to inspire your creativity.
Write a poem!   
 Plot out a short story.
 Have inspiration for a piece of art or composition.... let your artistic soul shine.
--and occasionally I write my own sordid story or poem. 
 (you can click on the photos in this post to make it larger to see).

~~~

"Babcia" Strykowski was everyone's grandmother.
(Babcia is Polish for the word grandmother).
Of course, her real name was Felka; which means "lucky".... and she felt lucky every day of her life.
Born in 1912, she grew up on a small farm in Poland with her large extended family.
She had just gotten work as a secretary when WWII broke out in her home country... and fearing the worst, her family started making plans for their escape. Visas were obtained, goodbyes were made, and things were packed when the worst arrived. Her parents were detained... her brother forced onto a train to who knows where... and Felka and her sister Elwiza were taken to a camp. Elwiza would later pass from consumption... dying in her sleep next to her sister.
Felka, became "useful" in the camp medical building... and soon was able to escape with a sympathetic soldier.
Once they got to Germany, however... he too disappeared one night. Felka was on her own.
She made it by walking to France... mostly at night....
using the stars as guides on her travels.
From France, she hid on board a steamship, and made it to New York... where she melted into the crowds at the docks. It would be years before she would tell anyone her stories... and by then she was a mother of 5, and a grandmother of 16. She and her husband Telek had a small farm in upstate New York. He too, had survived the war and come to live in America from Poland. Now he was a blacksmith, a farmer, and cantor at the nearest Synagogue in Albany.
The photo above, shows her happily feeding her flock of chickens and turkey... yes indeed, she was lucky.

9-12-17


---some days are just meant for Kenny Loggins, the Carpenters, CCR, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young...

9-11-17

Almost exactly a year ago, I did a blog post about weeding through the books in the house.
I made a stack in the living room... and it was my intention to read them over the course of the coming year. (see post here).


I will admit, that some of those books I merely skimmed. Either I had read them before,
or they just weren't what I was interested in, or just didn't capture my attention at the time.
This weekend, I read "The Thinking Woman's Gide to Real Magic"... LONG! at over 500 pages.
Not bad, not awesome... but kept my interest.
This is what is left of the books I need to read (this stack is on my bedside table).


And here is what we have left in the house...  a couple stacks of Jim's work and reference books,
one big bookcase in the living room... and one large bookcase in the kitchen. That's it.
Which means, I've read about 80 books from around the house,
plus a dozen or so books on fracking and environmental concerns, plus (however many) books I've read from our local library.
That's about 2 books a week, on average. Not bad. Makes me feel like maybe I actually have gotten something done this year after all...
See you all tomorrow.


for the weekend



Herbie Hornbottom
wandered the garden greens
sampling as he went

--------------------

I believe "Herbie" is a Hermit Sphinx Moth caterpillar.
I thought he was a dead leaf at first, and plucked him from the lemon balm.
Upon closer review, I realized he was a caterpillar, but I thought he was dead,
so I brought him inside to show my daughter, and left him on the kitchen table.
A couple hours later, I realized that he was, indeed, very much ALIVE, and wandering the kitchen table. So I took him back outside to the herbs. He was very happy... and seemed to really enjoy the mint and the lemon balm.

You can read more about them HERE and HERE