Life is good . . .

Life is feeling good today! I find myself feeling energized and content with what is on my plate. I finished my piece with Carla and have posted it here. I love this quote, it feels like my new mantra these days. It is this feeling that allowed me to start my blog. I'm not feeling particularily chatty today, but wanted to share the clay piece and say hi to any who stop by. I changed the setting in my comments section to allow anyone who wants to, the opportunity to comment even if they don't have a google account. I like to see who has popped in to visit!

And she said, "Grab a notebook and put into it, words."
And I think of having done that a lifetime ago and the peace that it brought me.
I welcome her invitation and realize it is a part of me I have achingly missed.
Welcome home.

Playing in the sandbox, what a fun weekend!

Wow, things went nonstop starting on Friday all they way through Sunday. Friday I went by Carla's to pick up my clay piece, which I am assembling now and will post tomorrow. Stopped by and picked up Ms. Garnet who accompanied me on my trip to San Diego where we dropped things off for the Mermaid show. The picture in today's post is a canvas I painted to included in the show. And no, I did not cut off her head in the cropping, it's suppose to be that way! It's a 12x8 canvas and I love painting on the tall and narrow shape. Ms. Garnet and I lunched in Balboa Park at the Prado and had a thoroughly delightful time! I feel so blessed to have the best of San Diego to play in with great friends!
Saturday was off to Lu's to play with Max and Teresa. What was going to be a PMC project play day turned out to be a birthday celebration instead (no complaints from this department!). Our PMC project will have to be saved for another gathering.
Sunday was spent at Reef Point in Newport Beach with the family for an Easter Sunday picnic at the beach. Yes, I am a bit red this morning, but not sore and if there's no peeling, I am off to a great tan for the season! I think I am goinghave to give in and start wearing sunscreen, though. It was good food, good company and lots of fresh air and sunshine!
I find myself reading two of Susan Woolridge's books at the same time, Foolsgold and Poemcrazy. The books track well together and I am enoying them both. I am playing more with the ideas in Poemcrazy, exploring more with the written word. I wax and wane on writing, and when I have dropped away for awhile, I always come back to it with delight.
So it's been an exciting last couple of days. Back to the more routine stuff today, lawn mowing, banking/bill paying chores and maybe a little afternoon reading. I found this quote while reading at the beach yesterday and it really spoke to me.
"The future is not some place we're going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination." Just love that! Create your future and enjoy!

A Match Made in Heaven . . .

Today I celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary. I am amazed when having anniversaries because it seems like old folks have 30th wedding anniversaries and I don't feel like an old person! We have been through alot in all these years and I am glad John is still walking on the path beside me. I realized today I have known him longer than any other friend I have, even my BFF, Tamsie. The only people who have known me longer are my family, that makes John pretty special in my book!
The angel is one of the pieces I made in my clay class in January, I was pretty happy with her. I went to Carla's yesterday and finished my piece I started with her a few weeks ago, can't wait to share that one with you!
"It's a simple procedure to calculate the number of seeds in an apple. But who can say how many apples are in a seed?"

An artful time . . .

It seems I have turned over a new leaf. I'm taking art down to Studio Maureen at the end of the week and I'm actually getting it done early! Anyone who knows me (and you know who you are!), will be shocked I am not sewing buttons on in the car on the way down to San Diego! The theme is Mermaids and I had two thoughts for projects, one is these little pins. I am pleased with the way they turned out. I am taking down an even dozen. The other project is a painted canvas.

Something interesting happened for me in making these mermaid pins. I didn't want to put much work into them because of the cost of commission. I didn't think I would be getting much for them so I wasn't going to put much work into them. But as I worked on them and had them to the point I thought they were done, I looked at them and decided they needed to have some ribbon, then they needed some beads and then some fiber. As I kept working on them I decided that it wasn't about the money, it was about using my time to put a little piece of joy into the world. Who wants anything that is made with stinginess ?!! I also realized that if I didn't use my material and get my art out there, I would forever be holding on to my stuff and whatever potential it had when I bought it would never be realized. So I turned a corner so to speak, and I realized it's like reading all these books on spiritual matters. The books are great and very inspirational, but if I don't get out of the house and use this stuff in the real world, it's not really much good other than making me have some warm fuzzy feelings on the couch.

I had a great day yesterday with my friend Linda as we did our trip to Stampington and Company, lunch in Santa Ana and a little shopping at The Art Bar. Man, some days I can't believe how lucky I am that this is my life. I hope I am not using up all my good karma this time around and next time I have to come back as a slug!

Ah, this is what happens when I don't post for awhile, I get chatty and don't want to stop. So I will leave you with this thought. "Intentions are the energy of your soul coming into contact with your physical reality."

Another day in paradise . . .

Does it get any better than this?! Spring has definitely arrived in Southern California! As I took my walk this morning I heard ducks doing the happy dance on the San Luis Rey River, saw a pair of white egrets, black crows flying with nesting material in their beaks, a red tail hawk lazily meandering along side the river, a swallow flitting as only swallows can do, and hummingbirds flashing their ruby colored throats in the sun. What a treat my morning walk was today!

Then it does get better because I was able to have lunch with my friend Garnet and then drive home up the coast and the beach was picture perfect!!! After lunch we went to The Black Sheep and I bought two skeins of Noro's Kueryon sock yarn, yummy!!!

This picture was taken in Dublin last summer. I loved the colors in this and the dancing figures. I can just imagine the afternoon tea sitting in these little green chairs and enjoying the fresh air. This shop just screamed whimsy and fun, who could resist going to see what delights were awaiting one on the inside?

"Be in this moment. There has always only been NOW."

Peaceful Restful Sunday . . .

Today was a day for relaxing and spending time with my honey. The weather was perfect, the neighborhood quiet and the little kitties lazing around. I am trying to come up with some ideas for a show Studio Maureen is having later this month, the theme being Mermaids. I have some ideas, but nothing has hit me as the "Aha, that's it!", yet.
I was happily surprised yesterday. Sitting in the mailbox was a check. My very first payment for two articles I had published in this month's Belle Armoire Jewelry. That was a cool feeling! Thank you Stampington & Company!
I think tomorrow looks like a play day in the little art room in the back, one of my favorite ways to spend the day! "By concentrating on your breathing, by meditating, and by affirming aloud your intentions, you can reenergize yourself on your life's journey." Here's to moving forward in our journeys.

Welcome home!

Well, I have returned! As you know I left to help out my mom (thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers for her!), and she is going to be as good as ever. She was bruised and banged up, but no broken bones or internal injuries, thank God. But adding insult to injury, she came down with the flu at the same time! Ahh, that just stinks no matter how you slice it! At this point I think she is feeling worse from the flu than the car accident, and I know by next week she'll be feeling a whole lot better.

I didn't have access to a computer while I was gone and so no posting and no blog cruising (a small addiction on my part, kind of like visiting Barnes and Noble several times a week!). I did, however, get in touch with getting to be of service for someone, not something I do very often. Those who know me are aware I have alot of time to do what I want to do for me. It was good to give back in a small way to my mom and to be able to be the strong one for her.

I didn't take art supplies, just socks I am knitting and books, lots of books. I have been reading The Red Book, A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark by Sera Beak. I am almost done with it and it has been an entertaining read. There's alot of energy in the writing and alot of humor, a good combination. I missed the opening registration for DJ Pettitt's class in June in Arizona, that must mean there's going to be another opportunity for me to do something very fun in June!

I just started reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. I think I am getting a better grasp on the ego thing from reading the first couple of chapters. In the past it has been like chemistry class, I can follow along for the first two days and then I am lost for the rest of the semester. Tolle's presentation is allowing me to get a better grip on it. Is anybody else out there reading this book? What are your thoughts about it?

Okay, only one more book and then I am going to be done talking about books for the rest of this entry, I promise. I picked up Semiprecious Salvage by Stephanie Lee and my fingers are itching to try out some of her projects! It's just my kind of art and the projects are very doable. She does a bit of metal etching and the little I have done of this I really enjoyed! I hopefully will make something worth posting here for your future viewing pleasure.

Well, I wondered if I would have trouble finding something to chat about when I got back in the saddle, and I can see that I had no trouble at all. Surprise, surprise. My most heartfelt thanks again to everyone for their good thoughts for my mom.

"Your power and authentcity as a person won't be measured by duration, but by your donations of love."

Ahh, it's good to be home . . .