Treasures...naturally

I've always picked 'things' up from the outdoors and have made a habit of bumping into at least one little treasure while on a walk or particularly as a memento from a good day with a friend. A few of these were given to me by a friend and one natural object represents a lunch with someone I hadn't seen for 42 years.

The box itself is a 'found' treasure. Awakening one Sunday morning to see a big wooden crate discarded across the street, I couldn't get dressed quickly enough! It was filled with more wooden boxes of varying sizes, shapes...all quite old and wonderful. These were the last remnants of George Shane who passed away more than 30 years ago...I never met him but knew of his love for wood, re-using/re-fashioning cigar boxes, discarded wood into something functioning. This particular box was also a treasure to a mouse...perhaps home once and the segment right above the acorn 'hats' has been nicely chewed into a crescent.

The twig was my last 'find'. Over the season helping a friend to pack and she sending me off with many many wonderful old things from her life, I saw the branch in her driveway and exclaimed "perfect!" She laughed because I'm always gathering, saving. It was the last memento/texture/shape I needed for this little box which was a work in progress. I was right!

I had to give thought on how to have it all remain intact without gluing and so...the wire. Contrast to all that is natural, but also very fine and delicate in its way and my way of working with it. ...a tiny tag to commemorate, remember ... I am so fond of this.

Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings

This the card I made for a very few people this season...six to be exact not including the few I kept for myself. Four of those six people received a little hand decorated sack of meaningful gifts which I thoroughly enjoyed gathering, putting together decorating. In turn, I received little treasures too which are as specific to me as what I gifted to them.

One gift a gift of a friend's art. She told me it has been some time since she gave her art away, that she's happy we are friends and thinks I am good for her. That is a gift in itself! ...and I feel quite the same about her.

This holiday season has been the best I've had thus far in my lifetime. Off work for a little more than a week, comfortable with little Mil, no demands!, rest, art, food...freedom, peace & quiet and ...peace.
...the meaning of the season finally coming to fruition and shared with just a few people who may have had a more hectic time than I (I don't have hectic ever anymore :-), but all feeling quite the same about the spirit, the holiday, the season.

...my most content and contented holiday.

Word of the Day....eldritch

...Strange; unearthly; weird; eerie.

On occasion I find myself wanting to leave the house because of an errand or two and because there is not rush, no time-clock, I dilly dally...until I finally stop myself 'playing', ready myself and head on my way.

Frequently, at the precise moment I arrive at wherever, so does someone I haven't seen in sometime and/or someone I really enjoy seeing. The very second it happens, I am mystified.
Had I been on my way earlier, later...or not at all, I would have missed the person entirely!
The conversation is always energized and seems to benefit both people...so what a shame it would be to have missed that.

I do think that a guiding spirit sees to it that we don't. I had such an experience yesterday and immediately thought...it's happening again. Strange, eerie...but not frighteningly so. More of a comfort because I know someone, something is watching over at least one of us...if not both.

Enough to make an always good day...better.

...movie matinee

It is now so rare that a movie comes out that I care to see.
I am a 'foodie'....hundreds of cookbooks, a collection of books about food/chefs...I love to buy food, cook it, eat it!
So...I saw Julia & Julie.

I liked it, but I think I would have enjoyed it much more had it been a biography of Julia Child's life and her cooking her way through it!

...continuing in my post Bday week, I asked the ticket attendent if the senior discount applied to matinees. She told me they apply the whole day through. Well, then...I told her I'd have a senior ticket and then asked if she'd need proof. "No" she replied and I turned to the 'elderly' woman behind me and rhetorically said..."No ????"
My very first senior discount, still the youngest senior? in line and far from looking senior ... I gave the ticket attendant 'my look' over my glasses (some of us are quite good at that look).

The discount, anticlimactic...the day just as good as always!

August 15, 2009 ... My 60th Birthday

My Hands

While the LEFT is really in charge, they both have served me well and I am thankful each day to have them both.
The RIGHT is generally accommodating, but specifically uncontrollable.
However, the LEFT and the RIGHT come together in an opposite way to write simultaneously on a blackboard...the left writing BACKWARDS, the right writing FORWARDS.
(Being a leftie has its peculiarities)
They come together to make, to do, to care...and did nicely for this photo.

The Handgrown Flowers in the Handmade Basket
Found on my doorstep w/card from my dear neighbor/fellow gardener.
She claims to have no skills, talents...yet she grew the flowers
& made the basket !

Wise Women, The Button Collector Faery & The Bacon Chocolate Bar
Gifts from my longtime employee, Rose who seems to know me quite well.
The beautiful book inspired the photo of my hands.
Being a button collector, the faery appeared when Rose was on the prowl for my gift.
The bacon chocolate bar is...gone :)
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I'd like to start a few days before my birthday even though I make it a point these days to celebrate all year long.
My recent affiliation with FaceBook has brought me in contact with several people I know from high school. And this lot managed to narrow itself a bit until I found that three others and myself had arranged a lunch (in my BDay week). Almost the night before, I begged off and almost the night before, I reconsidered. I'm glad I did! Haven't seen these girls in 42 years! ... amazed how our lives have developed in that time, how different we are, but kindred as well...I think we were surprisingly comfortable with one another and hope to meet once a month, hereafter!

One day the weekend before was spent with my new friend/neighbor/master gardener/artist
enjoying the Cleveland Museum of Art followed by a three hour drawing class across the street at the Botanical Gardens...a nice lunch, a bit of goofing around before home.

I've taken a couple of days off giving me a stretch of time to just BE...enjoying the garden, my home, my chum, books, my art... One person said to me in a monotone voice..."at least we made it another year". Well, yes of course, but let's be a bit more joyous than that! The number isn't a sign of being old, it is an achievement! I have assessed and have concluded that I am proud of who I grew up to be

... even though that growing wasn't a possibility until I was free.

Thrift stop...

the ABC&D... of smalls

The Red Geranium sale....07.31.09

...more stuff

Not a great deal of stuff considering how much stuff they have in their shop! ...but I was there only a few weeks ago (when I bought all those birdcages).

The kimonos were spotted within minutes of getting there and a fabulous brilliant red one would have come home too if I were half the size I am (or it was twice the size). I stayed in the shop for hours enjoying the time and opportunity to really comb through the merchandise...this is what caught my eye. The wooden bowl caught my eye last trip and I'd already paid for everything else when I decided to get it too...afterall the BIG sale comes but once a year!