I came home from work today and had a message on the machine. I saw the light blinking, but didn’t check it cuz I was on my way out for a girlie manicure.
Cute, clean little white nails….. till I checked the message.
I sold a bunch of art today so this is the pic now, lol. 
New paintings in the works :)
The best part of my week is Tuesday mornings – at watercolor class. I just love that group of women and my teacher is such an inspiration – her style of painting just speaks to me. This past Tuesday was the last one though – she’s busy right now and can’t handle a weekly class so it’s all over :( Rats…. just when I was getting into it. I hope I can continue to challenge myself with it, on my own.
So Tuesday in class I started a new painting. It’s an abstract city scape, but I didn’t photo the progress yet because I’m not totally comfortable with what I’ve done so far. You guys need to hold me to finishing it, lol.
Yesterday was housework day, after work. The only creative thing I did was organize my pantry, lol. I get a crazy rush out of ‘merchandising’ my pantry. I’m weird, but whatever floats your boat right?
Have a great day all…. and I hope to do something artful this afternoon, for day 11.
I love living at the coast because it just smells so good. Every morning I wake up and open the door and I can smell the water, the greens, the flowers… it’s just so inspiring. The only downside to where I live is while the rest of country is in a heat wave… we’ve had one day of ‘heat’. It reached a ‘whopping’ 86 degrees for one day. Don’t laugh, I know you are all melting in the heat, but for a gal who loves summer…. I would love a little heat once in a while. It’s either so windy you feel like your face will fly off, or the fog rolls in off the beach and wonder if your capris were a smart choice or not. If you drive just a half hour inland, it’s in the triple digits, but there, it’s about 68 degrees. When I wake up and the air is still, I grab the dog and we run to beach, pronto!
My Mom came down to see us for Christmas, and it was relaxing and wonderful. We went to the beach to look for agates and floats…
This is my Jeep, decked out for holidays with antlers and a red nose :) The orange flag just goes up when we drive over the dunes and onto the beach.
Whale watching season started, so we tried to spot some, but had no luck that day. We watched movies, strolled old town, ate sushi, and of course I was really excited for her to meet my sweet pup, Chewie. The cats, who don’t give me the time of day, were all over her – like she was the cat whisperer or something. Crazy.
It was just really nice to hang out, spend time with family and have a break from work.
My youngest, Tyler and his sweet girlfriend Lorelei…
The only bummer was the rest of my family in Canada… Here’s my darling g-baby Ava, who thinks the cat’s water dish is pretty interesting:
My niece Sarah and Ava:
My oldest, Trevor with Ava. He’s such a great dad.
Christmas is such a magical time for me… because when I was a kid, it was truly magic. The air smelled different than any other time of the year… rich with Christmas tree sap, chimney smoke, and snow (yes, you can smell the snow just like the rain).
Back in the day there were no DVDs or VCRs, so when the Christmas specials like Rudolph or the Grinch came on, it was a big event. I remember my Mom dressing me in a new nighty and making some kind of special snacks and egg nog for the occasion. You couldn’t miss them, or it was a whole year till they were on again.
Every house and shop was decked out with lights… not those little lights we have now, but those big huge colored bulbs. And the snow – well my sister and I would go tobogganing till we went through all over mittens, and we had to move onto my dad’s thick socks. We didn’t come in until we were soaking wet with no more snow suits to change into.
Christmas Eve we would go to my Mamma & Pappa’s house after midnight mass and listen to the local radio station that was reporting Santa sightings across Canada… as soon as he was in our neck of the woods my parents would wisk us home and tuck us in and it was nothing short of magic.
I only remember a few Christmas presents… I know I always got everything my heart desired every year, but it wasn’t that part that is engraved in my heart… it’s magic of the season. The advent calendar… waiting for each day to open up a door. It was the stores that were decked out with the most amazing decorations. It was all the baking and trillions of Christmas cards that arrived in the mail. It was getting a new dress for the Christmas concert and how school days leading up the Christmas break wasn’t about math and reading… it was about rehearsing songs and lines of the play, making gifts for our parents, or learning how to build a snowman treat from marshmallows, a toothpick and some food coloring for drawing the details. Teachers felt like friends and family and everyone just got along.
Those were my favorite holiday memories as a kid.
And my favorite one being a parent? That’s easy. My oldest son was about 7 or 8 and had heard from the older kids that Santa was not real. He quickly informed his little brother and before I knew it, I had these little doubting boys. Well I couldn’t have that! It was a tough year… their dad had split and I was working hard just to pay the bills. We went without a lot of extras leading up to Christmas so that I could save and my oldest knew money was tight. Well I had saved enough to get them everything on their Christmas lists, just as my parents did for me. When they went downstairs and saw everything under the tree, Trevor cheerfully exclaimed “there IS a Santa… Mom could NEVER pay for all this”… and just like that their holiday spirit was restored, and Santa was the magic man again.
I love Christmas. My Mom is coming down this year, instead of us traveling up the Canada. I will miss not having snow, but I have convinced my Mom that we can forgoe the gifts this year, and use the money to toodle around and have fun, and eat glorious meals at Feast and the Waterfront Depot, and to hang out and enjoy scrumptious snacks at home while watching movies and playing games. Of course I’m shopping for my kids, but other than that – we all have what we want or need already… or at least what others can buy for us, lol. I want this Christmas to be about family, not material stuff… because those were my best memories.
Happy holidays to you all. I hope you give handmade this year – give your heart, your talent and your love. Sew something up, bake something divine, whatever your specialty is, and give of yourself… and I guarantee your 2010 will bestow good karma on you :)
Today I made Amanda wake up and go make a wreath with me. (Thank you Pearl) The Florence Herb Enthusiasts group always has fun stuff to do, and today it was wreath making. For just 5 bucks they had wreath forms, fresh greens and wire. I added some dried hydrangeas and a little bird (yes, everything I make has bird, lol) It’s too windy outside for the hydrangeas to survive, so I hung it in my living room and hopefully it doesn’t dry out too quickly. It smells so good… just like a Christmas.
I just couldn’t resit using that…
Hellooooo everyone! I’m so happy to back on my blog. I took the summer off to bond with my puppy and get all comfy and cozy with Backstreet Gallery. I’m co-owner with 23 other amazing artists and I can honestly say they are my new family. I am so blessed to be among such a group of talented and nurturing artists. I’m serving as the interim Vice President also, which is pretty cool. If you are ever in Florence, please drop by and check us out :)
So fall is in full swing now… the rain is here and little Chewie is ready to go:
He’s all grown up now. He’s about a foot long and a foot tall and a whole lot of cute!
OK, so as I settle in, I’ll be playing catch up with photos from the summer till now and will be having all kinds of fun give-aways and projects. Stay tuned and thanks for hanging in with me!
Meet Chewie… my sweet little baby. He’s pomeranian and havernese, 10 weeks old and totally crazy. He has absolutely no idea that he’s tiny… he prances around our house like king of the castle and is afraid of nothing. I feel kinda bad for not giving him a big fan fare welcome, (I’ve had him for 2 days already) but I’ve had a migraine for 2 days also. He’s going to be a small little dude, so I’m litter training him. He did pretty good today already, so I’m optimistic about that. His fur is a mottled brown at the roots and black from about half way, then to the tips. I just adore him and our cats are warming up really quickly. Goliath, my pride and joy cat, has been the first to warm up to him and they started playing together today, by sharing a jingly ball and taking turns running after it. Our cats range from 9 lbs to 18 lbs – and this 2 lb pup thinks he towers over them – it’s hysterical.
I’ve never had a dog (as an adult), only cats… I keep waiting for him to purr, LOL (guess I’ll be waiting a long time) and it’s such a treat to bath him and not have to worry about being used as human pin cushion!
Every moment of every day is a chance to make a choice… choices that affect you and lives of people around you. Some choices are easy, some take no concious thought… Some are so difficult and make you wonder if you made the right one… The winding road of life takes some on easier paths than others… My oldest son’s road seems to be a long, slow, uphill path and I would do anything, anything, anything in the world to make his journey easier.
I love you Trevor, with every fiber of my being, with every breath I take, and no matter what – I hope you carry that with you.
I took this picture the other day, when we were looking fore sweet creak falls, and got side-tracked (ok fine…. lost).
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