And What Do I have for Today

Well that would be the question.  So far today I have been tolling on my studio blog and teaching Christopher some math skills.  Oh the brain squeeze.  (not Christophers but mine)  It puts all " Buddha is as Buddha does" in practice.  As my Dad says what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  LOL.  But after several attempts ( I mean several) he finally got it and I finally got my blog done.  And the funny thing my blog was about living in the moment.  The desire to slow your mind down and put it in the moment.  Oh and did I say you had to keep it there?  Well, yea, you do.  But you would be surprised at how the anxious feelings and the exasperation just leaves you.  All the thoughts of what you have to get done to day just fades.   It is in that state that you can accomplish a great deal and the focus comes.  Or at least that is what I have found.  Once I loosen the chock hold up on what task or issues I face and how I have to accomplish them all in one single day, I then am far more productive.  Lets face it once you have created that list, jotted all those things down,  what good is it to keep beating yourself with them.  Leave them on the list and cross them off once they are completed.  Don't complete them all?  Hey guess what there is another day and the sun will rise again. There is even a place on some pre-manufactured list that give you a carry over option!  Apple's ical will even carry over the task that you did not complete on to the next day!  That is the great part.  So while your eating lunch or dinner just enjoy lunch or dinner don't think about the afternoon or the next day and while you are kissing you loved one goodnight don't think about the grocery list....... 

If you would like to see my photo of the day and read about how it came to be 

visit: 

Photo of the day

Here is my Sketch for the Day

Yes, Yes that is where I will be in the Garden today and probably every day this week.  I am working on some steps and clearing grass.  Back breaking work but then again I can't seem to get the yard help ( and yard help at a good price) to get this done.  Oh well no one could  do it the way that I want it anyway.  Seems everyone we have interviewed so far was wanting to do it their way.  You know that is the trouble even in art.  So many time I as an artist get an idea in my head as the way to do something or place something.  I have to get out of that box and make.  Always push my mind to see things and interrupt things differently.  That is the area that new concepts are born.  That is when things become fresh.  The trouble is that that takes time.  Looking for something that inspire your brain and get those creative juices flowing.  I am currently taking some hints from my man Deepak Chopra.  He suggest that with meditation you should get out into nature for at least an hour every day and that is just what I have been trying to do.  Get out stretch and move about look at things as if it was the first time that I am looking at them.  Slowing my mind down. (Wow that was a tough thing)  I am usually so fast thinking that it is hard for even myself to keep up.  But that is what it takes.  I find when I just slow my thoughts and live in the moment more creative ideas come to me.  It is a very tough exercise but I can say that it works.  I also take time to be thankful for small things like a cupa tea, or my children, dogs, cats.  What ever I surround myself with that makes my life rich.    So today I am just going to go out and be in the moment and remove the grass.  Ha Ha.  Check out my "My world" photographs on flicker if you want to see more through my eyes on my discoveries of my own world. 

Great Weather to Garden

Ahhh, the fist few signs of spring and summer vast approacing!  How good it feels to get outside and start digging around in the garden.  Since we have returned (from a long stay in Florida) we have had to start from scratch outside again.  So it looks more like a jungle then a yard or defined garden beds.   As you can see it is going to be a long haul.  But with a little bit of sweat equity and some help from the yard monkeys and yard apes I believe we can get it together once again.  Already some of the beds are shaping up and looking more like the rose beds then weed beds.  But as I was looking around the yard I started to notice that I had the makings of a great wild flower garden.  A kind of cottage garden if only I moved a few plants here and change a bit there.  Why I would be able to fix what had been left to seed.  So armed with pick axe in hand and a some kids caught up in the the "yard draft"  I think we can make short work of it.  So in the next few weeks we shall see what I have made of the yard. 

Upon digging up some of our wonderful wild flowers (wild violets) we noticed that there should be nothing wrong with our soil.  Earth worms are in everything and every where.  You can't even pull up a blade of grass without these great little diggers being around every root.  So I tossed a few in the compost pile and will let them do their magic. 

  Another resource we have here in our little neck of the woods is our stream and look what we have.  Tadpoles.  The sound from their adult counter parts at night is sometimes so loud that you can not talk on the phone when they are in full song.  But the one thing that that do is keep the misqueto population down.  Now I have to put in this disclamer.  Not all tadpoles eat misqueto larva but these seem to.  We have not had a problem with misquetos and these tadpoles are very large!

Now with all these things humming, buzzing and crocking in our yard there are a few things that are not so glad to see us all out and about.  Take the squerrels.  They had the run of the place this past winter and spring.  The sisters being very picky as to what kind of weather they want to subject themselvs to.  Finially with the day warming up and us out weeding and tending to the gardens the ventured out.  Their favorite thing is to keep you company when you are weeding.  Now how cute you may say but there is a method to their seeminly complacent attitude and that is they are actually stalking things such as squirles.  Now how terriable you may say how ever those squirls are opprotunest.  The moment you place any bird seed to attract the birds they are into it.  They spend their days scampering across the tin roof and if allowed they would build nest in the attic.  They spent most of their days in cold weather scampering just out side the french doors saftly out of reach from the sisters ( the insurgents) teasing them and flicking their tails as if to mock them.  So now that summer is well on its way I see that it is alls fair in the world of squirl and cat.  Nuff said.  This little barkers days are limited.   

Easter Weekend

Where to began!  Over the last few days during our Easter week end, our world has been anything but laid back.  My husband arrived back from his business trip and with that arrives all the bells and whistles.  More laundry, grocery trips, family outings etc. To add to this usual bustle my Mothers poor Pepper dog passed away  on Good Friday and on top of that my brother came to spend the weekend with them.  That was a useful distraction.  So on our usual movie night given at my house every week due to the fact we have a large TV screen and access to Netflix ,  it had more of a family reunion feel.  Wouldn't you know that very night our cable blew out and the  movie that we were going to rent off of direct TV could not be rented so we had to watch the "Dark Knight".  Oh wait there is more.  Come Easter morning for some reason I noticed that my youngest sons' hair was way to long to go to Mass.  So with clippers in had (after preparing a wonderful Easter breakfast) I went to cutting his hair.  Oh I don't know about any our you out there in cyberspace but when I start a project, time seems to just pass with out notice and that is just what it did.  Soon it was 11:15 and with Mass starting at 12:00 on the dot the only people in my house that can get dressed that quick are boys and men.  So to the showers they went and soon I settled down to just be still and catch my breath a blessing in its self.  By that afternoon my husband gets this great idea that we will go for a drive and have a picnic.  We pack our picnic gear and head off for an hour drive to get some fried chicken and potato salad at  the store, all the time taking back roads so that I can get photographs to add to my art stash. Me snapping photos of old barns and rustic roads.  Now mind you, I said that Mass was at 12:00 so that put Jim returning home at around 1:30 (due to traffic) and that we had not eaten lunch yet and the store in the direction that we were now headed was at least 1 hour away so that put us there at about 3:00 starving and I  don't know about anyone else but during the long drive I had not seen any sign of a picnic area!  So with chicken and potato salad in the back (let me tell you it smelled soooooo good) we struck back the way we came.  Now here is were things turn a bit from happy to just wanting to stop and eat the damn food. 

We drove all the way back home never finding a spot to stop so we ended up eating at our picnic table at our house.  

Oh well none of us can ever be angry or upset at each other for long.  In fact it lasted just until the first few bits of food and then we were just fine.  

After a wonderful lunch and dinner combined, Jim, ( and here is the big news event!)  MOWED THE LAWN! 

 I could not believe it.  I got the weed eater and went to work getting the edges done and the walk cleared.  Oh it was great.  Christopher died his eggs and then we hid them along the walk.  

As the sun settled down Jim and I went on the porch and smelled the fresh cut grass mingled

 with the sweet sent of flowers and sipped our water and thought what a wonderful Easter! With out all the ups and downs and adventure in life things would be pretty dull. 

Here's to you Pepper

Today is rather sad.  My Mother lost her best friend, her dog Pepper.  Needless to say neither my Mother or myself find it easy to say goodbye to our pets.  So with that parting, on this Good Friday, both of us dove into work, if we weren't cleaning house and other chores we both went to our computers.  I in my home and Mother in hers.  Trying to put distance from the pain of loss.  I am not sure what my Mother did.  I am sure that things weighed heavily on her her mind, but I created the banner that you see above that will now grace my blog.  It includes my pets and children.  The two cats (insurgents) Tiger, and Gabby,  and our two Aussie dogs.  Patches the blue merl and Ginny the tri-colored.  The banner represents what influences us artists (especially my Mother and myself).  The deep emotions that inspires us.  Every day life.  The bitter and sweet.  So here's to you Pepper you wonderful dog.  You loved life so well that you lived 16 1/4 years.  We have learned so much from you.  You will be missed but in the wake of loss after we have cried we will pick up again and hold dear the gift of life that you gave us in your time with us.  

For a wonderful photo of Pepper and to see my Mother's dedication to him it can be found here at The Edith Collection.

So many nice things at Cafe Press

Been very hard at work today.  But look at what was done.  I have been utilizing this royalty free Dahlia and have created some wonderful things through Cafe Press.  One that I just love is the Tile.  They are just great for coasters or to put as accent tile in your bathroom or kitchen or even as a great tile to go in your garden.  that would be great to put these in the center of a stepping stone in front of your Dahlias.  

For that extra touch the clock is sure to brighten up any kitchen or office or family room.  One step further got a garden shed that you use to pot in?  Well why not you need to tell time there too.  And it would add that special touch to an forgotten wall making your ordinary gardening shed into a special area to spend some wonderful time putting together your garden.  

Now for that planner that anyone needs to jot the ideas for a new area in your garden or to put that special note as to who to purchase those special plants on the web.  Well here is a great journal.  Write down the full moon and planting habits that you want to remember and every time you open this special journal you will be inspired to create something wonderful.  Check these unique gifts out at my Cafe Press Store and let me know what you think or what you use your items for. 

Fantastic Late start

Love these little eggs.  Just got this idea in my head and was able to run with it.  I have always love the Victorian area and never quite got my head around how to reproduce the feel but in a different way.  I have combined modern graphic tech. with some royalty free clip art.  It worked like a charm.  You can find these items in my Zazzle store.  Check them out.