Away I go

Tonight I am packing for an Artful Journey Retreat with Nina Bagley. I leave in the morning for the 3 hour drive to the Presentation Center in Los Gatos and check into my little cottage at 3pm. I'm very excited to have this time to my self to relax, rest and recharge. I'm looking forward to walks on the grounds with my camera in hand discovering new worlds and landscapes. I'm also looking forward to spending 3 days in a jewelry making class with Nina. I love to collect found objects and if she can teach me ways to incorporate them in to my art work I would love it. Fortunately I have a list of items to bring, it is difficult to know what to pack. Beads, silver wire for wrapping, ribbon, pearls, found objects, lace, and lots of other stuff is going into the mix, I'm just not sure what I'll want once I get there. I'm also taking a suitcase full of journaling supplies so I have that to work on if I want to. It is going to be a full week-end. I don't know if I"ll be able to post or not, if not you won't hear from me until Monday. You all have a wonderful weekend.

First cut

Our lawn got its first spring cut today. I did not realize it had happened until I went out to plant some flowers- and oh the smell. That fresh wonderful fresh smell of cut green grass. I don't have words to describe it but it was warm enough that I was able to take off my shoes and wander barefoot through the blades of newly cut green. Today has been the first day that it has felt like spring, the sun was warm, the sky was blue and the fog lifted early. I had planted some sweet peas earlier this year but added a few more to the mix today.

"Sitting quietly,doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself."

Buddhist proverb

Valentine Day

Life has taught us that love does not consist of gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction. Antoine de Saint-Exupery I hope that you all have a wonderful day that it is full of love and goodness.

To be my best

Sitting in my car waiting for the sun to rise, watching rain gently fall, drinking coffee. Waiting, wanting, wanting changes but not knowing how to make them happen. Not quite sure what those changes should be. Fall is the time of year for settling in, winter the time for rest, spring the time for growth. Maybe that is what I'm feeling the start of spring, ready to shed the blanket of winter and stretch towards something new. I know the answer will come I just have to keep looking. So often in the past I've buried myself in numbness allowing things to just be ok. I want things to be better than ok, I want to live the best life I can live.

Tea and Friendship

When the world is all at odds

And the mind is all at sea

Then cease the useless tedium

and brew a cup of tea.

There is magic in its fragrance,

There is solace in its taste;

And the laden moments vanish

somehow into space.

And the world becomes a lovely thing!

There's beauty as you'll see;

all because you briefly stopped

to brew a cup of tea.

author unknown

Bare with me and my poetry mood, it just seems to be calling to me lately. To paraphrase what I read in PoemCrazy-poems catch a moment within us and move us to someplace new. That is what I've been experiencing with poems. This has been helped along by a wonderful treat I received in the mail from Kary of Farmhouse Kitchen, a delightful blog that you need to check out. She talks about gardening, Buddy, food, and food again, it always makes me hungry to read her tales. We have gotten to know each other through our posts and I must say I consider her a good friend. It is amazing how wires, computers, electronic stuff can lead to something warm and personal. I never would have thought so when I started this blog but it has brought me more joy than I can possibly imagine. Thank you Kary and all of you.

Wednesday pm

Why do you paint?

For exactly the same reason I breathe.

Thats not an answer.

There isn't any answer.

How long hasn't there been any answer?

As long as I can remember.

And how long have you written?

As long as I can remember.

I mean poetry

So do I.

ee cummings

Poetry

Over the river, across the bridge to my friends house I drove for a morning coffee, conversation, and creating. Nothing like a good bit of girl talk to make one feel better. I've let the "discussion" go for the time and have turned my thoughts to more fun things such as ribbon, lace, charms, words and journals. I've been spending time with poetry researching poets online and reading bits of their work, it has been a good learning experience for me. It is amazing what can be said in just a few words put together in the right order. I'm reading Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge-it is excellent. It is fun to read for how she plays with words and makes them come alive. My plan is to read some poems by e.e. cummings and that is what I'm off to do.