Hanging out at the homestead.

My Dad has been my home since I was 16, doesn't matter where he is or where I was, he was home to me.  It's with great pleasure that I now can wander over to his property and see him almost whenever I want, unless he's not home, which is more often than not.

If he's not there I'll just meander around and look at things, like trees and all the divine junk down at the barn.  He likes to collect things, treasures dug up from the old mining days.  And he does unusual things, like stick them on trees and into walls of stone.  This combines two of my favorite things, trees and cool junk, as you can see here.

This is a trio of locust trees close to the house.  They're messy and tend to drop large limbs in storms and have the most nasty thorns, but the foliage is pretty and lacy and they seem to endure if trimmed back.  They've developed wonderful moss colonies, which look like forest worlds for tiny creatures.  I'd like to shrink down and wander around in them.  I wonder what it would feel like to stretch out in a moss bower, maybe bring a friend.

It was a brisk day with nice sun which was causing some steam to rise as it warmed the trees, either that or they were smoking or breathing.  We recently chose cartoon characters on facebook to use as our profiles.  For some reason I chose Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, she always scared me when I was small but I think her power could be used to good end.  I completely forgot my all time favorite book character, the Lorax.  I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.  Remember?  Dr. Suess?  I'll have to remember to talk about favorite children's stories one of these days.

And then I headed home to pound some metal, 12 gauge fine silver to be exact, completely luscious stuff which begs to be worn.   Heavy chain is pretty sexy stuff, this gleams with that cool fine silver sheen and has enough weight to remind you it's there, a perfect gift.

And I had a fine conversation with a great friend about our emotions.  We've both been guilty of suppressing our emotions for years and years.  I've been working on uncovering mine for some time now, she's just beginning.  I've found that I cry more now, but I also laugh harder and feel more joy in each day.  As for love, that remains to be discovered.

Peace to you and yours.

Blobbing...or the process of reclaiming fine silver.

Nope, it's not a misspelling of blogging.  I've been working on texturing some metal sheet but started the hard way with scrap.  I work with a lot of fine silver.  It requires nothing more than a torch and some cold water, no chemicals.

Here's the start.  Pile up a bunch of scrap on a kiln brick.

Fire up the torch (I use two Blazer torches as I won't use my Smith Little in a rented house) and sing along with about four Christmas songs until it blobs up good..."What child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping."  "Frosty the snowman (Raffi version)"

Don't worry about the floating junk, it's impurities that melt along with the silver.  Later I file it off.  Here are four blobs in various stages, two fresh and bumpy and two that have been through the rolling mill once or twice.  You see the one on the right has cracks, I didn't anneal it enough and stressed the metal.

Now you see the silver blob as it's stretched thinner and thinner in the rolling mill.  I'll pass it through maybe three or four times and then heat it until it's good and pink, which anneals and softens the metal allowing it to stretch and flatten further each time.

Here it's as thin as I want it, which is about 26 gauge.  This gauge is great for earrings as they should be thin enough not to be heavy but it's sturdy.

The big piece I cut into three sections and ran each through the rolling mill with a brass texture sheet, sandwiched between heavy paper.

See my beautiful Durston rolling mill.  What an amazing piece of machinery, bless those engineers.

Here you see the three pieces I textured.

Then I can cut the pieces into strips or punch discs with my disc cutter, this is where I smashed my thumb yesterday.

See the nice discs with their wonderful texture?

And all the brass texture sheets with the silver that it textured.

Another pretty cool thing you can do is run heavy cardstock paper through the mill with the texture sheets.

I can use it to make some little gift cards or something.  It might also be good to use in some resin work, will have to try that.  One idea leads to another and another, wish I had 40 hours in a day.

I've been wanting to try some brass or bronze etching so I can make my own texture plates but these plates are so gorgeous and relatively cheap, it might not be worth the hassle.  Except I'd love some script texture and if I could pick out the words that would be even better.

I LOVE my job.

Peace to you and yours.

Caution! Cute Alert!

My first friend here in Grass Valley is my neighbor Alice.  I used to meet people through my kids, now I meet people through my dogs.  Bode LOVES Alice's Aussie Reese, they have a constant tussle going every time they meet.  It's so nice to have a friend.  Alice is a very talented artist too.  She painted this chair which I have scooped up for a friend.

And she took my old license plate and made this fab bird house.  She says I need to hang some of my little silver hearts on the front.  I think it needs a nice little adirondack chair in the front too.  Love it!

Oh my gosh.  Today I got a shipment of brass texture plates which I will use to texture silver in my rolling mill.  I tried one already and it's just great!  Then I punched out a couple of blanks, whacked my thumb with the one pound brass hammer and said "F*^%k it" and went out side and swept the driveway.

I'll have something to show tomorrow, besides a bruised thumb.

Peacefully yours.

Bells will be ringing...

Aaron Neville sings Please Come Home for Christmas, one of my favorite songs.  This is one sexy man, if they featured more like him on People's Sexiest Man Alive I'd pay more attention.

Raining here, heading downstairs to my studio to bend some metal.  I'm right on the edge of getting into a superb gallery here in Grass Valley, keep your fingers crossed.  Not only is it a fabulous location filled with amazing artists I would also get to work there, how cool is that?

Peace.

Lights and bells ringing.

I put up some Christmas lights on my treehouse.  It was fun to measure and shop for just the right ones. I put them on the deck rail so I didn't have to stand on a ladder.  I had to go out in the dark and look at them and hug myself with joy!  They are so pretty.

I love Christmas.  I love lights. I love Christmas baking, cookies, spiced nuts, biscotti, peanut brittle, FUDGE! On the other hand, I hate wrapping.  I used to pay my daughter to wrap presents for me, even her own, what a good kid. I love to hear the bell ringers in front of the markets and the smell of cut balsam trees.

And Christmas music, all the oldies like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Mahalia Jackson, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong.

And sitting by the fire at night with slumbering dogs nearby.

Time for bed now, sleep well.

If dogs could talk..

they'd be saying something like, "For crying out loud, why are we doing a down stay when there are SQUIRRELS to chase."

I think we have to work on down stay more often.  It was a very cool morning with mist rising off the frozen ground, possibly the reason the pic is a little cloudy.  Or that my phone was in my pocket and fogged up, or that I got handcream on the lens, drat.  My heavy scarf felt so good this morning.

We go there once or twice a week so I'll try again.  I'd love to get them into an ore cart.  Unfortunately, with two it's like herding monkeys.

I'm making more silver blobs.  They are ever so much fun, maybe a little scary when the silver begins to pool and starts to move itself across the kiln brick, shimmering hotly, molten.

At what point in our lives do we begin to learn from others?  To feel the peace and kindness that radiates from a person and consciously decide to take that feeling into ourselves?. To let it breathe through our cells in hope that it will stay and expand into our lives and interactions? To witness the toxic pain and anger of a person and choose to learn how to be softer and kinder and more forgiving in our own mind? It seems that almost every day I see ways to improve and while I certainly continue to feel fear and anger and impatience I feel like I may be heading up a good path.  It's good.

Peace to you and yours.

Projects

I'm thankful for a sunny day, lots of nice projects done, decks swept, dog hair shaken from blankets, turkey carcass in the soup pot right now, smells luscious.

Here are a few of the wheels I've been making, love them.

I thought I'd try some words on one, this one says Love You on one side and Forever on the other.

I forgot I took this photo one morning recently. Our wading pool was lightly frozen over in beautiful patterns.  That's Bode's nose, no wait, it's Dandy's nose.

Peace to you.

I shall go Mad

If this rain doesn't stop.  I feel like the Grinch, "Sinking slowly into madness...."
 
I'm beginning to think I may have to move to Arizona.  Which is a terrible thought for someone who loves trees and mountains and water but I NEED SUN.

I feel like I'm wading through water. I still managed to get plenty done, washing, dishes, studio work including some fine silver reclamation with my rolling mill, cooked a turkey, amused the boys, worked on a crochet project, paced around, looked out the windows, checked the mail three times, wiped 8 wet feet and two wet bellies more times than I care to remember, looked out the window some more.  I know, bores me too.

I think it's the lack of exercise, our usual is a couple of miles so going without makes me feel sluggish and wired up, all at once. Tomorrow we'll make up for it.

The turkey was good though, with dressing and a nice salad.  Now I can make turkey sandwiches with a little mayo and a lot of mustard.  I even bought the really yellow stuff, which is best on turkey sandwiches.

Reclaiming fine silver is fun.  I keep each tiny piece and then torch those pieces into a big blob.  Then the blob gets fed through the rolling mill, once or twice and then back to the torch and so on until it's a nice piece of sheet.  Once I had a nice chunk of sheet I ran it through the mill again with linen, punched a bunch of discs, drilled a hole in the center and polished them up.  I've got a lot of really beautiful lampwork beads that look great with the silver discs or bead caps.  I'll tumble them up tomorrow and take pics to post.  I dislike pictures under lighting, natural light just seems more true.

I've been contemplating the art of conversation.  Since I've moved away most of my interactions have been on the phone, wonderful but lacking in the essential element of face time.  On this cold rainy day I found myself craving some conversation, some company, some human interaction.  I've been guarding my alone time, building up a base of security in my little treehouse.  Now I'm looking to head out and gather up some company, some friends to cook for and to laugh with.  By spring I hope to have regular company on my deck for sunset watching.  

Peace

Crisp

That's the word for the day.  We went walking at the Empire Mine this morning. The air is crisp, cold enough to make a fleece, scarf and gloves feel good. There's a really nice scent of woodsmoke in the air but it's not overwhelming.  The sun is out and the brightness feels good on my face as I walk.  The best part of of the walk is the crunch underfoot.  We've had a lot of water in the last few days and now it's lightly frozen. You'd have to get down on your knees to really see the amazing frosty world.  Can you see the pebble being lifted by the frost?

But two miles on my knees would have been difficult so I only stopped a couple times to take pictures.  The boys waited patiently.  We met another Cardigan Corgi on our walk, good old Walter who is 11 and still acts just as friendly and goofy as young Bode, if a little slower.

There is still plenty of color left though the leaves are falling fast now with the frost.

I've got my pies done, pumpkin and buttermilk, along with real cranberry sauce.  I think I'll break out the pomegranite syrup for the buttermilk pie, yum.

The best thing about a holiday is that friends seems to reach out more to connect.  We reflect on the blessings of our life and want to say thanks to those we love.

 There are so many degrees of thankfulness.  I'm thankful for my dogs and their constant attention in my life and for their joy in each day and their ability to warm my feet at night.  I'm thankful for my family and our deep history of laughter and tears and for the promise of our future together and the knowledge that eventually some will go ahead of us into the unknown.  I'm thankful for my friends and their cheery greetings and wise words and hugs in time of joy and trouble. I'm thankful for friends yet unknown and how joyful it is to be allowed to share our past lives in search of common ground.  I'm thankful for the beauty my eyes see everyday and for the ability to appreciate that beauty.  I'm thankful for the skill of my hands and the health of my body.  And I'm thankful that someone is making turkey and dressing.  Tomorrow I'll be thankful for all the above and cold turkey sandwiches with mayo and mustard.

Let the feasting begin!

Rain, Snow, Sleet, Hail, Rain, Snow...

Oh goodie, winter in northern California is here.  I knew it had to hit sometime but the fantasy was nice. Luckily I'm a little lower in elevation so less snow here, though we did get enough for the boys to romp through.

I love the fall colors and this is my favorite tree so far, the sycamore.  I think the sycamore thinks it has to put on the whole fall leaf display.  Each tree has multiple colors with many of the leaves different colors.  No two sycamores seem to have the same colors either, they are spectacular.

But with the good comes the bad.  I've noticed after this last storm that many big limbs have broken off, so they must be rather fragile.

Thanksgiving week.  I hope so much that my family here can be together though it's not looking good. It's my first big holiday alone and I'm finding it terribly difficult.  The turkey is defrosting, later I'll brine it per Alton Brown's instructions.  Pumpkin pie made with real sugar pumpkin and cranberry sauce from real cranberries, orange and some walnuts for crunch, yum!  I've got a bag of walnuts to crack and shell.  I suppose I should have done that before I vacuumed, oh well.

Peace to you and to yours, a rare and fragile thing.

Edited - Those aren't sycamores, they are called Liquid Amber trees, whatever that is, they are always spectacularly.

New Gallery!

I'm so happy to have my jewelry here:

Artists Studio in the Foothills

It's a community of artists, some have their studio here, some just display here.  They have a new gift shop which now displays my jewelry.

I'd love to have a studio here but I'm a little bit noisy, hammering is not exactly what painters and sculptors want to hear all day.  Actually I prefer my home studio as I tend to wander in and out all day, but being around these amazing artists is so inspiring.

Like Kathryn Wronski, who paints fabulous portraits of dog, pigs, cows and landscapes.


Isn't this the coolest picture you've ever seen?

And Sculptor Amanda Paoletti  and a bunch of other really talented artists.

So now I've got to head back into the studio and keep the inventory up, woot!

May your day be great!

New earrings!

Good morning!

 I just wanted to tell you that I sent off a new batch of earrings to Julia at the Blue Heron Gallery in Winona and Jodie at Jewels on the River in Wabasha.

Let me know if you need something special for the holidays.  I'm shipping stuff out now.  I'll be in Boulder for a few days in December for my baby's graduation but otherwise I'm at your service.

Enjoy the day!

Learn, Make, Teach...

I love what I do.

I never much liked college, sitting in classrooms learning theory and fact drove me up the wall.  I prefer working with my hands, learning by doing, making mistakes, trying new techniques and seeing improvement from day to day.

Now I get to spend as much time as I want in my workshop, learning new things, making new things and occasionally teaching.  I think it's a logical progression to move into teaching, especially when you really love something.  Teaching is fun.

I needed some new PMC pieces to use as examples for my Intro to PMC class.

The earrings are almost three inches long, backed with textured copper.

It continues to be beautiful fall weather here. The days are sunny and bright and perfect for long walks.  The nights are cool and starry and perfect for sitting in front of a flickering fire.

Life is good.

It's a new day!

I don't stay down for long.  Today is beautiful, cool and crisp, sunny sky, happy dogs, happy me.  It's true that when one door closes another opens.  It also helps being unbearable optimistic.  I think hanging out with a bunch of really nice women helped last night too.  It's good to remember I'm not marooned on my own island but rather I'm in charge of my little row boat and there are a lot of us bumping along together.  I'm finding that lately I've got such great wells of peace that it's easier than ever to let the bad things go quickly and get back to the life I love.

This song by Michael Buble is bouncing around in my head.

Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom in the tree
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Look at these beautiful leaves, fall is still here, sorry to those in Minnesota getting their first snow,.

I get to teach a class and then stop home and have pizza with my family, two things to look forward to, hugs all around.


Peace to you.

Telling Me Lies

The song for the day, written by Linda Thompson and sung with an aching poignancy by Linda Ronstadt.


They say a woman's a fool for weeping
A fool to break her own heart
But I can't hold the secret I'm keeping
I'm breaking apart

Can't seem to mind my own business
Whatever I try turns out wrong
I seem like my own false witness
And I can't go on

I cover my ears I close my eyes
Still hear your voice and it's telling me lies
Telling me lies

You told me you needed my company
And I believed in your flattering ways
Told me you needed me forever
Nearly gave you the rest of my days

Should've seen you for what you are
Should never have come back for more
Should've locked up all my silver
Brought the key back to your door

I cover my ears I close my eyes
Still hear your voice and it's telling me lies
Telling me lies

You don't know what a chance is
Until you have to seize one
You don't know what a man is
Until you have to please one
Don't put your life in the hands of a man
With a face for every season
Don't waste your time in the arms of a man
Who's no stranger to treason

I cover my ears I close my eyes
Still hear your voice and it's telling me lies
Telling me lies

I cover my ears I close my eyes
Still hear your voice and it's telling me lies
I cover my ears I close my eyes
Still hear your voice and it's telling me lies


Tonight I'm mourning the death of a long friendship, one I've cherished through many dark times.  However, lies of omission are still lies and the hurt is deep and painful.


I am a good friend, a loving daughter and sister.  I have been priviledged to bring two fine people into this world and have steered them into adulthood. I deserve to be treated with honesty and caring.  I will not settle for almost good enough or allow anyone to make me feel less than the vibrant, beautiful woman I am.


Tomorrow will be a new day.  A good day, filled with love from my two boys, my family and my friends. I'll make beautiful things that people will cherish for many years.  I'll share my art with those who are needing guidance.  It will be a good day, I know it.


Peace

I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

Amazing what a nice haircut and brow wax will do for a girl.  For maybe 24 hours I'll have wonderful smooth hair with gentle wavy curls that dance around. Then I'll wash it and SHAZAM! back to my usual.  Which has been characterized by me as full blown dandlelion and by my kids as Mad Madam Mim (remember her from the Sword in the Stone?).  Oh the joys of curly hair.  Though I do have to say it's much better here than in ultra-humid Minnesota, this dry air is a bit hard on your skin but keeps the frizzies away.

I dipped my foot into the housing market and looked at two houses today, both built about the same time (1979/1980) but absolutely nothing at all alike beyond that.  I won't say much about the second house except, teeny rooms, cheaply built, no storage, no garage, fabulous view.  But the first house is sublime, well built, fabulous wood, great beams, quirky design, loved it.  Of course, I need to look at quite a few houses to get a feel for the different areas.  I might end up coming back to the first house, you never know.

Oh but gee, I can see myself living there.  Sigh....I just have to be careful because I've been known to choose with haste and repent with leisure, ok with carpet, bad with a house. Just so you know though, it's even more of a treehouse than I have now, every room has windows that reveal lovely trees, and the master bedroom has an inside balcony that overlooks a little forest.  It just needs a chaise, a soft wooly blanket and a cup of coffee for a nice afternoon rest.

Tonight I've been invited to go play Bunco(?), which sounds very fun and social so I'm ready for that.  Tomorrow is my metal clay class at Beads Galore in Grass Valley, another very exciting day or two as I love watching the light bulbs go on for people when they first play with this amazing material.

Talk soon!

Peace

Fall at Empire Mine

This is such a beautiful place. (Little Wolf Creek)

A couple of weeks ago this little creek was just a trickle.  It's running nicely now and as the rainy season comes in it will be higher still.  It's very cool and damp here and the forest is heavy and sort of scary.  They have mountain lion warning signs so it's an interesting place to be, knowing something large and furry with unblinking yellow eyes may be watching.  Every now and then the dogs will stop and stare off into the woods and if you look close you'll see their noses flare as they suck in the scent.  What are they smelling?

I've been out of sorts lately, transitioning weather and life slowing me down a little. So this week I stacked up a bunch of fun things to do as a sort of perk-me-up.  Today I got a tour of my new health club and found the shooting range, what a strange combination to think of taking a Tai Chi class and then signing up for Basic Marksmanship. We'll have to talk about shooting and firearms in more detail later. Tomorrow I'm getting a haircut at a new salon I found in Nevada City, good thing as I'm a bit shaggy.  Thursday I'm looking at a couple of houses for sale, that's going to be fun.

Look at this huge nose, he's wanting me to do something and it's not sit on the chair and write.

Sweet Bode, maybe he just wants to head to bed, so we will and we'll snuggle and listen to the driving rain and acorns bouncing on the front deck.

Peaceful night to you.

Water Wandering

We spent the day water wandering at the Yuba River again.  It's an exquisitely beautiful place and the day was beautiful too.

Most of the walk is on a four foot wide ledge hugging the side of the canyon.  It all gives me the willies but the boys just dog laugh at me and keep trotting along.  What do they know?  They're down low and wouldn't fall over if they stumbled.  Later in the wet season this river will be a bit different, safety warnings are posted all over.

This view of the river is much more to my liking and easier to get a drink too.  We like to climb all over the big rocks.  You would be amazed at how agile Corgis are, they jump up, down and over some pretty big rocks, and wiggle through small spaces.

The rock is smooth and polished and in places looks like piles of whipped cream.

We ended up wading in the water again. Along the way there were fig trees with large ripe figs.  The water was cold, cold, cold but felt so good.  Bode loved it and both dogs did a little swimming, mostly following me out.

Then we went home and took a nap.

The pile of pumpkins is getting a little smaller which means lots of pies later this winter.  Yum!

Peace to you.

75 and Sunny

Well, November evidently was offended by being referred to as bleak.  The last couple of days have been clear and sunny with fine breezes and masses of colorful leaves everywhere you look.  I know it's not going to last but it's been glorious to sit outside in the sun and soak it up.

Isn't it Frederick the Mouse who gathered colors and warmth so he could tell tales of them in the deepest winter?

Here's my first November sunset.

Taken with my Droid.

I've been forging metal lately, love these beads by Jenelle Aubade.  I've got a few more brewing with lampwork by Gayle Hood, all exquisite works of art.

Peace

October Harvest

Isn't this gorgeous?

Today was the last growers market day in Grass Valley so I couldn't resist scooping up as many goodies as I could.  I bought out the pie pumpkin lady's entire remaining stock along with tomatoes, acorn squash, bell peppers, kiwis, avocadoes, butternut squash, apples, pomegranites and fuyu persimmons.  It's still hard for me to believe I can buy kiwis, avocadoes and persimmons that came from local trees, but I'll get used to it somehow.

The next couple of days I'll be busy roasting the pumpkins and freezing the mush for pies.  I'll be making plans to spend a day at Apple Hill soon to get a whole bunch of apples, yum.

This season is bittersweet in many ways, bringing us a great abundance of beautiful produce along with the certainty that summer has ended and the long winter has begun.  On warm sunny days we linger outside, dressed in jeans and thick sweatshirts, happy to feel that last burst of fading sunshine mixed with chilly air seasoned with the smell of woodsmoke.  The night drops more quickly into blackness and the wool blankets come out of storage to make cuddling a delightful past time on icy nights.

A great good friend has experienced great loss in this month, death and sadness which has made this a difficult month to bear.  My own health event has marked this a significant month.  And so we talked of endings and pondered ways to find peace in the midst of grief.  I believe we can only try to temper the grief and loss with memories and take the small celebrations to heart.  This month means leaves fall and the air turns cool and I for one start to dread the bleak November just ahead, which magnifies the losses of October.  I'm going to work hard to find beauty in the next month and will share with you.  And if that fails I'll bake up a pumpkin pie, smother it in fresh whipped cream, pour myself a large glass of wine, start the fire and call a friend.  I figure at least one of those things will warm my heart and my feet.

Love you A, you always make me laugh.

Peace

Earring Galore

What do you think?  These are a great jumble of color and movement.

And....

Simple and fun, they are coming out in a lot of pretty colors. I love them!  All that hammering has my arm ringing a little, or maybe it's my ears, ha!

Tomorrow is a huge one year anniversary for me, sort of a landmark date.  Leave a comment if you remember what it is.

Peace

A Pile of Pretty

Jenelle Aubade is one of my favorite lampwork artists.  Along with a great number of extra gorgeous regular sized beads she also makes these wonderful little gems, about the size of your little fingernail and smaller.  I spent a couple of days making a nice pile of new earrings and one new bracelet. 

And a bit more organized.

Another great day.  We romped through the Empire Mine, spent some time outside blowing leaves off the driveway, worked in the studio making some beautiful things and now we're curled up and peaceful.  Here are my boys, Dandy (Champion Fernbriar First Class) and Bode (Alltrade Fernbriar Xciting Bad Boy) doing what dogs do best, aren't they cute?

Peaceful

Pumpkin Pie

What do you do when it's raining like crazy and you don't have any heat in the house?  I fired up the oven and baked, first some oatmeal cookies and then the first pumpkin pie of the season.  I used real pumpkin made from pie pumpkins I roasted and it tasted great!  

I spent a peaceful day wandering around the Yuba River at Bridgeport a couple of days ago, before it started to rain.  I'm glad I got the chance to wade around in the water at the sleepy late summer stage.  I can imagine the river is raging right now.

This covered bridge is really beautiful and fun to walk across.

Inside it's beautiful wooden beams and windows along the way to look down at the river.

More classes coming up soon.  Intro to PMC (Metal Clay) and a very fun Resin class where we will make some sentimental ornaments with pictures and vintage printed material.

Peace

Busy day, happy day

I've been busy all day getting some new classes put together and preparing my pictures to apply to be juried into a gallery.  This necklace came from the new larger earrings I've been making.  The pieces are larger and they are designed so they don't lay flat, it's pretty cool, sort of scuptural and not for the timid.  I love this line!

This piece is made from bronze clay, some gorgeous ametrine and fine, fine lampwork by Jenelle Aubade.  It says, "Only Love Can Mend a Broken Heart".

Other than that and a really excellent walk with the boys I didn't accomplish anything else, but that's enough.  The sun was pouring in the door of my studio, the air was cool and fresh and the music was fine.  Have you ever heard "Hold On, I'm Coming" by Eric Clapton and B.B. King?  A great piece of music, for sure.

Don't you ever be sad
Lean on me in times of bad
When the day comes and
you're in doubt
In a river of trouble
about to drown

Hold On, hold on
I'm coming, I'm coming
Hold On, hold on
I'm coming, I'm coming

I'm on my way your lover
When you get cold
I'll be your cover
Don't have to worry
Because I'm here
Don't need to suffer
Because I'm here

Hold On, hold on
I'm coming, I'm coming
Hold On, hold on
I'm coming, I'm coming

Reach out to me
For satisfaction
Call my name
Quick reaction
Hey hey hey

Don't you ever be sad
Lean on me in times of bad
When the day comes and
you're in doubt
In a river of trouble
about to drown

Don't you ever be sad
Lean on me in times of bad
Hold On, hold on
I'm coming, I'm coming


Peace

Leave the Gun, take the Cannoli!

Oh my, saw the Godfather on the big screen at the Del Oro, what a great movie.  It's got so many great lines but I loved the one about the cannoli the best, I'd do that too.

The three hours just flew by, this time I actually paid attention to the plot lines and connected all the scenes I remembered with the parts I'd forgotton.  Of course in 1972 I was a sophomore in high school, I think.

Diane Keaton, didn't like her then and still don't, why is that?

Two weeks from now is Clint Eastwood in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

Nite

Ouch!

Cut my thumb today, which makes the score stitches twice, glued once, and bandaged too many times to remember.  Right now the numbness is wearing off and it's hurting a good deal.  I forgot how much these things hurt, which illustrates the short term memory women have for pain.  If we didn't we wouldn't have more than one child, that's for sure.

Oh well, this is pretty typical of my week after a skating competition.  We put in 62 hours in five days and I came home with a raging cold and that combines to make me tired and sort of klutzy.  We managed to overcome some pretty complicated technical difficulties and kept things moving along so it was a general success from our end with lots of great skating to watch.  I met some very interesting people, one judge races cars at 200 miles per hour and one of the technical panel is a former US Champion.

It's great to be back in my Treehouse.  Look what I found on the front deck this week.

Simply marvelous!  There are more showing up every day, last night I rescued two from inside again and set them free into the dark night.

Tomorrow is the growers market, one of my favorite places.  The apples are starting to come in, think apple pie and apple butter and applesauce, yum!

Peace

SoCal

I'm hanging out in sunny Southern California but I don't get to see a whole lot of the sun because this is a Skating Weekend.

Fourteen years ago I started out as a skating Mom and then I started volunteering for the parent organization as a competition accountant and have been pretty intensely involved ever since.  It's a great job filled with interesting people and situations, challenging and stimulating and exhausting, all at the same time.

This weekend I'm in Burbank, CA, working at a Regional qualifying competition.  We'll send a bunch of the winners off to a Sectional competition and from there some will go to Junior Nationals and some will go the the US Championships.

The hours are long and hard, so far we've put in 34 hours in three days with two more 12 hour days to go but it's very satisfying work.  This is my first assignment in California and now I can say I've worked from coast to coast, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, Colorado and California.

Today I saw a couple of skating legends today, John Nicks and Frank Carroll, both venerable coaches.  I've seen them at US Nationals and on tv but today they were just doing their job at an everyday ice rink.  It was great!  I wonder if those kids know how truly lucky they are to be able to work with these men?

I miss my treehouse and the boys but I know they're having fun.  It will be great to go home on Wednesday.

Time for bed, got to get up early to help make some champions!

Peace.

Peace, Love and a Glimpse of the Divine...

In a typical busy day it's very easy to forget to be grateful.  We scurry around trying to get everything done and in the end all we've done is scurry.

But you don't need a lot of time to savor beauty or to experience a brief moment of peace.  You can train yourself to need those small gifts, find them in odd places and then you'll see more and need more and it just comes washing into your life.  There's a flower tucked into a corner close to your office, you have to find it.

Or the curve of a child's cheek, the hands of the person sitting next to you on the bus, the smoothness of your lover's skin, small bits of beauty are there for us to enjoy.

I find the water. 

And I sit on a really big rock with my feet in the water and soak in peace and contentment.

And the love.

This dog with the short legs who bravely climbs over huge rocks to follow me, because I ask him to.  This dog who hates water but still follows me into the stream, because I ask him to, that's love.

I've been letting go of my anger which leaves a lot of room for peace and love and grace.  I'm giving up on forcing my reality on the world.  I'm finding that each time I make a conscious decision to love instead of control great things happen.  It'll take a lifetime but I'm game, the rewards are so worth it.  

Whether the sweep of angel wings or the skirts of the goddess, this incredible sunset reminds me of one of my favorite songs, "Up to the Mountain" by Patty Griffin.

I went up to the mountain
Because you asked me to
Up over the clouds
To where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
Everywhere
I could see all around me
Everywhere

It's beautiful, one more thing to be grateful for today.

Treehouse Again - First October Picture

I am endlessly fascinated by the view from my treehouse deck.  It's beautiful almost 24 hours a day, though I don't stay up to see it much past midnight.

We've got these large flocks of vultures that like to wheel around in the sky and occasionally they roost in the top branches of the tree across the road.  A couple of days ago there were 10 or 15 of them and as the sun started to rise they spread their wings and just sat there as if greeting the sun god.  I suppose if you had a really bad hangover you'd tend to think they were waiting for you.

There hasn't been much in the cloud department for a couple of months but when they show up they produce some fabulous sunsets.  Last night the bands of clouds were lavender, rose, and a deep purple, it was stunning.  I've been experimenting with my new droid phone, which has an awesome camera feature with some very cool special effects.  It was either on posterize or solarize when I took this one, makes it look like I live on Venus.

And I'm finding more interesting local flora, fauna and bugga.  Just as I was going to turn off my light a couple of nights ago I heard this large whirring and something splatted up against the wall and stuck.  I had to see what it was.  It was a very large praying mantis, very green and about 3 or 4 inches long, beautiful.  I didn't want it to end up stuck in the house and starving so I captured her or him and took it back outside to the dark night.  I'd much rather find a praying mantis in my bedroom than one of the countless spiders I'm always finding.  Sorry no pic, too late at night but I'll see what I can find around the house.

Happy day