~Happy Girl~

I am a happy girl, oh yes I am! I recieved a package of sunshine, and goodness yesterday...Now, McCabe's lovely rocks are gracing my other sea 'treasures' on my kitchen window sill...Other good things...* Newly printed business cards, and brochures for this weekend's auction...and not feeling too weird about doing a little self-promotion. (A little weirdness is a good thing, right?)

* Reminding myself that as long as I feel healthy, and can move my body anyway I want then I really have nothing to complain about...

* Our gorgeous apple trees, and their gorgeous blossoms of raging colour.

* Being excited about the archeological dig that I get to go on this weekend...to uncover the herbs in my herb garden. Honestly, my flowerbeds are all suffering major quack-attacks...(As in good old 'quack grass'.) Plus, I can finally plant my veggie garden, now that the rains have finally stopped. (Touch wood!)

* Being equally excited about ideas for a new series of children's paintings I am also going to start this weekend...Cowgirl Mermaids!

* Sitting down sometime this weekend to watch P.S. I Love You. My sister-in-law guarantees I'll be bawling my eyes out. (Well, alright...bring it on!)

* Playing my guitar on the front porch...softly, so the neighbors don't hear.

* Kids that drive me mental, but that I can't help but love them to death...

* My furry-faced husband. Even though we both dance to two very different tunes,at the end of the day we always find our toes curled up together under the covers.

* The fact that all these things...plus about a million more can't help but fill my heart with light...

Have a beautiful weekend...
ox

~Befuddled~

Isolda's Search...16x20 Acrylic(click to enlarge)

I sat down at my computer tonight, and 'befuddled' was the first word that popped into my head. This is totally how I've been feeling the past few days...my mind feels like a disorganized...overstuffed closet. There's some really good stuff hiding in the back though...I just need to root through everything.

First...there is the painting that you see above. I have struggled, and struggled to complete her all month. This is a special piece that I was asked to do for a charity auction. I was so honoured to be asked...but almost as soon as I went to work on it I heard those harsh little whispers...Why are you bothering? Who do you think would bid on this piece of crap? Thankfully, I am a little wiser...I am able to push the whispers aside, and sing out words of kindness.Somedays I would just stare at the canvas...I changed the colour palette three times...I have loved it, I have hated it...I have completed it! Tomorrow I will happily hand her over, and let it go. I find everytime I go through this process, it gets easier, and easier.I know someday those whispers will not come!

Having a horrible cold, and non-stop rain for the past three days...and three more days forecasted doesn't do much for one's spirits either...

There are other things that are going on too...I can't really talk about here, but I'll just say...I am beyond thankful to have the husband, and children that I do.

I'm just having a little vent...and I feel kind of silly doing it, but in a good way?:)

Let's just say I'm looking forward to tomorrow...rain and all!

xo

~Treading Softly~

(My flip-flop feet in the woods...with sweet Cooter.)

This weekend was a definite mixed bag...emotionally speaking...First,I had a call from a woman on Thursday night, who wanted to use my front porch for wedding photos on Saturday. I was more than happy to do it...even though it meant me getting up brutally early Saturday morning to decorate it. One of my absolute favorite things to do when the weather gets warm is to make my porch all comfy for us to hang out on summer nights...It's lovingly referred to as our 'outdoor living room'...and it's different every year...



(Come on over for tea! ox)
On Friday, I got offical word that I have been accepted into the Yoga Teacher Program that I had applied too. I am very excited! This is the first step to a dream I have of teaching yoga and art to children...and adults. I start in the fall...so by this time next year I will be certified...and ready to go!

We then went camping out at my in-law's place. I had the most beautiful, meditative walks with my dogs. You know the kind of walk where with each breath, with each step on your path your are reminded to be be present? There is a heightened sense of connection as your feet make contact with the solid ground beneath you... I noticed every sunlit leaf on every tree...the shape of every wispy cloud in the gorgeous blue sky...every new little wildflower beginning to bloom in the ditches...heard every bird singing... I was reminded that I am a part of all this beauty around me.

I also had a rare opportunity to just sit and talk with my mother-in-law. And though we talked of a subject that neither of us were happy about, I think just spilling out the words brought us both a little bit of peace. I know it did me, anyway.(Jenny and Rhianna. xoxo)
I also had time to hang out with my kids and my little niece, Jenny...
(My beautiful boy...Joe)And I also managed to capture an image of my 'camera-shy'love...definitely not an easy thing to do! :)
(Love you Jon!)


Then this afternoon, I went to work planting my kitchen garden...I am never so happy as when I'm up to my elbows in dirt! And so...strawberries...herbs...and some butterfly attracting perennials have found a new home beneath my kitchen window...

We packed a lot of love...and fun into these three days! What did you do? I hope you had a great weekend following your heart's desires...

~What A Difference A Week Makes...~

(My house May.9th!)

Last week I woke up...put on my clunky winter boots...and the rest of my winter garb to go shovel the eight inches of snow off my walkway.
Today I am in shorts,and a t-shirt...going to put on my flip-flops and work in my garden!

It has been a strange week for me...
A week of an overflowing toilet flooding the bathroom and basement...
A week magic! Watching a baby crawl one day...and take his first step the very next.
Sunshine...garden shoots...playing at the park.
Long dog walks...and baseball practices...
Facing a creative brick wall...and then suddenly breaking through...
Finally taking a leap, and sending off my yoga instructor program application...
Feeling happy and sad at the same time...and for no apparent reason...
Reading to much...trying to hard...and most definately thinking to much!

I'm now looking forward to a woodland weekend of family...and fresh air...
A weekend with my easel...guitar...and camera...
Good food...good times...and oh, yes...shorts and flip-flops!!

I hope whatever you're up to this weekend puts a little light in your heart...
xo

~It Goes Without Saying...

To those of you who are moms...and those of you who are wanting...trying and hoping to be moms with all your heart and soul...Happy Mother's Day...

Oh, and here is a wonderful quote that I think needs to be spread to every woman all over our world...

Woman is born to create… in creating she becomes herself, accomplishes her destiny. Her whole life is only an initiation into creative power. To create is not merely to produce a work… it is to give out one's own individuality.-Jeanne de Vietinghoff


May your day be filled with Love and Light...

Journey Back...

It was just a quick glimpse...a shadowy form hidden behind a hugely overgrown tangle of caraganas...barely seen from the road.

A fairytale castle long forgotten by the prince? No, just an abandoned farmstead. A common site along our rural Alberta landscape...yet none-the-less enchanting...

In places we literally had to crawl on our hands and knees to find a way through to it...but when we did we were spellbound! There was such a warm spirit about the place...it swirled about us...happy to have visitors, I think. Time...and years of harsh prairie weather had not been kind...and yet, from somewhere unknown I saw the pretty new house...clad in cedar shakes brought by train from B.C. The front door gracefully framed in lattice...a tumble of Virgina creeper growing over it, welcoming all who came...There was...
Love...
Laughter...
Children running and playing...a dog happily running alongside them...
Laundry...freshly scrubbed hanging on the lines...
Bees buzzing...a young woman singing as she went about her daily chores...
A pot of soup bubbling on the woodstove...
Vegetable gardens...fields of wheat...
Chickens clucking...cows...horse-drawn ploughs...








Ramblings from a life of long ago...