Again the wind of change....

The wind changed again... I can feel the creative breeze flowing now that I may get some creative time, but I think its blowing into my sewing room??........."what??" not into the pottery studio, where there are half finished projects waiting for me to finalize glazes, nope.......... I just don't feel it, my breeze is saying "play with fabric" vintage stuff, beads and lace..... hmm... the sabatical from my pottery studio is getting longer, it does not feel right to leave things half finished there but I guess when I feel happier thinking about playing with fabric I should just go with it!

Getting into the groove.... a new schedule

Its been hard shifting gears again to a new schedule and getting anything finished, but I think I have got it. Until the unknowns happen anyway. Monday is my Day off! :) Yep that's right you heard it here first, My Day Off. I plan to take the phone off the hook and if you need me, find me. :) I watch the new baby 3 afternoons and evenings. I have 2 Studio work Days and 1 Family day. So that pretty much soaks up a week. I do my cleaning, laundry and such around the babet schedule.




Today, I may just spend some of my day on this watercolor I started and darken up the background before moving on with it, somehow aprons represent love and care to me, my grandma I guess.

I stopped working on this because something was wrong but I just could not see it yet, I think it is the background contrast, so I am going to make it more stark then go back to the Bluebird, clothesline Apron details and work them out more.





Tomorrow I need to Glaze........... waiting for me are some creations that have been sitting, waiting and waiting for Glaze.

Return to Pooh Corner

In my opinion this is by far the best music CD ever made for babies. And it is a pleasure as a parent to listen to also. 13 years ago when my son was born I purchased it and played it at nap times for him, recently with a Grandchild now to care for I searched out another copy and played it in the car on the way home, my son not really paying attention to what I was doing...gameboy... looked up at me smiled and said "Hey I remember this!" Then he actually allowed it to play all the way home, for a kid into Coldplay and other current bands that is quite a compliment to Kenny Loggins.

Creating Zen...

This is quite an accomplishment in a crazy world. This morning I am reflecting on the latest events in my life and am happy to report I have not lost my Zen moments while caring for everyone around me. :) Everyone seems to have adjusted well to the new itty bitty sweet baby filled with love and life recently brought into our home with her Mommy. They seem to be well on their way to a wonderful life together. My Mother is doing well so far after her surgery and is coming for dinner tonight. I have one large load of pottery in the second stage of creation and I am working on my watercolors again. I have had the chance to get in a few walks in the woods, and catch up on lunch or dinner with a few friends. We have had a weekend at the cottage and time with the extended family. All in all my Zen time has not been lost in the big changes we have made in the last 6 months. I am very happy to report I am back to creating and the home renovations that took away my time are done! Yay!! With that said in my Zen time, I have been looking into getting back my creative spark and ideas others have on this subject. I am compiling ideas and making a to do list to focus on. I will post some of them at another time, for now I am ready to go for a walk, take my camera and see what happens. :) I am Zenfully happy!

Sabbatical

I have been forced into a bit of a sabbatical this week.... after many family needs were answered a good old fashioned mega chest cold forced me to slow way down. For me slowing down for a few days feels like a sentence of jail time.... not that I really know what that feels like, but in my mind it must compare. I was forced to sleep a bit and curl up with the pups on the couch watching Gilligans Island and Petticoat Junction reruns. Its funny how when you are in and out of sleep and fever how many childhood images roll in and out of your conciseness. It may have been enhanced by the old TV reruns but I so enjoyed remembering some of those lost memories.... man we built some awesome forts as kids.

I was fortunate to have some great neighbors growing up, a totally wonderful childhood. thanks to Mom and Dad for adopting me and loving me into their lives, they sure made some good decisions raising a family in the town and neighborhood that they did. One of the great memories I had was playing with all the handmade baby doll clothes my Mom made me. My Dad was laid off of work that year and my Mom must have spent endless hours on making baby doll and barbie doll clothes, the workmanship was increadible and allot of it enhanced with all little hand sewed ribbons and trims. I still have many of the items, almost all of them I think, I am such a pack rat :)

Well I made it thru the down time I'm still nursing a bit of the cold but its time to end the forced sabbatical. I was able to get into the studio and start a small project, she is drying and waiting for me to complete her friends..still in the thought process.. I like the direction I am headed in, its filled with memories of the past... incorperating them into preserving memories for the future :) this is what a pack rat does with memories I guess, just can't let anything go. :)

Baby Shower Time

I recently gave a Baby Shower for a sweet Mommy to be in my life. Here are some of the pictures of the fun things I made!

Newark, Sanday,Orknay,Scotland

I finally found it, my heritage, my ancestors home, 5 generations ago where they lived and left for the New World.

My spirit had wings that could feel this place, but just could not find it. Now here it is, and I understand it. This is why I am always drawn to the water, it all makes perfect sense now.

I am so happy to finally have answers, and what a beautiful place it is. The area is actually a very small remote area, right next to the hay field in the bottom photo, that is where the complex of cottages sits. The only access is by going under and through a stone arch seen at the back of the first photo, oh so very awesome!

It must have been hard to leave behind in search of the new world. Newark, Sanday, Orknay, Scotland...... home sweet home, of my ancestors that is :)

Gladiolias from my garden :)

Arn't they beautiful!! My first glads!

The things that make me smile....

Many things make me smile, but its the times my kids surprise me with their tender hearts that make my heart smile the most.
Today as we were sitting on the beach, I looked over and saw this in the making.
I am so blessed.

Learning to blog.....

I was told by someone who hopefully knows, that I should keep 2 blogs, one for non pottery related posts and one for pottery related posts so this is my blog for non pottery related posts.

I guess it makes sense because it will keep things nice and clean over on the pottery blog. :)

Here I plan to do whatever pleases me.

My first post here is not going to be short... and sweet but it will get better. I lost my father a year ago yesterday, I miss him dearly he was a great father. He had a long life and he and my mother were married many years so I know when he was ill and his health was failing he wanted to stay but knew it was time to leave. I miss him but know he is where he was ready to be.

At his service a young woman spoke about my father in a most loving speach about how she was first afraid of him but her mother told her he was one of the nicest men, and not to be afraid of him. Earlier that day she herself had found out she had cancer and still came and made it to my Dad's funeral and spoke, I don't know how she did that. I was so touched when I found out what she had been through and still managed to come to the funeral for us and speak so kindly about my Dad.

It has been 2 weeks now since her memorial and I am still sad. I could not speak at that memorial like she did for me at my Dad's, her sisters did speak and brought back more beautiful memories for those of us who grew up with Hilary, I have known her all my life, and she was a part of my identity. Her whole family was. We grew up together, did birthday parties and played games nightly like "kick the can" together and after leaving our childhood homes we were entwined at a distance, we sat together when we seen each other at a neighborhood gathering or funeral, we always stopped to talk if out and about and we spotted one another, always a hug, always a quick update on our families, I trusted her so much that 20 years ago she babysat one of my children. She was a great mom to her kids and a great substitute for me when I needed one. We had real unspoken love for each other and each others kids even tho our lives had moved on past childhood.

It seems so unfair that she is gone, unable to be with her 4 beautiful children and her grandchildren, my heart is just broken right now, she was only 51, its just not fair. I know nothing is going to heal this, its just a hole that I am going to have to live with. I will miss her till I am also gone and that is just the way its going to be.

So there it is my first blog post of a personal nature. This is who I am, and here is where the muck of life and the joys will get posted just so the pottery blog won't get mucked up.