America and her sis, Andia

America's pinwheel tail

Not sure exactly why, but I loved this book!

It's the story of a 46 year old woman, floundering in life, who, on an impulse, buys a dilapidated old farmhouse in a remote dying town near the Canadian border.
The story of her discovering her unique gifts brought me to tears. The characters in the book, and believe me, Rayfield and Rodney and Wide Load are characters indeed, are finely and humorously crafted.
Two special thoughts that struck me personally:
"Anything can happen to anybody at any minute" and we are:"Sageing, not aging".

Southern Living

For those of you who get/enjoy Southern Living, the house on page 34 in the June issue, is Willie's friend, BJ, who lives in North Carolina.  Looks fabulous.  Doesn't the sleeping porch conjure up images from all those books by southern authors we so love???

Hope I can still find a copy!

The Sunbonnet Sue quilt on the bed on the left is very similar to one I have that my grandmother made.

New life all around

This lemon petunia is glorious!

Look at the sprouts on this succulent from Rose.

This was also a gift from Rose and continues to give us much joy! Look at the new blooms still to come.

Finally my sweet peas are coming alive.

Time to start freezing basil.  Let me know if you need some!

My first gardenia!

A work in progress

Here are the first pictures of the craft room - the first time since I've been married 39 years ago that I get a room just for me.

I really like this grid system for hanging whatever. Clothespins are one of the most under rated tools. I love the 'embellished' ones I got on etsy; will be on the lookout for more fun ones.

These are the cubes I got from way basics, very colorful and so easy to assemble. When I get all the fabric sorted I'll probably need more. Some for yarn too.

Here's the piece de resitance:
the lampshade that called out to me in Anthopologie:

It's even cuter in person.
You can see the sunny yellow walls - my cousin, Mary, did a most excellent job of painting and she's available, should any of you need a painter!

I have lots more ideas and work to do, but love what I've got so far.

Moving on

I think I'm just going to ignore the 500th post, no giveaways, no fanfares, no thought provoking quotes, just moving on.
I don't really want to waste time thinking of 500 somethings; I did start a list of 500 things to be thankful for and I probably could list 500 people/things to pray for, but I don't want to spend my time doing that. I'd rather read a 500 page book or knit 500 stitches. 500 is a big number. These 500 posts didn't all come at once, but over a blessed period of time and so I shall just be glad for the time I've had to record my doings.
Maybe the tie-in could be the $500 it's costing us to fly to Austin for Lila's Baptism. That 500 is pure joy!

The Proclaimers - (I'm gonna be) 500 miles! Live Acoustic

whew, the pressure's off - more tomorrow!

what a fun surprise

My sweet, artful, sister-in-law, Kathy sent me 4 calendars.
One filled with angel images such as this one:



and more with glorious watercolor images.

My enveloper is calling....

Bless you, Kath!

Growing growing

Dog Show Quilt

What a darling quilt, made by Lynda Hill.
I suggest you check out her blog LyndaHIll
for a close up look and darling story about some of the dogs.

I'm guessing her inspiration for the WOOF came from Janet's niece, Tonya lazygalquilting who always inspires me!

My Soldier Prayer

On this Memorial Day God bless so many who have stood in harm's way for those of us at home. My prayer is especially with their families.

laying low

for no particular reason.
I've been busy funning; certainly enjoyed my lunch with some incredibly talented, kind, and inspiring women:

subbing here and there
trying out yoga classes
reminiscing at Donna's party
being grateful for watching the Variety Show from the audience and NOT spending my Memorial Day weekend starting report cards
keeping up with work for Charity Mania
reading, knitting, wordscraping
and playing with Miss America:

who loves her duck from Willie and thinks my little red heart rug looks better on the grass than by my door.

A well-kept secret

The Del Mar Country Club


A long time friend invited another friend (both from my St. James class of 14 years ago) and I to join her for lunch at the Del Mar Country Club. She was insistent that I bring America. I was reluctant, but knew that bringing her would allow me to spend more time visiting.
It was a glorious afternoon, first of all because we were able to catch up on what our kids are up to (why is that such a fascinating subject for mothers?) and what each of us has been doing with our lives (much of which involves counting blessings).
The day was gorgeous, the food, excellent, but the company topped it all.

Then the frosting on the cake was the reception America received! I couldn't have asked for better behavior from a 12 week old pup. She greeted the rich and famous and every one else with her gracious tail wag. When she wasn't being fondled she slept.
But I had no idea that this country club (or any country club) was so dog friendly. It turns out that the owners are extreme dog lovers/rescuers/supporters. They've sponsored many a CCI pup and contributed to other service dog organizations.
Here's an event they're sponsoring, supporting both service pups and those dealing with autism. I've heard Temple Grandin speak. Her words ring true for dog lovers and those experiencing autism. templegrandin



So a lovely day, America meeting/making new friends, me enjoying old friends. having a great lunch, relaxing for hours and learning about such a dog supportive place.

a surprise

When I ordered these:

from here: susanbranch

look what I got as a gift:

and, Davi, doesn't this make me think of you???

A Special Day

Beautiful Gabrielle after her receiving her First Eucharist

She and America and great buds!

What a privilege to share Godmotherly duties with the most lovely, kind, Denise!

America's growing, but still cute as a button!

She's so much like Wyanne - loves to gather all her toys around her on a blankie.

Progress report on the tomatoes

Looking fine!

One blog leads to another

Davi's hooked on this:

I just can't commit to it right now, though I am intrigued.
When I explored the author's website ordinary courage I saw Ali Edwards' blog: aliiedwards
I haven't visited it in some time, but hers led me to this: Creativity which is a very thoughtful essay on creativity by Alain Briot

He explores several valid points but
I particularly liked this small excerpt:

#4- We all have the potential of being creative
Eventually I discovered for myself the utterly simple prescription for creativity: be intensely yourself.

Don't try to be outstanding; don't try to be a success; don't try to do pictures for others to look at - just please yourself.

Ralph Steiner

All of us have within ourselves the resources we need to be creative. In a way, being human means being creative. Why? Because being creative is being able to solve problems in new and unique ways, in creative ways. From the beginning of mankind the ability to solve problems is one of the things that has given man an advantage over other species. I should add the ability to solve problems effectively, so that the problems do not come back. Doing so means finding new solutions to old problems. How do you find new solutions? You find new solutions by being creative and imaginative.

In other words being creative is not something that is specific to artists or to photographers. It is not something that is used only to create original art. Being creative is something that is used in all walks of life and in all professions, whenever a new solution is necessary. Being creative is being able to bring new solutions to both old and new problems.

Being creative is also being imaginative. It is being able to think ahead, to think into the future, to brainstorm, to imagine what may happen down the road. Scientists, mathematicians, engineers and all other professions need imagination and creativity to continue growing, to push the envelope further, to create new things, to be and to remain competitive, to do better than everybody else, to visualize something that does not exist yet, to imagine this new “thing” from conception to construction and finally to implementation.

Creativity and its sibling imagination are all around us. As soon as we seek to create something new, no matter how insignificant it may seem, as soon as we seek to solve a problem effectively and pro-actively, we become creative by using our imagination to find new and effective ways to complete the task we set to achieve.

From there we only need to take a small step to apply our creative abilities towards the arts and towards photography in particular. We only need to make minor adjustments in order to use our imagination towards creating photographs that are ours only, images that are new, images that we constructed in our mind and that are the result of our unique personal creative abilities.

Appreciate the creative activities you do each day, even if they aren't conscious efforts!

Sharp-shinned hawk

At least that's what Davi and Mark think it is.
Things are heating up in the Deakers backyard!
It's very fun to learn something new.
I'll have to hunt down our binoculars so I can really get into this.
Now I'm anxious for the bird identification book I ordered from the library to arrive.
I'm running out of nijer so am going to have to make the big investment to get the finches back.

Davi's sharp eye

I probably never would've seen this busy mama bird if I weren't spending time with Davi.

Hearts are everywhere

Thank you, Jane

I've been seeing one of these lovely birds in my backyard, but could not identify it.
Jane LaFazio did it though.
click here spottedtowheeto see her glorious watercolor rendering.