Oh Make Me Over

Frankenstein is finally finished ... well for now at least, knowing the way I change my mind!  Why Frankenstein?  I admit, the name's still a work in progress, but I thought it fit today just thinking about scavenging for all her parts ... chicken wire from Dad's shop, a birdbath (or was it a feeder?) base from his wife, and countless other secret ingredients including a trip to the mistint counter at Lowe's.  Besides the fact that it's taken me months to get used to seeing her lurking in my dark house during a trip to the kitchen for some water in the middle of the night, and never mind the fact that my cat is terrified of her, but I think that had more to do with a laser pointer mishap (sorry kiki).

For those of you entertaining the idea of someday ever creating your own mannequin, don't.  Or if you do, I urge you not to do it the hard way like I did, and take a lesson from this cookie she knows what she's talking about.  If only I'd found her instructions at the beginning of my chicken wire mannequin affair instead of in the middle of it.  Perhaps once I psychologically recover I'll give it a try and make another one, but I'll not start holding my breath anytime soon, I actually want to be alive long enough to see this one get some use!

Talking Leaves

That was a name I coined for a color in college, it was a Native American themed project, and I thought both the people I was studying, and the phrase had a certain mystery about them.  I love the thought of leaves suspended high above us, with something to say about everything down below, like thousands of little busy bodies whom never let even the smallest details slip their attention, or guardians passing along important messages as the wind carries them to the appropriate ears. 

My leaves are certainly talking today, they've been good company all morning as I'm elbow deep in
projects.  I see the heavy limbs dip so they can peek in through the window at me to see what I'm up to, and bounce back up to the dark gray sky to pass along the news.  Somewhere along the way they mentioned to me that it was Fall now, though I knew it a week ago that the weather would not be waiting for the calendar to catch up ... it never really does around here.  But just in case I wasn't ready to believe the leaves swaying to and fro while others danced around twirling like my niece in a princess dress til the cold moist grass tickled their toes I saw Tommy (the squirrel, and yes I name everything) run by with some non-perishables for his pantry, and it hit me, not like a ton of bricks or anything.  Fall is something I ease into like a hot bath, it just envelopes me completely. 

There's something exciting to me about that first bite of crisp air that lets you know something more is going on than meets the eye.  I've been flirting with the rich colors of the season, and day dreaming of wrapping up in the warm woollen camel colored coats we'll be seeing everywhere soon.  And this year like many before it sends thoughts through my head of crackling leaves underfoot, ivy covered brick, age stained book pages, tweed jackets with leather elbow patches, beaver fur coats, pennants, Oxford bags, and new beginnings.  Autumn to me has always been more about new beginnings than Spring ... the acorn has to fall in order for something to be sprouting come springtime.  Even though everything seems to be coming to life, something had to be planning the arrival beforehand. 

Well it's back to work with me, I just had to take a break before tantrums ensued ... I have that problem when I'm working on intricate things that require a new definition of tedium, there's something that would be so soothing in the sound of breaking glass when I've been going at it too long.  I chose this instead, and no clean up required!

xoxo

They're Here!

My order from Moo, that is, and I couldn't be more excited!  Okay, I admit, I don't have a ceiling on my excitement level, but still, this ranks somewhere near wherever the top would be.  What great icing on my blogiversary cake, to boot!

Two years ago, today, I was dreaming up a new path to take.  I had no idea exactly what the path looked like, but fragments I was cooking up in my mind started looking right.

And I knew if I exhaled, and closed my eyes that when I opened them I would see more clearly the

direction I was supposed to be going.  I admit, at first it felt very selfish.  It was the first time in a very long while that I was making decisions based solely on what I felt I needed, and my best interest, and not the interests of others.  Which, truthfully, is still a struggle for me sometimes, but we all have a responsibility to ourselves to be true to what we feel inside, and to be honest with ourselves first and foremost otherwise we're of no use to anyone else.

So, I think I'll leave it there for now.  It's been a strange year, and I feel miles from where it started, but in a good way, and I'm definitely enjoying the trajectory, and I'm excited to find what's around the next corner.  Here's to year three!

xoxo

P.S. I totally recommend Moo for your printing needs!

Lookie What I'VE Got!

I love peas!  I don't like them frozen, cooked, split, whirled, or any other way besides fresh out of the pod.  So that's why I decided to grow them up my trellis on my patio ... well that, and because after watching Food Inc. (an absolute must watch) and thinking about the state of produce in America and how it's ripened by spraying all sorts of terrifying chemicals on them, I'm a little nervous buying any from my neighborhood supermarket.

So, that's it for now, just a little peek at my bebe snow peas.  They're pretty cute.

xoxo

Tonight I Took a Bath With Walt Whitman

And I paused long enough to be reminded how wonderful it is to be a woman.

I Sing the Body Electric (5)

from Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass: The Complete 1855 and 1891-92 Editions

This is the female form,

A divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot,

It attracts with fierce undeniable attraction,

I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than a helpless

     vapor, all falls aside but myself and it,

Books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, and what

     was expected of heaven or fear'd of hell, are now consumed,

Mad filaments, ungovernable shoots play out of it, the response

     likewise ungovernable,

Hair, bosom, hips, bend of legs, negligent falling hands all

     diffused, mine too diffused,

Ebb stung by the flow and flow stung by the ebb, love-flesh

     swelling and deliciously aching,

Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly

     of love, white-blow and delirious juice,

Bridegroom night of love working surely and softly into the

     prostrate dawn,

Undulating into the willing and yielding day,

Lost in the cleave of the clasping and sweet-flesh'd day.

This the nucleus--after the child is born of woman, man is born

     of woman,

This the bath of birth, this the merge of small and large, and

     the outlet again.

Be not ashamed women, your privilege encloses the rest, and is

     the exit of the rest,

You are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul.

The female contains all qualities and tempers them,

She is in her place and moves with perfect balance,

She is all things duly veil'd, she is both passive and active,

She is to conceive daughters as well as sons, and sons as well

     as daughters.

As I see my soul reflected in Nature,

As I see through the mist, One with inexpressible completeness,

     sanity, beauty,

See the bent head and arms folded over the breast, the Female

     I see.

Things I Do While Waiting for Papier Mâché to Dry...

I totally pinched this idea from, well I can't remember now, but I do remember seeing glittered
clothes pins somewhere, and since no one's pictures satisfied my curiosity I decided I had to try it for myself.  I did learn, however, that putting a coat of corresponding paint on the top side of the pin pre-glitter makes a huge difference in the overall appearance.  I wasn't really in the mood to go through the process just to have mangy looking pins in the end.  I'd really like to find a clear coat to spray over the top that keeps the glitter from dusting off, but also keeps the integrity of the sparkle intact (yes, I just said integrity of the sparkle).

A Little Birdie Told Me

How charming is this little guy?  I love his little feet, and how he looks very plain from far away, but if you get close enough you can see his glittery, golden feathers. 

I remember getting to touch a hummingbird once as a child, on vacation with my parents.  A little guy had taken a wrong turn and found himself stuck on a window sill, high above a gift shop with a very flustered gift shop owner trying to catch him.  My dad simply climbed the ladder, put his hat over the tiny bird, and collected him into his hands.  You know, because catching a hummingbird is so easy. 

Once outside, he opened up a little peephole in his hands and let me spy on the little bird.  I remember it sizing me up with one tiny eyeball, as I extended a finger to stroke the silky feathers of its head.  And then, after a few moments he was gone. 

When I think of my childhood, I can't help but think of hummingbirds.  Every summer my mother put a feeder out, and I could watch, and listen to them from the open bay window.  When it was too cold the birds would move on, and the feeder would come down.  The delicate glass birds twinkling from the mirror of my mother's little sports car made the chilly months seem shorter, if even just the slightest bit.

It is said for many people, the hummingbird is the creature that opens the heart.  What a lovely thought.  Sams, and Carson go on to say:

When we assume hummingbird consciousness, our life becomes a wonderland of sensuous delights. We live for beauty, delighting in flowers, aromas, fine mist, and delicate tastes.

When it becomes our totem, the hummingbird teaches us to laugh and enjoy the creation, to appreciate the magic of being alive, and the truth of beauty.

Hummingbirds awaken us to the beauty of the present moment. As they dance the four quarters of embodied existence, they bring us medicine to solve the riddle of duality. They also awaken us to the medicinal properties of plants.

I guess Mother Nature never ceases to bring us lessons, even from the smallest of teachers.

Hey Daddy-O

It's been awhile since I've posted ... I admit I've been very distracted lately.  Though I will say, I've always had a difficult time staying on task during the summer months.  Summer was always a time to be free.  No schedules, no clocks, no constraints.  Funny how the older we get those things change the fastest, but I still feel part of me holding onto what I held so sacred about this time of year.  I hope I never let that part of myself go. 

So here I am, and there are my boys up at the top ... our daddies.  It turned out to be quite an ambush, as we unloaded and took over the kitchen so our hostess could see daylight, and play with us as well!  I think it turned out even if it was winter-cold in the middle of June.  We made the best of it, and I learned a new game that apparently goes by the names of ladder golf, bolo toss, and the decided favorite of the day, hillbilly horseshoes ... which by the way, my dad totally slayed at since he spent most of his adult life throwing cables to the decks of ships from the docks below.  He can put a ball attached to a string / yarn / rope / cable anywhere he wants, so he kind of had an advantage!

Overall, it was a really good weekend.  It's always nice to get to change your pace a little, relax, and enjoy the people you're with.  I think Dad had a nice time as well, but then again he's always been a sucker for good munchies, and a present now and then, and I don't think the brand new flannel disappointed.  There are a few subtle signs of approval to watch for ... the weight test which is administered by a gentle shake of the garment, followed by a little squeeze of the hand, and then the silence, and after a few moments a very quiet "that's a pretty shirt".  Not very many people describe plaid, flannel, button front shirts as pretty, but he does, and that's what makes it so much fun taking the time to pick out just the right one.