Living Large

One of our homework assignments in Patti Digh/David Robinson's LIAV telecoaching class was to do some rock balancing as an exercise to be fully present in our lives. For almost two months now I have looked for the opportunity to do this and it's a lot harder than it looks. My Tuesday morning walk down by the water netted this photo:

And this detail:

Larger than life, three formations of rocks balanced. It wasn't me who did it, but it really threw me for a loop. In September I had sat on the same shore, attempting to balance a handful of small rocks, my best attempt made a pile about two inches high. I didn't see any larger rocks even though they were right under my nose. In the spirit of Patti's writing, and in the spirit of being open, I took this to mean that I need to start thinking large. It's time to let all possibilities in, especially the grandiose and the impossible. I had a very vivid daydream a few weeks ago, something else that knocked me for a loop and I knew it would be a pivotal point in my growth. I need to realize that dream. Over at Beth's place at Be Yourself, she was talking this week about choosing her word for the coming year. Last year my word was "peace", this next year my word is "dream". I am going to dream big.

Wordless Wednesday

Pet Peeve

One of my pet peeves is writing in books. Not when it's my own books, lord knows I notate, comment and doodle in enough of my own. The peeve is when I find it in library books. I picked up "The Making of June," by Annie Ward at the library. I found it while browsing, hadn't heard of it before but it appealed to me and I am really enjoying it. But on page 91 I found this.

And I realized how much it bugs me when other people decide to edit books that aren't their own property. Oh, so smart, they find typos that the original editor missed and correct it IN PEN write right in the book. I don't know why it gets under my skin so much, it just does.

Sweet & Sour

I saw on my calendar that today is the Sweetest Day. I had heard it mentioned at other times but my curiosity led me to google it. Apparently it started in Cleveland in the 1920's by a man handing out candy to the less fortunate and now is celebrated by showing love and appreciation to your friends and family. It's kind of funny it even makes it onto a calendar if you ask me. Before I read that I was thinking it had something to do with the time of year, the harvest, the relativity of the angle of the sun to the equator. And really it is about a box of chocolates. Either way, a good reason to have a mini celebration.

I needed to read that because this week has been kind of rough. On the up side, none of us seem to have yet contracted the swine flu despite dire forecasts by the media. But it was just a bad energy week up here. I ended up working Thursday (to make up for not working on our holiday Monday) and working late. I went in with a bad attitude and I managed to hold my center until the end of the day and then it snowballed.

The previous day Riley came home from school WITHOUT his backpack, which all parents of school age children will realize is a disaster of epic proportions. A search of the school and the school bus turned up nothing. When my son sees his first therapist and that therapist asks him to remember back to the first traumatic experience he can remember, he will undoubtedly recall my reaction to him losing his backpack in first grade. Honestly, why do I so often forget that he is just six years old?

Then, yesterday was a weird little day. I had an early morning coffee with a good friend who I hadn't seen in a while. Important note here, I had a very strong coffee, something I guess I am no longer used to because I jitter bugged through the rest of the day. Right up to 6:00 p.m., I was out of my skin, irritated, unable to complete simple tasks or even a thought. I couldn't even pull supper together which didn't go over too well. I'm blaming it on the coffee. It was so unsettling though, I can't remember being so agitated.

I'd like to suggest that on this Sweetest Day you go out and do a little something to make someones life sweet. Make it a sugar treat, or a mental, emotional, spiritual sweet. One of my classmates in the Life is a Verb class I am taking talked this week about how when she does her groceries, she asks the checkout person what kind of candy bar is their favorite, then she adds one to her order and hands it to the person. I loved that. If we all reached out and touched someone with a small gesture, image how sweet this day would be.



P.S. I love Caramilk.

Wordless Wednesday

Shiver me timbers!

I know I'm not the only one freezing my kishkas off. We had our first frost over night last night. I was glad I didn't need the car before the sun (yes, the long lost sun!) came up and melted it off. We tried to walk down by the water with the dogs this morning but fagg-et-a-bout-it. It was so windy it was miserable, even with multiple layers, mitts and hats. WTF? It's only early October, we are supposed to be visited by an El Nino this year and yet the heat has been on full force, the wool socks out. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to lodge a formal complaint with someone about this kind of thing? It seems most of the northern part of this continent is freezing or has been snowed on already. Too soon, yes. Especially after the dismal season we dared to call summer this year. So here I am, on my country's Thanksgiving night, grousing about the menial. Any only 74 days until Christmas.

38, 39, 40

I can hardly believe that I have caught up with *e*'s weekly questions. Q41 will be asked only this Monday. Here are my tags Q38, Q39 and Q40.

"Gummies, jellies, chocolate, iced coffee, ideas, desires, wishes, hopes and dreams. I'm drinking it all in, digesting it and enjoying every bite." - Scrapbook paper, ink and stamps.


"At first I thought that almost everything brings me job, in some form when I stop and consider it. But much to my own surprise, deep down, my answer was 'my family.'" - Collage, acrylics, glazes, caran d'ache neocolor IIs, watercolor pencils, General's pencil.




"Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years - that there will always be time to..." - Scrapbook paper, masks, stamps and ink.

Retail Therapy

Some say, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. And with a rainy ped. day ahead of us, Riley and I did just that. He at Build-a-Bear, me at Sears. He getting some new accessories (after a stellar first report card yesterday), me scoring some wool socks for $3.99. Bonus! After leaving the equivalent of one kidney at the vitamin store (I'm a big believer in pumping the immune system during these dark and virus-riddled months), and after leaving the equivalent of another kidney at the grocery store (WTF is up with totals at the cash register?), we are home and shopped out. I did get to wondering in the dairy aisle how far removed from dairy some actual cheese is. I saw cheese, cheese food and cheese food product. What new mutation can they possibly do to extend cheese food product? I shudder to think and yet Riley's taste buds do go orgasmic over such things. Luckily he likes "real" cheese too.

Friday Haiku

This didn't take long, thanks to a couple of swift responses to my blue post.

Friends to the rescue
Got permission to wallow
Pass the chocolate

Blue

I have been feeling kind of blue these last few weeks. My own kind of hibernating, I guess. I've been silent, trying to figure out how to pull myself together. Really at a loss for words, which doesn't happen often to me. I've been blog hopping and not commenting much but I am continually encouraged and inspired by the art, the photos, the ideas and process (praw-cess?!) others are going through. I'll find my voice again soon, I'm hoping to pull a Friday Haiku out of myself somehow someway today.

Wordless Wednesday

Q37

*e*'s 37th' question: What sparks my creativity?

My simple, one word answer - Everything!

Scrapbook embellishments, watercolor pencils, ink.

'Tis The Season

On my morning walk this:


They may have bird brains, but they are smart enough to am-scray N-O-W. It is alway a pleasure to see them return, though.

And on my afternoon walk, I took a few snaps of a tree on our block, the maple tree that never fails to disappoint. Some years the leaves on the trees just seem to turn brown and fall off, but not this tree, ever.

Q36

*e*'s 36th question is, "What do you never want to forget?"

Scrapbook paper and embellishments, ribbon, ink. The back reads:

I never want to forget that everyday is a gift, every moment divine, every wish is heard and, somewhere, all prayers are answered.

Haiku Friday

Scritch, scritch, scratch, rub, rub
My first day wearing wool socks
Yup, fall has arrived

October Calendar Page

I remember now why I chose this for my October page when I was putting it together at the end of last year. The look of "spent", forgotten, all webby and Halloweeny. It's been grim this last week - cold and dark and generally dispiriting. Therefore, my quotes: "Relax and let everything go to hell" (Sol Lewitt) and "Almost always the creative dedicated minority has made the world better" (Martin Luther King Jr.). It was a dark and stormy week, indeed.

Wordless Wednesay

Fighting the Good Fight or, On Aging - Part 482

I have been fighting the good fight for any number of years. I'm talking dry skin. The summer months are fading to just memory when my good fight consisted of sloughing the cracked and scale-like skin off my heels. These days, the only time I see my heels are on the yoga mat and in the shower. My focus has now shifted to my hands. With the exception of a woman's neck, little more tells her age than the skin on her hands. I have two problem areas, the side of the index finger on my right hand and the knuckle of my left pinkie. Don't ask me why, but these two spots are inconsolable. And now with hand washing season in full swing, I am not only fighting the good fight, I am in full battle. It's me against the lizard who seems poised to take over my hands. I have tried all kinds of cremes, lotions and milks. I stop short of sleeping with Vaseline under gloves and I feel like I'm losing. The Body Shop's hemp hand protector is good but no match for those two hot spots of mine. Any suggestions out there?

Q35

I was lucky enough to have a lot of studio time this week. I got two tags done and much exploration in the Super Nova art journal class. Here is *e*'s question number 35 - What kind of goddess am I?:

The back reads: I am a Super Goddess. I leap buildings in a single bound. I have x-ray vision, a sixth sense and supersonic hearing. There is nothing that can keep me down. I can do anything!

I swear some days this is true. Scanned magazine images, scrapbook embellishments, stamps and ink.

Gratitude

In all my kvetching about where I live, I sometimes forget that within a block and a half of our house we can do this:



And this:


And this:


I found this piece of beach glass today, a color I have never seen before:

It was a beautiful autumn day that necessitated a good fleecey sweatshirt and sunglasses. On the way home we were followed by this:


A beautiful white cat that seemed to want to adopt us. She was oblivious to everything around her except for us. But she abandoned us before we reached the house and decided to go her own way.


We are trying to squeeze out every moment of outdoor time now, so keenly aware of the spirit of hibernation on our heels.

Blogaversary and a Mysterious Give-Away

Today is my one year blogaversary. I can't believe it's been a year and at the same time I can't believe it's only been a year. Creating this was a real labour and to sound like so many other before me, I have met wonderfully creative people and truly supportive and generous friends. It has allowed me a forum to put my art "out there" and to learn in a way that would never have been possible even ten years ago. Ain't technology grand?! So in light of all this, I am going to offer a very mysterious give-away. I am in the throes of Julie Prichard's Super Nova Art Journaling class which started about ten days ago and runs until around the end of October. I am also starting Carmen Torbus' Spill It! class in less than a week. I am going to give away one my results from those classes. Already I've been producing like a fiend (for me anyway), not quite finished pieces on water color paper mostly 5 x7, a few 4 x 6. But in view of the quantity and the fact that they aren't even finished I am not posting any photos (as yet anyway). I will wait until the end of October for all the classes to have run and to have worked all the techniques taught and then choose one of the finished products. Basically you're saying "Oh yes please, choose me!" for something you have never seen, but if you read here on a regular basis, and know my style, then you have a general idea. Leave a comment and you'll be entered into the draw. Mention the give away on your blog and I'll enter your name twice. You don't have to have a blog to enter, an email address is enough. I'm not sure when I will be closing entries, probably only just before I run the random integer generator at the end of October. I love surprises, don't you?!

Haiku Friday

This is for everyone who has been feeling it like I have these last three weeks.

Crap hitting the fan
Mercury in retrograde
Can you say, "Uncle"?

Getting My Hands Dirty

I went to an art gallery during my lunch hour today. It was just a short walk from where I work and on the weekend I had seen a review of the exhibit of the artist, Jim Dine. When I was in art school back in the late 70's, early 80's his work knocked me off my feet. Especially his etchings and drawings. What I found so disappointing at the exhibit was that I couldn't touch any of the pieces. Now, I KNOW I'm not supposed to touch them but sometimes they just beg to be poked, stroked and caressed. There were a few canvases with acrylic paint, charcoal and sand, some bronze sculptures that had been painted and let me tell you, if it wasn't such a snooty place and I wasn't being watched like a thief who was about to tuck one of the pieces under my arm and make a break for it, I would have touched. Then it got me thinking that wouldn't it be great to work in a gallery that allowed touching?

After seeing this at Sherry Lee's blog, I signed up for Carmen's Spill It! class where we will definitely be getting our hands dirty. It starts on October 1, so if you want to join in, better hurry on over and sign up. Here is one of her videos that just might entice you. And as if that isn't enough, one lucky person will win the tuition for the workshop. Yowza!

Wordless Wednesday

My World

After my last effort of joining in with Tuesdays "My World", I wasn't sure I was going to do it again, certainly not so soon, but I was so taken with the energy this morning that I couldn't resist. Montreal is an island with suburbs all around the north/south/east/west waterfronts. We live in the south-west part of the island and I often talk about "going down to the water" with my dogs and Riley. Here is what I see "down there".



There is a park running the length of the shoreline with parallel running bike and pedestrian paths. Somehow the pedestrians and the cyclists seem to collide a little too often. My city is home to kamikaze cyclists who (like our motorists as well) forget that riding/driving is a privilege and not a right.

To see more "My World" participants, click here.

Q34

*e*'s Q34 - How do you create your nest?


I did very little to this. I started with a photo of a bird nest I found in August in P.E.I. I had really wanted to bring it home, but just couldn't see how on the plane, so I settled for taking some pictures. I loved the weight of it in my hand, examining it, it looked so miraculous. Scrapbook embellishments and ink. The back reads: With wood for strength, leaves for warmth, mud to remind us we are born of the earth, fresh air to help our spirits soar and love to hold it all together.

International Day of Peace

Both Sherry Lee and Snap have this up on their blogs and peace is something so important to me, it was the word I chose to enter into 2009 with, even had it stamped on a Lisa Leonard necklace to wear on myself every day. So I couldn't miss the opportunity to remind you to create your own peace, and then spread it around and not just today but today is a good day to start.



This little birdie has a message, click here to go to the original site propagating it.

My peace actions are getting out two parcels I have been meaning to get in the post for about two weeks now. The blue color of the symbol matched my language as I cut, taped and printed. There is a reason I don't volunteer to wrap presents at the mall at Christmas time. But it's the action and the thought that counts, I think that little dove will overlook any colorful words used to prepare these parcels of peace.

The Picture of Persistence

My garden has been not very nice this last month. We have had almost no rain but it's been chilly, especially at night, we are more often than not down to single digits now. I even put the heat on in my art studio yesterday morning, just to take the chill out of the air. And hot baths are welcome, the hotter the better. I noticed this yesterday, which seemed to have bloomed out of nowhere. Lord knows I haven't watered anything in a long time and I thought, how wonderful. And maybe in these days when I've not been feeling too hot emotionally, I could take a page from this pansy's book. Bloom anyway. Bloom one more time, push a little harder to squeeze out the beauty. Stretch without the heat, without the benefit of TLC from my caregiver(s), just bloom dammit.

Adventure

You know how some things are much funnier once a little time has passed, and you can distance yourself enough to tell the story? On Thursday we took an adventure trip - once Riley was out of school we went up to the cottage to do a few pre-winter chores. With the dog in the back hold and, gratefully very little other baggage since it was less than a 24 hour trip, off we went to get ourselves tangled in rush hour traffic. I had walked the dog mid afternoon, hoping to empty her tank(s) so that she would sleep the whole drive up. (Important detail to the story.) We were just off the main highway, on the secondary route when the dog wakes up, which isn't unusual since the smells of the country usually get her excited. Maybe a little too excited this time. I hear her scrambling, trying to get her footing as the car takes the hairpin turns down the snake-like road. I try to encourage her to sit down, peek in the rear view mirror and it looks like she's "taking the stance". In the next minute or two Riley, in the backseat, says it smells bad. I open all the windows (thanking the fact that I have electric windows) while Riley starts dry heaving. Cold air is blasting in the car, Riley is heaving and screaming for me to "pull over". One little detail - there's NO WHERE to pull over. A few kilometers later and closer to a small town I do manage to pull over, get out and assess the damage while Riley barfs out the window. Again, grateful he is old enough to get himself out of his booster seat and that the window was already down. I'm usually well-prepared, I'm the Queen of Wipes, Ziploc baggies of them in every bag I carry but this is not a job for wet wipes. No sirree. I do what I can with the limited supplies, strap Riley back in and with windows still down, finish the route. Getting to the house I walk straight for the vodka bottle, not stopping for a glass.

See, wasn't that funny?

I thought with the weird non-summer we had, I would have seen a lot more of this:


But the colors are just starting to turn. Usually it would be much more vibrant but I think my favorite fall time there is when the birches go - orange and yellow against a background of their silver white trunks.

So long

This is not good-bye, it's so long. See you in eight months or so. My good friends over the last four months, I will miss you but you are for another time. This morning I could see my breath when I let the dogs out. There was a frost warning in the further suburbs. Strange that the calendar still says "summer", but here in the the northern climes that one season is oh so short. Relegated to the back of the cupboard for now, I will be glad to see you next May and after a brief period of forgetting that you even exist. I will find joy in you once again.


And in keeping with THAT theme, here we are all ready for the next season - HOCKEY! The only thing missing is the jersey.

Navel Gazing

The last couple of days have had a lot of ups and downs. I always get a little introspective at this time of year, the days which have become noticeably shorter lend themselves to more serious thoughts. I've been reading a lot lately (read: 2 years) on being mindful. Saying practicing mindfulness, bringing your energy into present time and living in the now are basically all the same. If there are nuances they are just that and I am blissfully unaware of them. I am only now discovering that being mindful also means taking time, slowing down and acceptance. Which is different from liking or enjoying where you are and accepting that what is going on is going on. When do you know that any relationship in your life, be it a romantic partner, a friendship, a job, has reached its natural conclusion? When do you know to take it off of life support and let it go, with blessings if at all possible? Go to the light! Go to the light! Maybe it is the influence of autumn but I am feeling the natural end to different aspects in and of my life. Some of it is scary, some of it also feels liberating and both at the same time.

Soccerfest

Today marked the end of our outdoor soccer season. Boys, girls, all ages in playoffs. For Riley's age group it was almost more of a social event. The teams are all local kids but from far enough spread out that it means saying good-bye to some buddies until next summer. I still can't believe summer is unofficially over.

Q33

*e*'s Q33 is, "What are you crossing your fingers for?"


Acrylics, ink, markers.

The front of this tag represents ferns. I love how they unfurl, they are the picture of hope and gentleness to me. I am hoping for major, colossal changes in my life. I'm working steadily on manifesting them, however long it takes, I have some very core and concrete dreams.

Friday Haiku

Last week I went shopping with some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. I don't know why I'm always surprised that "essentials" are so pricey.

Eighty-eight dollars

For two bras, two underpants
Out of whack, you think?

What Remains

My composter is only in its second summer. What remains of the door to get in, is this:

Made by Envirocycle Systems, it was supposed to be squirrel-proof, chew-proof etc. Last week we repaired the latch that was chewed off, pretty proud of ourselves for out-foxing the foxes. This afternoon those dastardly grey things went at it in tandem. While we chased one, another took its place and took over the chewing. So now every Tom, Dick and Harry of the animal kingdom in the neighborhood will be dining chez nous, until they run out of goodies that is. The unfortunate thing for me, other than the obvious, is that my composter is (was) a spinner and with no functional door on top, there will be no spinning it. The wretched thing cost $200 which I was happy to pay to have it be everything-proof. I'm thinking of sending a photo to the company that made it with its lofty claims, perhaps they will mail me a new trap door.

Wordless Wednesday

It's All In The Numbers

Wow. I've had so many birthday wishes both here and at home, it's fantastic. This is the first year I've really tooted my own horn about it being my birthday though, so I guess I've invited a lot more joy into my life than I have in the past. In a few words, thank you to all who took the time to leave me a comment or email me or call. Each connection made me feel special. Here's what 49 looks like:

And it's my 500'th day of keeping a gratitude journal. Who knew? When I started it wasn't to count, more than my blessings every day at any rate. Numbers, shmumbers. It's in the doing, the living, the acknowledging and receiving that life is remarkable.

Friday Haiku

It's your birthday eve
My sister said on the phone
Celebrate yourself

Qs 31, 32 & Synchronicity

I spent today catching up with *e*'s questions, specifically numbers 31 and 32. I re-worked 31 a number of times, I just couldn't seem to get it right, but I'm satisfied with it now. What three words would someone use to describe me?

Synchronicity is a recurring theme in my life. It's probably been two weeks that I have worked on this, re-worked and re-worked it. Two weeks ago one of my homework assignments for the Patti Digh/David Robinson telecoaching class I am participating in was to interview a number of people asking them what they thought my greatest strengths and best qualities are and what they think my work in the world is. It's no co-incidence that I was working this question on my tag at the same time. Isn't the world an amazing place?

And question 32, "Why did I do that?" There were any number of bone-head things I could have chosen to answer this question but I wanted to keep a positive light on it. Last week I spent an afternoon doing some self-portraits inspired from an article in an old Somerset Studio magazine. I set up my camera on the tripod (in my studio), set the self timer and then just danced around the room. Some of the photos were incredible. I want to re-do this exercise outside before the snow flies, probably at the crack of dawn because of the neighbors and what may be left of my reputation. This one I cropped and ran through Befunky.com for the sepia tones and lines. I inked the edges too heavily, but what the heck.

The journaling on the back reads: I danced, in my solitude, only my internal music playing. I spun and leapt, dipped and waved like a tree in the wind. And it felt good.

In yet another example of synchronicity, I worked all afternoon on my card for the recipient I received via Se'Lah's Gift of Jewels post. I had decided to do a postcard because I had ready a stack of gessoed 4 x 6 watercolor cards. I was thinking crow, red, full moon and three panels. I digress, but I have been learning about cicadas, katydids and crickets and have wanted to do one piece combining each one in their own panel. Anyway...this idea of three panels spilled over into this crow, red, full moon piece I started. While blog surfing later in the afternoon I discovered Lisa at The Wright Stuff had just completed a triptych involving a crow, the color red and what looks like a full moon (although it might be the sun). Lisa and I were co-wreckers on Jamie Ridler's wrecking crew and we are both signed up for Julie's Art Journaling class starting in a couple of weeks. If this kind of stuff didn't tickle me so much, it would scare me.

Guilty

I was caught last night, guilty as charged, by Anonymous. I was trying to set up my post for Wordless Wednesday and while working out the posting date and time I accidentally published. Egads! Yes, I do sometimes work my photo up on Tuesday night. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my downtown working days and so there is little energy for much other than maybe a photo on those two days. But yesterday was a particularly crappy little day. I started a post I called "Crappy Little Day", then decided it had been enough just to write it, I didn't need to put up all that angst and frustration. But let me tell you, from the effects of the upcoming retrograde Mercury, to misplacing my bus card and missing my first two buses looking for it to arriving at work late, my stapler breaking, the photocopier on "bypass" mode, having documents I sent out in July come back and bite me in the bum big time, having thoughts of being unemployed and worries of going back home on the bus newly unemployed with my cardboard box of personal effects (photo of Riley and a week's supply of chocolate) tucked under my arm, it was quite a day. Even my armpits stank, for goodness sake. But all that made me realize that I need to make some changes, that some parts of my life are not only not good enough, but detrimental to my health on many levels. It's true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I only wish there were more gentle ways of learning those kinds of lessons.

Wordless Wednesday