Imperfect Beauty

Song - Nobody Knows Me by Lyle Lovett

"Adopt the pace of nature;

her secret is patience.

Sometimes you don't need

the things you "need"

to enjoy the simple

things, quiet times, 

friends, family."

--Amish Proveb

Come and Sit For Awhile in My Garden

Song - Zen Garden

Orange Rose

There is a small group show going up at the gallery in May that I am participating in.  So for the last week I have been painting some 8 x 8 canvas's of my garden flowers.  I have a few more to paint but I just love painting happy flowers when it's gray, cold and storming outside!

Grape Hyacinth

White Iceland Poppy

Paris Peony

Yellow Rose

Sweet Faced Pansy

 

Pink Peony 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life."

 ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen

It's the Little Things

Looking for the "little things" in my life, has helped me to slow down this season.

Like......


Finding a rose that is still blooming this late in the season.


Enjoying the smile from a stranger and returning it to another person.


Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.


Finding a "lucky penny" and placing it in my shoe.

Turning on the lights for our Dickens Village and Christmas Tree.

Lighting the logs in the fireplace and curling up with the doggies.



Watching "The Bishop's Wife" for the ----well let's just say for many times.  Or "It's A Wonderful Life" for even more times!

Enjoying Holiday cards from friends and family.

Hanging a heart ornament that Mr. B and I bought in Taos almost 30 years ago.

And finding out that a friend of mine bakes 70-dozen cookies every year.....and I don't!!!

Wow!

Yep you read that right.

Seventy-dozen!

Let's do the math....mmmm...that would be 8 hundred and 40 cookies!


I'm wondering how many pounds of buttah......?


Yeah....it's the little things and a good chuckle!


"Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." --Henry Miller

Goodness - Stop And Smell the Roses

Some day's I just need life to slow down and that takes an effort on my part.  I get so caught up in the day to day busy-ness of things that I forget to stop, take a deep breath and move forward with intention. If you do it right this minute, trust me you will feel better!  Did you do it?  Well, try it..... breathe deep....three times....now focus (with intention) on what your day may (or may not) involve.  See, I told you that the pieces would fall together and you will have a much different outlook on your day!

The weather is finally turning it's head from gray days to sunny and warm. That helps my lovely garden to grow and it also gets me outside working in the yard.  My home is also beginning to feel more organized, although that is a never ending project!  Over the weekend, all of my boys came home and helped clean out a space under the stairway and built me a storage system for my paintings - Happy Birthday MOM! Thanks guys!!!  So today I will begin to go through my stash of paintings and decide what to keep, what need to go into upcoming shows and what gets tossed. 

Life is good.  Be happy - J

Double Delight - Grandpa Art's favorite

My friend-neighbor-computer-guru's red Harley.

 "An intention is a quality of consciousness that you bring to an action." -Gary Zukav

Natures Comfort

Every morning I wake to birdsong, although lately there has been a little lamb bleating from somewhere across the creek, along with a very young rooster who starts to crow at 2:30am....yipes!

Year round we have a flock of Canadian Geese overhead or down the creek and an occasional turkey or more often a night time skunk. Last night we heard two Coyote's for the first time in awhile.  There are a lot of squirrels and deer that like to nibble my rose buds.

We don't live in the country but in a semi-rural suburban neighborhood. I like these sounds as it feels comforting to live with nature. As I get older, I find I have trouble killing a spider or an ant. Even snails that destroy my garden give me pause as I just fling them away from my garden instead of mushing them like I used to. Is this because I am older and have more respect for life?

This morning I found myself cheering for a bee that came through our bedroom screen door....while my husband was trying to find the electric bug-zapper, I was cheering for the bee to escape before he came back...................the bee escaped! .......yes....!  Although, I'm still not sure how I feel about living with a mosquito all night long.....itch, itch....! I grew up in this neighborhood that we still live in and when I was small, there where so many toads every summer that you could not walk across our lawn in the evening with out stepping on one...where did they all go?   I know some of them went down the back of my blouse to be squished by my two brothers who .....were boys....and my loving brothers....who liked to torture me!  But there used to be thousand's of these toads and tadpoles....also, there used to be Walnut tree's in Walnut Creek as well as Oak trees in Oakland.  Mr. b always says, "Places are named for things that they destroy"....like Walnut Creek and Oakland. 

“Birdsong brings relief

to my longing

I’m just as ecstatic

as they are,

but with nothing to say!

Please universal soul,

practice some song or

something through me!”

--Rumi

Rain and a Comfy Chair

"Playgirl" rose hanging her head in the rain

Today I woke to the pitter-patter of rain on our rooftop. I am glad the garden is getting the water it needs.  Rain makes me feel like curling up in a comfy chair, having a cup of fragrant tea, a warm fire, reading a good book and putting flannel sheets on all the beds.  The reality is that I will probably end up doing a load or two of laundry, cleaning up last nights dishes, feel guilty for not planting those last 50 bulbs yet and paying a few bills. But still the cozy feeling will be with me all day long and I still may jump into that chair for a chapter or two!

"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." - Roger Miller