Rain Delay

 Song - Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival

We have been getting some much needed rain here in California!  Today was great as the garden is getting her fill of water.

I was indoors all day finishing a book (The Rosie Project), picking up my upstairs Acrylic painting area in the dining room (because Mr. B is having a baseball draft here tomorrow with oodles of guys) and finally cleaning and rearranging my downstairs studio - which is where I paint with oils.

It is just one of those rainy days that makes me feel cozy to drink tea and be indoors without feeling guilty about it.

I have been using my new Pam Stern porcelain tea cups and they are a delight to hold. They have that organic hand made feel and are so beautiful!

I didn't realize how much I had missed that rainy "season" until today. We all need to hibernate occasionally!  I lite a candle and put on music while I smeared paint around the canvas.

   

It felt so good!



I also realized that I need to get out of Dodge tomorrow before the baseball craze begins!!!

Whoa!

PS - Did I ever tell you the story of how I used to babysit for Creedence?  Well their drummer's daughter?  I'll save it for another day......

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life." --John Updike

Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/rain.html#PyrCbvFfJU5fb784.99

Inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh

Song - Thich Nhat Hanh: A Warm Embrace - The Great Bell Chant

This Autumn Mr. B and I will be traveling to France and celebrating our 35th Wedding Anniversary!  Just where does the time go?

For several months, we have been working on our plans and figuring out where we would like to go and what we would like to experience.  We will be traveling to some familiar places but we will also go on many new adventures.  Mr. B is so much fun to plan a trip with because he is a warehouse of knowledge and ideas.

As we were planning our trip through the Dordogne, I realized that Thich Nhat Hanh has a monastery and several hamlets in that area.  While researching it further, I discovered that on Thursdays and Sundays the monks and nuns have a day of "mindfulness" open to the lay person.

We will be in the area on a Sunday!

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk who practices mindfulness and peace.  Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.  When not traveling the world teaching, he is at Plum Village, France - gardening, meditating, teaching and writing.

Mr. B has decided that he would rather research the area around Bergerac so that I will have a day of sitting meditation, teaching, Dharma talk and walking meditation.

I so wish I could spend some more time there but I am so grateful for the stars colliding so that I would arrive on a day of meditation.

Anyway, the main reason I was telling you about all of this is that via his Plum Village website, you can download several great apps.  One is the "Bell of Mindfulness" and you can set it to go off on your computer at whatever timed intervals you decide. It makes me smile and breathe every time it goes o I know some days I sit at the computer and get lost and before I know it most of my day is gone.  The "gong" reminds you to breath, center yourself and if you need, stand up and go outside to nature.

It is always nice to have a gentle reminder to breathe.....

Mr. B and his dreamy eyes...

 “Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.” --Thich Nhat Hanh

Tranquil Tuesday

 Song - Kiss From a Rose by Seal

I just love Apple blossoms!

This week we have been walking around the yard and enjoying the beauty of Spring!  My favorite time to walk in the garden are early in the morning with breakfast in hand and late in the afternoon (with a glass of wine!) I do a little watering and weed pulling but mostly just enjoy the daily treats that are popping out all over.

I have already had a bouquet of roses in the house and it's only March 25th! But my rose garden is just full of beautiful buds.

The strawberries are blossoming and setting fruit. Mika is licking her lips!

I have a huge bouquet of white lilac's in our kitchen right now.  I finally found out how to keep them from wilting in the vase and it works!  Click here for the info.

Cherry blossoms

Baby figs are covering this little tree

Beautifully scented Freesia's

Of course the roses in the front yard have already be eaten by the deer as are my primroses and Hydrangeas!

The Foxgloves will be blooming later this week

Oh yes.....and the Dandelions are doing beautifully as well!

Spanish Bluebell

Yesterday Mr. B and I retrained our grapevines and Wisteria pouring over our pergola.

(this is the "before" photo of the grapes & Wisteria vines)

 (scratch and sniff right here!!!)

The birds are happy, the flowers are happy and I am happy to have inherited the gardening bug from both of my parents as well as my grandparents!

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.  To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body but the soul."  -- Alfred Austin

Monday Morning Walk

Song - Busy Bee by Arthur Askey

Have you ever heard a flower hum?

Well, I have!

There must be a thousand big, black, bumble bees in this Wisteria tree.  I can hear it hum from 20 feet away!



 Let's continue our walk from yesterday. 

 Azalea

Sunday I showed you the beginning of my vegetable garden.  Today we are going to wander through the shade garden.

 Dogwood

A babbling creek below the shade garden

 Ferns are unfurling

Hosta's filled with water are erupting

And Primroses are happily growing amongst the wild strawberries.

Did I every tell you that my Dad's mom was named Violet after the flower?  

And her twin sister was Daisy?  

And their other sisters were flowers as well - Lily and Rose?

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

A Sunday Stroll

Song - Potato Head Blues by Louis Armstrong


Spring has Sprung.

Please join me this week for a walk in my garden.

Come on through the arbor on this lovely Sunday morning!

Last week my oldest son Andy helped me put in my vegetable garden. 

Love those strong muscles!

We put in 9 tomato plants into some great new soil. 

The last few years I haven't been able to grow tomatoes and I don't know why (other than Mika & Max would help themselves to what they could reach!). 


But this is THE year!

The Chives are from last year.  I love their sweet scent.

State Fair Zinnia's planted among the Cilantro and Chives.

And 6 - YES-six-can-you-believe-it-? - zuccini plants.

Mr. Fish watching over the Rosemary & Tomatoes.

I just love Spring don't you?

It feels like a fresh start.

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vegetables.html#tv7026Ob4ZCW1TPq.99

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'.” 
 - Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
 

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vegetables.html#tv7026Ob4ZCW1TPq.99

Abstraction & Jazz

Song - Take Five by Dave Brubeck

Earlier this week I took a workshop in Orinda from Sandy Ostrau. She is an incredible artist from Palo Alto. 

Sandy painting a figure

As I seem to have hit a plateau with my painting and I needed to shake things up a little.

So I have been thinking lately that I would like to paint a little more abstractly and more impressionistically instead of being so "fussy".  You know the fussy thing I mean? It's when you paint everything down to the last minutiae so the viewer doesn't need to think about much.

Sandy's landscape demo

But when you paint more abstractly, the viewer knows it's a landscape or a figure but it is done in such rich colors and lovely form that the viewer becomes a participant.

One of my favorite figuratives of Sandy's done from the rendering below

Pretty amazing, huh?


Sandy had asked us to bring along several painted canvases that we would then paint over. I have lots of those!!!

Unfortunately, I don't have a "before" photo to share but trust me.....this was rendered fairly realistically but just didn't knock my socks off. But now it sings....not like Sandy's but hey.....it was my first attempt!

So at lunch we got to talking about how a lot of people just don't "get it", meaning abstract work.  People walk by and say "Oh my kid could do that!"  But amazingly it is difficult to break down all of the components into large, strong shapes!

I compared it to Jazz.  There is the kind of jazz that is melodic and you kind of know what's coming next.  But there are other kinds that I have trouble following.  I think abstract painting is kind of like that.  Some abstracts will blow your mind because you can't seem to get it (and maybe you are not supposed to!) and others you can follow and recognize as a landscape or a figure.  Somehow that feels a little more settling to me. 

Love this one of Sandy's as well!

It was a great workshop and I actually had fun playing with my paint!


Please check out Sandy's work here - www.sandyostrau.com

 
 "Ah, swing, well, we used to call it syncopation, then they called it ragtime, then blues, then jazz.  Now, it's swing.  White folks - you'all sho is a mess!"  --Louis Armstrong talking with Bing Crosby

twentyeight

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON

Johnny Be Goode - Chuck Berry and Bruce Springsteen

Just when did my little Jonny get to be 28 years old and a man?

This is how I will always picture him in my heart.  He has always been a hard working, happy guy!

Making Stone Soup with Andy.  Andy gave the directions and did the stirring while Jon collected all of the stones and grass or whatever his brother told him to do.

He was very independent and would balance out joy & reward with punishment when he was told not to do something.

One day I found him starting to cross the street without adult supervision.

"Jon, if you cross the street without asking, you will have a time out"
After considerable consideration and weighing the two very carefully....
"OK mom, I'll cross the street and take my time out!"
And then he went skipping out the front door!

But kids do grow up and Jon has grown into a caring, loyal, interesting man. (but he will always be my baby!)

 Can you just see the sweetness pouring out of this little boy

Jon and his cousin's Sean & Paul and brother Andy getting ready for a Super Bowl game

 

 

Jon in Santa Cruz

Jon in Disneyland pouring so much cheese onto his spaghetti that he clogged the cheese dispenser.  I'm not sure if I know who that guy next to him is with the HUGE glasses on???Mmmmm......

 This was his neighborhood bud through grade school - Marco.

Jon has always loved animals and still does....ask me to tell you about Joe Montana sometime!

Jon with his cousin Sean & brother Andy on Halloween

For awhile in high school Jon played drums in a band called "Losing Autumn".  Guess who's house they practiced at????  The orange hair thing was only for a weekend while they competed in Battle of the Bands.

Jon helping Jim build the pergola in the backyard.

Jon graduating from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo

 

Jon fly fishing in Hope Valley near Lake Tahoe

Jon after Andy dressed him up early one morning to meet Brent Jones at preschool.

Brent was sweet enough to autograph Jon's football card.

Jon with his friend Megan at Christmas.

Thank you Jon for being a big part of our lives and reminding us to play more and laugh often!!

"A son holds his mothers hand for a little while......her heart forever." - Author Unknown