Carmel

Carmel-by-the-Sea......ahhhh.........just the name sounds relaxing huh?  I am in Carmel with some good friends for a few days and trying to breath deep to relax...............Om.................and paint.....and shop...and play.....and....dine....and visit with dear friends........and................oh heck, I guess I will just have to be very busy-relaxing!


I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday!

 "Om is not a word but rather an intonation, which, like music, transcends the barriers of age, race, culture and even species. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om. It is believed to be the basic sound of the world and to contain all other sounds. It is a mantra or prayer in itself. If repeated with the correct intonation, it can resonate throughout the body so that the sound penetrates to the centre of one's being, the atman or soul. There is harmony, peace and bliss in this simple but deeply philosophical sound."

The Tortoise

That would be me...the tortoise.....very slow.  It took me 10 years to decide about how we would best remodel our house.  I clipped photos from magazines (thousands of magazines) and read book after book.  I checked the internet for updates on what appliances, windows, contractors, paint colors, flooring, cabinetry, design, to see what felt was right.  I checked to see if we were within our budget while still obtaining quality materials.    Maybe it's my metabolism but I feel like I have always been this way,  checking things out thoroughly before I put my toe in the water.        S....L....O....W..... (right mom?)

Tim & Jeanette at Tahoe cabin

My two brothers would try to get me to ski down "gun barrel" in our teens, at Heavenly Valley but NO, I was quite content to go down the bunny slopes and work on my turns.....for years!!!

I wasn't like that when I met Mr. B......I knew he was the one.  My friend invited me to a local baseball game....he was the catcher on an adult softball league.  Instantly I knew he was kind, had a good heart, was very interesting, sweet, handsome, funny, loving, and deep.  

I wasn't like that when I was ready for children....I think I knew that decision from the age of 4......but it kind of amazes me that I can feel in my soul that these huge decisions are right but I can take forever picking out the right vet for our dogs, or deciding on what plants need to go where in the garden, or what color to paint the kitchen.  

20+ warm yellow kitchen colors (there were 3 other walls with similar swatches!) - our patient contractor.......

Maybe some things are written in your DNA ...or in your soul.  Kind of like a bird knows when to make a nest, then sit on it and then (like our backyard Canadian Goose nest) she knows when to leave it because the eggs are not ever going to hatch. 

A Robin's nest

I hope all three boys grow up to be just like their dad! (Well maybe without the BIG glasses!)

 

Jon & Jim

 

TJ & Jon

Jim & Tyler

Tyler & Lily

Andy & Jim

Kayli & Andy

“Nature is slow, but sure; she works no
faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the
race by her perseverance.” -Henry David Thoreau,
naturalist and author (1817-1862)    

Tweeting and Greek Mythology

While in Paris, I was trying to get a photo of these cute "blueish" pigeons (tweet) getting a drink of water and I discovered a lovely little statue behind them. 

The statue is ""Polyphemus Surprising Acis and Galatea", by sculptor Auguste Ottin, and was added to the fountain in 1866.  This is Acis, a shepard from Sicily, with Galatea, a sea nymph.

As you look up you see the Cyclops Polyphemus jealous with rage (he has a crush on Galatea, the sea-nymph) and he has discovered her with Acis. Polyphemus kills Acis with a large bolder. Meanwhile my little birds have decided to "get out of dodge"!  Can't blame them....

This is the Medici fountain in Luxembourg Park built by Marie de Medici in 1630.

Now I don't know about you but I have always wanted a Cyclops statue in my garden!


And I'll bet you were trying to figure out how I was going to connect "tweeting" and Greek Mythology.......huh?

OK, enough history lesson for today.  Enjoy your Thursday!

"Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description."

- D. H. Lawrence

Gratitude

 Morning journaling....

a catch-all journal of sorts

notes to self,

calendar,

to do list, 

random thoughts

(both important and not so.....)

A visual journal.

magazine pictures

and words,

important words.

                           heartfelt words.

And "doodles"

ahhh...

love to doodle!

But most important

a Gratitude Journal.

gratitude for both the simple and complex.....

birdsong

a good read

sunshine

art

water

Mr. B snoring next to me!.

my health

our boys

a home

a happy doggie on my lap

dinner with friends

parents who still love to garden.....

Abundance in my life

in so many ways!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow". ~Melody Beattie

Walking in Circles

My painting of Mama & baby

I've been walking in circles lately because I just can't seem to begin a new painting. I thought my creative juices had dried up, I'm a creative failure, I'll never paint again but that wasn't it at all. Today it suddenly dawned on me why.   



1. Every room in our house is in transition (I'm just saying that instead of a mess) because I got this huge urge to Spring clean about 2 weeks ago and instead of completing one room at a time, I took on the entire house.  Now everything is out of place and nothing has really been cleaned! I am usually OK if I have one or two rooms where I can retreat to when the other rooms are going through their "transition" but not so right now.  Jeez....what was I thinking?  

2. I am trying to paint a cow right now that I am sizing for a small frame that I already purchased.  Not a good idea.  I want to paint him BIG! A big guy with BIG attitude just should not be painted small. Makes perfect sense to me now!

The BIG boy - see what I mean?

the Lavender is coming along nicely too!

So....with my "intention" (OLW) happening this morning, I came up with a plan. I set up a schedule to get the house back in order (phew!) and I will just buy a bigger frame so I can paint my big cow any size I want!

Sounds so easy now but believe me I have been walking in circles! 


              Time to go wrestle a cow!



"Don't wait for inspiration—pursue it." 

― Dan Zadra

Varied Life Mysteries

There are lot's of mysteries in this world of ours. Picture Inspiration is a class I am taking through Big Picture and this weeks assignment was discovering some of the mysteries in nature and photographing them.  Most people put sweet photo's of baby birds, flowers, butterflies and newborn babies.  I on the other hand just went to the Giant's game on Sunday for Mother's Day.  I am amazed at what torture (Giant pun intended) athlete's put their bodies through.  And one closing pitcher is a real mystery to me!

Brian Wilson

Of course I had to submit a "pretty" picture too......

Do you know what it is?




(Hint - both photo's have beards)
Enjoy your week! 

       " Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." ~ Mary Oliver