i have no words..........
Friday, September 18, 2020
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Get Up
Song - Get Up Stand Up by Playing for Change - Song Around the World
 |
Dance at Bougival is an 1883 work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir |
Get up and dance!
"Happiness is the friend
who'll dance with you
to the song
that's not meant for dancing"
--thatonerule:#2887
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Look Up, Look Down
Song - In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins cover by Sierra Eagleson
Several weeks ago it was Mr. B & my 41st Anniversary. We decided to celebrate so he took me to a Tsunami Zone.......well no but yes. We actually headed to Nick's Cove near Tomales for our first dining out experience in five months!
It was a cool day on the coast but so refreshing to sit outside at the waters edge and enjoy a delightful lunch together. Then we headed over to Bodega Bay to take a long walk on the beach.
And when I looked up......
I spotted lot's of Forster's Terns......
And Pelican's flying low over the water.
And several colorful kites drifting in the breeze.
When I looked down I saw.....
.....Wimbrel's looking for crabs with their long curved beaks.....
....an elaborate sand castle with a moat dug all around it and feather & pebble decorations.....
...and a blooming red bulb seaweed........
....bits of shells......
...interesting feathers.....
and this sweet little flowering plant that I have never seen before.
And when I looked up again....
...I spotted this sea monster looking at me!
Happy Anniversary Mr. B - And here is to many more.....
"Because of our routines
we forget that life is
an ongoing adventure."
--Maya Angelou
Friday, September 11, 2020
She's Got Legs
Song - Hot Legs by Rod Stewart
Several weeks ago we were having a BBQ with family. Part way through dinner someone noticed this little Praying Mantis on my table top plant trellis. She was just a baby and less than one inch long.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
--Confucius
Friday, September 4, 2020
Missing You
Song - Time to Say Goodbye by Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman
I have been waiting for the day to share with you about what has been going on in my life lately.....beside Covid.....beside California wildfires.....and smoke.....beside 100+ degree weather.
My last post was July 1st.
The very next day we got the unexpected news that my mom Betty was very ill and in just three short weeks she passed away.
A few days ago her home and the house that my family have lived in since 1956 sold. For the last few weeks my brother and I have gone through our family belongings. Nothing of real monetary value, mostly fond memories.......the best.
It brought us closer working through the grief, remembering fun times, giving items to family members and getting rid of the rest, laughing and crying. Her faithful little dog Buddy was re-homed to a loving family in Sacramento and they are all so happy to be together.
The birds that mom fed have missed her as well as they keep coming to the feeders and the windows wondering where she is.
I struggled with posting about this as it felt to dear to me and I was still too tender.
I trusted myself to wait until the right time
came. I even thought about just starting up again with a happy post
about a flower and act like nothing had happened. But in the last few
days it came to me.....YOU know exactly how this place feels. You have
been here at some point in your life so you know. And that is why I needed to share with you so that you know you are not alone.
"The reality is that you will grieve forever.
You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one;
you will learn to live with it.
You will heal and you will rebuild yourself
around the loss you have suffered.
You will be whole again
but you will never be the same.
Nor should you be the same
nor should you want to."
--Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Wailing
In 2011 I heard this man Carlos Reyes for the very first time at Doobie Brothers concert
H e b l e w m y m i n d
And if you listen to the song above "Amazing Grace" you will understand why
He can wail on that violin...
And a fun fact is that he lives in my home town of Walnut Creek!
"One of the most popular performers to grace the Sierra Nevada Big room stage, Carlos Reyes, returns Tuesday.
Paraguay-born harp and violin artist, Reyes will be backed by his hot band, Electric Symphony, as he plays sweet Latin American ballads to lowdown blues and jazz.
“Chico’s been just wonderful to me,” Reyes said in a recent interview. “It’s great that Sierra Nevada keeps putting on such nice concerts. I’m very happy they do such a great job of bringing such a variety of people.”
Known as a recording artist, producer, engineer, harpist and violinist, Reyes has been breaking musical education at the age of 3 on the violin. He was declared a child prodigy at an early age when his father, a musical and national hero in Paraguay, urged him to learn the complicated 36-strings native Paraguayan harp."
--Enterprise-Record
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Illegal Entry
This morning a little Chickadee flew into our bedroom through our open door.
He just stayed for a moment to say "Good Morning" and then flew back out.
Ten minutes later I went outside to look at my garden and spotted a squirrel....
I called to Mr. B to see if I was seeing this properly....
Yep......Speedy was trapped inside the "squirrel-proof" bird feeder
Speedy was panicking trying each square to see if he could get out.
TRAPPED
I ran and got my camera and Mr. B was going for the wire cutters
As I approached him, he panicked and squeezed through one of the openings and ran up the tree
RELIEF
***no birds or squirrels were harmed during this adventure - the bird in the above photo was happily resting in our Japanese Maple last spring and the squirrel in the above photo was done by me in Photoshop as I wasn't quick enough to capture a photo of the actual crime.
"The creatures that
inhabit this earth-be they
human beings or animals-are here to contribute,
each
in its own particular way,
to the beauty and prosperity of the world."
--Dalai Lama
Monday, June 29, 2020
Just Chillin'
My son's dog Chewy just chillin' on our bed in the morning light.....sweet.
"Live in the sunshine
Swim the sea
Drink the wild air."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sunday, June 28, 2020
On the Bonnie, Bonnie Banks
Luss is a tiny village on the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland and this is were I saw this beautiful Clematis happily growing.
"The world is a book
and those who do not travel
only read one page."
--St. Augustine
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Summertime
"Summer Dozers & Posers"
Ten years ago I painted this painting of my son Andy (far left)
and his friends - Jeff, Brett & Jordan working in our backyard for some spending money.
They were actually digging out the hillside above
the pool so we could add a hot tub spa.
But this painting turned out quite large - 5 feet wide.
What was I thinking? How would I transport it to shows and events?
I found a way....
"We can't hire out our own inner work,
but we can do the manual labor with delight and decency."
--Sakyong Mipham
Friday, June 26, 2020
A Church and A Pub
In the spring of 2017 Mr. B and I were traveling and doing some research on my family tree.
On May 21st we were heading to the small village of Stogumber, Somerset, England
as I knew there was a church and a pub that I wanted to visit as well as the local countryside.
So you can get your bearings go west from London, then west from Bath and you will see the town of Dunster - there is a yellow star below that and that represents Stogumber.
Here we came upon the church of my paternal Great-grandparents - St. Mary's
The inside of the church was painted in very elaborate design
.
"St Mary's was transformed in the late Victorian period by Prebendary Edward Jones, a follower of William Morris
who had the church altered in Arts and Crafts style with stencilled
walls, floor tiles in the chancel, and a painted wagon roof. The
Victorian alterations are vividly coloured and create a contrast to the
earlier medieval stonework and plain furnishings. "
Quote taken from the "Britain Express"
This is the memorial of Sir George Sydenham (d 1597) who's daughter married Sir Francis Drake
He was buried here with his two wives - one on either side of him - very cozy......
And before we leave the church I just wanted to mention that in 1990 Van Morrison had a concert here for 300 locals. Can you just imagine happening upon that?
And across the street.....
....a pub that one of my GG-Grandparents owned
The White Horse Inn
and guess who was quite content to trade a few stories with the bar keep Mick?
Mr. B !
"The English pub has always been much more than a tavern -
it is a clubhouse, a meeting place, a community center."
--Antony Dias Blue
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Proper Birds
Probably proper distancing for birds on a barns rooftop in Santa Cruz
(Notice their very long shadows)
"In order to see the birds it is necessary
to become a part of the silence."
-- Robert Lynd
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Orange You Glad You Asked
Orange (and yellow) Ranunculus
in the flower market in Paris.....
.....The New Novel by Winslow Homer - 1877
in an orange dress.....
...an orange tabby kitty sleeping on an
ancient stone wall in Rocamadour, France....
...an orange car in Sonoma....
...and orange zest French toast that I made for Mr. B
several weeks ago - Yum!
Bet you weren't expecting that last one ;-)
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Happiness
Pure joy and abandonment
Happy dogs on the beach in Carmel......
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful
as my dog thinks I am."
--Toby & Eileen Green
Monday, June 22, 2020
Can You See Me?
These are the brightly colored houses of Burano, Italy c2005
Legend has it that the wives of the fishermen painted these homes
so colorful so that their husbands could see their homes
when they were out fishing.
Burano is also know for it's beautiful lace work
and a 17th Century leaning bell tower
"Many men go fishing all of their lives
without knowing that it's not fish that they are after."
--Henry David Thoreau
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