In Absentia....

I've been away a while, but life moves forward. Beautiful sunrises grace the morning skies during coffee on the porch....

 

....Pink-gold sunlight reflects in the abundant magnolia leaves, turning the tree into something magical and luminous.

After an overwhelming drought and spate of heat, rain brought forth a second round of blossoms on the wisteria, sweeter and pinker than those that braved the chill of Spring....

 

 

....Bloom where you are planted takes on a whole new meaning....yes, I will....

 

 

....Phlox, unable to be killed by anything short of nuclear  winter, reappears with vigor and soft scent....

 

 

....Happy faces turned to the sun. These have prospered and everywhere I look there are bouquets of delicious, happy yellow!

 

....Say goodnight Mr. Sol, after a beautiful day....

Greetings all~~tho I have not been to visit blogs, I am still out here in blogland, taking life easy and healing.

This post-op round of chemo has mostly left me quite fatigued and I have given in to good books and pajama days. 

It seems my social calender is filled with running up and down the road to the Oncology Center; there are days I wonder if they do one more blood draw on me that I might shrivel up and blow away! (hahaha~~I have too much ballast in the nether regions for that! *wink*)

I grow impatient for this course to be over and done, get back to life in the studio, and having more energy.

Still, the quite time has been good and helped me make some hard decisions about my path after this is finished.

Time to think; time to weigh. Time to clear out the old and open space for the new.

In everything there is good if you look for it~~my life seems to have an abundance of GOOD.

Good friends, good husband, good food, good EVERYTHING.

Just having to learn patience.....which has never been my forte!

So till next time I pop in; hoping you have sunflower days and twinkling star nights and of course, love in great quantities.

Pax....

A Door Opens As One Closes

If it is early in the morning (my time) and you are reading this, I am at my last chemo treatment. 
What do you say? How do you express the odd emotions that run rampant at a time like this? The day everything changes in the short term.....
I am closing this door, and know another awaits me.


I want to shine like the forsythia in the early sun, glow from within, feel my life come back together, savor each second. 
I never want to forget the path I've walked to get to this day, and I want that path to continue far, far into the future.
Here's to many, many new doors opening.
For us all, each and every one.
And sunshine in abundance too.


Pax....

Tuesday Tantrums

Well, Blogger started out my morning in it's usual fashion; not letting me publish comments. You know, if I could beat my computer senseless at this point, I think I would! I refuse to drop comment moderation, because the Asian pervy-creeps are still trying to sneak in the blog (like they think I don't SEE their stuff?) and I hate the extra effort of getting the comments off.
Yesterday I boiled my brains mowing as it was the *coolest* day forecast this week, except for tomorrow when we are to have thunderstorms......I am beginning to think my poor brain is about the size of a walnut and just rolling about in my cranium!
Some of the work I have been doing for the church hanging is going good, but even with ceiling fans, dehumidifier running and A/C---the paint is taking three time as long to dry. It is frustrating to say the least. I will have to post some of the photos of the weird stuff I am painting, hopefully to use in the creek bed that runs thru the piece!
Other assorted tidbits.....on my list are the following:

• grocery shopping
• buy supplies to change the oil, filters and spark plug in the J.D.
• chipmunk trap (look out chipmunk heaven......)
• printer ink
• laundry
• oh yeah, studio time

And why was that LAST????
That pretty well sums up my day/week or however long this takes, and I move so slow in the heat.......isn't it CLOSE to Fall yet?
Geez, I forgot to add camera batteries to that list, as I have blown through another set. Yes, I have beatiful photos to post, a lovely story about a surprise from Ces and other  *quality* posts....but I want to be able to publish the comments! ACK!!!!
Okay, enough of a rant...off to Anne-Land to get busy on, well, SOMETHING.
Have a good one y'all.......stay cool! ;-D

Pax...

Worthy of Gratitude; The End of the Journey

And now, we reach the end of this five part series on worthiness. From comments left, it seems those who read were able to garner something that related to their own experiences or some area where in they would like to strive harder for positive change in their lives.
I am excited by this because it is a sign of thinking, progressing people, who know that their own personal life is a very valuable and important thing that should be handled gently.
I am grateful for having this opportunity to share thoughts with you. I express my personal gratitude to all of you, right here, right now, from my heart.
And I hope you accept this small gift.
Sometimes, feeling worthy of gratitude is a hard thing to allow ourselves to do because we are afraid we might be seen as gloating, pretentious or perhaps feel we just don't deserve it. Our upbringings, our stations in life, how we have been molded by other's hands all have a factor in the ability to genuinely accept--and know that you are worthy of--gratitude.
You are.
Every one of you.
I know this from reading the words of your lives you've shared. You are worthy of gratitude in great abundance---to stand with your arms wide open, to close your eyes and speak in your most inner soul that yes, and YES, SEND ME GRATITUDE! The universe hears you, your angels hear you, the Divine hears you.
Let it happen.
And as a gratitude practice, pass these feelings on to others. In kindness, in generosity, in words of praise, in small ways that only you can manifest for whatever situation presents itself. Remember what you put forth will eventually come back to you tenfold. (I am not necessarily talking *bank accounts* here folks! there are other ways....really!)
We cannot change a lot of the world we now live in on large sweeping scales, but we can change the way we treat ourselves and those who are around us. One small effort does not go unnoticed. It can cause a ripple effect.....that is not the stuff of science fiction, nor of dreams. It is being willing to put thoughts and words into action and putting your gratitude out there.
It will return.
Accept it gently.......as a heart in your hands.

I now close this with an image of a felted heart I made for a series I did in fiber, and I think it is appropriate. If you wish to download and save it, fine. If you wish to use it on your blog, please just give me a cutline. If you wish to print it for an everyday reminder of Gratitude, and your worth, please do.

I most sincerely bid you, for all of your days; Love, Joy, Courage, Enough, Gratitude and above all else.....

Pax.

Worthy Of Courage

(Not unlike the Cowardly Lion, we all--at some point--ask if we will ever find courage, and thus begin our worthiness quest......)

There is a specific reason I chose to write about courage on this date; one year ago today, at approximately 9:50 in the morning, I propelled myself across our garage, arms flailing, loads of art flying, my body bouncing off hard items and managed to become airborne, before landing at the front of the garage, directly on my right femur head, feeling the femoral neck break as it hit the concrete floor.
I was alone.
No cell phone near, nothing.
I laid in pain, shrieking as only a person severely injured can. It is that primal sound that comes from your gut. It is something you do not want to hear.
I had no choice but to roll myself over, use my left leg to stabilize the broken right hip, and crawl hand over hand the full length of the garage, back to my studio, up four steps, and reach the phone to call my husband. (and yes, this was all in excruciating pain....)
Was this courage? I don't know. People have described it as such but I prefer to think of it as some innate survival instinct. You don't know what you're capable of until it happens. Then the adrenalin kicks in.
Today, March 11, 2010, I feel courageous. I am WORTHY of saying that. I have survived one bad surgery, one great surgery, am on my third bout of physical therapy and am determined beyond belief that I am going to function like I did before. That is where the courage kicks in.
When you are down, when the people you thought were friends quickly scamper away like rats leaving the sinking ship, when you realize projects you have sunk your heart into are gone, when you finally PUT YOUR NEEDS FIRST---that is courage.
It is a difficult quality to pinpoint, and we are pretty well brainwashed into thinking of *heros* as courageous......but like the great garage fall, most of the time, it is gut instinct or training at play. I am not saying there is not bravery of a certain sort involved---but we are dealing with a different animal, though closely related.
You are worthy of the courage to stand and speak when something is not RIGHT; morally, ethically, politically. You are worthy of that because within you there is a voice that needs to be heard, and it takes a tremendous amount of courage to speak up and not back down.
Courage is reaching out to those who are normally forgotten, when you may be socially ostracized, when there is the very good chance that emotional hurt will be involved. Courage is digging deep to face personal issues head on and not sweep them under the carpet and not be swayed when you know what you must do.
Courage is that moment when you know you cannot live by foolish rules set down by others, and define your own set of life-rules, and then daily, stick to them.
It is the fire in the belly, the conviction in your soul, the temper you feel rise in your blood.
You are WORTHY of this.
Why?
Because then, you will be living your own life, and not one planned for you by someone else. You will be walking unwalked paths, gaining knowledge and strength each step of the way. You will be sturdy like the oak but bend like a willow when you must.......because sometimes courage involves silence. To think, to decide, to ponder how to proceed.
We are most worthy of these qualities because we are finite creatures, and with courage, we can leave a footprint that will be followed by others.
Yes, you can break away.
Yes, you can seek your dreams.
Yes, you can succeed....because you have gone forward courageously. You certainly are worth that....are you not?
My journey is not over. My courage failed when I was assigned this last therapy round. I felt sorry for myself, pondering the loss of a year of normal life, and at 50, it's a lot different than when you are younger. I wanted to retreat, to sit and withdraw, to try and forget how I had been in my *previous existance*.....the tall blonde woman in the tight swishy dress and high heels, the firebrand, the perpetual joker. I thought for sure it was all gone. How much more could I go through, emotionally and physically? Was this endless? Was the pain endless?
Then that devilish little fire-starter in my belly tuned up and reminded me I have places to go, things to do, stillettos to wear and many people left to annoy!
And so, I step forward again, courageously, to prove I am worthy of this. And I will be whole again.
Join me. Prove your worth.

Oh, by the way. No more flights across the garage....I think I'll walk the next time....   ;-)

Pax.

P.S. Home from PT, and I have worked so hard, I have only TWO MORE SESSIONS!!! And I did tell them I had been crawling on the sewing tables, up ladders, lifting bookcases........maybe they're sick of me.....LOL!!!

It has finally happened......

.......I am having a complete and utter Blog-Brain-Blank. There is nothing there but a few disjointed thoughts pinging off the interior of my skull, moshing in my sinus cavities and generally trying to push my eyeballs out.
Are there interesting things in the studio to photograph?
Yes.
Am I doing that?
No.
The rain and cold has brought in a humdiginger of a sinus headache that has me almost seeing double. Now, considering on a good day when I go to use the camera, I don't see too well, I'm not pushing the envelope for this. Photos can wait for another day. And cropping, and reducing sizes...all the fun that goes with trying to make this blog look somewhat attractive.
Thus, the antique clip-art drivel instead. It was that or a skull in pieces, to show where all the cranial plates come together....okay, I find that interesting but I didn't think others would. Gentle readers, you ARE on my mind! (just look closely at the illustration and see which little compartment you fit into!)
I think---not sure but THINK---I have DH home this weekend, got an e-mail about firming up a commission, so that will be some online time for supply prices, and have the bank to do and a pile of bills calling my name.
Ah, the drudgery of life.........Calgon, take me away!!!! (or any good quality wine, with a nice fruit and cheese platter of course!)
So until I am a more fit blog authoress, I hope that creativity is pinging about in YOUR brains and not trying to push your eyeballs out. ;-) Or if it is, well, it's a creative push!!!
I bid you, most sincerely.....

Pax.

Corralling *The Little Pirate* (or why mothers turn grey)

(Elinor Frances Stewart Huskey July 31, 1923- August 30, 1990)

Yes, that is me with my poor mother hanging on for dear life. We were on board the U.S.S. Patch, headed for our station in Germany in the mid-sixties. And why is she holding so tightly to that Little Pirate??? Because I had a tendency to run as fast as my fat little legs could go and jump! I had this thing about water (still do, though I swim atrociously!) and if someone didn't nearly have me on a leash, I'd be in it.
And I couldn't swim.
No fear. Or maybe it was no brains. ;-)
Mother spent her life trying to reel me in, all the while I was pulling hard, trying to reel myself out. I think the expression says it all......no smile, no cooperating, no giving in, just pure determination. No wonder she wanted me to join a convent, to keep me out of trouble! And seriously, I considered it for a good while, but it was that *unquestioning obedience* part that steered me away.
I learned a lot from her; cooking, embroidery, we had a few vain attempts at knitting until I taught myself. I remember wash day with the laundry baskets lined with plastic from the cleaners, holding the starched, damp and rolled clothing, awaiting the iron. Everything was so fresh afterwards!
I managed to ruin many dresses with bouquets of dandelions for mother; the milk from the stems leaving a trail of brown dots across the cotton........mom would patiently embroider little Lazy-Daisies on each stain, with French Knots in the middle, thus making the dress fit to wear again.
I thought it was tres cool.......it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized she did this because we did not have the money to buy new clothing at the rate I buzzed through my wardrobe. In fact, I was well protected from the fact that due to monthly military pay, at the end of each month, my folks were counting pennies to make it to the next paycheck.
While I was highly encouraged in art, dance and music by mom, I was crushed and disillusioned when, my senior high school year, ready for college and planning on an art degree, I discovered that it was not happening. My god-parents controlled my college fund and they would only agree to what they chose for me to do. Me? An anchor person on some local news broadcast? Give me a break!!!! (or just take a look at that face in the picture....says it all....)
And so, that was the end of a lot of dreams and hopes and the beginning of a tremendous amount of really bad behaviour and being a rebellious little stink in general.
Maybe that is why there is only one photo with this post---because those were still the happy years, without my aunt and uncle involved in our lives, and mom and I were good friends. Maybe it is normal for a daughter to revolt against her mother at some point, to try and leave the nest. Maybe I just like this sweet memory, and the pic really expresses my disposition du jour, or even now. Too determined, too inflexible. Certain of where I am going despite warning.
No matter...........rest peacefully mother.
I turned out okay...............more or less.

Pax.

Not One Bit Of Art, and a RANT ALERT!!!

Ah yes...that pretty much sums up yesterday. While I need days off, here is what yesterday looked like at Chateau Lockard:
First, the new mail server had quite nicely deleted all my settings for what was and was NOT Spam, so I spent a couple of hours in the morning re-entering 100+ e-mail addresses, white listing them. Then I got to go through all the bulk mailings I subscribe to, and try and figure out which ones were in the said white list and the ones needing to be put there. This was not fun.....in any way, shape or form. By the time I was finished, I had a whopping headache, plus I assume the hip hurt because I had sat on it for so long.
Second, (related to the first), I discovered the lady I keep in contact with about doing church banners had written me, and said useless mail server had decided to dump her letter---which had business in it---into the Spam file while letting through lovely smarmy e-mail about things being enlarged or people who want to *be my friend*. Obviously they do not KNOW ME. And I really don't need and/or WANT anything enlarged. Ahem!
Third, I had a good painting fall off the wall, straight down behind a glass nightlight. The light bulb shattered into pieces too small for my decrepit eyes to see, but I figured the fingers and toes would find them soooooooo......
Fourth, I was FORCED to get the vacuum out and start sucking glass. I could not see it, I could only hear it. And being as OCD as I am, and having not cleaned the studio in a while, I was discovering all sorts of nasty tidbits that I really did not want to share my space with, so a full fledged attack on the floor began. Which, considering the amount of crappola I have in here, is nigh impossible.
So I did the obvious and sensible thing; I sat down and played on Facebook a while. Quite a while. Sweep a little, read a little, sweep, sweep, sweep.......wait a minute. That's beginning to sound vaguely like a song from "Oklahoma!"
THREE HOURS LATER.......
I finally have enough of the dust up that I don't feel too guilty about sitting again, I've actually put a few things away and I am pretty much done for the day. My time has been spent on drivel--useless and inane, back breaking, giving me pains all down the leg, and all because a painting had to fall off the wall.
I did, however, find two books I forgot I had (and have not read) and got more things put away. It is that amount of Southern Blood that rises to the surface and forces me to submit to the sweeper. It should be illegal. Someone should do this for me. There are so many better ways to spend time......dang! Housework is the spawn of the Devil's Arse!!!!!

(deep exhale....)
Okay, I feel better.
On the bright side, it looks like I will be doing a set of Christmas Banners, so that is actually money, which I've seen little of since the great fall, and I am quite happy about that. Will meet probably sometime next week. And I should shut up and count my blessings, which are very many.
So get out there and enjoy the day; let the house wait, let life grab your hand and take you for a joyride!
And go make art!

Pax.

Blast from the past.....

Time flies.............if you don't believe it, go back through your artwork, especially those pieces that should, for some unknown reason, have a date prominent in the design. I found these pics this morning while debating on doing a post; I'm still kind of wiped out, I have DH home through the weekend and a load of work both physical and on the computer awaiting. And I'd like to crawl back in bed. The latter is not going to happen........ ;-)
At any rate, of the number of quilts I have made, this is one of my favorites and sadly, the vinyl the jacket was made of is deteriorating. When it was out on tour, it was not stored in a climate controlled space, came home with creases and pet hair and I was sick. That was one of the determining factors in my withdrawal from shipping and showing work, and also a beginning of the desire for mixed media. I just knew there had to be a better way of self expression, and I learned that the lure of money or my name being out there meant little. I guess it was then that it hit me that I do art for the pleasure of ART, and hopefully for pleasure it brings to others (which is why I blog).

The name of the piece is "43 Enshrined: Inner Sanctum". It speaks of that point in life where you are midway. To the viewers right is the sturdy whole column, to the left, the inverted torch and crumbling rock and brick. And there *I* am, right in the middle, my life and loves summed up within the representation of my signature leather jacket. Music, New Orleans, my tattoo artwork, other small charms of protection, and good old skinny me in a pair of leather pants I would give my eye teeth to squeeze back into again! (delusional Anne......carry on) And my favorite bass, a Fender Jazz bass, now sold.......oh the action was smooth, the neck fast and the sound out of this world!!! How I miss it.

It seems like this past year has been such a time of transition in one form or another, that if I was to remake this piece today, I ask myself, "What would the contents of the jacket be?" What would be the dominating themes in my life? Where, exactly, as an artist and as a person am I now?

This was easy at 43. It was a full year, a ripe and verdant time. In the year of the impending 50, I am not sure. Is life defined by decades or moments, sweet and short? Is it filled with pleasure or pain---do we subtly forget the hurt over time and fill our *jackets* with the warm memories of things past and accomplishments achieved? As we grow older, do we wish to DO more but find less time, and have to face the realization that there is a finite amount we will achieve and refine that area?

What fills YOUR jacket at this point in your life? What road are you on?

And the question I perpetually ask myself: Am I where I am supposed to be, doing the work I should be doing, or is it all a tempering of mettle for something else ahead.

So.........where are YOU and what is your life full of?

I hope creativity, in one form or another is part of it.

Pax.

Letting Go

This was from the last meeting I lead for the Co-Op. One of my friends from Logan snapped the shot; there is a serenity to it that I did not feel at the time but now I see as a foreshadowing of things coming.
While I enjoyed my time (and there was a tremendous amount of it) spent planning and working for the group, it has been through a lot of life-related issues and counsel with friends that I realized I need some downtime for myself, for other work, and to grow in an artistic manner.
Letting go of anything you love is the dearest and hardest gift you can give; it is a portion of your life and heart that are lost forever but it is necessary to make the separation. I have no doubt that I did the best I could, I've made mistakes, I've had good times and hopefully others have too.
Other opportunities have presented themselves of late, and it was with a great deal of introspection that I made the decision I did.
And I was ready.
Often our guidance in life, in our jobs, in our spirituality comes in quirky ways, in little things sent at the right time, in painful separations and in the realization that we are on a finite path and must make the best use of it.
After church service today, I will be in my much neglected studio again and be working on something special......and I have missed that freedom. In fact, it is rather hard to feel at home here again, with the very small amounts of time I've spent within these walls of late.
Art, in whatever form you make, requires sacrifices---and it mimics life in that respect. That is why I always sign my correspondence with the tag line "Life creates Art. Art creates Life." Both need nurturing. Regularly. Continually.
Treat yourselves to a day of artistic nurturing, with no sad looking back but only joyful looking forward and the realization of how wonderful each and every persons life-path has been and how blessed you were of the other paths that have crossed yours!
Pax.

Storms......

.....Across Indiana last evening, some of them quite severe. I had no internet to do a post at that time; even if I had I think I would have been cowering with the birds and occasionally popping out to see the weather radar.

I was dumbstruck by how dependant I have become on this machine for almost everything. Communication, weather (well, in our part of the country, weather is a biggie....), planning of all sorts. My inability to access all my correspondence sent me into a fit that was most unfit and disgusting for those who had to be around me.

The worst of it is, as I was thinking about it all was how do you change--technology changes US. Either we keep up or we are lost in our world. We become Luddites by chance or by choice. Change is inevitable, but is it all good?

I recalled how each morning, even on the coldest days of Winter, I would take my first cup of coffee out on the porch and watch the sunrise, hear the birds, smell the fresh air. It was a ritual I loved dearly; it was relaxing and a wonderful way to start the day. Even when I worked part time or full time (elsewhere), I would try to get up early enough to allow myself those moments of quiet with nature. That sense that the goodness of the whole universe is surrounding me and readying me for the day ahead.

Now each morning I sit at the computer dealing with various e-mail; some personal, some commercial, some business of my own. Coffee to my left hand, I start the day before this glowing electric god who has taken over a good portion of my life.

My art lives in it, my notes, my photos, my collections of ephemera that would otherwise be cumbersome to keep. My photo records and various appraisals of work reside in the Studio file. It has allowed me great strides connecting with other artists; I have made friends I would have never had the opportunity to make and it has gotten my artwork into far flung venues.

BUT.

At what cost?

While the title of this post refers in essence to the *real* storms that passed through here, I feel the amount of my life sucked into this machine has caused storms of it's own. I wonder; How do other artists feel? Do they, too, feel they have to fight to keep their soul their own--that they are not forced to be at the demands and whims of a piece of machinery? Is this the same in each age, except with something else that is new and different? Am I, indeed, a Luddite for wishing my time back and the simplicity of how my life used to be? (okay---reality check Anne---your life was never *simple*, just not as spastic as it is now) Is the world I recall a pleasant dream? Living life by the turn of the seasons, the smell of the thawing earth in the air as I stood wrapped in heavy robes upon my back steps, enjoying the warmth of coffee and the visuals of heavy steam and fleeting birds? Turning the soil to plant, watching daily as small seeds---little wonders---struggled and popped through the earth with me tending them carefully?

I have no answers---they are musings. They are the rambling thoughts of one who wishes for a bit more calm in all aspects of life, and yet I know that this thing, this machine, will remain as a part of my everyday existence. My storms will continue, the ability to juggle too much and still come out smiling.

Have I become the ghost in the machine?

To all who work in this medium, I wish you the peace and wisdom and ability to separate yourselves when you must, and not go through the infantile withdrawal I experienced yesterday.

The quality of our lives should not be determined by the number of strokes upon a keyboard.

Have a creative, beautiful, storm-free day!

Just a quick PEEP!

Wasn't yesterday fun? I love having the chance to post someones work and then see the feedback, especially when I have an idea that it will be GOOD feedback!

Today is really a quick peep; I am behind from Physical Therapy, have a lot to do and if I don't start winging it first thing this morning I won't get things done.

The group is to meet this evening to get the second coat of priming on the circus banners and so I need to run all my errands, come home and take a nap and then try and head back in. Therapy again tomorrow and at this point I feel like I am getting pulled in a few too many directions! (when they came to the house it was a lot quicker, but then, I don't have a pool and the nice water jets for sore muscles......)

So Anne's flying out of here early today and hope that maybe tomorrow I will have some real art-related material to post on.......or at least something silly and humorous.......

I did not realize till I brought the blog up today I had not loaded photos last night.. I am sure my gentle readers will forgive their dear authoress this one time!

So get out there and make some magic with your creativity---it's always a good day for that!

Every day is a potential creative day!

Quick updates.....PLEASE READ

Hi Valued Readers,

This morning is non-art related, but I'd like you to stick with me for a bit anyway. It seems of late I have been getting a few comments that are kind, BUT are adding a website that has nothing to do with what I feel *we* are about, and I have had to make the choice to permanently delete them, as there is a website link attached in the comment.
If you just like the blog and want to comment, please do! I love comments! And please introduce yourself so I and the readers know a bit about you. I just am suspicious of comments followed by web links that aren't art related....so if you have a link built into whatever you post and sign, please delete it here. Most appreciated.
But---if you are an artist, quilter, anything related to making any form of art, anything photographic and of content that is not adult in nature, or you are in music for that matter, or you are with an organization that supports the arts, feel free to leave a link in the comment field.
HOWEVER!
Anything else, such as links for plastic business cards, windshield repair, etc. will GO. FOR EVER. Won't have it; don't want to have to go to moderating comments but I will delete the comment, end of story. Sorry, but this is a networking tool for all art-type folks and we work very hard to have nice places to visit and I want to promote others in the field (as well as myself a bit too...!). This is a blog of friendship and laughing and learning and helping to get artsy type people together. This is not a place to promote a business if you are someone I've not a clue about. So like I said-----the comment with hotlink attached will GO to the cyberspace dumping grounds. I DON'T DO SPAM! My followers---you know you're welcome to promote your art or Etsy shops or whatever. No questions.
Nuff of the *legal stuff*. ;)
Yesterday I had a follow up with my doc on the leg and I am awaiting the scheduling of a CT from knee to groin and then PT in Kokomo, which---where I will be going---is about 30-45 minutes drive from here. I do not, at this time , know how I am going to make art, blog, work with our local art group (see pic at bottom of page) and manage everything else until the leg issue is taken care of. It breaks my heart to be posting this as opposed to art, a friends art and blog, or some funny picture and a completely off the wall funny story. But sometimes life gets in the way, and you do what you have to do to get better.
On the upside, DH took me shoe shopping yesterday, and I found 5---count 'em FIVE pair of acceptable flats until I am back in heels. I figure it was "Husband Hell", having to wander around the shoe store, carrying boxes while I tried on shoes! Like I have said before, he must have the patience of Job...... (that's why I love him and have been married to him for 24 years!)
So thanks for hanging in here with me. As I progress, the content of the blog will too. If you are a faithful follower and I have not done a little post on you, and you would like that, please contact me off-blog and we can work on setting that up. I have time to sit here and type---I'm still able to do that!
I wish you all the day I so want to be having; creative, inventive, filled with those moments that you are artistically lost in the zone for hours----pure bliss.
May you have an abundance of these!!!!

Anne

P.S. Have changed how the comments are left. If you cannot leave a comment, please e-mail me and let me know. Thanks!

Delicious Creativity!

In my book, there are two types of creativity; the artistic type (which covers a broad range of subject matter) and then there is my Southern cooking. If you are of Southern blood, then you know it is a prerequisite to be able to produce an absolutely perfect pound cake, rich with butter, crunchy properly browned top and last but not least, the absolutely perfect crumb inside. If you've not baked a pound cake from scratch before, then none of this makes sense. If you have, then you know the sheer delight of taking a razor sharp knife and slowly working it through the still warm cake, gently sliding that piece out and indulging in a portion of pure heaven.
This was my project yesterday, and I am sooooo glad I made it. It is wonderful---the comfort food of the gods. To heck with Ambrosia or those gooey salads---give me a large chunk of pound cake and I am happy and beaming.
Serve it with coffee or tea of choice and experience rapture.
Have it for breakfast. Yes. I do.
I truly wish all my gentle readers could be here to share this with me, and enjoy for themselves what we cooks strive to achieve; the combination of dense and light, rich but not overly sweet, melt on your tongue decadence.
Hmmmmmmmm..........
Well, maybe not! (that leaves more for me and I do need to bribe the gentleman who does my PT...)
Now go do something creative--whatever you do well. And if it's cook, drop a post on what wonderful yummy you have whipped up!
Life is too short for beige clothes, bland lipstick, bad food or lousy wine!
Cheers! :)

P.S. I might add, this did take all the oomph out of me, so today I need to kick back and take it easy. After PT. HA! And again......HA!

Creative Every Day

As usual, I am doing this backwards. I am linking to this site (sidebar) and need to go officially join. It is a great challenge because it is not a hard nosed, in your face type thing. The expression of creativity is broad, as it is in real life.
I think most of the folks that follow this blog qualify for being creative every day. In fact, it may be something I promote to Co-Op; to see how we create---what we do, what we consider creative and what we don't. I think a lot goes unrecognized and it is not always art that is creative.
The older I get, the more I would like to say I lead a creative life. That broadens the term even more, but at present, besides my own projects, my creativity is in establishing it in others. To inspire, to teach, to help, to listen. It is looking at being creative and doing so with depth.
I am not a challenge person where every day you have to make a *something* and post it. While this might promote good work habits in some, in me it usually means I produce junk that goes into the *circular file*. I want substance.
So now I will pop over to the CED site and get the blog signed up, and see if indeed I am Creative Every Day!
(moving the desk doesn't count...I know....dang.......)