Beautiful Words...

Have you ever encountered words of such grace that they take your breath away? Words that make you ache to express yourself in such simplicity and beauty?

Here is a patchwork piece of such a meeting....I marvel that any one could be so in tune with the elegance of nature...

Her hands lie open in the long fresh grass
Her fingertips look through like rosy blooms

Your eyes smile peace
The pasture gleams and glooms

Deep in the sun searched growths the dragonfly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky

From The House of Life #19 Silent Noon
by Dante Gabriell Rossetti

Do these words not just shine? Can you feel the beauty of the imagery? They have taken my breath away, and I revisit them time after time, especially deep into a hot afternoon when the sky glows and the dragonflies un-weave themselves from the fabric of a summer day to sway in the breeze.

As fall settles in I will hang on these words till I can return to the lake of my dreams.

Be a Maker, not a Consumer

Madeleine L'Engle insisted she was not a consumer. That word was distasteful to her. She said "fire consumes; cancer consumes".

Wendy Tremayne says ""There is no creativity in consumerism… makers don't make good consumers. The less you know, the less you can make, the more you're going to buy."

I'm kicking around this idea. I love the concept and I know people who are interested. Should I go for it?

Swap Art

I haven't done many swaps for the last few months, but Dawn convinced me (made me an offer I couldn't refuse!) to join this Wacky Photo Booth Swap. And yes, I can spell!

Evolution of a tree from my kitchen window

It's a grand day. Sunny and clear and crisp. I love fall!

My kitchen window looks out onto the most beautiful big tree. It's huge, and has wide spreading branches that beg to be climbed. (It can keep on begging me all it wants...I'm staying down here with the camera!)

Here is the evolution of a tree over the course of the last month...enjoy!

This is the tree as it looked a month ago.

A week later it was transformed to this...(can you see the boy in the tree? It's enough to give the mother a real bad case of hiney clench!)

Isn't this brilliant? OK, I'm calm again...

Ack! There's another one up there!!

Oh Lordy! Now the boy has the camera and is taking pictures that give me vertigo as well as instilling deep terror for their lives!!

That's better! Everyone is safe on the ground. And will be here for quite some time. It could take weeks to clean up these leaves!

Though if they make this little pumpkin happy, I'll keep them around.

It Is Well.

Here's Why...

My Daniel,...Mr Wonderful. He adores me, works hard for us, and loves to make me happy. He really deserves a white horse.

The leaves scattered and piled in my back yard...golden and crisp and fragrant; rustling underfoot as I walk through my garden.

My family; growing and capable...a grown son and daughter in law whom I am honoured to call my friends, and my little Liam, a brilliant spot even in my dark days.

The friends; the beautiful friends that I have, who encourage me, support me, are transparent with me, and who accept me as real and flawed and often wrong, but love me through and in spite of it all.

The wonderful news that my Dad is feeling strong and happy and energetic...a true miracle!

A house that holds a family, and friends, and has room for all. We had 18 for Thanksgiving and did not feel crowded. Cozy; yes, but not cramped!

The excitement of finding my muse to make a special gift for 13 of the most artistic people in the universe. (No pressure there). To even think of mass producing something causes me to panic...but I am loving what I dreamed of, literally, as I was relaxing in my bed, half awake. Each one is unique and a little different.

The grand opening of the Lyceum this Friday and the doors that will open to our home education community.

My parents, married 53 years and always there for all of us.

The new project the boys are so engrossed in! Sports for the Mind!

My 13 year old who attended the forum for our municipal elections tonight and listened to the speeches of 14 candidates because he cares about his neighbourhood. And then he said it was very interesting!

Vinyl Cafe...laugh out loud one moment, blinking back a tear the next. (Why don't we have more words like bittersweet to describe an experience like this?) If you're not Canadian, get to a radio or pick up a book. It'll make up for having to wait so long to celebrate Thanksgiving. What's not to love about something with the motto "We may not be big, but we're small!"
Did I mention it's Canadian?

Back to "Normal"

Well, after 5 months of Cable TV, (AKA Crapple TV!) which we signed on for when they offered it to us at a ridiculously low introductory rate, we have unsubscribed. I did not get hooked on any shows, did not succumb to the "Ugly Betty" craze...(what is THAT about? Every second billboard is pushing that show down my throat! I watched 5 minutes and all I have to say is "why bother?")
The boys were definitely hooked on History Channel's "Lost Worlds" and Discovery's "Myth Busters". They are really great shows, and I'll miss them just a little.

Why can't I just sign up for the channels I want? Why does the package with the above two channels also have the awful, horrid adult one that I accidentally flipped to one night to avoid a commercial? I mean, it's ONE CHANNEL away from Discovery! Even with Digital you have to buy Basic crap too! What? Why? Who's idea was that?? I mean, most people don't actually watch the commercials, do they? I mean, if you watch TV? Don't you get a couple shows going and hope that the commercial breaks don't overlap? I had a system. I could watch Food TV and Jamie (OK, I'll admit I'll miss my Jamie), and some Home show at the same time. (My attention span does not extend to embrace commercial viewing). Well, instead of flipping from 32 to 51 I just hit the "down" button and got a horrified eyeful of something no one should ever have to see from the comfort of their living room. Or Planet Earth.

I canceled the Cable. I would like to be connected to the good stuff, but not at the cost of reality. 'Cause that stuff ain't real folks!

We rearranged the family room today. Moved chairs back to the cozy Library corner, instead of having them all oriented toward the Shrine to St. Shaw.
Six years with no TV; 5 months with "the Works"; now back to "Normal". It's not just a setting on the dryer folks, it's life spent facing each other.

Levi's new Amp and Guitar Practice area.

Guitar's workout area. (Spoiled guitars! A whole treadmill to help them keep those hourglass figures!)

Zoot the Cat's workout area.

My workout area...my new KingKong massage chair from my wonderful MOM!! A gift for NO REASON!

Books/games/cozy up with a warm beverage area...my favorite!

We All Do Our Part...

Liam spent the day helping us rid the house of dust bunnies. He came for the day while Mommy subbed for a teacher. Uncle Levi had cheerfully vacuumed the floor so Liam would not have to spend the day crawling around looking for crumbs and wayward bits that might be on the carpet. Which he would be forced to "deal with".

Liam really liked the vacuum cleaner, and like a true boy decided it looked remarkably like a Harley. He decided to take it for a test drive. But like a real biker, he had to keep his machine in pristine condition.
Grandma was a little distracted with the phone call Josh was having in the background, but still she was able to film, talk and swoop in to remove the fascinating bit of fuzz from Liam's Disposal System.





I think we'll stick with the vacuum cleaner. I'm sure his Mom will appreciate that.