Happy Blogiversary to me!

It's been two years since I started this blog. I have had fun writing, sharing, connecting, recording...so much has happened in the 24 months I've been posting.
I've become a Grandma to sweet Liam, I've taken classes, and taught some, I've shared many holidays with my family, I've done a ton of laughing (and crying) with my friends. I've seen seasons change and lives change. I've seen people I love battle illnesses and overcome...or continue to fight, and live with grace and purpose. I've learned SO MUCH!!!

I want to share it all, but I'll settle for a random sampling of photos taken by me, photos that I feel chronicle my life in a surprisingly candid way.
Hope you enjoy!

What have we become?

I read this story and had to ask myself, would I throw a party for a prostitute at 3:30 in the morning? Is that a good thing?

snippets from real life

See, I really have had lots going on the last few weeks, even if I couldn't blog about it. Josh somehow managed to get my last batch of photos from the camera to my computer.
Now the two are not speaking (what goes on in these machines??) and my camera card is full of wonderful photos and video of the Nature in Mind Festival that I have no way of getting onto my computer.
The mac frankly refuses to acknowledge the Canon, and the PC is in a snit about something, insisting they have never met and can not possibly connect in the intimate manner that uploading requires.
What's a computer illiterate to do? I've tried crying. No success at all. I've downloaded drivers to the best of my limited ability and pleaded and maybe said a baddish word or two. *sigh* Where is my computer guy when we need him??

Here is one of of the rescued videos. It feels like contraband. Enjoy. It may be awhile before I can post more.




.

Man that smells good!
Liam LOVES the essential oil diffuser. We all do, but this boy REALLY knows how to get the most out of it. Orange and Lavender are his especial favorites.

The chair and Wide Eyed Portraits.

The Faux Gogh continues. Here is the latest installment of the progression of Starry Night by Dawn.

There is a little bit of a painting peeking out from behind the chair in the last photo. Can you see it? Here's what it looks like:

This is a portrait Dawn did of yours truly! Isn't it wonderful? (and an amazing likeness too! LOL) I'm juggling marbles! How great is that?
If you want a special birthday gift for someone who appreciates whimsey as much as I do, contact Dawn about her "Wide Eyed Portraits". They are guaranteed to bring a smile. She fills the frame with symbolic, personal little touches that make it a real treasure.
Mine has birds, a bee hive, books, words and song lyrics, the marbles (which I collect) and a globe (another love of mine). It is the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning. I may hang it in my kitchen, or create an art wall in my living room. Not sure yet, but I'm enjoying it every day. Contact Dawn for one of your very own! While you're at it, ask her about doing a piece of furniture...she does a great Chagall as well as Van Gogh!

Tagged

I've been tagged by the generous and talented Caren of Dunesza: my life, my art, me

Here are the rules. Feel free to adjust them. Or not. Your call.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 facts about me:

1) I don't care much for hard and fast rules. I never follow a recipe, unless I'm baking a cake, and even then, I take creative license. I love to taste a new food, figure out what I think is in it, and come home and make it. I can never remember exactly how it tasted anyway, so if it's not perfect it doesn't matter. What matters is that I get taste and texture that I like, as I imagined it in my head and translated it to my plate.

A few things I've come up with this way are a veggie coconut curry with chick peas, carrots, cumin and sweet potatoes, and a hint of smoked paprika that I am pretty sure is my own original touch.

Another is something I call Borsch Salad. It's a layered salad of roasted beets and potatoes, baby peas and carrots in a dill dressing, sauerkraut and chopped dill pickles. It sounds really weird, but it is something I have come to LOVE!!

2) I adore the smell of coffee, but don't like to drink it.

3) I always wait till my tea is at room temperature before I drink it. I can't stand it hot.

4) When I read a book, I always write in it, highlight it, and cover the pages in sticky notes...even fiction. There are so many epiphanies waiting to be discovered!

My family doesn't appreciate it too much (nor does the library...I don't get that. I LOVE to read others comments in a book!) Needless to say, I usually have to buy books, rather than borrow them.

5) When I was in my twenties and thirties I found it very energizing to be with people all the time. Now I find I need my space. I have to retreat to solitude in my own nest in order to be able to enjoy interacting with others. I find I want to do that more and more on MY terms, not at other's whims. I am finding it easier to say no.

6) I never really remember "special" dates. I have a hard time remembering birthdays, (I usually know the month). Daniel and I didn't really know the date of our anniversary till about our 14th year of marriage. It slipped our minds, and never really seemed too, too important. The years passed, and we did keep track of those, and knew it was some time in the first week of April. Close enough! I swear I'd have forgotten my own birthday if it was not on such an obviously easy day!

7) One of my dreams is to spend a year in the arctic...to experience winter there. I imagine myself wrapped up in blankets by the fireside reading the long nights away for months on end. I also want to celebrate the summer solstice (my birthday) in the endless daylight.

I'm tagging...

Karyn

Dawn

Kathleen

Josh

Tanya

Nessa

(I know it's only six. Didn't I tell ya'?)

the wrapped gifts...

At long last, I am back in Blogland

and how I've missed this place!

It's been so long since I posted. My computer crashed, and I was off line for two weeks with that. Then this past week I was away at the Canadian Nature in Mind Festival in Lethbridge. I'm home now, but having a really hard time trying to get my programs running. I can't get my computer to recognize my camera, (Hello! You two are Best Friends Forever! Remember?!) so I can't upload my photos. I have a few that Josh somehow managed to find for me, but it's just frustrating me to no end!

Caren sent me a wonderful Valentines package from New Zealand. I think she mailed hers two days after I mailed mine to her (back on January 22nd) for the Valentine artist exchange initiated by Lelainia Lloyd.
New Zealand Post had her gift in my hands in about FIVE DAYS!!!
My package to her has still not arrived! We paid roughly the same dollar amount for postage, but mine was not airmail. (I couldn't afford that...$151.00??!! I know!!!) It cost $47.00 to send it, which I thought was ridiculous, as it all fit in a large brown envelope. It must be on a very...slow... boat...somewhere in the pacific.

Caren really outdid herself. The idea was to send a partner things we loved ourselves, so they could get to know us. I have a sneaking suspicion that Caren had a spy who informed her what I like, so she could send me special things that I love. Either that or we are really long, lost sisters, separated at birth. She sent me exactly what I would have picked for myself on a summers day!

Blue. Beautiful blue! Original art (see the water colour in the photo? Caren did it!), books that I am going to read this week now that it's slowed down here, BLUE and silver ear rings, just a bit dangley, a stained glass sun catcher (blue!), Music by an amazing Kiwi artist, chocolate!, a mud mask from a real New Zealand spa area, antique cab cards (oh! I love these!), and a wrap with traditional native designs on it in beautiful....BLUE! There is so much I'm sure I can't begin to describe half of it. I am still giddy at the fun of it all.

I just feel a little raincloud when I think of Caren, Valentine-less, waiting for the post to come through. Do you think it will ever arrive? I have the tracking number, which tells me it left Canada on February 2nd. What? I mailed it on January 22nd. 17 days from Alberta to BC, before it left the country???! And the same trip, in reverse took 5 days?! Something is wrong here. I think we need to update the term "Going Postal". I think it now means lying around, ignoring responsibilities and laughing at the customer who foolishly thought they would actually do what you paid them to do. And probably eating lots of pizza. And taking naps using my package for a pillow! Sheesh! OK, my "little raincloud" turned into an official rant.

(deep breath...) I will choose to believe that there is a reason for this delay. That it will in fact arrive at the perfect time, when it will be most appreciated or needed by Caren.
Ya, that's it. I'll stop there.

Thank you Caren! Your gifts are the best!