Great New Blog

Hello everyone! I just stumbled upon a great new blog that showcases various artists' work, websites, blogs and opinions. Check it out at http://craftysynergy.blogspot.com/

Peace!

Some Art Stuff

So quick update on N first...he is feeling much better today although still staying very quiet so he isn't quite back to normal yet. Unfortunately I am starting with a sore throat headache thing that in retrospect is what N was managing before the ear infection. Let's hope that I don't end up down that road.

On to more pleasant things. The other day n and I organized and sorted all of the beautiful sea glass we have been finding this summer. She loved working on this project and I was pleasantly surprised to see that we actually had more of a variety in color than first thought. We used white paper plates to help us with the sort and then I took these photos.





More recently we have been working on wax mono prints to be used as invitations to both children's birthday parties that will take place in August. I love how the prints came out. n had an interesting observation as she was helping me organize her invitations to go out today. She said " This is so hard. I love them all and don't want to let go of any of them." I know just how she feels. Here party is beach themes to some degree and N's party is Indiana Jones. So can you tell which set belongs to which party?

Summer Sickness Yuck!!!

So today started off just fine. We got up early and got ready to go to school. Today was CPR re certification training at school. Most of the staff came to the training and it was great to see everyone. Everything was just fine until around 10am when N came into the training session and said his ear was hurting. I thought 'Oh No!'. I had him rest while I finished the first part of the training. We went to break at about 10:20 and I checked in with N and found him in pain, still. So I called the pediatrician and was able to get a 2:40 apt. By the time the training was over N was in excruciating pain so I called the pediatrician yet again to get an earlier time slot. The best they could do was 12:20. This worked out fine because it gave us about 20 minutes so n could eat lunch before we headed out. You may be asking why we didn't just go home. Well it just so happens that school is about 30 minutes from home and home is about 20 minutes from the doctor's office so it would have been shall we say silly to go home and then go back out to the doctor's. So we finally headed out and had time to stop at CVS to pick up some kids Tylenol to take the edge off of N's pain. (it worked thank God). We get to the office at 12:20 to find the place full! I have never seen so many people in the office before and we've been going to the practice for almost 10 years. Some of the children waiting were not happy. They were crying loudly and incessantly. N handled the 40 min wait well. Had we not stopped for the pain meds it would have been a very different situation. After waiting all that time the doctor looked at him for maybe 5 minutes...not even and proclaimed that he had an ear infection and that she would fax in scripts for antibiotics and ear drops. The nurse at the desk told us to give CVS an hour. We gave them about 40 minutes by the time we made it to the store via back roads(to eat up some of the hour). Luckily the scripts were just being filled and we waited(again!) for about 10 minutes before paying for our drugs and heading home. Meds on board and with a warm compress against his ear N was feeling a bit better although tonight he ended up with a fever. For him fevers tend to lead to vomiting. Tonight was no different. So he is settled comfortably in my bed tonight where he is most comfortable when ill. Think I'll be up all night tonight?

New Venture?

Over the past four years I have found myself artistically inspired by my teaching partner. She has an art education degree and is a talented artist. She makes beautiful cards, several of which I have framed and have hanging in my home. I have learned so much from her over the past several years and have worked to fulfill my own artistic goals. In the past I have made my own cards and am now perfecting the process. I enjoy the work and would like to move to another level with my handmade things. I have also found passion in working with fibers. I enjoy working with soy silk and wool roving. I have also enjoyed working with handmade paper and creating with sea glass. I have so many ideas running through my head. I am seriously considering starting an etsy shop. I know some of the folks that I read regularly have their own etsy shops and I would love to hear about your experiences. The handmade things I give as gifts are always well received but would they sell is the question. What do you think?

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Well as you can tell from the title of this post it is very HOT here! It is summer so the heat is understandable, but it totally drains my energy. The children and I have been enjoying the ac in my bedroom this afternoon. Soon I will have to venture downstairs to make something for supper. I'm thinking sandwiches and potato salad(homemade earlier today! yummy)

I just read an interesting post over at Mindful Life. It centers around the difficulties of blogging. She hit on some very interesting points such as the fact that blogging tends to be a one way relationship. People check in occasionally or regularly but rarely comment or become engaged with the author of the blog. I guess it begs the question: Why do we blog? Is it to share information with family and friends? Is it to journal our everyday experiences? Is it to connect with new people and develop relationships? Or is there another reason to blog...to share creativity, viewpoints, perspectives, information? When I examine my own reasons to blog I find that I fall into several categories. I would like to have more connection or feedback from my readers but should that be my focus? I'm not sure.

I think I will give these questions some more thought and return later to add to this post. N is clamoring for the computer so off I go!

Peace!

Fun in the Sun!

So yesterday was a 'play date' day at my house. Both of the kids had friends over for the day. We started with the arrival of N's friends T and M at around 10:30. They play really well together. They started with video games and then moved on to legos and action figures. 'n's friend p showed up around 11:30. She quickly felt comfortable and we all had a great day together! It is interesting to have a double play date going on. In one way is is great because both children have friends but in another way it is very tiring for me because eventually the boy/girl thing happens. Yesterday it revolved around playing in the water. The boys wanted the girls to spray them, but the girls didn't really want to play with the boys. It all worked out fine we even fit in spa treatments for everyone with loads of bubbles. Even the boys enjoyed the bubbles. By the end of the play date T and M wanted N to go home with them and p wanted to have a sleepover! We put the kibosh on all of those extra plans and opted for planning more play dates for next week.

Now that my children are getting bigger the question of sleepovers is coming up; not a lot; but every once in a while. I'm not sure how to proceed with this phase of childhood. I am perfectly happy having one of my children's friends come and have a sleepover at our house but that would result in the inevitable reciprocation. I'm not so sure I want my children sleeping over at another family's home especially a family that I have not known for all that long. It is definitely something to ponder. I would love to hear what you all think about this and how you may have handled these experiences with your own children. It is questions like these that I wish I could discuss with my Mum.

Lots of Work!

We did some serious cleaning and organizing this weekend. Our 15 year old washing machine is on it's way out so we are preparing the washroom for a new washing machine. (probably a 4.6 cu ft Maytag Bravo) I can't believe all that we did. We finally purchased and set up two heavy duty shelving systems. I have all my art/craft supplies somewhat organized on one set of shelves while the other holds household supplies. Who new shelving could be so exciting.

We also rearranged the basement family room. We removed several extra pieces and put them into temporary storage in our utility room. It is so clean and streamlined we actually want to spend time downstairs!






By far my favorite project of the weekend was the completion of our second mural downstairs. Years ago I displayed the children's artwork along the stairwell and on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. The art work has long since been removed. A few months ago I painted that wall as well as the walls going down the stairwell a crisp white to serve as a backdrop for new art. The entire family got involved in creating the art that now welcomes us as we descend the stairs.

Check these pictures out. If I could hug this wall I would. That is how much I love what we have created.









What do you think?

Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July! Aren't we lucky to live where we do? We are blessed to be free and certainly should thank all of those brave men and women who have given their lives for us or are risking their lives as we eat our hamburgers and hotdogs tomorrow.

The Meaning of Dreams

So I was wondering what any of the folks who might read my blog think about the meaning of dreams. Throughout my life I have had various reoccurring dreams. When I was a young girl I used to have a very vivid dream of a Native American man coming through my Mum's window. In my mind I always thought he was there to hurt her and I would have this dream quite often. I remember waking up and going into my Mum's room to check on her. I think I would probably spend the rest of the night in her room but I can't quite remember and unfortunately can't ask her. My most recent reoccurring dream has been one of my Aunt May's home. I have been having this dream since her death in 1998. There have been many incarnations of the dream. Before I go into that I want to tell you about the significance of her home.

So as a young child I spent a good amount of time at her home in the city. My family lived near the cape in a rather small quiet town but the rest of my extended family lived in and around Boston. So going to the city always meant seeing family and usually meant extended time at A. May's(my mums eldest sister). Through a child's eyes her home was like a mansion. She had a beautiful wrap around covered porch in the front. As you entered her home there was an actual vestibule and then you walked into her front hall from which a beautifully grand, polished hardwood staircase would take you to the second floor. Off the front hall were two small sitting areas and a huge walk in closet. To the left of the hall was a living room that ran the width of the home. Two large crystal chandeliers hung from medallions in the ceiling. There were built in book shelves with a state of the art audio system. On the other side of the room was a wood burning fireplace with a lovely white mantle. Lovely furnishings and rugs decorated the room. It was a place for people to gather, visit and spend time talking singing and even eating. Exiting this living room near the fireplace you would enter a small formal dining room that housed a large dining room set that seated at least eight. There were also two buffets. Next to this room was the hub of the home. The kitchen. My memory is failing me as I can not remember if you entered the butlers pantry through a regular door and then the kitchen through a swinging set of shutters or vice verse. Either way it was a very unique entry into a tiny kitchen where inevitably we would always gather. Off the kitchen was a laundry/telephone room, the food pantry, the back door, the door to the back stair case and the hall to the bathroom. Just writing these descriptions down brings back so many memories. Anyway, I should tell you about the second floor as my dreams always end up there.

To reach the second floor you could of course go up the formal stair case or use the steep back stairs. Ascending the formal stairs would bring you to two landings. The second landing was home to a treasure trove of family photos as well as a bench. When you finally reach the second floor you come into an open space that could have been used as a living room or parlor but as I remember it was always empty except for some storage pieces at the far end of the room. Off this space could be found my Aunt's bedroom as well as the only full bath, a tv room that was once a bedroom, and two other bedrooms as well as a tiny work space where my Aunt worked as a stenographer. Whenever I would stay I would sleep in my Aunt's room in the second twin bed near the windows. This was the typical pattern until I was a much older teenager and could drive myself to my cousin's home in Norwood where I then would stay for visits.

This is the home I remember my Aunt in although it was not where she lived as she aged. The home became too big and expensive to keep up so finally she had to sell the house and move into a condo. I never saw her condo even though she lived there for several years. By that time I was much older and had married and was consumed with my own life. Before her death she was in a nursing home and I did see her there. In February of 1998 she passed away. I was pregnant with my first child.

So back to my dreams...as I said previously in this post I have had many dreams relating to my Aunt's home. In some dreams she is present but in most she is not. Some dreams are jovial and celebratory, but in others there is tremendous grief. Such was the dream I experienced last night. It began with her daughter and granddaughter(sons daughter) coming to pick me up from my home. They were dressed in long fur coats that completely enveloped them to the point that you couldn't make out the shape of their bodies. So as the dream continued we ended up in that side to side living room with other family members. It had the feeling of a holiday gathering of sorts. It was interesting that there were many people in the room yet when I awoke I didn't remember any specifics about others in the room. At one point in the dream I had this overwhelming feeling of grief. I made my way out of the room and over to the front stairs. It was like I was searching for something or someone. Then I climbed the stairs to the second floor. This is where my dreams always seem follow a similar pattern...the upstairs had been converted into an alternative health care facility. At this point in my dream I was crying. One woman offered her healing candles that she was making in one of the rooms. She even said it looked like I needed her product. Then I went into what was my Aunt's room. The room was different. It was done in warm neutrals and the lighting was dark. There was a Reiki table set up against one wall and a practitioner in the room using Tibetan singing bowls. At this point in my dream I was barely able to talk through my tears. Through the crying I asked "Do you do Reiki?" and at this point my own crying woke me from my dream. As I awoke I could feel the tears running down my cheeks. I could have balled at that moment but I took some cleansing breaths and went back to sleep. Tonight I called my cousin who grew up in that house and brought me there in my dream. Had to leave a message as she wasn't home. Sigh! I am making a commitment to myself to get back to Reiki. (hands on healing modality) A friend has found a new local practitioner who seems to be very intuitive. I think I'll save up some money and schedule a session with her.

So now that you have patiently read through my post I hope you might have some insight into this dream thing. Why do I keep having dreams about this house? It's been almost 10 years that I have been going through these dreams. What do you think?

Beach Exploration

We have had a wonderful few days since school has let out. R had Friday off so we've enjoyed several days together starting on Thursday evening! We spent a good amount of time down on our beach. We went down around 4pm as the tides were going out and spent a good amount of time searching for treasures and just enjoying the beach. N wanted to explore to the end of the beach. We did walk quite some way but not to the end of the beach...at least not Thursday. On Friday we ended up going down to the beach again around 3:45. The tide was a bit higher so it was a bit more of a challenge to get to where we wanted to go but we did it anyway. We walked further than I have ever walked on our beach before. Our beach is a bit different than other beaches around. We have both large an small rocks covering most of our association beach. So when I say that we walk the beach it is more like an Olympic climbing event! The kids love it and it totally brings me back to my childhood as I used to walk the same beach years ago. So back to our adventure. As we walked the beach we encountered no other people. It was like being lost on a deserted island. Such untouched beauty! We found lots of sea glass, including four pieces of blue sea glass(very rare) and two marbles!
We also found many moon snail shells as well as lady slipper shells and sea urchins. < We must have walked for at least two miles. Much of the walk was over foot deep small rocks. Think walking through very thick beach sand. The ocean was to our right and to our left were very high steep cliffs. In one section of cliff their was little to no vegetation but the cliff was covered with small holes. As we watched the cliff we were fascinated to see beach turns fly in and out of the holes. Very cool! We continued our walk and came to a very old, poorly designed cement sea wall. It had been toppled over by the power of the sea. It was at this point that we found a beautiful patch of soft beach sand. We delighted in the sensation of the sand under our feet before we continued on our walk. Our goal was to get to the end of the beach! The next amazing sight we found was a beautifully designed rock sea wall. The wall had two sections. The first section levelled off to a flat level surface that could be walked on and then the final section went straight up the cliff for maybe five feet. I wonder how they got a machine onto the beach to construct such an incredible wall. As far as we walked there was no clear beach access for people much less machines. Anyway after walking the length of the final sea wall we decided to turn around as it was already 5:30 and we had a good long walk ahead of us before we would arrive at our own beach again. By the time we got home we were all exhausted. What a great adventure!

Taking a Breath

So today I am taking a breath before my children finish school tomorrow. Over the past week I have had many commitments and preparations to attend to before the end of the year and before I could take this brief moment for myself.

Yesterday we delivered end of the year gifts to very special teachers. Each teacher received a hand made wax print card with a lovely note from their student. Each element of each gift was carefully thought out and planned. We decided that a Borders gift card would be something that the teachers could choose to use for themselves, their families or their classrooms. Beautiful gerbera daisy plants were purchased along with clay pots that were later painted by n and me. I also made special cards for each teacher with notes of thanks. Teachers work so hard all year to meet the needs of every child. It is important to me to take the time to acknowledge all of their efforts. One very special teacher is retiring from our school this year. She was my second grade teacher, my mentor when I first started studying education and my champion this past year when I came up against some difficult circumstances as n began first grade. I spent time this past week creating an herb garden for her, printing a special card and then drafting a heartfelt letter of memories and thanks for all she has done for the children of our community. She is such a special lady. So as you can see I haven't had a minute. On top of all this I lead the final Stand meeting last night and we devised teams to research a variety of topics for possible local action in the fall. It was a celebratory meeting of sorts as we move forward with renewed energy.

So now I will take a minute to soak in all that has happened over the past week before I look ahead to what will be a glorious two and a half months off with my children. I plan to enjoy every minute because I know this time is fleeting and I do not want to look back one day with regret. So this summer my focus will not be on how clean my house is or how tidy my gardens, it will be on enjoying the warmth of summer with my beautiful children and husband.

Peace!

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 - Politics- msnbc.com

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 - Politics- msnbc.com

Sad News

NBC's" Tim Russert dead at 58 - Politics- msnbc.com


When I went online earlier this afternoon and my home page came up I was hit in the face with the breaking news of Tim Russert's death. What a terrible shock. He was only 58 years old. Much too young to die! Such a great loss. I have always enjoyed watching his coverage of the ever changing political news of the moment. I think that the news coverage of the rest of our presidential race will be sorely lacking without Mr. Russert's coverage. I will be sending prayers and positive energy to his family.

Peace!

New Camera

Hello everyone! Sorry for such a long absence! I am so excited. I have been wanting a new Digital SLR camera for ages. I've researched and looked and coveted so many different cameras. Sunday there was a great flyer from Ritz Camera. I saw a Sony alpha DSL 200k that was being sold at a great price. Well I showed it to R and he said go get it tomorrow. So I did some research and liked what I saw. Today I spent the morning with n in her classroom helping out and enjoying the children and her teacher(whom I will miss so much next year). From noon on I spent my time in the mall, spending gift certificates and then finally going to our local Ritz store. I totally intended to purchase the Sony that I had researched but I ended up getting and Olympus evolt e510 DSLR. I am actually picking up the camera tomorrow as they didn't have it in store. It came with a gadget bag including a case, filter, extra battery and tutorial. I came home and did some research and find that the Olympus is one of the top brands of dslr cameras. At least that is how I have interpret ted the information I have found. Anyway I am so excited to start taking photo's and experimenting with my new camera. I'd love to have feedback from any of you who are avid photographers. What do you think? Did I make a good decision? I hope so... If not set me straight so I can get my money back

That's all for now.

Actually that's not all. .. I almost forgot to tell you that I found a new wine that I love. I've been wanting to discover a white wine that I could embrace for the summer. Tonight I have tried a glass of barefoot pinot grigio and I love it!!!! It is so much better than the pinot that I tried last summer. I can't remember the brand but it was so winey if you know what I mean. This barefoot pinot is fruity and light with a bit of sweetness thrown in and it is just so refreshing on a very warm evening. Anyway just thought I'd share!

Peace!