What Is Surprising

Q:  WHAT IS SURPRISING ABOUT LIFE?
(one way or another)

A: EVERYTHING....

No Different Yet Special

You are, by all definition, a handful of bulbs
A tiny smattering of the millions if not billions

That each Spring, past present and future
Awake from the earth to 'be'..

Each of you here with me is like your sisters

Inhabiting countries, islands, states, cities, towns

Your existance is linked to pots, plots and windowboxes

Of warming earth

You, each of you, who I think of as 'mine'

Are no different than your sisters

Heads raised to the faltering returning

Gentle Spring Sun

No different

Yet Special

I remember the day I found each of you

I was with my Mum at a big box store

I recall the sign that proclaimed your value

was designated by retail to be no more than 50 cents each
I was saddened and annoyed that they valued you so little

I was brokenhearted to hear the plan was to trash each of you

who went 'unpurchased'

by that weeks end...

I smile remembering my mother at my side

Helping me place as many of you into my cart as we could fit

Saving as many of you as the budget would allow

(I whispered a sad word of apology to those I could not save)

Driving home, she and I talked of gardens, of growth, of time

And in the coming days I planted you, one by one

In half frozen earth covering you with thatch to hide you

(a tiny bit)

from grazing hungry searching deer

Fragments of memory

Moments of time

Frozen in my soul

That come alive each Spring

Along with your return

You are no different

Than your millions, billions, zillions

Of sisters over the world,

thru ever returning Springs

But you are special

You who I think of

as

mine

FDFerris 2011



Old Friends

Old Friends

Ever Patient
They Wait For Me

One By One
They Came To Live With Me
Shelf By Shelf
They Became

Old Friends



Does it happen to you too?

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with my mind.
Oft times I know what's wrong with it - it belongs to me - 'nuff said.....
Then there are days that I'm back to wondering, really wondering - like today. I load the washer (which is probably older than many of you reading this - this machine is loyal but old)! I walk away. I hear it whirring and whining and splishing and splashing along in the background.

Then I notice I hear nothing.

It's a lot like kids and construction. When there is no noise you know you're in deep crap you know something is wrong. You go. You look.  I went. I looked. Note to self: (and others) leaving the lid open on a full load of wash that continues to run is a bad idea. Trust me on this.  I suppose on new washers there is a saftey-thing-a-roo that keeps the machine from running if the lid is open. Maybe a cyber voice warning statement or a beep or cheep or chirp. Maybe new machines send you a tweet from twitter alerting you.....

But me and my mind and my loyal old washer learned a new fact today. Open lids on running washeres are a bad idea. Yes. Bad. A lesson. One that once was enough applies to quite well, lol

Here's hoping once was enough for my mind to remember in the future!

How many days till Spring?



My bird bath frog seeming to signal for help!

windswept snow filled fields

 I'm pretty sure you're weary of seeing pictures of snow - yet I somehow can not refrain from sharing mine.....

So if you're tired of snow-snaps, skip this post but if you're interested, keep reading!



Snow reaching window height!


 


It is beautiful.....

 





One of the endless essential paths shoveled

Yes, tell me is it long till Spring arrives?
(feel free to lie to me if  necessary, lol)

 



The Sun Dial
(as IF we have much winter sun-Not!)

Acting on my word for 2011

This winter has been remarkable. Snow in states that never see chilly weather much less snow.

For those who live in the northeast as I do it has been brutal. The snow has been endless. The gray skies more ominpresent than usual. 

Bleh.
And the heat bills. They could bring you to tears.
Or insanity.
Or both.

I've always winter-treated windows & doors. But of late it has become my personal quest to find every open space, every leaking window, every bit of 'frost' and then irradicate any 'cold connection' I've found. With dedication both DH and I have made progress. Much has been improved. Much remains. "Take that!' I whisper to each window & door (and ok, yes, with a bit of a 'bbbwwwaahhhhhh' laugh as I proceed).  Hey, it's part of the process....  lol

But as I'm working along, caulking, sealing, quasi-cursing the cold I remember. I remember the word I chose for 2011. The goal I chose for these 12 months BOKEH  ,,,,,
Stop.
Breathe.
Not only look but SEE.
Observe the outside-of-the-direct-line-of-sight beauty/good in any situation.
And these pictures along with the momentary pause & happiness capturing these images, are the outcome.

The image above and this one as the sun shown briefly and the blue of the sky reflected are the gifts 'bokeh' shared....

They say artists are inclined to notice beauty in small things. But I think the truth is that anyone who looks finds a treasure trove. 

If my campaign is successful, if the cold is kept outside and the warm inside. If the dragon-of-heat-bills is slain these images will 'ner again be seen. 

And dontcha know I'll miss their beautiful flowing delicate shapes. Another lesson. What seems (or even is) a problem at one point in time still possessed beauty. Still had merit. Or was not without merit. There is always something bright shimmering in the darkness of difficulty.  But to find it. To see it.  There, ah.... there is the challenge.  

Bokeh. 
A good word.
A good goal.
Here's to many 2011 moments not missed because of it......

What can I say?

LOL I try really really I try NOT to let things follow me home (that's another post in and of itself)! 

But look, just look at this face.....

Could you have left him behind?!????
(assuming of course you have a fondness for frogs sitting on orbs like I do, roflmao)

Ribbbitttttttt

Now I have to resist the urge to put a tiny little christmas hat and/or bow on him.... Help me.....

HEY! Actually you can help me! In comments tell me your opinion - vote 'yes or no' on
a christmas outfit for frog!

PS don't forget to swing by yesterdays post to see remaining beads supersale link (at Flickr)

Ribbittttttttt

Perfect As It Is

No photoshop
No "paint"
No fix or crop
Or straighten....

Not one of these was needed
To improve these bytes
Sun painted..

Some moments and some images
Are perfect on their own
Unaided...
FDFerris 2010    

Knockin On The Door

  

A little bit 'o ice

on the pond.....

           

 No doubt about it

  Winter's on her way

Farewell

The weeks from June to November

always include a stop at the local produce stand.

It's an errand (unlike grocery store shopping) that I look forward to & enjoy.

Part of the reason is the obvious visual charm

But my love of 'farm stand' perusing goes so much deeper than the mix of colors & textures!

The smells! The weathered wood crates! The props (look at that handsome old wheelbarrow)

                                        Veg and fruit and flower all gathered in one place.

My mind dances with thoughts of medieval markets

Images of women with baskets in times long gone, the image paints itself in my mind...

Here, at farm-stands there are no 

'departments'

No canned music

No disinterested 'employees'

Everything offered is nestled together

like a little community of growing visual or edible bits of life!

The 'music' is background chatter, news being shared,
concern for a neighbor or happy updates

Laughter.

(When was the last time you heard anyone laugh in a grocery store)?

A moment or two with the grower/owner - who often offers a slice of  melon or apple

while telling the story, flavor, favored growing condition of whatever you

hold in your hand.

I want 2 apples? I can have two apples!

Not in plastic bags from far off lands but the two I hand pick from the crate.

Best of all, buying here supports the people who work tirelessly to plant, weed, water, watch-over

harvest, pack, carry, set up, watch-over-and-sell-themselves. No middleman. No overhead.

Every time you or I buy a piece of fruit or tomatoe or flower the farmer/grower
sets out here, this way, they see so much more profit for the efforts he or she has invested.

For the buyers, ah the taste! The freshness! The (often) non-pesticided-ness!

The not-been-in-plastic-bags-and-trucks-forever-ness! The choice!

Magic.

Simple, enjoyable, ancient magic...

If you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing.
Find the nearest stand, open market next year and Go..

If you love it like I do, you understand when I tell you

how much I love, yet am saddened by pumpkin/apple/mum season

at the market because soon, it will be grocery-store-only season.

I'll be (as every year) counting the days till my little farm stand is open again!

I'll be counting down to being able to again buy good food from good people at good prices

And the magic.....

Mid-week-musing

Up at 3:45 am (yes that is the normal time I drag my butt cheerfully spring out of bed daily). Tidy up of the personal being and go directly from bath to coffee pot. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars and no get out of jail free card if you get in my way, lol  Coffee in hand, the day begins officially.

No two days are the same in anyone's world. A bit more-so for me, a self employed artist.  I have a core of routine but the edges of each day weave up (or unravel, lol) differently each & every 24 hour cycle.  So when you stop by here to visit you will find most anything/everything  a widely (or perhaps wildly!) varied array of topics/thoughts/images. Not necessarily cohesive. Not at all contrived. Just me.

Glass, verse, rambles, (occasional) rants, humor, whining, ups, downs, chase my tail around in circles.

What's the meaning of it all?  For me? For you? For the world at large  (or small)?  Not a clue.  But it's lovely to have cyber-company on the journey!

And please do feel at ease to chat along via comments. There is so much to be found reading the shared thoughts you leave behind here...

Novemburrrrrrrr

November
She's a tiny bit hard to get along with
She takes my orange yellow leaves
My dappled sun, no longer summer strong
But sill able to dance through
October Autumn leaves

November
She closes my windows
Stills my billowing lace sheers
That are my icon for summer daydreaming

She makes the sensible heat saving me
Go even one step further as I drop the blinds

November steals away the long long longgggg days
That have been trippingly decreasing for months
(but I blame her - she carries the designated time change date)

She's hard to befriend
This cold dark month

But she brings small gifts to win me over
(or to appease me at the very least)

In the form of crisp apples and pumpkins
In the longing for sweaters and blankets
Absent all hot steaming summer

And September-October-Fall

She gifts me with my renewed passion to bake
Breads and sweets will again fill the house

With inside aroma and coziness
Exiled in Summer

Perhaps I'll befriend her
These weeks, uncared for by me, of November
Not not for the gifts she brings
Not ignoring the loves of mine she takes

But perhaps I can befriend her

Based on the thought that she
Like me
Is, simply, who she is
Both good and bad interwoven, inseparable
The loveable (and unlikeable) parts of the whole
November
Copyright FDFerris 2010

FALL CLEANING

Fall - time to clean-the-nest for me.
Odd? Well, lets say "different..."
I know Spring cleaning is the standard but it's never worked for me, lol. When Spring arrives she beckons, whispers, calls-me-outside! House and I have been together all winter. We love each other but we need a little time apart. Spring cleaning holds no magic for me.

Fall is the opposite.
Fall stirs up all the nesting needs in my little heart and mind. House and I will soon be returning to our beloved  intense companionship of winter ( just shy of forever when you consider the length of winters in Upstate NY).  

Decor & organizational thoughts dreams & schemes considered and shelved all Spring and Summer come to life. Sort! Clean! Paint! (Re)Arrange! Label! Projects!
Lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)

Coffee in hand this morning I started jotting down notes of the things I'd love to accomplish this Fall. Oh I love the list! On the list all things are possible! There is no nod to time. No thought of budget! The list is a daydream put to words. My not-yet-real plan in ink.  What's on the list?  LOL it's not finished yet. It'll take a few more cups of coffee to finish. But once it is I'll share my list.

If you're a fellow fall-cleaner I'd love to know what you have on your list?!

SUMMER SHARED

I think one of my favorite parts of summer is

the unexpected visitors that share the days with me...

Resting a bit - but still watching the nest!

                                                          

Here's my order

*If this post makes no sense, read here first :-) *

 Here’s the order I chose!

Sox 
I love sox! 
Warm, sunggly, oddly colored, short, tall

Books       
For we who love books no explanation is needed eh?

Food
Ah yes (and may I add   'yum'!)

Blankets/throws   
Winter makes this a fav category

Pillows/Cushions    
Who ever heard of a new blanket without a neato pillow? 

House/Home    
 I wonder what they put in here category treasure hunt

Bathroom  
Mostly scanned for the pix to get ideas for a pretty bathroom

Bed linen  
Nothing changes up a bedroom  mood better than new linens

Kitchen
 I am a gadget-a-holic  lol. When I do cook I bake - gadgetfest!

Tableware              
Silver-ware-aholic  (just ask my husband)

Household             
Another I wonder what's been tucked there?  category

Rugs     
I love the look of rugs I HATE HATE DETEST keeping rugs swept

Nightware
I often (hate to admit) sleep in studio rejects (things with holes but are oh-so-comfy)
 
So there you have it!    Now isn't it reallly interesting how we all had  books and food as a priority, lol . Blankets and pillows  ranged  midline priority for all of us.... Hmmmmmmmmmmm
 
Sooz, lol what happened to rugs and household? Think I wouldn't notice eh? LOL
(do you hate rugs too? roflmao)  come on - tell where rugs go on your list  :-)  pullleeezzzzeeee (hug)
 
Jus,  I can see in your list the poet/cook/winemaker/baker you are shining thru  :-)  (hug)
 
Heather, roflmao I said EIGHT comments (trying to pull a fast on are we)? Gotta keep my running shoes on to keep up with you babe, lol  (hug)
 
Hey, this is a lot of fun guys - thanks to u,  my loyal readers!!!  -  and I'm so glad you shared.
Anyone else want to join in? If so you have a few weeks, so leave your list in the comments!

 I'll keep checking to see when I have 8 comments  (and no MINE does not count, lol).  We'll give it till the end of March and then I'll draw a name from however many comments there are  - how does that sound?!!?

TTYA soon!

When I Should Be....

I've been up to my knees in receipts, graphs, packing slips and invoices. End of the year bookwork dontchaknow.  Mind numbing. I am not a person who loves bookwork. I do it. I do it well. But I can not find a way to enjoy it (except for when it's complete, lol).  So inbetween studio work and bookwork this time of year I build in other productive breaks, distractions, sanity savers.

I found this oversized ottoman on the side of the road for free. Poor thing he'd apparently failed to keep his original home and worse still for him he'd failed to find a new owner at a yard sale as well (see the masking tape price tag on his right leg?) His fate found him upside down as you see here on the curb. He was awaiting his demise a la garbage day. Poor ottoman. Till I came along, lol......  It isn't the first (or likely last) time I've snatched a waif from the maw of the garbage truck crew. And after all this ottoman was solid, large surfaced (for extra seating or coffee-table duty as needed).  So home he came with me. I could feel his relief and happiness. Mine too. Recycling is good. Free recycling is faboo!

The only problem (aside from a bit of dirt and cobwebs) was that his material wasn't quite my style. But I'd rescued some heavy duty material a few weeks earlier as I loved the pattern. I draped a corner of the material over the sad little ottoman and voila - the two were perfect for each other!   I needed only to remove ottomans legs, and with a bit of cutting, tucking and a staple gun I was on my way to a really nice new (to me) piece of furniture..... 

More pictures of the process below

A few of my tools. Two of his legs removed alongside my trusty phillips head screwdriver and his price tag  (of a whopping $2.00) He really deserved another chance....

And here he is, after my re-do (with a before picture right next to it for comparison). I'm happy.  Stool is happy. Landfill is happy. I love it when a plan comes together lol                                                                       

What do you think?  :-)

Hypothetically speaking

Hypothetically speaking if you have an old fridge that doesn't self defrost you really may want to consider defrosting it -  you know before you (hypothetically) hear a loud crash and (hypothetically) run to the kitchen to find a slab of ice has flown out of the freezer door. And skidded across the floor. Then you could (hypothetically speaking) discover it is so cold you would have to get winter gloves to pick it up. And upon (in theory) picking it up finding it is almost as heavy as you are so you can't carry it to the door to pitch it outside (in fact you can barely get it to the sink). 

As it turns out you (hypothetically speaking) could have to put it in a little snow sled you use for pulling UPS parcels. But first you would have to place the sled on a towel and then put the ice in the sled and drag the towel/sled/ice thru the house to the outside to place the (hypothetical) iceberg out-of-doors. 

Yep, I'm just sayin....
hypothetically that is.

Dear Santa

Those who know me are aware I spend a LOT of time mowing lawns in the non-snow-seasons (and those who didn't know that fascinating fact know now, lol). With that lawn-fact in mind, here's an admittedly clever item that I hope Santa does NOT bring to to me - ever, roflmao

In fact, the threat of this under the tree could even cause me to behave all year! (ok, that's a lie as nothing could cause me to behave) lol but if something could this would be it! And may I just add that I have a  new respect (and love) for my riding (but not pedal powered) lawn mower....

Some days are like that

Some days just go that way

(not down the toilet but.....)

There I was, you know, just doing the

typical cleaning - the blue scrub and swish...

My mind I admit on the next 20 things

 on the list needing to be done.

Absent-mindedly I began

Blue - check!

Scrub - check!

Swish - yep!

Flush & done!

But....

As I went to put the toilet brush back in the holder

I somehow managed to slide the bristles against the foldover

edge of my cute little bathroom trash can I had out for cleaning.

Do I even need to say it? Oh hell yes, next thing I know I feel

a gentle but oh so horrifying spray of piss water** from the toilet

brush all over my face. Oh please, no!

 Pppppppttttttt!

Numerous face washes, alchol wipe downs, gargles and naughty words later

here I  am tell you because, well, who else would I tell? lol

Not to mention that when you do something really stupid (but funny)

involving a toilet it just has to be shared, right?

I'd whine more, but right now I have to go check

webMD to see what horrid things I may catch, roflmao

(and note to self: next time don't leave the trash can near toilet brush holder)!
**Well, not really piss water, lol - it was clean water ~ but still... ick!

A Holiday Confession

As a kid it was hard for me to let go of the idea of Santa. And the flying reindeer. A reality check that eventually had to be cashed.  Time goes by and perceptions change.

Now here I am letting go of another holiday fallacy idea. I'm admitting in writing that I don't adore complex, time intensive holiday preparation.   The look and outcome - yes! But the fiddley fussing, not so much.  I know... (insert image of me hanging my head for a micro moment) this admission is terribly un-matha (perhaps even un-female, lol).

I can't confess share all my shortcuts at once (I do have some estrogen based pride, lol) But I will admit to my first get the look without the fuss trick. Hold on to your pantyhose. Sit down perhaps. Ready? I NEVER undecorate my little fake alpine tree. Yes, fake tree. Never undecorated.  Just breathe. Honest it's not as horrible as it may at first seem.

On Jan 2 or so each year my little tree (which looks astoundingly similar to the one in the image) is loving, carefully draped and wrapped in a sheet of filmy plastic (the kind used as a drop cloth for  painting). Lights, tinsel, ornaments all intact. Away into storage he goes. Once or twice thru the year I see him, say hello to him as I pass by for other things that live in storage.  He doesn't seem to mind at all.

For my part it's wonderful not to have to find and upack all the lights, ornaments every year. I enjoy not having to place the lights on the tree from scratch each year. I do switch off an ornament or two as I like which is fun and veryyyy quick.  To me it looks just as pretty when it's done (outcome vs process remember, lol).

The bonus is that the time saved since I've approached the tree in this oh-so-un-martha-way is that I now have time to string lights on trees outside if I like. Or bake cookies (bad for my butt but wonderful for the holiday mood! :-)   

Embracing my short cut to holiday outcome self (like admitting there was no Santa) changed the hoilday a bit of course. But for the better. For me there's more enjoyment not less. All I had to do was get past the previous expectation(s)!

I wonder if I'm the only one with holiday short cut confessions I mean tips? lol