AUCTION for Andrew Thornton (now closed) THANK YOU ALL!

THE BLOG-CTION is now CLOSED. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered bids!

Each and every one of you were a step in the journey to help Andrew. No small thing.
Kindness is never a small thing. 
And along the way each of you confirmed what the world needs to see....
**many kind, caring, giving people who don't just 'talk the talk' but who "DO" **

 From the bottom (and top and middle lol) of my heart ~ Thank you....

     The current high bid for the beads closed at $60.00!!
And additional funds are being offered  for donation. Wonderful!

A fellow artist, someone I've not known long but I think of as a friend, is dealing with a health crisis. Difficult enough in and of itself. But as is true of so many artists, he faces the additional concern and worry of the cost of needed treatment and care.

With that in mind I'm offering six of my lampwork beads here via what I'm going to call (here I go creating new words again roflmao) a blogction (blog auction)! Every penny of this sale will benefit Andrew Thornton.  The blog auction will run from the moment it posts today 10/16 until - noon on 10/23. US shipping will be included free.

There is no starting bid. I leave that to all of you. Tell me via email what you'd like to bid/offer and the highest will win - all monies to go to Andrew.  Periodically I'll post the current higest bid. Bid via email & as often as you like and on 10/23 the highest bid/offer received will win all six beads. Remember, FREE shipping in the United States.

***  click HERE to place any/all bids  ***

I hope you'll bid with your heart, and tho the wisdom with auctions (normally, lol) is not to share a link with potential competing bidders I hope you'll do just the opposite and send a link far and wide to everyone you can! (thank you!)  

Images of beads are below!
*Beads are not for use by children of any age 

I made these six beads with messages, thoughts, hopes & wishes for Andrew in mind......

The bee for beeeelieving all will be well!

The fish for swimming with the flow of life....

The heart for  the fondness so many of us have for him & the center swirl in the heart to signify 'strength from within'

The fall leaf with white edge wrap for the time of year...

The tab bead ~ of orange for strength & endurance ~ beige for patience and calm....

The yellow filligrana bead for sunny, happy, days ahead....

Two images below please see both :-) And click on second image to see all beads in that image as some of my sidebar prevents full view.

*Better images to follow (sizes to follow also for those who wish to know) Forgive my impatience in not waiting to post this until the pics were perfect and details  all gathered. I wanted to get this started  today before the weekend slipped away so more people would have a chance to view!

Note: These beads are not for use/wear by children of any age....The fish and bee are not recommended for wearable use - fin and wings are fragile - but the beeee and fish would be grand for decorative use!

 

Two Words

Experience
Expense

It struck me how similar these two words are in sound, in letter content and configuration.
Look at them and notice how many letters are the same. Consider for a minute how few words (overall) contain the letter X. They have a similar sound to the ear. Side by side they are surprisingly similar.

Different definitions? Yes of course.
But then again it occurs to me how, in living life, they eloquently intertwine.

In the dynamic flow of living life of gaining experience (classes, events, travel, hobbies, moving, purchasing a home) the associated cost immediately comes to mind. 

But think for a moment with me about the emotional cost/investment of life experiences.  We're far less inclined to consider the "expense" of experiences in terms of emotion. Experiences (especially deeply personal ones) that stretch us as individuals 'cost' us in bravery, dedication, fear. Intense experiences may compensate us ultimately in satisfaction, in achievement, in wisdom. But they also cost in humilty, patience, awareness and at times fear. 

Experience
Expense

Everything we choose in life (or life chooses for us) comes with expense and leaves us with experience

A bit of madness?

There it is again. Oddly familiar of late. This feeling of something tugging, nibbling, tap-tap-taping on my heart & mind & soul. Desiring attention, yet not quite ready to be seen, not quite prepared to reveal. It's in the background. It moves along, parallel, just out of notice of my view. It's the faint but undeniable  watercolor background of the daytime and the wafting interlude drifting into sleep.  It's the feeling of a ghost in the room, not threatening, not worrisome yet distinctly there....

It sounds a bit like madness I suppose.  Yet it's the twisting turning overture that heralds changed direction, new path unfolding, separate or sometimes added layers that are quietly evolving for me. I wonder if it's like that for everyone? Perhaps it is. Perhaps they hesitate ( being more clever than I) to admit it. Perhaps some never feel the nudge-nudge-nudge of it?  (which would return me to my thought that this is sounding like a bit of madness...)?

But there it is. A sense of change of direction.
Fluttering in my mind like a gently billowing curtain draped across a window in Tuscany.
Like waves smoothing the sand so I can write something new, capture a thought, dance to a variant of my dreams.

We'll see
Yes, we'll see.......

Other Blogs

Checking other peoples blogs is something I look forward to when I have time......
It's akin to checking the snail-mail in the surprise factor. Maybe there will be something fun. Maybe not. But there's a curiosity to be satisfied., the potential of adventure!
With blogs even more-so. There may be so many things awaiting... Drama! Art! Neat food! Endless variation really. Neat.

I can read what I want. Skip around. Read all. Part. Simply scan the newest pictures.
Oh the bliss, the freedom of blog surfing!
I can comment - or not.
I can think deeply about the content - or not.
It is one of the few activities that can be enjoyed with no demands what-so-ever. Neato.

In a way it reminds me of when I was a kid . In the fall/winter during evening drives home I loved to look into the windows of houses. Not in a sicko kind of way, lol but in a curious what kind of pictures or furniture do they have kind of way? What color are their walls painted. I was actually disapointed when people appeared. I wanted to pick and choose what I peeked in at. Weird, I know. But you're used to that by now from me (weird I mean).

So to you who blog every day and provide me with wonderful moments of escape, humor, cooking tips, pieces of art, stories, insights, and the chance to peek into the windows of your life, thank you!

**Note to self:  be a better blogger and provide (some) of the same for those who visit me, lol**

Farewell August...

Farewell August

Days of cloudless skies
Cicadas songs
Brilliant star filled nites

Late evening air so rich and dense 

it's nearly liquid

Farewell August

Days of baking sun

Tomato ripening

Watering can filling (and emptying)
In continual cycles

Farewell August

Days of peak summer green
And yellow corn

Fields of berries red and blue

(A temptation to make jam)

Farewell August
Days of summer porch
Every window open nites
Rounds of deep resounding thunder
And watermelon for two....

  Image and verse fdferris copyright 2010

I have...

I have and hold close

so  many ideas, directions, possibilities

each longing to be explored

investigated

& found to be interesting

(or  not)

Some flow, some jump, some

even now only appear in the

corner of my eye

vanishing when I look

directly

towards

them

(they are evolving still...)

"tick-tock"

the unstoppable clock

challenges me to choose

what an absurd

challenge.....

How would I winnow

my list of possibilities

which could easily fill

another full lifetime

into any sort of priority

what-so-ever?

Image and text copyright FDFerris 2010

The Secret Garden

Many years past , when we were younger and far more difficult to tire, lol we created a secret garden.

Designed with three six foot walls of concrete block ending in double wooden gates with spikes to mimic old iron gates we'd admired in London. The gates, once painted high gloss black gave a good faux impression of iron.  The garden creation was a massive effort, laying the block, building the gates, brining in the soil and stone. We worked on the project week after week after week. When it was complete it was a fortress of tranquility & it was barren, as any  newly completed project is wont to be.

The concrete blocks (hundreds of them) were bright, as were the mortar joints. Even the small pebble gravel glinted in the sunlight. The only rest for the eye was the darkness of the earth where we'd arranged for future plants and informal gardens.

But even then I knew it was a place I'd love.

The curious thing was that I'd thought the hardest part was done.

But, as it turned out the greatest challenge, and reward, wass to be found in the small details.

And amid the time it would take to arrive at the dreamt of destination.

The secret courtyard garden North wall as it looks today..

First came the decisions we made of what to plant.

Next came the decsion of those plants as to what would live there, lol

     We and the plantings disagreed often.

But plant by plant, step by step, year by year the dream evolved.

Over three decades the walls have softened, the colors gently aged.

The clemantis, ivy, euonymus have become intertwined. Good friends with each other.

Tiger lillies and barberry bushes cluster happily under the crabbapple tree

that buzzes with bees and brilliant pink blooms every Spring.

This place, this tiny garden, has given more hours of pleasure and peace than anyone has a right to have dreampt. So much from such a tiny bit of ground, from such a small inauspicious beginning.

And in the many years I've walked thru it, over the years I've gazed at it thru all four seasons

I'm only now understanding it's a study, a lesson in the flow of life....

All beginnings are difficult. Much work, little rest. Stark at birth.

Some things, ideas, dreams, journeys, die. Others thrive, succeed, flourish.

And often you are never able to understand why....

Most important things take time. Patience. A definate will-not-be-rushed-ness.

Some combinations protect each other. Some combinations compete.

Some have no influence or impact whatsoever at all upon each other.

They simply 'are', day by day, coincidentally sharing space and time.

Some things are dramatically beautiful ~ but for only a season.

Some are beautiful in much quiter ways but for the entire length of the season, even into death.

Life layers.

Flowers = bees

Vines = birds

Ivy = rabbits

Berries = passing visitors only there for as long as the berries last and never return.

There are conflict and scuffles. Births and passings.

There is cohabitation, song, buzzing, rustling, cricket chirping, firefly sparkling.

There is magic.

There is contentment.

In spite of, and alongside the unchosen sadness, passings, competiton, quarreling the magic and contentment remain. Unbowed. Challenged but not diminished, not overcome.

Who knew, when we layed those blocks in the blistering sun decades ago, tired but driven by a dream

that this little patch of ground

would teach us so much about

life....

FDFerris Copyright 2010

HOLD ON? LET GO?

I know how he feels.....

You?

(or is it maybe just me who wonders.....)

MERMAIDS ON THE STUDIO WEBSITE FRIDAY!

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!

                                                          

Sometimes you get lucky TWICE Happy Dads Day Papa!

I can't say for certain but I'd be inclined to believe most are lucky to be close to one parent, to be adult friends with their mother or their father. My life was gifted twice because I was and am incredibly close to my father also. Daddy (aka knight in shining armor) Dad, pa, pappa.


It's said that he was every bit as happy about his 'first' being a girl as a boy. Never restricting me to the confines of 'girl activities' Dad opened every door the male world offered for me. He taught me to fish (catch and release) he let me help paint the house (with a q-tip LOL as I wasn't much older than in this picture at the time).

We happily shared time together from the beginning. So much more am I for the fact he taught me of fish and motors, how to read animal prints in the mud (and explained why ice cream is cold :-) pictured above). No question was turned away, no opportunity I was interested in learning about withheld. Yet simultaneously I remained his princess.....


One of my most consistent early memories of my Dad, being a scientific glassblower, was the sound of his carlisle torch, the magic of his hands working glass. Fascinating. Amazing. He always had a studio at every house. It remains unchanged. Dad continues to work glass as does my fascination with the magic he creates with flame, glass and skill. He's worked with chemists, engineers, scientists and medical researchers designing and creating apparatus that have helped make changes in the world. Tho he'd never say so, his work has been instrumental in significant projects and research that have made a difference. He should be proud - I certainly am proud of him.


When I found the love of my life and married he created the wedding cake top you see for me as a surprise. The tall gates actually open on glass hinges. Once again the significance, the icon of open(ing) doors/gates/pathways. :-)



Tho I find (much to my surprise) there are no pictures of us working glass together, the next door he opened for me gave me a career I love, a place in the tradition of being an apprenticed lampworker that I am so proud to carry. Having apprenticed with my father to learn the art of working glass from him has been and is an amazing journey. Beginning at a time when women working glass were far and few between, when a career in glass as a woman was nearly unheard of he opened the door for me. I won't live long enough to learn all he knows of glass. During the many years we've shared behind the torches, from learning latticino to lathes, he also taught me of life. While we melt(ed) glass together year after year we've talked of life, of choices, of zen, of business, of art. We've pondered how one quantifies 'success', dealing with crisis, relationships, challenges, sorrow and joy. We've talked about the future of lampworking and glass, the dynamics of 'degreed' glass workers vs apprenticeships as we've melted... He teaching, I learning. So much he's taught me in so many ways, about glass and about life.

He's my father, my teacher, my mentor, my friend. I hope to always make you proud Dad as a fellow lampworker carrying on the tradition and skills you have passed to me. And as your daughter.

I Love you Pa ~ I hope you know how much... Happy Fathers Day from 'chickie'

National Veggie Month (uh ok lol)

Free Photo courtesy of geekphilosopher.com

Uh, yeah, national veggie month

Wait for it...

Wait...

Here it comes...

Can you hear me? HaHaHaHaaaaaaaaaa

If you know me - at all - you know how I despise veggies

(I think they may even dislike me, lol)

It began in childhood. Me vs veggies    

Ick, yuk, gagggggg lol

My parents, my brother, my husband

love love lovvvveeee veggies.

But me?

Oh my, nay nay never as they say, lol

Give me a twinkie, a dingdong, a donut

a cupcake (or a whole cake!) any day, roflmao

So to those of you who love veggies

Happy Veg Month!

I however am going to celebrate

by counting my hoard

of twinkies  :-)

Flip Flop Danger??!!

REALLY?!

Danger????

Apparently so, according to

this article...

No disrespect intended towards the writer,

the source or the intent of the article.

But fer cryin' out loud

FLIP FLOP DANGERS?

(there's actually even a link to flip flops / sandals

that earn the APMA Seal of Acceptance). 

Again, no disrespect but  

Puuullleeeaasseee!

Flip flops are a simple, long standing ICON of summer!

Of fun and frolic

Of beach, yard & summer stroll.

Limp, bendy (yes a made up word, lol) pieces

of gay and happily colored foam-plastic!

I ask you

of all the things to worry about, of all the ills of humanity

of all the things that could justify (and improve) from our attention

should fun, funky, (still cheap) FF's 

be classified as a topic of worry and fear?

Uh, well, how can I put this.... 

NO! 

With a bit of common sense, and a dash of 'may stub your toe but you'll live'

sprinkled with 'let's just have a little sqishy fun' and not over-think this

I believe this icon of summer frolic 

(remember frolic? lol) 

may yet live on

happily amusing

(many) 

of us for years to come.....

It's a great life if you don't weaken

(lol)

Start by not buying into the purported danger

of 

Flip

Flops!

She's mine

I know
I know...

I don't need

more large furniture

No

I

Don't

But will you just look at her?

Do you see what I see? lol

She's the kind of chair that just wraps itself around you...

She's the  kind of chair that takes away the 'all day in the studio on my feet' aches

The kind of chair that says 'stay awhile, think, sketch, no you're not wasting time'

(what? your furniture and various other objects don't speak to you? oh my.... what you're missing! :-)

She's the kind of chair that has stories to tell

She's seen a lot of life, a number of homes most likely

and now she's mine...

(see my coffee-cup = turf marker?!!)

But here's the question - any all help appreciated!!

She's flocked (material) with original horse hair stuffing

I've done scads of inter-netting for the best ways to clean  her

but I'd LOVE to hear from any of you with hands on (literally, lol)

experience with referbing an oldie but snugglie such as this

lest I do her harm and make both chair and I sad  :-)

Thanks for any suggestions you can wing my way!

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

On a hill & long forgotten

a good life lesson found....

ADAPT and be CREATIVE

(use whatever is around)!!!

~ ~

Life isn't easy, not for sissies to be certain.

The day to day routine

can be just as challenging

as the crisis moments.

This little building with it's 'twig lock' 

standing on it's tall and windy hill reminded me

ADAPT

 BE CREATIVE

USE what you have

Don't just think outside the box

cut a hole in it..... 

& climb thru

You won't always find 

the answer/path/solution you want

but you will (almost) always

find 

a 

solution.....

fdferris 2010 

Random Inspiration Pictures

All winter long (or is that all long winter, lol) I've been taking pictures that inspire, evoke emotions, capture memories ~ random inspirations.

I though that you'd enjoy seeing a sprinkling of these images, so I'll be sharing them here thru the Spring and Summer.  I'd (of course!) love to know if/how any of the images whisper to you, and if so it'd be wonderful if you'd share what they say to you in the comments. Love to know what the image stirs in your mind/heart/creative soul..... Or what memory it lifts to mind?

**This picture is of a vintage beaded handbag that was my grandmom's, then my mum's. Mum passed it on to me ~ and now I'm sharing it with you  :-)  The detail is amazing. Even more surprising is the fact it survives in nearly perfect condition.  I love the colors and the combination of floral design within geometric pattern(s).  Such opposing design elements, merged beautifully in this piece. 

I think the combination of lines and florals for bead embellishment could be really interesting....  What do you think?  :-)

Sometimes You Get Lucky

Some of you may have already seen this

mothers day post to my  mum (last year)

Still... I wanted to share it with her
(and you)

again  :-)

Love you Mum....

 In fact, sometimes life allows you to be astoundingly lucky.

My longest running, best bit of luck began with having the remarkable woman you see here as my mother, my 'mom' or as I call her now, Mum....

Looking at the scrawny (nearly) hairless, too thin to even fill out a pair of plastic diaper pants baby I was, it's hard to know what she saw in me. LOL a beauty I wasn't that's for certain. Allergic to milk as it turned out, for months I never slept. I seldom smiled. Instead each day I cried, I screamed. All day. All night. Still, she loved me.Once it was determined I was allergic to milk and put on soy, I stopped screaming. Then I didn't gain weight (worrying her out of her mind). Smaller than the gladiolas, still she loved me...She loved me thru my confounding hatred of dresses. Confounding because I had an endless fascination and passion for accessories! Jewelry of ANY kind, beads, purses, sox, bows, headbands. (Even then I was a jeans with jewelry kind of girl). She loved me thru years of my constant "can I take the dress off yet mommy?!" She also loved me thru a lot of realllyyy bad home perms. She never lost patience with my love of 'prizes' (photo above is a christmas gift). A trait that persists I have to confess, lol She still admitted I was her daughter even when I made some 'unique choices' (and if admitting I belonged to her in THIS outfit isn't love, I don't know what is, lol) All thru my life I have and continue to make 'unique' choices. She continues to love me. And thru all the years she taught me by not just word, but by example. She didn't just talk the talk - she walked the walk. She taught me to be kind. To be honest. To be brave. To BELIEVE in myself. To know that I could do anything. She taught me the to find great joy in small everyday things. She taught me you must renew yourself to continue to give. She shared with me her love of poetry - so much a part of who I am now. She shared with me her love of the sea - one of my great loves. She was tough when I needed it, stern when I deserved it, proud of me when I earned it. And always, she loved me. All thru my life she's been and remains my best girlfriend, my confidant, my rock. She's always there for me. We laugh and cry together, adventure together, ponder life together. She's still teaching me, encouraging me, hard on me when I need it. Proud of me when I deserve. And the best part of all? She loves me still.

And I hope she knows how much I love her.........
I hope she knows how much she's taught me, guided me, given me strength.

Happy Mothers Day Mum ~ I love you......

TIED WITH A BOW

i like things

tied with bows

knots are stand-off-ish

tape is tear-the-paper-ish

bows are loops of intrigue

'rabbit ears' on surprises

bows tease

but they don't resist

if you approach them

in the right way

they allow you

entry

if you choose to ignore the way a bow works

the way it's best untied

if you ignore

 that

one

small

truth 

the bow will make you

work a bit harder

or

refuse to open at all

and simply knot itself

in resistance

but isn't that true of everything?

and of everyone?....

Copyright FDFerris April 2010

She Decided

Sometimes she wished she were a tree

So she could see into the distance

and hear the songs of the birds

note by note

all around her

If she were a tree

 high in the sky

 the perils of the ground

couldn't easily

reach her

Some days she longed to be

part of the leaves and moss

that covered the ground

below her

low lying and endless in number

so no one would even notice her

But each morning

she awoke to find she was

neither a tree

nor leaf or moss

She was not tall and safe

She was not short and invisible

She

Was

(in fact)

Yellow

Obvious

Delicate

 Embattled

She decided her best 

(and only)

choice

was

to be brave

to be cheeerful

and to look fiesty

(fiesty as hell)

for as long

as

she

possibly

could

~~~~

FDFerris

February '10

Copyright 2010 

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!

I wonder why.....

An interesting question..... curious indeed .....

I just rec'd an online catalog with these page link categories listed.

House and Home

Bathroom

Bed linnen

Blankets & Throws

Books

Pillows & Cushions

Food

Household

Kitchen

Nightwear

Rugs

Slippers & Sox

Tableware

Choosing and rambling thru the sections out of order I suddenly wondered

WHY I chose to poke about in each offering in the order I did?

 Never thought of it before...

Why did I pick_____ before______?

Why did I look at _____next and ______ last?

I Don't think it makes a tiny bit of diff - but on the alternate hand,
kind of interesting to consider what order one views the pages - dontchathink?

So here's a bit of mid-winter wool-gathering
(if you'd like to play along, lol)

If you leave a comment sharing what order you'd go thru the list above then at this time next week
I'll post a comment sharing what order I went thru the list  :-)

(kind of a silly little blog game to pass a bit of time in this dreary part of the winter)

And to sweeten the game, I'll make it a contest/adventure of sorts!

Leave your 'what order' comment and when I have 8 comments I'll pick one totally at random
and choose a lampwork bead from my studio (with or cord or ribbon) to send to

who (or is it whom?) ever left the randomly chosen comment!

Sound like fun?

Good!
Comment away!

Hmmmmm......

Sometimes ideas, long before they become coherent in concept, simply simmer. Somewhere in the background or underground or on the ethereal plane they cogitate, marinate, and filter. They stretch, they fold. The expand and contract. Thicken and thin. They leap then they stand as still as a the moment between the beats of a heart. Ideas. Passions. Pathways. The warp and weave evolve direction long before the course can be perceived.

Still, somewhere, somehow, you sense it happening. You know something creative 'inside' your mind is pushing at the edges, scoping out the parameters, preparing to emerge in the form of a framed 'actionable' idea. It's a time, when if you were to try to assign it a physical equivalent, you'd be inclined to say it were an itch that can't be scratched. A vague ache. An unsettled stomach.

You know something vastly creatively significant ~ some alteration or addition or layered direction is coming. You know, you know it with sure certainly. Sometimes an edge of it surfaces in a passing thought, a color flashes, a word or phrase comes to mind. Alluring, intriguing, painfully tempting. You can almost touch it, feel it beneath your feet, smell it in the air. But you can't visualize it clearly.

Not-just-yet.

So you wait. You watch. You listen.
With intensity.

Something...... Something is on the wing....

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.

Hello 2010

 A new year reminds me of looking thru stained glass windows

Some aspects are clear and defined.
Geometric and reliable.

Others teasingly appear, yet cannot be seen in discernable fashion

Only vague colors and shapes reveal
a hint of what may be

Hopes, fears, dreams and goals in fuzzy conglomeration
defy specific assignment

You'll just have to wait and see - literally

Light streams thru the fixed and fuzzy framework of the year-yet-to-be-lived

Welcome 2010....
**

Merry Happy & Kindness

Be it towards humans or creatures, pass on

some good will and kindness

(on christmas and every and any other day you can.....)

Have a peek at this - and merry happy holidays!

In Surprising Places One Finds....

No matter where you live, I imagine you've heard tell that the NE has been tortured is enjoying astounding snow or remarkable cold. On top of my little hill amid the fields and trees we've been spared the snow. But oh my shiverin' kaboose, the cold has been what we normally only see in the depths of February (imagine the insides of your nose sticking together - I know, a horrid example, but true none the less, roflmao And it's one way to let you know how cold COLD is here) And there is no hope for you if you forgetfully lick your lips or go outside with damp hands or hair, lol

Yet still..... 
Amid the struggle with the wind, and the frightful chill there are bits of beauty. Art via nature. Stunning really. The reward, if you take the time to look, is often found in the harshest and most unlikely places. Below, I give you an example of such I noticed recently. This very old single pane window in our house ~ festooned with swirls and curls, flows and rivers, ferns and blossoms of ice that whisper "beauty"....

Water, ice, bitter cold ~ basic elements combined ~ and created this...  

Stunning isn't it?

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!

CUTE 'N Funny!

In an email from my mum today - isn't it the cutest! (thanks mum!)

http://www.house-mouse.com/

And from my all time fav housekeeper-babe Maxine...

And save all that money on stickey notes, lol

Have a good day everybody

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

You Have To Love Maxine

LOL ain't it the truth!
Personally, I anxiously await the days being back on the path of growing longer!