Money talks.

One morning last week I woke up to find that a thick fog was covering my world like a foamy blanket. I decided to take a walk down to the creek to see if I could get some pictures of the herrons that often hang out there. I was right, the herrons were there but they were too fast for me. All the pictures that I took were blurry. So I started back to the house. As I made my way along the road, I happened to glance over at the sunrise and then I looked again. Yeah, a double take! The sun was burning through the mist and the soybean field was golden and glowing and eerie and my mind just sizzled. I took a picture figuring that the glare would be too much but it turned out to be just enough. Man, life on Earth is just a moment to moment mind boggler.
As for "Money talks".... About 8 or 10 years ago, I worked as a bank teller for First of America Bank. I liked the job Ok but didn't care for the head teller who seemed to think the bank was her own personal bank and everyone else working there (including the bank manager) were her bitches. Yet, that job helped me learn something very important. I learned that "FOCUS" or paying attention to details is super important when you are dealing with money. When you walk through the door in the morning, you need to leave all the drama in your personal life behind. Why, because as you are counting out money, those little personal demons will mess with your mind and you will give out too much cash. Bankers don't like that in a teller. Slowing down and paying attention to details is vital in banking.
I don't claim to be any kind of money expert but it made me sad and angry to hear about well known and respected institutions of money in this country getting into such lousy shape because someone, somewhere got in a hurry and let those little greed and pressure demons take charge of their good sense. They lost their respect for money. Details were no longer important. Focus was out the window. Money can be a great tool to make a difference in this mind boggling world. Let's hope this ice water in the face moment in our nation's history will clear some heads and set things on a better path.

A Moving Experience - part 2

Here it is, an empty space ready for it's next occupant. I am amazed at what I have accomplished over a month's time. I had a lot of small things that had to be put into boxes, bags, jars, or anything that could hold extra stuff and take it across the hall. There wasn't time to put anything away because the clock was ticking....September 1st. Thankfully I was able to get finished last Friday. I wanted to post this picture and give a shout out to a wonderful space. I loved this room! It's big and has this fabulous skylight. The skylight was so nice to let in natural light and when it rained outside, I could hear the raindrops pitter against the skylight. It felt like a little tap dance just for me. And it always made this large space seem so cozy.

I also wanted to post a picture of my night blooming cereus - a cactus that is starting to take over the building. I placed it on top of a built in office in this building. I think it likes my choice of placement as just in a week's time, it's leaves are starting to sprout babies.

And I just have to show you the 2 supply closets that will become my new studio. As I have already told you, I just set things down in there and kept moving. Now that the moving phase is over, I can take a little time and go through this stuff. Hopefully, I will be able to let go of some things that I would have to live two life times to get around to making things with them.

A Moving Experience

August has been a hot month! And I'm not just talking about the heat! I've been so busy that I am not sure if I am coming or going or just gettting back from where I went. We've had visitors. My darling sister, Marlene and her daughter Johnsie and Johnsie's two sons, Alex and Ethan came for a visit the first week of August! I enjoyed their visit so much. Marlene and I went searching for things to go in her home to create a lodge look. We visited the Lake and Lodge store in Arcadia, Indiana. We went to lunch at the Loon Lake Lodge on 82nd street. She loved that place with their animated bears and various other wildlife. And we went to the Shellhouse in Indianapolis. It's a 5 story storage building which is owned by my husband. She found a love seat and rocker that will be perfect in her lodge living room. The boys played a lot of croquet and I do mean a lot! Ethan won the championship tournament!

Then a week after they went back to North Carolina, my son, Ben came for a two week visit from Los Angeles. He wanted to meet his new niece - Korrine. Like the rest of us, he just melted at the sight of her. It is always love at first sight with that baby. And of course he was constantly finding ways to have adventures with his two brothers and sister. Somehow a garden cart became a ready made ricshaw (sp?) Having him home was wonderful!

Also, I want to mention something wonderful that happened during HOT! August. My youngest son, Harrison, my baby, got engaged to the lovely Brittany B. They have been going together for almost 5 years and plan a July 09 wedding.

On top of all of that, I found out at the end of July that the renters in the back of the building are expanding their business and will be taking over my studio. They need my wonderful space. So for the past 3 weeks I have been boxing up and moving to the other side of the building into a space I have come to call "The Inner Sanctum." It's basically 2 huge supply closets. I'm including a few pictures of the move in process.
There is nothing like moving to clue a person into the fact that they have too much stuff. These pictures are the before pictures... though I did have a bunch of boxes piled up in the room on the left. At this point, the last week of August, I have almost completed the move out. I will post some more pictures in a day or so to show all the stuff that needs to be put away. It was just imperitive that I get the space cleared out as they have semi trucks on the way with stuff that will fill that wonderful space.

Philip's Dream - "Travelling Through a Hostile Land"

They were moving slowly down the street
carried by a driver.
Nervous, he saw two children
with branches.
It struck a chord of fear
as if a sign.
This is not right,
speed it up!
Get out of here quickly!
The Arab man
in the kitchen of his fine home
was startled.
He looked up to see an old man -
a Jew. He was in his home - uninvited.
"What do you want?"
"What are you doing here?"
His children, a boy and a girl
looked aghast.
His wife was horrified.
"Step outside" the old man said.
"I want to talk to you."
They walked out to the garden
then the street.
"I want you to rent me a room."
Before the Arab could answer
a shot rang out.
The daughter, shotgun in hand,
had blasted both the Jew and her father.
They both lay in the street.
The Arab wounded, the Jew dead.
The mother horrified, grabbed the shotgun
and her daughter and quickly put them
both in the house.
She said said "Look what you have done...
he was our support."
She returned to help her husband back in just as a torrential
rain began to fall.
The water flooded the street and
the body of the Jew washed randomly under a parked car.
Two people observed this bizzare scene.
One turned to the other and asked
"Why do they leave the dead man's body
in the street?"
The answer "He is a Jew, that's how
they treat the Jews."
The young boy goes to the back door of the house.
There is another Jew there.
He has a scooter, a push scooter.
He tells the boy, "You can have this."
The boy gratefully accepts.
The other Jew turns to leave
and sees the boy come to him.
He presents him with a gift
two beat up shoes - more precisely a
shoe and a sandal.
The Jew accepts the gift and leaves.

"I am reminded of a true story. One Jewish man, perhaps confused, perhaps deranged, perhaps on a mission from G_d, was walking randomly from his home in a Jewish settlement on the West Bank through Arab territory. He was killed and his body was found, perhaps his killers were never found. What would happen if a thousand Jews, each alone, went on such a walk. Would they all be killed? And if they were, suppose a thousand more walked the next day and a thousand more the next? What would happen?"

Happy Holidays - Summer Style!

Maybe some of you thought that I had dropped off the Earth. I have been to North Carolina during July to visit my family. I had such a great time! Usually I come back ready to be back. This time was different. I had so much fun, first off traveling down there with my daughter -Kora, her husband - Jonathan, my granddaughter - Korinne and Jon's mother - Nancy. We stayed together for the week in my sister's house (which once belonged to my parents). I loved it! At the end of the first week, they came home and I spent the rest of the time visiting my sisters and brothers. I'm homesick. When I hear my sisters talking about getting together to go to the pool, I am soooooooo jealous!

I guess that you noticed the holidays theme with the opening photo. Santa, shopper girl, a snowman bell and a little touch of glitter stars. Well, my friend Ruth and I were talking several months ago about how we can't get jazzed up to make Christmas crafts until after Thanksgiving. After that crucial time we both go at gift making like crazy. So I told her that on July 25, I am officially starting my holidays. I am playing carols and looking at Christmas stuff - ornaments, glitter, tinsel, etc. Which brings me to bears. For some reason, I am wanting to make some teddy bears but with a paper mache bear head. Here's a picture of where I'm at in the process.

And now for another North Carolina moment. I was walking up on the hill with my sister to check her water line for lizards. She has a spring and a spring box but sometimes lizards get in the tubing and really stop things up. As we were walking back down the hill, I noticed what a great garden my brother has out this year. You should see his cabbages - my favorite vegetable!Anyone who knows me knows how I love gardens. So I'm including a garden view from the Pisgah National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains - my home away from home.

A Little About Hope

I try to avoid the political on my blog because I am not overtly political. Yet, I can tell you this about myself.... I am a dreamer! I have a vision for what I think the world should be. What brought this up? Well, last week I was driving to work and some guy on the radio started talking about the Israel -Palestinian conflicts. And he started the "If this -then that" dialogue. Each time he gave an "If this -then that" scenario, the "then that" got worse. I found myself getting more and more stressed by the guy so I reached over, turned off the radio and took a deep breath. Who needs to listen to a joy kill?

Trouble is they seem to be everywhere. I hear people freaking out over gas prices, the environment, the war, the other war, pedophiles, celebrities, the mortgage crisis and the economy. And these are just a drop in the bucket. But I will tell you something I learned in grade school. If you go in to take a test and you're stressing over failing the test there is a good chance you will fail it. We need someone to start talking possibilities to us. For goodness sake, this country has landed a man on the moon, several times. I feel like we need to shut off all this panic talk and start getting solutions. Hope is a powerful thing but it often has a small voice and can be drowned out by "If this -then that." Yet hope can also be tenacious and will grab on and keep coming back even in the toughest time. Have you ever heard of the concept that the breeze from a butterflies wings is the action that ultimately makes up the power of a tornado or hurricane? So I am mentioning hope here in this little blog on the internet. Maybe someone else will mention it too and on and on to the point that it is the main thing we call for in this nation. Give us hope and then let's get to the solutions!

AFTER

Hello again! I have finished....for now, on my landscaping in the hosta bed. It did not take but a couple of days and only a few hours on those days. Yet it feels like forever since I blogged anything. My son... Dr. L.A. said I should post more often and that is going to be my goal. However, next week and the week after that, I will be in North Carolina visiting my family. So I should have gobs of stuff to tell you after that. As for the AFTER photo, I need more mulch but I am waiting to see where the poison ivy is actually coming up so that I can get to the root of it.