#101 The Season of Light and Shadow

winter. bare branches. cold light.

 

 

 

#100 Thanksgiving at The Parsonage House

What fun we had all gathered 'round the table! We started with the First Annual Grace Trifecta; a traditional Episcopal grace, followed by one in Norwegian, followed all of us singing For Health and Strength in a round - about four rounds worth! That really got our appetites worked up and then most of us overate...uffda...prompting us to declare that someone should invent a dining chair that reclines!

 

I'm thankful that we were able to gather in Carlisle this year, thankful that we're all healthy and happy, thankful that we'll welcome a new addition to our family in February (Bennett will have a little brother!), thankful that everyone is in school, or employed, or happily retired, thankful that we are truly a FUNctional family and dearly love one another. And I am Especially Thankful that all the leftovers have been consumed and that tomorrow morning I can start withdrawing from what has been a massive carb overload! (I'd start tonight but there are still a few ginger cookies left...)

#99 Let the Hunting and Gathering Begin!

I've been busy getting projects finished in anticipation of my family coming for Thanksgiving. This will be my 2 year-old grandnephew's first visit to our home, so I had to hurry and finish (well, almost) a special chair for him:

Our dining room rug (by designer Susan Sargent) inspired me to add the brightly colored birds. I still have to paint the leaves you see on the back - I used Photoshop to "paint" them in first to see if I liked the placement - but I don't think I'll get to that until after Thanksgiving, because I still need to polish silver, bake some pies, and generally straighten the place up a bit.

Sooooo...I'll see you here after the holiday with pictures of our table, feast, and family! We'll be celebrating with joy and gratitude - hope you will, too!

#98 Defy. Deny. Death in the Garden.

With tight little fists and elbows jutted out, the cosmos gives a final shake of its head, issuing a dare to be sent to the compost pile...

The tiresome fight ends. The is head bowed with resignation.  A crown of dried petals is bright with color; one final show.

The finality of simple acceptance...quietly departing with an inspiring elegance and the promise of Spring...

The End.

#97 Exploring the Cosmos...

What if I hadn't glanced to my left and seen the frail tracing of stem with its delicately decaying flower? What would it be like not to be aware of the beauty that comes even as something balances between two worlds? I am grateful, so very grateful, for the gift of sight...of insight...

cosmos [ˈkɒzmɒs]n

1. (Philosophy) the world or universe considered as an ordered system

2. any ordered system

3. harmony; order

 

 

 More tomorrow...

#96 Stopping by the Cosmos...

My cosmos are dead and dried but still upright. When I walked past them this morning, I couldn't help but be captivated by the lyrical lines of this stalk:

Check back tomorrow to see how I spent the rest of the morning!

#95 Stopping by the Woods...

I grabbed some broken scraps of old wood in the garage when I was painting the rad covers; I needed something under their bottom edges so they'd be up a bit and I could more easily  paint all the way down to the base of the cover. When I was finished, I pulled them out and looked at them...

...then I grabbed my micro pen and drew in some trees!

I quite like these little pieces.They are all rough and splintery; pieces of old pine each with smatterings of various shades of white paint from their former lives as parts of a bookcase we demolished. Each one is about 2 inches tall and 3-4 inches wide.

 

 

It's been warmish in central PA the past few days, but I suppose it's only a matter of time until we're doused with the white stuff and the mountains take on a semblance of my little winter scenes. Can't wait! (I looooove the white stuff!)

#95 Stopping by the Woods..

#94 A Woman of Her Word...

I am nothing if not a woman of my word, so here, dear readers, are the pictures I've promised you! Behold: a huge gold leaf frame, a refinished table, and four radiator covers built by my dear husband and finished by yours truly! (Actually, I added the slats, all fifty million of them, so I guess I could count myself in on the building, too, huh?) Dean has another cover for the upstairs bathroom in the works and my current project is painting an old youth chair to match the dining room rug - complete with colorful three dimensional birds perched on the back! My two year old grand nephew, Bennett, is coming for turkey and I'm tickled that I'll have a special chair for him to sit in - so much better than a pile of phone books! Hope to get that finished this week and will take pictures of that to share, too.


The frame we made and my first experience with gold leaf. Kinda fun once you get the hang of it. It pleases me that Nicki's painting finally has the frame it deserves! The sideboard is an antique (French, we think) from Dean's mother; a beautiful piece with incredible inlay work and ormalu. David Bower's did a wonderful job restoring it and he even found a key that worked and matched the fancy metalwork!


My first refinishing project - the dining room table - all set for Thanksgiving with the family. I love that the table easily sits twelve. I'll fill my great-grandmother's crystal bowl with green Granny Smith apples, green grapes and limes, and will use gold chargers and my black and white transferware plates. I promise I'll take more pictures on Thanksgiving to share here.


Finished radiator covers in the dining room. I topped them with beveled mirror squares to reflect the light.


Finished radiator covers in the kitchen. The radiators hiding beneath them are so ugly and it's great to have them covered after 11 years! My African violets love the eastern light; I think I'll have to buy a few more!

#93 White Light...

I've spent the past few days up to my elbows in white paint as I finished the four radiator covers Dean built for the dining room and kitchen. (Pictures soon, I promise!) And while I was painting I couldn't help but imagine my studio painted all white. I love white floors and can't wait to freshen up the studio floors with a high gloss coat of pure, glistening W-H-I-T-E. After Thanksgiving, it will be the next project. Need to get it done so I can move my huge collection of art/art-related books up there. The old Chinese Puzzle Syndrome. You see, once the studio is painted and I've put together the bookcases (five of them!) I can get the books moved and then I can paint the music room and living room and make way for a massage table in the summer kitchen. For Reiki sessions, of course. Or just to lie on; the better to look up at the rafters and out the skylights and float away on the clouds passing above...aaah, that would be sooooo nice to do, yes???

So, anyway, I clearly have a Plan. It's just its got three million gazillion steps. (I think I'm on Step Six as of yesterday...)

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of white floors I found on the web...and have a great Monday!

#92 Let the Sunshine In!

I remember when Megan was tiny - only a month or two old and I was all by myself with her and feeling very down. Very. I had never been around babies until her birth and I was feeling unsure and overwhelmed. Dean was floating off the coast of Lebanon on the battleship New Jersey and my family was 3,000 miles away in Virginia. I realize now that I had the classic signs of postpartum depression, but it wasn't something that was talked about then so I just had to muddle through on my own. At any rate, I had had a long day of being a new mom and was nearly beside myself with all it entailed. I had Megan on the bed and had just changed her diaper. I bent over her, tickling her tummy with my head. The most miraculous thing happened: she laughed for the very first time! This little teensy baby girl let out the funniest little belly laugh! And suddenly it felt like the sun had come out and the sky had turned a brilliant blue and I knew, without a doubt, that everything would be okay.

Such is the healing power of of a little baby laughing! Seeing this video brought back the miracle of that moment:



To this day, laughing - with both my daughters - is some of the best medicine in the world...

#91 This Little Light of Mine...

I just love the Sun on the Jimmy Dean commercials. The casting is perfect; I mean this guy is exactly how I imagine the Sun would be if it were human: wonderfully warm and optimistic. Fully content to be what he is. Just here trying to spread light... Yup, I love the Sun.

I think (I hope!) if I met him he would like me. Just the way I am. Doing what I do. Trying to spread my light, too, day after day after day. Trying on the days when I wake up to a world full of Light. And trying especially hard on the days when I wake up to an overcast, confused world...

#90 A Good Day

Today I had a good day. I am lucky.

Today, like most every other day, I woke up happy, knowing that those I love are safe and healthy and have all that they need. I am grateful.

Today my mood matched the playfulness of this little elephant; and like her, I was "in the flow". I am content.

Today my little corner of the world was full of joy. I am blessed.

Very, very blessed.

Amen.

#89 Old Friends...

Today I am grateful for new connections with old friends. This picture, by classmate Gary Zieses, was taken at a reunion gathering of my high school friends this past summer. I hadn't talked with Nat Ames since we graduated in 1968(!) and it was wonderful to see him and hear how he was.

I absolutely love this picture! Every time I look at it I can just hear Simon and Garfunkle singing Old Friends in the background - can't you?

One of the greatest joys in my life is the friends I have who have known me - and loved me just as I am - for years. I am so lucky to have you in my life!

#88 Are We There Yet???

This is exactly what I need. Fingers that drum repeatedly until they're turned off. Suits my mood. This dining room table refinishing project is: Taking. Its. Time.

Sheesh.

Lots and lots and LOTS of waiting around for things to dry. For things to "cure". I now understand the appeal of polyurethane finishes but I ain't going there. Nope. No way. I'm doing it The Right Way. I am proud to say that I am honoring the wood. Good, old fashioned finishes take time, but that doesn't mean I can't wonder when the heck I'm gonna get to the end!

Cue up them drummin' fingers cuz we got a looooooooog way to go til we're "there".

(I'll let you know when I'm done. With pictures even!)

P.S. Click here for more info about The Hand. It really is cool isn't it?

#87 Living in the 2 O'Clock Slot...

So we changed time Saturday night; all the clocks had to be turned back an hour and we all got an extra hour of sleep. Sweet! Plenty of time to dream. And I had one of my strange/funny ones:

Dean and I had come home from somewhere and when we walked into our home, all the furnishings were different and there were little kids' shoes and toys strewn about. But it was definitely our house - we've lived here 11 years and we know which house is ours!

"Oh for heaven's sake. I'll have to call the Slot Manager and see what's up", I said.

So I called the Slot Manager and explained to him that we returned to our home but that is was filled with another family's things.

"Oh. Well, things have been getting weird lately. Something - sunspots maybe? - is interfering with the network broadcasts and messing with the Slot Assignments. I'll see what I can do. I should have it fixed in a minute. Call me when you're back in your Slot." He hung up.

I hung up.

Dean and I stood in our (whose?) kitchen and waited...

All of a sudden there was a whirring sound and everything shook; like when you used to be able to degauss your computer monitor. (Remember doing that? Such fun! The image on the screen would sort of blur and jiggle kinda like some alien image on the Twilight Zone. It was something cool and interesting to do if I happened to be bored at work. But I digress...)

Anyway, when the blurring/whirring stuff stopped, there we were: in OUR house! Everything in it was ours; just the way we left it. So, as instructed, I called the Slot Manager back to let him know we were back in our Slot.

"Great! Yeah - I figured it out. I knocked into a button by accident and all the Slots slipped by an hour. So you were in the 1 O'Clock Slot, they were in the 12 O'Clock Slot and so on. Sorry about that!"

So there you have it! And I bet you're glad to know you live in the 2 O'Clock Slot, too, huh? I mean you must since you're part of my reality and I'm part of yours. At least I assume I am. Hmmm... It all has to do with parallel universes I guess. They must exist if I dreamt about them, right?

I figure it's just a matter of time before quantum physicists stumble upon Slot Theory. Strange that they haven't realized/discovered it yet. It comes before String Theory in the Alphabetized Quantum Theories section of the Quantum Physics R Us store, for heaven's sake.

At least it does if you're living in the 2 O'Clock Slot.