Happy Birthday to the King of my Heart!

Happy Birthday to my Halloween Baby Hubby, David !

(David, earlier this month, with his other favorite girl, Miss Katie !)

I am grateful everyday that you are in my life, and that we have found one another to make this journey with.

You are sweet, funny, caring, brilliant and so very loving.

And I want to thank you for all you do to make our life together so wonderful,

including digging us out from this incredible October dump of the icky white stuff!!!

(Snowtober – images from our house, Saturday morning, October 30, 2011)

Today, let’s celebrate Everything YOU !

I love you more than words can say.

Happy birthday, My Love !

Nature does it…

Nature does not ask

If you are ready or not.

She just does her thing.

 

*****************

 

Yes.

We did get snow overnight here in NH.

For us, here in Manchester, it was just enough to make things a little white

and force David to find his scraper for the car.

It was early for this stuff, especially since we have had a pretty warm Fall.

I am not ready for snow.

In fact, it kind of makes my bones ache to think about what is coming.

But I can still find the beauty in this first snowfall.

The beauty is that it should be gone by noon.

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones !

 

Haiku my Heart Fridays hosted by the beautiful Rebecca at recuerda mi corazon.

Many Kinds of Joy !

Where did the joy come from this week ?

Tender Joy : A phone call to a dear, dear Loved One whose Mom has made the journey to the other side, loving her through, and then lighting a candle on the altar to light the way…

Joy In Anticipation : Preparing a space for my own sweet Mommy to visit. What kind of flowers ? Mums, of course !

Joy in the Many Gifts ! : My mom and I shopping and finding her the perfect down-filled coat for Montreal winters, and at a bargain, no less !

Joy in Connection : These furry family members who brings such cozy joy to fill us up everyday.

Joy In Love : My Mom and I help one another fly. I do love her so.

Acknowledging and having gratitude for the joy is an important bit of our work here on this planet, I think.

In the midst of all the hardships and darkness, the joyous light is always present.

We just have to remember to look for it !

For more joy celebration,

visit the amazing Meri and the gang at Meri’s Musing.

Happy Thursday, Beautiful Ones !

And in the end…

I completed the last page in my art journal yesterday.

It is an black, hard cover Canson 9 X12” Mixed Media sketchbook with a spiral binding that I bought at Barnes and Noble for 19.99. I think it has about 45 pages in it.

I love the paper and how it holds up to the acrylic paint, watercolors, glued on papers and ink that I use in it.

I do not love the spiral binding that separates the pages.

This is the second one of these journals that I have filled.

This one took almost two years to complete.

That is a lot of time.

A lot of changes, some subtle, some bigger, both in my life and in my artistic process.

To have this document of my life, created by me, and with all of its pages completed

is a pretty special feeling.

It was actually kind of hard to do the last page.

I felt like I should create a finale.

But the other pages were filled with inspiration from the day they were made.

So I kept to that and finished the journal with this…

The words from the Beatles song “The End” seemed fitting.

And the crow, that has visited quite a few times throughout the pages of all of my journals, flew in to give the message…

It is a pretty good one !

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I have ordered a new journal.

A Moleskine Folio A4 Watercolor album that has no spiral binding, has lovely paper and a lot of space to spread out…

I hope it makes a good new home for me and my journaling juices !

It will arrive in a few days, which is just fine because I will be busy this week

enjoying a visit from my Mom !!!

She arrives tomorrow for a special Mommy and Me week of shopping, walking, hugging, talking and loving ! Yay !

(Mommy and me – 09/2009)

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

May any endings you face today be the sweet beginnings of something new.

Big Love !

Let yourself fall…

A Haiku for the Maple Seed :

I let my Self fall

Trusting that where I fall is

My true place to grow.

*********************

It is a spectacular Fall day here in New Hampshire today.

Even right here in my backyard !

Check out this Maple !

I love how the tree colors are reflected in the window of my neighbor’s garage :

What do you see in the reflection?

It looks kind of Chagall-esque to me.

A weird horse head below with an angel holding a baby above ?

Speaking of art that is open for interpretation…

Here is my latest journal page.

I actually only have one page left to complete in this journal.

I have been adding to it for almost two years.

This page was created by just letting paint and ink and black gesso tell me where it want to go.

I am digging the white doodles…a little like the crazy thoughts I have in my brain sometimes…

Not the happiest of pages. My woman with scars looks like she is dealing with a lot.

Like so many of us in this world.

But I think she still sees the beauty…

I know I do.

Wishing you a day filled with trust, beauty and some good haiku !

Big Love, Beautiful Ones !

 

Get your haiku here : Recuerda Mi Corazon – Haiku My Heart

Daily Poetry…

Today on the amazing blog 3X3X365,

South Bend, IN

(aka Kathryn Schuth)

wrote

“What is our daily poetry?”

The idea of our daily life as poetry, as art, struck a cord deep inside me.

As did that idea that we have choice in the kind of poetry we choose to write each day.

Will it be full of “fine” or not so fine whine?

Will it be full of “Oh, poor me!” or “I can’t”s?

Or will it be full of the long list of blessings we can count ?

Of beauties we have around us ?

Of the many ways that LOVE fills us up ?

Oh, that choice, that responsibility isn’t always easy !

In fact, some days, it is incredibly hard.

But life will go by whether we create the art we want to live or not.

So what poetry will you choose to write today, Beautiful Ones ?

<3 <3 <3<3<3

I will share a little bit of mine…

(art journal page ‘ “Plan ? What Plan?”)

What I chose to see in the vast quantity of maple seeds covering the back deck…

The last marigolds from the pot of annuals I have yet to empty on the back deck, tucked into my favorite rock vase.

They all fit together beautifully somehow, don’t they ?

Poetry I set up on my desk to remind me of my work today…

And if you need just a little more inspiration to tap into your own beautiful strength and courage, please read my dear, dear friend Rebecca’s post today. It brought tears of joy to this brave heart.

Light and love,

and happy creating !

Show me some love !

Today, I will do the following things to show myself some love :

1. Go for a walk with the dog.

2. Eat Greek yogurt and Kashi cereal for breakfast.

3. Call a friend and vent, laugh and cry if necessary.

4. Take a hour to play in my neglected art journal.

5. Make a list of things I am grateful for in my neglected gratitude journal.

………

Oh, and I will send my friends over to Finally Me, where my friend Meri

celebrated one of my favorite, recent posts from this blog by including it in her great new project !

Happy Tuesday, Beautiful Ones.

Now, go love on yourself !

Walking in Orange…

PMS sucks.

I think that’s what it is.

Or maybe it is the planetary alignment ?

Whatever the cause, I felt very sucky when I woke up today.

That just happens some days.

The day was seemingly following my mood as a few things happened as the day got underway that were kind of sucky too.

In an effort to change the pattern of suckiness, I went for a walk with Chica.

It is gorgeous out today ! Sunny, very windy, but warm, and the colors of Fall are absolutely spectacular !

Here are a few views from my walk...

Our neighbors, Kim and Dave (how funny is that ?!), who live two doors down have lovely porch décor.

Look up ! That orange against the blue sky is so pretty.

I know that Chica wishes I would listen to this rock but being on leash is a must in the city !

Not sure what these berries on this prickly bush are called, but their persimmon red/orange color really caught my eye.

This shot is of a pile of broken glass, really thick stuff. I don’t know what it belonged to but I thought it was cool looking.

Some more orange. A scared looking skeleton, swinging in the wind.

Here is a shot of a Rock Fairy classic - putting a rock atop the fire hydrant.

Orange again…

I snapped a couple of pics of the “okay” rock.

I like this one too – with two pairs of feet…

Speaking of feet…

Fall would not be complete without walking through the leaves, listening to the swooshing, crunchiness. I even love the smell of the decay…

I picked up a Gingko leaf to bring home. Their shape and the fact that they are a symbol of strength, hope and peace made me pause and want to bring some of that home with me this morning.

For this pic, I paired it with the last rock in my pocket.

A message for the rest of my day, perhaps ?

“Go with strength, hope and peace.”

Nice one…

So while I still feel kind of sucky,

and while there may be things about this day that will continue to suck,

tonight when I go to bed and look back on the day,

there will be sweet moments of strength, peace and hope to focus on,

in spite of the suckiness.

I hope you have an un-sucky Monday, Beautiful Ones.

Go with strength, hope, peace and Big Love!

Love changes things…

“Love is the answer to every question.” – art journal page from 2009

Think of your dear friend.

Encircle her with love’s light.

Soul’s work being done.

**************

Worrying doesn’t change the outcome.

That has been a huge lesson for worry-wart, anxious, Kimbo.

I am still working on it, and probably will all my life.

But I have also learned that Love is the answer to every question.

And learning to focus on the Loving…

well, that makes all the difference in the world.

Where there is love, there is hope.

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones.

 

I wanted to share this video that I watched this week. It is the most inspiring thing I have seen in a long time. Talk about Soul’s Work. Wow.

Light and Love !

More haiku love at recuerda mi corazon.

How do you wish to be loved ?

At Wishcasting Wednesday, Jamie asked : How do you wish to be loved ?

I wished to be loved just the way I am in this moment.

I wish to be loved without judgment.

I wish to be loved with kindness and compassion, and for all the kindness, compassion and love that I bring to the world.

I wish to be loved fiercely and strongly, so I have the strength of that love to shine brightly.

I wish to be loved gently and softly, so that love’s comfort helps me stay brave in the darkness.

I wished to be loved deeply and well.

And you know what ?

I am.

****************

I had the most magnificent birthday weekend anyone could wish for!

Loving messages from all around, gifts full of thought and care, hug and kisses, laughter and connection, and weather that was definitely the glorious icing on the cake.

The thing I came away with most is how very, very blessed I am, and how very loved. Those two things are the greatest gifts we can receive in this life, Beautiful Ones. I am so very grateful for them !

I hope you truly know how deeply you are loved today.

Happy Wednesday !

(Pictures above are from The Rock Fairy’s visit to the beach yesterday. How cute are those sand pipers ???!!!)