Leave to the Hibiscus !

Lily the Frog and I are going to try and forget perfect today.

Let’s leave that one to the hibiscus !

My sister and her gang arrive later today and instead of focusing on how fun it is going to be and how much David and I have done to accommodate and prepare for the sweet family we love,

I am continually seeing all the things that didn’t get done or what isn’t “perfect”.

Why is that crazy voice so damn strong ????

Anyway, I am off to walk with the doggie and hopefully, come back with a new focus.

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

Let’s focus on what is right, shall we ?

Haiku My Heart–Hibiscus Dance

Hibiscus Dance

Donning your red skirt,

You dance for this one sweet day.

But oh, how you dance !

 

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Let’s put on our red skirts and dance the day away, Brave & Beautiful Ones !

Happy Friday !

For more Haiku my Heart,

visit our Brave and Beautiful hostess,

rebecca at recuerda mi corazon

Share the Joy Thursday–Stone Dreams

So my beautiful new friend, Elizabeth,

is much more of a night owl than me.

She often posts to her blog late at night.

A bit of a routine now, before I turn on the audio book du jour to fall asleep to, and set the timer on my iPod,

is to check if e.b. has posted anything new.

Last night, there was a treat that sent me into sweet dreams.

She sang summer songs of the loveliest blue, and shared stones of white and long distance loving hugs with me.

I think that is why I had this stone dream that I remembered upon awakening this morning.

I  believe it was inspired by our connection and the creative energy that I joyously share with this amazing artist/sister/friend.

I dreamed of a room in a house with a floor of sand. Near the walls, like by the shore, there were rocks, stones, pebbles, treats amassed in the sandy edges.

Upon digging my fingers through the sand, I found stone treasures from my imagination.

Smooth crystals, captured light, abundant and in every size.

Black stones, smooth and tumbled, that felt like captured fire.

And then these fossilized wonders,

a dragonfly, a perfect seed pod, encased in granite.

Shiny shapes, smoothed by some unknown sea or hand, and left in this room,

in this house with floors of sand

for me to find and be amazed, inspired, delighted by.

To wake up remembering this dream so clearly,

and to go essentially from pillow to studio to get it all down on paper, photograph and screen this way,

was a great joy.

And as I sat at my work table, immersed in creative flow,

I called to my man in the next room and said,

“Know what ?

I am an artist.”

He replied,

“Yes, you are.”

Like there was ever any doubt.

 

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For more sweet joy sharing, visit Meri’s Musings.

Happy Thursday, Beautiful Ones !

The Summer Room

Live from the brand new Summer Room

at

the Casa Amarillo

on

Nothing Rhymes with Orange Street,

it’s the Queen of Arts Studio

Back Deck Transformation Post !

You may remember yesterday’s pics of the back deck with the new gazebo and second hand furniture…

Well,  after 4 hours of scrounging through the dregs of the summer sales sections of 5 different stores for bargain cushions that fit and looked good,

plus a lot of repurposing of pillows and accessories from around the house,

not to mention quite a bit of elbow grease and sweat used to put it all together on a very hot July afternoon,

we have this !

Tada !!!!

Ironically, after all that hard work yesterday, the Queen was too exhausted and way, way too hot to sit out there and enjoy the fruits of her labor when the temps were in the 80s and very humid all evening.

She retired to the ac indoors after her work was done and after she got some “atta girls” from her sweet Hubby.

But this morning, after a thunderstorm rolled through and cooled things down a bit, and before the heat of the afternoon find her,

you will find one happy and satisfied Queen

holding court in the Summer Room.

Happy Tuesday, Beautiful Ones !

I hope you find a sweet corner just for yourself today !

The Queen bites of more than she can chew !

So little did I know when I created this beautiful new cover for my journal on Friday evening

that transformation was going to be the name of the game for this weekend,

here at the Yellow House on Orange Street.

It kind of started when I suggested to David a few weeks back,

that wouldn’t it be nice if we added some more shade to our back deck ?

It is very hot and full sun around supper time and I thought that adding this :

from Home Depot, would make it a little more shady plus, it would be waterproof enough to even use the space in a light rain.

So David, who knows the philosophy “When Momma’s happy, everybody’s happy!” very well, sweet man that he is, agreed

and this huge, 100 pound box arrived from UPS. Thanks for the free shipping, Home Depot.

So after about four hours (with water and ac breaks in between) on Saturday,

we managed to put this lovely outdoor room together.

There was actually very little swearing and no really snippiness involved in the process which was a nice surprise ! We make a awesome team, my hubby and I !

So we have a dining table and chairs in wrought iron (all in need of a paint job!)

but this new outdoor space was somehow crying out for a more lounge-y furniture too.

During a break, a visit to craigslist nh lead me to this :

Well, a used version of it for sale in Newmarket, NH, about 40 minutes from home.

Everything lined up to get the bro-in-law’s a truck and drive out there on Sunday,

and as of last night,

my once sparse back deck

now looks like this :

Now, I see lots of potential here but also a lot of work !

Plus quite a few more bucks !!

I also know that my sister Kristina, her hubby John, and the kiddos are arriving next week to stay with us,

and my perfectionist side is bound to be visiting ahead of them, wanting everything to

be “just so” inside the house and out, before they get here!!!

Eeeks !!!

Er, let’s take a deep breath and stop to smell the flowers, shall we ?

Ahhhhhh…

I will be doing my best to repeat this as many times as possible as I make my way through the week, I think !

Off to scour the left over summer bits at stores around town for deal on an outdoor rug and cushions!

Wish me luck, deep breaths and stay tuned for the

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !!!

Haiku My Heart–Look Within

 

It’s not outside you.

Realize this, then look in.

Watch beauty unfurl.

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

This was a message I got today.

Doesn’t it make you feel more powerful,

more hopeful,

more sure,

to know that the answers,

the strength,

the possibilities,

the Spirit,

is in You ?

I am going to go with that today !

********

Stay tuned for more about this precious little butterfly book I created while at e.b.’s house. I have some bits to add to it, and then it may just be available for someone purchase for their very own !

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

For more haiku loveliness and wonderful hearts,

head over to recuerda mi corazon.

Happy Friday !

Share the Joy Thursday–Re-establishing the Flow

Perhaps some of you have experienced this.

You come home from an experience that felt so wonderful

and so very transformative in a lot of ways,

and while you are so happy to be home, and have your

kitty cat back on your own pillow in your own bed,

(not to mention the love of your life close at hand for hugs and smooches whenever the mood grabs you),

you feel kind of lost and missing the flow that was happening while you were away.

You try to reestablish it at home,

perhaps by tearing your studio apart,

and putting it back together again.

Maybe with the best tools close at hand

and some space created by a major purge,

the flow will come back again.

You try and maintain some of the patterns from your time away,

like creating a journal page every day.

They turn out okay but are lacking that inspired juicy feeling

you found while you were away…

And then you get the sweetest reminder of your experiences in the mail…

A package full of love and inspiration

from your friend/mentor/artist/soulsister

who lives her art so well.

And shares it so generously !

Like a big hug full of love, this beautiful gift reminded me

to be gentle and patient

as I re-establish my new Self

at home.

I am changed.

And there are bound to be some growing pains

and some necessary readjustments.

Relaxing into it, and looking for

the joys and little miracles everyday,

I know the flow will find me again.

I love you, e.b..

Thank you for the joy and the reminder !

 

For more joy, check our Meri’s Musings.