Haiku My Heart–The Gifts that keep on giving…

 

These everyday gifts

Mine to revel in and love

Gratitude abounds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was walking out of a store at a strip mall this week and looked up to see these :

The photos aren’t great but as I snapping them, this woman walked towards me on the side walk, looking quizzically at me, wondering what I was doing.

I said to her “Look at these leaves ! Aren’t they beautiful ?”

She had this look of confusion on her face, almost mistrusting, but I think my big smile made her pause and really look at what I was referring to.

She looked up, studied the leaves for a moment or two and replied,

“You know, yes, they are !”

She smiled at me as if to thank me for sharing, and kept walking.

Now, this story is no big deal, I know,

but it is one of those everyday gifts that has started to come to me when I focus on what is beautiful and good in my world.

I don’t do it all the time, but when I remember to BE where I am, and really look around me,

man, are there gifts to receive !!!

I brought a few of the leaves home and dried them in my microwave flower press.

I think they will keep their magnificent color that way.

Don’t they look wonderful with this other sweet gift I received from my friend Andrea’s mom ?

A cozy rock with a crocheted cozy ! I love it sooooo much ! Thank you, Barb and Andrea, you talented mother and daughter duo !

Speaking of mother/daughter duos,

(cool segue, eh ?)

my Mom is coming for the weekend !!! Yay !!!!

It doesn’t look like we will have the kind of beach weather we had when she was here in May,

but we will make fun whatever the weather !

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones !

Remember to keep looking for beauty !

For more haiku from the heart, visit the glorious rebecca at receurda mi corazon

Tuesday's Light

I love this day already.

(Stained glass by my dad, Yves de Broin, brilliantly lit up by this September morning's sun)

Picking up those tools…

Mondays are usually my run around days.

Today, I am slowed down by a pretty bad back ache.

It is a chronic issue but I am having a big flare up right now.

Time to turn back to old tools that work well when I dedicate myself to them.

Stretches in the am, walking and being conscious of my core, taking breaks often while at the computer, etc…

I referred back to what Lousie Hay, author of You can Heal Your Life, had to say about lower back stuff…

And David and I even went to buy a new bed this past weekend, as our 10 year old sagging mattress certainly isn’t helping.

Yup, picking up the tools that work again.

And also wondering why I get so lazy and start putting them down in the first place !?!?!

Speaking of tools that are good for my wellbeing,

I am trying to restart making art every day. Especially when I know that winter and my hibernation mood are on the horizon. I know that being creative and taking that focused, meditative, play time for myself every day helps keep the icky brain monsters at bay.

I want to get back to the journal page, and I will !

But for now,

these perfect white rocks from the shores of Lake Champlain,

my sepia Faber Castell artist pens, a little Derwert Inktense pencil and a blending pen

are just the right kind of art making for me…

Oh, and some too pale eucalyptus dyed bits that have been sitting outside, with rusty stuff on them, exposed to the elements and doing their own thing for about two weeks were a fun discovery this morning too.

They will be added to other arty creations someday…

I hope your week is off to a good start, Beautiful Ones !

Now get up and stretch that amazing, hard working back of yours !

Happy Sunday in Paradise

 

Beautiful Little Happy is back in his lovely lighted window perch.

He is enjoying the gifts of the last marigold blooms.

In his lap, he holds the power of the drying chinese lantern, the little Vermont pear

and some special rocks that came through me this week.

The most special of all is perhaps the Bear image,

offering its  Bear Medicine healing

to some dear loved ones laying low,

and to our world that needs it so much.

I hope you have a happy Sunday, Beautiful Ones !

Big Love !

Sharing some joy on Haiku my Heart Friday…

For the last week or so, my Joy has been all about

Circles

& Hearts…

Circles

& Hearts…

Circles

& Hearts…

Circles

& Hearts…

Circles…

& Hearts…

So it is only fitting that my haiku this week reflects that too, right ?

 

Within the circle

Hearts open wide to explore

Round and round we go.

 

I was blessed to be be in a fine circle of women who gathered with their open hearts in Charlotte, Vermont to be immersed in e.b.’s magic.

I am still in the glow and looking forward to putting all I learned into making my own !

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones !

 

More joy sharing here.

And more haiku here :

Rocking Relief !

As of Saturday afternoon, my Etsy shop is officially sold out of the 37 Days Rock My World rocks that benefited the John F. Ptak Relief Fund.

My awesome computer geek and right hand man in rocking the world, David, calculated all kinds of juicy statistics for me.

128 orders were placed

for 232 bags of rocks,

all to give financial support to John and Patti as John undergoes treatment for kidney cancer.

(John and Patti, photo by Patti)

(He had his surgery last Wed. and is healing,resting and in amazingly brilliant spirits at home. Can you say clean margins ?!!!)

That means that these Rock Fairy hands painted over 3000 rocks with messages of love that are now all over the world !

And, after shipping costs and materials, it allowed us to donate $1500.00 to the John. F. Ptak Relief Fund !

David and I are unbelievably proud of all the hard work we put in to be able to give to this awesome family in this way. It has been an act of joy and an honor. Our thanks and gratitude to all the people who placed orders with us and made this more special than I could ever have dreamed. Thank you too, to the great gang of Rock Fairy friends who helped me along the way.

You all rock !

I have put the Etsy shop into Vacation mode as I rest my wings for awhile.

What better way to rest than to head to a week-long visit to the Lake House on Lake Champlain, and enjoy a workshop with the amazingly talented, magic maker,  e.b. ,

who just happens to be a sweet soul sister friend that I adore ?!?!

I have gratitude in huge abundance !!!

 

Rock on, Beautiful Ones !

Sending much love and light !

(Ps - The John F. Ptak Relief fund is still collecting donations until the 14th of September. Wouldn't it be amazing to reach that $100,000 goal ???)

The Joys of a Staycation

From this week’s Joy List…

David and I were supposed to be on vacation at a camper in Maine this week.

But Issac’s leftovers and a forecast of rainy weather discouraged us.

We decided on a staycation instead.

It has ended up being a sweet mixture of stuff, including beginning some bathroom reno,

a beach outing on our sunny Monday, naps in the pm in the rain and things like :

Two kitty cats sleeping together on the daybed

(rare as the black one, Boo, is usually attacking the old softy, Azzy.)

Starting my artwork to be submitted for Patti Digh’s next book, the Geography of Loss that is being released in June 2013.

Making a bouquet of the last of my summer flowers

to put on the table on the back deck,

where we enjoyed a lovely evening with my Aunt Lise and Uncle Charlie from Montreal, who made a stop here on their way to the seacoast. It was a treat to have them here !

There was tender moments like keeping the love light burning as John Ptak, Patti Digh’s husband, underwent his kidney surgery. Being a part of the unbelievably loving community, sending healing and prayers to the whole Ptak-Digh family was a joy and an honor for me.

This photo I took from Patti’s facebook page shows her and John after he made it through the surgery really well and was recovering, still feeling the waves of love…

Then there was the arrival of Little Happy.

I saw him a while back at Pier One Imports and have been stopping at the store every two weeks or so to see if he would be on sale.

I have been looking for a Buddha figurine that could go in my garden or in my studio and when I saw this guy, I was completely in love. He is just the right mixture of happy and serene that touches me.

I told my honey, David about him, and how he had made me smile when I saw him.

I also said I didn’t feel right buying him as he was kind of expensive and I have a lot of expenses coming up this fall with workshops and art materials I need to buy.

Then yesterday, when David went out to Home Depot to get some stuff for the bathroom reno,

he walked back into the house carrying my little monk !!!!

I was so surprised and tickled !!!

Isn’t he the cutest ?

And the little Monk rocks too !

I will be rearranging the bay window in my studio to find the perfect place where I can look at Little Happy and smile everyday.

Isn’t it cute how we both have a dimple in the exact same place !

I hope that your week was full of joyful moments, Beautiful Ones !

 

For more joyous stories, head over to Meri’s Musings today and every Thursday.