Bye-bye, July !

When I lived in Montreal, I spent a lot of time at Lac Bibitte.

As a teacher, I had the summer off and usually spent about three or four weeks of the summer up there.

Now, being 7 or 8 hours away (depending on the crazy-ass Montreal traffic),

summer time spent up there is much rarer.

This weekend was short but oh so sweet at the Lake.

Precious cosmos in full bloom – planted this year by my sweet auntie Lise, in the same spot my dad used to plant them every summer.

The lake watcher on our lawn, again my Dad’s creation (see where I get my rock fairy genes ?).

He now sits hidden in long grass as cutting the lawn is prohibited in order to preserve the shore line. Things stay the same. Things change…

There are shadows of the past everywhere for me in this spot on the planet.

And yet, the present moment is so available when you focus there.

It was sweet to have my beautiful Mommy there with us this weekend, right where she belongs among some of my very favorite people on Earth.

And of course, this one…

She fills me ( and her Uncle Dave) bursting full of love, giggles and silly joy !

Family fills you up.

Even the loons know that !

(Mommy, Daddy and baby loon out for an afternoon fishing troll…)

As do hugs from this beautiful woman, my aunt/sister/mother/friend/cheerleader/role model of strength and womanhood, Lise. And her hubby of 40 years, my uncle Charlie.

Heck, we even had an abundance of puppy love at the Lake this weekend,

with Amber, Charlie and Lise’s dog at the top of the screen, Tonka, my cousin Matt’s ugly beautiful girl, and

my sweet Chica, angel dog who was in Yellow Lab heaven up there !

Ultimately, of course, it is all about the love..

love of place, love of family, love of this moment in time

that Love is the thing that keeps us filled up.

So I am saying good bye to July 2011.

It has been a treat of a month with so many wonderful moments.

And a very fine finale, indeed !

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Oh, and in the spirit of documenting the month of July, I wanted to share the pages I created in my sistah, Brandy’s Traveling Sketchbook this month.

I am really digging how these rocks of mine are coming to life…

And of course, my love for the ocean and the beach shines through…

I am a little late getting this one in the mail but Jennifer, the next sistah on the list, should have it in a day or two.

So bye, bye July.

Hello, August !

If you bring me even just a portion of the treats your predecessor did,

we should get along just fine !

Happy August, Beautiful Ones !

I keep my promises !

Auntie Kimmy : “I miss you so much!”

Kate : “I miss you too. Come to my house !”

Auntie Kimmy : “Okay ! As soon as I can ! I promise.”

Off to fulfill a promise to my favorite 3 year old on the planet.

Plus visit with some other awesome people that I love.

Have a great week!

Big Love !

Haiku My Heart – Earth Day Child

      

       

Girl with bright blue eyes.

What gifts you bring to my world !

Let’s celebrate you !

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Happy Birthday to my Earth Day Child Niece, Kate who is 3 years old today !

Can’t wait to come a celebrate with you, Cutey-Pie !

 

For more haiku my heart, visit the fabulous rebecca at recuerda mi corazon

Sharing the Joy Thursday

Let me share some simple joys in my world today.

Nothing fancy, but oh, so sweet.

Meet Eddie.

He is my new boyfriend.

Yes, David knows about him. He is kind of okay with it, since Eddie is a bit of a bird brain.

Eddie showed up on the April Fool’s Day Snow Storm last week, and has been hanging out at the feeder and in the maple trees around our yard every since.

His serenade makes my heart melt !

And he’s not bad to look at either. I don’t usually go for redheads, but he has changed that !

Azzy really likes Eddie too.

He watches him from his perch in the studio window and makes those hilarious open mouth noises that cats make when they see a bird at the buffet !

I am also joyful that tomorrow and Saturday

I will be gathering with my Arty Friends for some girlfriend time, food, wine, art-making and sleepover !

Though my pal Colleen who introduced me to the gang cannot make it, ;-( ,

I am looking very forward to spending time with the other NH ladies and lovely Linda who is driving in from Long Island for the fun !

I am also excited that next week, He and I :

will be chasing the spring time and the glorious blossoms

and recreating the wonderful trip we had three years ago to Virginia Beach in April.

I know it was three years ago because that is where we were when we heard the news that this Earth Day Baby had arrived :

and this year on Earth Day, April 22nd, we will be celebrating Kate’s third birthday !

Time sure goes fast…

But is so filled with sweet joys to celebrate !

Thinking about all of these joyful things makes me feel so very, very blessed !

Let’s keep the focus on what is good, Beautiful Ones, in order to create more of it !

Much Love and Happy Thursday !

 

For more joy or to share your own joy-filled stuff, head over to Meri’s blog. She is feeling poorly and needs some extra joy sent her way today.

Here’s to the first weekend of Spring 2011 !

Here are my top 6 photos from the lovely weekend we had in La Conception, Quebec for my beautiful nephew Tom’s birthday :

Me with the silly flower headband…

Dave with the silly flower headband.

Kristina with the silly flower headband, doing her “bud” act.

Katie and David on the couch, smashing ants on the Ipod.

They were pretty inseparable all weekend.

The birthday boy himself, Thomas, age 8, up a tree, yo, yo !

And though it is blurry, I absolutely love this shot. Katie and David, sharing laughs, which was pretty much a constant sweet noise in the background of our weekend.

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It was a very nice time with lovely family. I am so grateful for the love, understanding and laughter that we share every time we are together.

The only down side to the weekend is that we are nursing a sick Chica-dog. She has been throwing up and having the runs since Friday off and on, especially during the night. I thought she was better yesterday when we kept her on a bland diet for a few days but the vomiting started again last night. Off to the vet later today to see what else we need to do to help her feel better.

This afternoon I am guiding another art journaling afternoon at my friend Patti’s house.  It will be good to get lost in the color and the process for a while.

I hope your Tuesday is full of sweet moments, Beautiful Ones.

Big Love.

The Great White North trip…

My first hint that the weather wasn’t going to be quite what I thought it would be during my trip up to Canada last Monday was this light dusting of snow at the rest area in Randolph, Vermont.

New Hampshire had been cloudy and cold but no precipitation.

Little did I know that about 2 hours later, I would be stuck in a real snow storm, you know the kind where the snow travels horizontally and visibility is about 100 feet on the highway?

It ended up forcing me to get off the roads, find a cozy hotel and make the rest of the trip to Montreal the next morning.

I had a king size bed, a nice, deep jacuzzi  tit-tub and a remote control all to myself in my room at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Burlington, Vermont.

The weather was still a big challenge on the road on Tuesday in the city of Montreal where they had been expecting an inch or two and ended up with well over a foot and a half !

Even a snowy city like Montreal went into first snowfall of the year panic.

Funnily enough, using the mantra from my Mom “Go slow to go fast”, I actually made all of my rendez vous’ for selling my wares at my Mom’s office downtown, having a sweet dinner with my friend Kim (The Bodhi Chicklet), and then heading to my sister’s house to have a cozy sleep on her couch for the night.

The big challenges of the trip actually started when I got to the unplowed circle that my sister lives on and got well and truly stuck about two houses from her drive way !

Luckily, my bro-in-law, Dave, also know as Nat’s Dave, came out and helped me make it to the driveway !

(Nat’s kitchen window, the day after…)

(The stained glass my friend Suzy made and I made for Natalie – have to say I like sunflowers more than the winter wonderland myself…)

The challenges continued the next morning when Nat woke me up, asking me to move my car so she could get her car out of the garage to take her son, Nathan to school, and where I discovered, even before coffee,

that my car wouldn’t start…

at all !

Nat’s Dave had to come back from work to take Nathan to school while I waited for CAA to show up.

I love CAA !

(AAA in the US and the membership works in both countries !)

I ended up needing a new battery and after that was installed right there in the drive way for a mere $132.00 dollars Canadian (plus $100.00 of hotel, minus the sales of my arty goodies at my Mom’s office means I just about broke even this trip…),

and a lovely breakfast with my Sister and my newly home from out West niece, Jessica, I headed out to La Conception for the next part of my visit.

La Conception is about 2 hours north of Montreal in the mountains. They actually had less snow than the city !

Beautiful views outside my windows in spite of the grey…

I had a sweet time as always at my sister Kristina’s house !

The greatest niece since Jessica was there and we continued our love affair…

Miss Katie, 2 and a half, spent the day with me on Thursday.

She showed some interest in photography…

and I let her use my camera, carefully supervised…

Katie’s shot of the Weeble Snowman…

Katie’s 2 shots of her feet entitled “I ave gold shoes, just like a princess.”

Kate goes to a French daycare and has a cute, cute, cute French accent when she speaks English !

I had to take a few pics of her myself of course. This is my favorite one, half under water in the bath.

I have discovered that taking pictures of 2 1/2 year olds is pretty hard – they don’t stay still for long !

Here is the girl in the “Princess” outfit that she put together herself.

She is my kind of princess !

I also so enjoyed the time I spent with my nephew Thomas, Kate’s brilliant big brother, after school. We did some crafty stuff like he likes and managed to decorate two little Christmas trees for the brother and sister duo with our homemade ornaments.

I cooked supper for the family, and gave my busy sister and her sweet hubby John a bit of a break.

Their house is really one of my favorite places on the planet…so cozy and full of love.

Friday morning, I headed back to Montreal and got to spend some time with my Mom.

We did lunch and shopping, and a movie night at her place.

It was short and oh so sweet.

Then, Saturday morning, I headed out on the 5 hour uneventful (Thank God !) drive home to my man and the wonderfully clean and tidy house he was waiting in…

(Interesting truck graffiti in Candiac, Quebec)

What the pictures and the words I have put here don’t convey are the trips into gratitude, wonder, mindfulness, and even real love for myself that I had along the way.

I am continually amazed at how once you have started to live your life focusing on what is good, and on having faith in the path and your own strength, the more and more beauty and abundance you experience, even in the midst of chaos and challenges.

I am full up with love, Beautiful Ones.

And that is a sweet place to be.

Happy, happy Sunday!