this is art. life.

a few photos from a week ago.  

yes. it takes me that long to download from my canon.  

and i don't mind. 

even when withering. 

there's beauty here. 

harvest + bounty. 

biscuits + blackberry jelly (2012). 

these moments of quiet.  life. as is.  

the art of daily living.  

xo.

self care truth no. 2.

holidays bring me home. 

when working for yourself and loving what you do, 

you tend to work a lot.  and all the time. 

i love these days that bring life to an almost hault. 

days that provide space for a new pace.  

where the day is filled with freedom to choose the next pace.  

so i dig in. 

these days remind me of the daily pace i want to have for myself.  i give myself permission to rest.  to clean.  to gather with friends.  to share.  the freedom of spontaneity.  i love. it.  today's time in the garden was soul food.  sitting.  listening.  making good food.  sounds like most any other day, right?  it is.  though it's the permission to do exactly what i want in a given moment that excites me.  to sleep in past 9 ((when has that happenend?)).  to play cards with my boys after a late lunch of hummus, veg, and fruits.  oh, it's a good pace.  it's a good space.  i am thankful for these self care days to just be.  and then to move forward and share presence with friends gathered to be together.

what do the holidays give you that feeds your soul?  

colors of my week: 6.29.2012.

delighting in the spaces of our home.

life stories: creating love in the corners of our home.

i'm giving some of the corners of my home a fresh look. some art will move around the house. projects & ideas in process will be resurrected and some created from scratch. i've been interested in pairing down to see what's beautiful and functional in our home, releasing what's unnecessary and simply "stuff".

this week i'm inspired by the wall in our small hall. when we first moved into our home i painted this tree on the wall. a sweet young carson painted the bird when visiting us with our new baby boy (who is turning five! this spring). i've wanted to stretch the tree to the ceiling and cover it with images of my family. it's held two frames since i deemed the wall a family tree wall, but that's all.

here's one of the two framed pieces. you see my maternal grandmother and grandfather in their younger years. i want to connect our ancestory to my son, giving him a space to look up and be to amazed.

here you see the second framed piece along with other frames saved and stacked. photos have been waiting to be framed and hung. more to gather and print and frame.

a 'high hopes' ramblings framed by dottieangel

we've lived in our cozy home five years. five years is a long time to dream about this wall. i'm taking action {this} moment. i've asked pals on Facebook for frames of varying sizes. i'm completely in love with this blue framed work by dottieangel and i think it's the perfect color for some of the frames. some will be natural brown, others black, others this shade of robin's egg blue. perhaps. the process will tell the tale.

this post isn't simply about a wall. it's about those wishes and ideas we have and hold on to. some are just meant to be fleeting while others are meaningful enough to come to fruition. we all have a project list or wish list somewhere in our minds, taped to our fridge, or in our ideas file. we do. we sit on them and we wait for the right time. we tell ourselves we're too busy. we occupy our time with other tasks. i'm looking to these lists of mine to see what's beautiful and functional and will bring life to the corners of our home. i will also recognize some as more "stuff" that's on the list that will be unnecessary.

we also know that there is a recognition when we use our words to name something. whether we whisper truths to ourselves or share it with the universe. we put our words before ourselves and others and proclaim it is time they come into being. we birth creativity in these spaces. we birth what has been growing within. some ideas need that time to mature. others just get lost and we need to stop and breathe deeply, discovering what we should labor over and what we should release.

in a sense, i am moving into knowing myself a little better, trying to allow what i love to see before me to shine forth in the corners of our cozy home. trying to live well and love well.

daily bread: good quotes no. 25

the work of our gardening hands, part i

i've realized how much daily routines have shifted for me: the sun is out and i'm near it. i'm also: weeding & working in the yard, vending more often at art shows & markets... my hands are at work, indeed. so, i highlight a bit of the work of our hands in the yard. we participate in growing things as a family. enjoy these images & take delight in the work of our gardening hands:daffodils i have nothing to do with. their presence is welcomed and enjoyed, wherever the wind carries them.

a partial view of the back yard with our huge hydrangea, one of three

representing something different.

plums.

a partial view of the front with clematis, rosemary and abundant hostas.

ice plant.

coral bells.

oh, the gardenia.

the glorious gardenia.

sometimes i spend a few minutes returning to posts of yesterday. it's a good practice, i think, and one that some of you share with me. i appreciate that there's a flow to writing and a flow to reading that is natural and appreciated. here are a few past posts highlighting what's 'in our garden': making gardens magic beans garden glimpses

color amidst winter white

a handmade addition to our home made last night. i love the colors of these fabrics. they tell a lovely color story and say "welcome home" all at once.

life stories: mindful change

i'm beginning to think that if we each spent 10 minutes (or more) a day in still, mindful meditation we'll change the world. that change will begin within each of us, and the possibilities are limitless... i'm not the first to think such thoughts, but i join in the belief system that exists.

as i remove myself from social media, as i quiet our home with no sounds other than those natural "home" sounds and the sounds from outside, as i breathe deeply & sit still, there's something that takes shape from within. there's an inner stillness & awareness that wakes up within me and speaks to the world, the universe around me. there's a loss of time and space and an new creation of presence.

each moment that i spend still, quiet, focused, mindful i find myself using fewer words. i find my comprehension & thoughts focusing and i am in love with the ability to speak well. i am in love with the ability to be centered and positive.

what has surprised me are those moments of recognition where sarcasm, once practiced, is not so present. i even read & hear sarcasm in others as complaint rather than humor. [friends, i'll still love you, but i may distance myself from some of those tweets or comments on facebook.] you likely won't know. i'll just bid you blessings and peace.

when another friend called this week and spoke of my status updates & desire to be at a table with me, to sit and be in a thoughtful, well-intentioned conversation, i was humbled. during our conversation, memories of what i read that day that weren't so thoughful or well-intentioned (says the inner critic) poured into my mind. my conversation with this beloved friend wasn't as focused or centered. my mouth opened with questions and concerns. i said OUT LOUD some of my gut's instincts over recent days. i'm not sure if it "felt" good to be unburdened and share these thoughts with this kindred spirit or not. there's no guilt or regret, just questions of why so much welled up within. what i do hope is that we have the same desires each time we speak to want to be with the other person at table, sharing a meal or coffee together. to know that when we are low, there are folks who can help us to retain our balance. to know that we can first sit in a quiet stillness, listening to the sounds of our breathing, acknowledging our own thoughts that come into play as we sit and breathe.

we have so much potential inside of us. we are full of infinite possibility. (says one of my mini mixed media) while i am not attempting to share fortune cookie-like comments, i do feel full of good things. i want to express those good thoughts & share my life story. if negative thoughts or emotions come, i don't ignore them, but send them on their way. there's no room, no space left for them.

as my loving husband told me last night, "your mind is on other things." and he's right on target: my mind is on other things. mindful, thoughtful, peaceful, loving things. still in recognition of illness, death, and sorrow. much of that is spoken of in conversations with family & friends & those in the bereavement support group. i am in tune with that reality as well. awareness is so much of what brings that mindfulness through the creative spirit. then i can create & pray. i can be mindful that life is good, even when it's not.

green.

i am visiting my friends & family with jo here in the green state of mississippi.  green state?  yes.  i'd forgotten how many evergreens fill the space here.  my mother's home sits beside a small forest of trees.  trees that as children my brother and i would build forts under, collect small signs of life (cocoons, cicada skins, bark and moss).  we would have adventures, probably no more than 50 feet from home, but it felt like the deep forests of some other world.  

recently richard, jo, and i set off to find a little park that was on the richmond map being developed.  the map was a few years old.  we've been setting out to find new spaces to explore around the river and in different parts of our richmond home.  we found it by arthur ashe elementary school off creighton road.  there are two small parks with woodland between.  we explored the woods on our second trip out.  it took me back to the greens and exploration of childhood.  wham.  it was a blast that filled me from my head to toes.  my feet knew where to go, even though i'd not stepped foot in this area.

there are familiar places and spaces in our lives.  sometimes the familiarity brings hope and joy and sometimes fear and pain.  while home for me can be a mix of both, i am happy to reintroduce my three-year old to folks here.  with each trip he explores people and places anew.  he remembers more and more each time, and looks forward to our many mini-adventures along the way.  

this week is spent absorbing the green spaces around my childhood, passing it along to my beautiful son.  his spirit of adventure is alive and alert.  mine is, too.  for this time and this space of home, i am thankful.