Winter..

"I love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." (Mandino)

Best

Going Green...

...in the grocery store. I made these two shopping bags and am donating them to my grandsons' school fundraising auction. I like both of them, but especially the embroidered one, because it is just darned cute! (at least I think so)
I tried and tried to make a collage, but Picasa is not cooperating with me all all. Darnit!

Best

"Not Exactly My Colors.....

Grams." I have had the wonderful experience of teaching my just twelve year old grandson to sew. And yes, these are not his colors, this is a bag he would never carry...and I probably would not use it either.....But, it is what was on hand, someone, a little girl might like this and it was a good beginning for sewing and matching up seams.
I think that he did a fantastic job. The only thing I did was show him what to do and I did do the pressing..showing him the difference between pressing and ironing.
I also helped him to sew a pillow case..no pictures..but flannel with "POW and SMACK and SOCCER and FOOTBALL on it.
I am amazed at how well he did. do click on to see how wonderfully he did

Best

Happy Valentine's Day

Give yourself up to love, no matter how old...life is too short not to love and to be loved...too short not to embrace the wonderfulness of being alive and being connected...too short to say I am too old to connect with those who are too young... too short to say I am too young to connect with those who are too old...too short to ignore and deny the the deliciousness of life...too short not to shout out..."I am here and I matter and you are here and you matter!"... too short to not dance the dance, see the sky, be burned by the moon, smell the sunflowers, embrace the darkness, be kissed by the rain, be changed by the words, carried away by the music, be reduced by pain and concern for others.... too short not to rise up each day to the wonder that is out there...too short to not raise our hands in help, too short not to love and shout out, "Here I am and there you are, aren't we so fortunate to connect and be together?"...too short not to wonder at all of the wonder....

Best

Birthday/Valentine Present....

....for a dear friend. My inspiration came from a wreath featured in a Williams-Sonoma catalog.
Mine is not quite as perfect; it's a bit off kilter, but I think that she likes it!

Best

Thank You....

Sarah, for pointing me in the direction of his poetry.
I had never read any. I love this one....

Penumbrae

by John Updike

The shadows have their seasons, too.

The feathery web the budding maples

cast down upon the sullen lawn

bears but a faint relation to

high summer's umbrageous weight

and tunnellike continuum—

black leached from green, deep pools

wherein a globe of gnats revolves

as airy as an astrolabe.

The thinning shade of autumn is

an inherited Oriental,

red worn to pink, nap worn to thread.

Shadows on snow look blue. The skier,

exultant at the summit, sees his poles

elongate toward the valley: thus

each blade of grass projects another

opposite the sun, and in marshes

the mesh is infinite,

as the winged eclipse an eagle in flight

drags across the desert floor

is infinitesimal.

And shadows on water!—

the beech bough bent to the speckled lake

where silt motes flicker gold,

or the steel dock underslung

with a submarine that trembles,

its ladder stiffened by air.

And loveliest, because least looked-for,

gray on gray, the stripes

the pearl-white winter sun

hung low beneath the leafless wood

draws out from trunk to trunk across the road

like a stairway that does not rise.

Isn't this lovely? Oh, to be able to stitch such beauty together with word and intent.
Aren't we blessed to have such loveliness to read? Each stanza (is that a correct word for what I want to say?) fills me with gratitude and, what..I cannot explain it. I love all of this, especially: "And loveliest, because least looked-for..."
Perhaps, we should all seek the "loveliest and least looked for, and the shadows that have their seasons, too".

Best

Early Evening.....

piebald beans, ham bone knuckle whiteness
tender greens
ruffled goodness of purple
red tomatoes
falling darkness
richness of ground coffee
a call to come outside to see the star
I run with the blessings of
white knuckle bone
freckled beans, richness of red scent
and perfect purple ruffles
to see the beauty of the white
spot in the sky.

Best