up to my ears

This week and today especially...I'm up to my ears in custom special orders, which is great!!!  Good thing I still have my eyes to see what I'm doing :)  Sometimes it feels like my mind runs rampant and I am consumed with too much thinking, if there is such a thing.  I find there's no better distraction than work.  It's calming and therapeutic to be swallowed up by new ideas, plans, and other perspectives.  A big crystal Mediterranean blue wave washes through me and swirls around my worries, getting rid of the old loose thoughts and replacing them with new, fresh, and clean ones.  It's kind of like what happens in the dishwasher.

These particular orders I'm working on involve paper and more paper.  And...that is also something I love.  Plain.  Simple.  Sometimes it's so pretty, I almost don't even want to use it up.  But then I remember...that would be such a waste for beautiful things to be held captive in the dark depths of a closet or a drawer.  Much like people, I think.  We might as well get out there and share our colors and make a footprint in the world.

 

 

Some photos of Howie B and I on our travels...I use these as samples for my Mini Albums, but these are some of my favorite pics from over the years:  

 Parc del Laberint d'Horta (Labyrinth Park) in Barcelona with perfectly trimmed maze hedges and swans floating under the weathered stone bridge, Allasio Italy with it's millions of steps down the footpath to the sea, and Sifting through the long stretch of a pebbly beach to find the smoothest stones and sea glass washed in by the Mediterranean.

wanting

Is there ever anything you want so bad, but just can't seem to get?  I feel that way today.  Most of the time, I don't expect much, but today...I was just hoping for more.  Maybe someday, with a lot of praying and hoping and wanting and working, I will get what I've been looking forward to for so long.  If you've ever felt this way, you know that the best option is just to...keep on truckin'.  I hope all the best for you too and I think we should all keep dreaming until that dream is a quite alive and real!

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.”

I can't figure who said this, but I like it.

soon

 

I'm off to my weekly Tuesday dinner at my Poppy's house but I just wanted to leave you with this to remember: Spring is coming soon!  The days are growing longer and longer, a sure sign.  And the birds are out twittering to one another, telling long and exciting stories that are a secret to me.  The squirrel is carefully balanced on the fence, munching away on a stray nut he found in the yard.  I am watching the first buds on the trees become more and more confident to show their colors everyday.  And...it is quite warm, I don't even need a jacket :)  Very soon, my friends.

color me happy

“Color possesses me. I don't have to pursue it. It will possess me always, I know it. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I am a painter.”

-Paul Klee

I find myself surrounded by color today.  That's a good thing, because Monday's could use a little color in my opinion.  Just to start the week off right, you know.  Sunday night seems like the last hurrah, the end of the weekend fun before the beginning of "real" life with bills and errands and work.  So, a couple cheery things for the day...the crocs came out of hiding today and I shelved my usual, uggs.  Four new stain colors to make fresh and fun glazes.  Aren't they lovely?  I'm excited about that :)  Eggs for breakfast and Whopper mini Robin Eggs for desert :)  A piping hot wood stove.  And Howie's birthday balloons.  Hope you can find a couple more things to make you smile today.

happenings

 

Some recent happenings...Pancakes for breakfast.  Always a good idea.  And also, a trip to the book shop that included all kinds of goodies.  One is the new Amos Lee album, Mission Bell.  It's really great.  Another is a book written by Sara Gruen that's been around for a while, but I'm just now getting to it...Water for Elephants.  Has anyone read it?  It's always an exciting day when I start a new book.  I just love them.  The feel of the crisp, thin pages.  The smell of the paper.  The world I live in when I read.  All of it :)  The book store is one of my all time favorite places to be.  And then there was last night's Fun Friday homemade dinner with sliced plum tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella drizzled with olive oil, italian spices, and basil.  That was just the beginning.  Following that appetizer special was linguine and tomato baked chicken with bits of melted cheese, basil, and asparagus.  Delicious.

one of my faves, i read it every year

  

And I saw this on my way home.  Don't you love the sky before a storm?...always a thing to behold.

 Happy Weekend!

all wrapped up & happy {howie's birthday}

This is Howie on our cross country trip out west 9 years ago.  In this particular photo, we were visiting a friend at White Tail Ranch in Montana and helping with some work for WTR Outfitters.  After bailing hay all day and loading up the pack mules, we rode our horses into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.  Along craggy cliff trails we rode a 1/2 day in, winding our way through the quiet wilderness to drop off the supplies at camp.  And then...rode 1/2 a day back home.  It was the best day and full of more adventures than I could have hoped!!

Today is another best day...Howie B's Birthday!!  I met him 10 years ago, almost to the day.  He was my favorite then and still is now.  I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell all you girls this, but...I got the best one :)  I'll see him a little later for some birthday celebrating and present unveiling.  If you don't know this about me already...I love wrapping packages.  It might be one of my favorite things:)  Soft matte paper in naturals.  Raffia rolls in earth tones.  Twine.  Gift Tags.  Cinnamon Sticks.  I can't get enough of those goodies!

I won't tell you what's in these yet...just in case he's able to read this before this afternoon.

My Etsy orders are just as much fun to send, too :)

Well, Happy Birthday to Howie.  My best friend and my Love.  Keira got some new shoes for his birthday which she chose to wear over her jammies this morning.  It's customary in our house to share the Love on birthdays, so usually everyone else gets one present too :)  And also, the birthday celebrator wakes up to a present next to their pillow, just waiting to be unwrapped.  That's especially exciting when you're a kid!  Any birthday traditions in your house?

Can you believe they make Converse Chucks this tiny?! 

And a Happy Wednesday to all the rest of us who aren't celebrating birthdays today!!