Our Christmas Room

The windows overlooking the front of the house but it is pure white at the moment with snow.

Our family stocking collection, Bob and I, the Girls, the Boys and the Grandkids and a girlfriend in there too!

"MY" wall, this is Root Woman and she was carved from the root of a tree and is one of my prized possessions. I have all of my crystals there and my handmade Native American bag hanging there too.
Here is a closeup of her and the bags which have been made from artisans all over the US.

The tree, tada!

The Life of a Cat...

Love the sleepy look!
Mom comes in and he tries to hide...
Sleeping quietly until....

Partay!!!

We had been planning a fall party for a number of our friends and the day finally arrived Saturday. We had live music by a local musician that has an International following and lot's of food and drink and merriment.



The pool room was the perfect place for the music and the acoustics were astounding! Wish you could have been here.

Minnesota Winter 2009/2010...

Well, here we are again. I am not ready, I still need to plug in heated buckets, move the ducks, get the rabbits ready in the barn and get their heated waterers going.

Water in this weather is a huge issue, if one is not careful the pumps freeze over and once that happens their is no water for the remainder of the Winter and we have to bail water from the heated automatic waterer for the horses, not fun when you have to disperse about 50 buckets worth each morning and evening amongst the animals.

However, to walk out to the barn this morning was simply beautiful. Glints of diamonds in the snow and my horses were so excited to get out and play. It is a curse and a wonderment all at once.
There is just so much to do and it is here already....

To Stitch Again....

I have rediscovered stitching again and with a fervor! I have been stealing away seconds to make up for the 2 plus years I have gone without fine linens and silks running through my fingers.

This is my next project (courtesy of the Tempus Fugit Blog)
I have created thousands of charts and rarely get to feel the product in my hand and I so needed this!

We tried....

It is pretty sad that when you go for a horseback ride and not only is it so short that we have to ride along the driveway but BOTH of us are on our cell phones to boot! It was a really short ride!

Weekend 's Bounty

I did this one on Friday and I just love the Citrine and Carnelian combo!

A fabulous color of Larimar and I like the touch of a sterling rose and Mother of Pearl

Rhodochrosite ring

Weekend Indulgences:

True Blood
Another glass of Drambuie
Dinner out Sunday night
A ride on my horse
Kisses from my girls times 1000!

Make it your best day yet!

The Madonna Ring

I must say that this is probably my best creation to date and it might just have to gain a twin!

This week's indulgences:

A long hot bath
A Pink Stone
A Taco from my favorite Mexican joint
Stealing a kiss between bales of hay
Sleeping in for an extra 15 minutes
A snifter of Drambuie

For the Love of .....

I have always adored Harney and Sons Tea and my favorite time of day is now where the end of the day is nearing and I breathe a sigh of relief with a good day's work done. I went to the kitchen to make my cuppa and gasp! I am on my last tea bag of their Wedding blend.

Off to the website I go and place my order for my beloved brew. The next best thing is the cup of which none other will do for this fabulous blend. KHPhillips is the master of pottery imho and I simply love the little feet that adorn the bottom of his cups and not a tilt to one of them!

For the love of.......All things simple and beautiful and peaceful moments spent in the midst of a busy day.

Fenced in Rainbows

This shot was taken a few days ago and it reminded of how we tend to hold our dreams and wishes behind barriers. I have fallen prey to containing my dreams and wishes within a certain boundary of what is acceptable. We need to reach to the sky and realize that there are no limits and that we can all learn to grasp that proverbial brass ring and not hold back.

Make each day valuable and rejoice in the fact that we had one. Make each day a memory of something good and smile. Make each day yours and flourish....

Keep your head up, your eyes forward and your heart open.....

Potatoes and Butterflies

Yesterday was quite exciting, we started to harvest the potatoes in the garden and were shocked as we pulled potato after potato and most of them are bigger than my hand. Thank Heavens for good ol horse manure as a fertilizer.


We pulled up about 10 plants and have well over a hundred pounds and have over 50 more plants to go. It is going to be a weekend of peeling and cutting and prepping for freezing. There is nothing better than harvesting your own food.


On another note, Harmony captured a caterpillar and put it in her butterfly house to see if it would form a Chrysalis and sure enough it did. She came home from YMCA to a see that it had emerged as a gorgeous (female) Monarch. With a tear and a proud smile she released her last night, my little girl did good!

Rhodochrosite

One of my most favorite stones of Mother Natures. I created this pendant with some accents yesterday and love the pink hues! Available now on Etsy.

It is early, the dew is still wet beneath my feet and I can hear the flowers raising their heads to the sun filled sky. The day is bright already and full of hope and my mind turns to all that is ahead of me in terms of the near and the far.

The near brings with it lots to do and the far brings with it visions of snow and cold and it leaves me a bit melancholy for the Summer that has not yet passed.

One more Winter, one more cold Winter and one more change in landscape and one more Season that passes us by. One more step in life, one more chance to make another persons day brighter, one more chance to make this day all that it can be and be grateful for a day well lived.

Family

Emily with her new dog "Cookie"

Cookie and Harmony

Jayden and Aubrey on Dunny

The Past, The Present and the Connections we must observe

Sometimes we are often reminded in many ways of times past and poor decisions we have made right alongside some of the best decisions of our lives.

On this day, I am reminded of many choices and today is an odd day. At 2:30 am we were awakened by the alarms going off in the house and Bob and I jumped out of bed thinking it was the weather radio and it was screaming "severe weather alert" and in our sleep induced haze we ran out the bedroom door and were greeted by two crying little girls. We quickly realized that the words ringing out were all the alarms in the house saying "Warning - Carbon Monoxide"......

We flung open the doors and and we all waited outside for the alarms to go off and then turned off what we thought was the source and headed back to bed to only be woken again in 10 minutes by the same blaring alarms.

This prompted a call to 911 and then the familiar vision of fire trucks ablaze coming down the driveway - dejavu......

They sourced the leak to the gas fireplace in our bedroom....It was a good decision to put alarms in when the house was rebuilt, a very good decision. Our children could be orphans this morning had we not made that decision. It scared me to think of the lives that would be forever changed if something happened to Bob and I.

I then open my email this morning to a friend request on Facebook from my Brother, whom I have not heard from in 10 years. Amazingly enough, he is an artist and a pretty good one. The day that I said goodbye to him was the first day of missing him and I searched for him since and then wonders of Social Networking Sites come to play. We even share the same favorite movie - not surprised... I have alot to tell him. Our Step Dad has died, I have had two children and 3 Grandchildren, I have lived through a tornado and I am living my life's dream and I am happy. What is he doing now, what has he painted on his life's canvas but most importantly, is he happy?

There is more to the story that I don't think I can capture in words but will do my best. I had a dear friend that died from alcoholism and one of her favorite terms was "Soul Garden". She referred to hers often as well as others and I always loved the term. Well, a much admired Jewelry artist had developed a series called "Soul Garden" and they were necklaces of such beauty that I wanted to get one to commemorate Carol's memory. I tried and tried for a long time to obtain one and they flew from her store before I could ever get one. Well, I finally got one (thank you Jillian) and here is a pic of it:

There is a huge connection here, a piece to commemorate my friend (that arrived in my mailbox yesterday) that dated my Brother, that contacts me after 10 years the day after it arrives and a close call with Death myself. What is the message....? Should I read this even further or chalk it up to coincidence? I think not....

We are all attached in so many ways - 3 degrees of separation. A fine silver cord, a memory, an incident that brings us back. Connections on so many levels and so many degrees, we all get what we need when we need it and not a moment sooner.

Daphne - Cherish

I just finished charting a new design from the beautiful commission that was done of myself and Daphne by Nadia Tate. Dear friends came together and hired Nadia to do this painting and I was very moved by the words that went with it:

Cherish

I named this painting “Cherish” since it was the name that inspired it.

I painted Michele Fae and Daphne, her beloved foal on a serene green pasture setting…

Green to me, represents life…

In the bible God Said “..consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:

They neither toil nor spin; yet I say to you that even Solomon was not arrayed like one of these.

Now if God so clothes the grass of the fields,

Will He not much more clothe you?”

(Matthew 7:25-34)

This scripture talks about not worrying,

That if God were to take care of the lilies and fields,

Will He even more so take care of us?

God knows all our needs and He provides them.

Green pastures represent rest and refreshing in this painting.

“…He (God) makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still water.

He restores my soul…”

(Psalm 23)

The Moon represents balance and calm, a positive thought…in contrast

with the fierceness and unrest of the tornado which they experienced.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;

Not as the world gives do I give to you…” (John 14;27)

The cool colors of the background and bright beams represent healing and restoration.

In essence this painting is really about cherishing an unending bond of love and friendship through thick and thin. Knowing that our Creator is

Watching over and caring about all.

As Michele cherishes her foal, I am sure Daphne is very fond of

The one how helped bring about her birth and new life…

Artist:

Nadia Tate

It has taken me awhile to work on this piece and we always get what we need when we need it and I surely needed to do this now. My baby horse is almost grown up now and a year has passed and I have grown in so many ways.....

Officially R&R'd

We had a fabulous time at the Sioux Falls JazzFest and will certainly go again next year. We went with our dear friends and couldn't have been in better company.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

The days were absolutely perfect with a high of around 75 and then we plummeted into the low 50's at night which made for pretty cold evenings. Fortunately, we brought a blanket and warm outwear so we were prepared.

We celebrated my Birthday with a fabulous Italian dinner and then attended the show and Saturday was spent at the Butterfly House and then the concert in the evening to the wee hours of the morn.

In Flight

Longwing

Blue Morpho Variant

Unusual Flower (No idea what it is called)

Now to get back to work everyone and I think we are going to start with Klimt!

Birthday's, Concerts and some time off

We have been absolutely burying ourselves in work the past month or so and will be taking the weekend to visit Sioux Falls where we will attend the Jazz Festival. I am so looking forward to some R&R, celebrating my 46th birthday and spending some luscious time with my soul mate in the sun and sunsets.

I will miss these two....

An Honorable Task

I received a special commission to create an engagement ring. I love these types of requests as they are usually very fuliflling to do and this one was no exception.

It amazes me how when things are meant to be they are just meant to be. All the way from sawing the baseplate to setting the Eudialite stone everything fell together perfectly. I usually have at least one snag when I am creating for the Etsy store but custom orders are always watched over by the fairies of "smooth going".

I am delighted with the way it turned out and the Groom wanted a mixture of the setting from "A Piece of my Heart" and the band from "Fondly". What a perfect mix!

Swaying in the wind

The northern wind is blowing today with big puffy clouds of grey and white. The air is unsettled and scary, it is heavy with liquid that cannot be seen.

The weight of the air feels weighed down and yet soft and languid. I touch the skin of my horse and she feels like the clouds above me would feel.

I turn to the West as I do each day and think of my native home on the coast and long to be back in the West, where the weather is sane and I am no longer scared of dark clouds.

May these feelings pass in time, I don't want to live in fear of storms.

Family Fun

It has been about 7 months since we have seen the Grandbabies and we decided to head down South for a couple of days to spend time with family. Jayden just turned 3 and Aubrey is a year and a half now - she was born Christmas day.

We took the babies to the Mall and did some ice cream shopping and mechanical ride riding and had a blast.

My son, who is almost 27 now has become a wonderful Father and provider and I am most proud of him! They are expecting their third in September and I am looking forward to becoming a Grandmother to number 3 who will be named Trystyn Tyler.

I am always wishing that we lived closer but as the years press on distance really doesn't matter as we always figure a way even though sometimes a few too many months slip by.

Gracious Gifts

I strolled the gardens today and was greeted with blooms everywhere and what a delight to the senses and the soul. The pictures above were taken in the South and West gardens and it is wonderful to see blooms abounding after so much white from a brutal Winter.

I have found a sense of renewed creativity which has been lacking in the metal and glass areas. I sat down did some sketches and will hit the studio tomorrow.

HAED has taken a big bite of my day lately (often into the wee hours) there has been little time spent in the studio which my soul really needs at the moment.

Daphne - Lesson #6

This is lesson #6 which is introduction to the saddle and this is the first time she has seen it let alone have it on her back. She did awesome and we are very proud of her!

Daphne

We finally brought our filly home and she is out of my mare Tess and quite the looker. She has champion bloodlines but has a champion heart to boot. She was a mere 3 weeks old when she was rescued from the tornado along with Mom and 4 of our other horses.

Michael (My Step Son) has taken her on as a project horse and he has been doing a great job with her.

Welcome home Daphne!