Winding Down

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments on my last post!  It makes my heart sing to see so many beautiful comments about our daughter's special day!

We have spent the last week catching up and relaxing.  The new phone I bought is a Galaxy S5, and I am starting to take some pictures with it.  The image above was taken last Monday, as we all were getting back into the swing of things following the festivities.  What better way to unwind than a paddle in the kayaks right?!  Those are my in-laws, chilling out after a hectic few days.

So far I have to say that my new phone does an amazing job of taking photos, and I'm wondering why I waited so long to replace my old one!

Of course I can't ever really imagine relying solely on a cell phone for all of my photography needs, but who knows, it could happen!

The cosmos we planted are putting on a pretty spectacular show now that the weather is cooler.  I took both of the flower images with my regular camera, and then added a texture to each pic.

It's amazing how $20 worth of seed can bring us so much happiness, but it's true that these flowers provide us joy every single time we pull into our driveway or look out the front door.

I know their days are numbered as our nights edge ever closer toward the freezing mark, but for now I will drink in their bright color and devil may care attitude towards the weather.

As I type this, the windows are open and we are enjoying a bit of an Indian summer...oh to be able to bottle up these days and break them out come mid-January or February.  I guess even Mother Nature deserves a little winding down after her hectic spring and summer.

Enjoy your week! xo

A Place to Sit a Spell

Not much new here.  As a matter of fact, I am typing this post with my left arm propped up on a towel on the arm of my desk chair.  It helps provide some cushion, and it, along with all of the acupuncture and doctor visits, is helping to resolve this pinched nerve.  Which is good, because patience is NOT my strong suit!

I have never been one to do things part way, which is how I got the pinched nerve to begin with.  I have been planking as part of my new exercise routine and apparently you aren't supposed to do it for as long or as intensely as I thought was appropriate, nor should you do it on a floor that isn't properly padded!

The one benefit of being pig headed is that sometimes our bodies force us to stop and slow down a bit when our minds would otherwise prevent such reprieves.

See that little hole in the vines draped from every branch of the huge poplar tree?  It is one of the favorite parts of my yard, I feel like it is my own little looking glass onto the creek.  Now that I have lots of computer free time, I often go out into the back yard as the light is waning and just stare through it as though it is a magical camera lens!

I haven't been using my camera much lately but last night I decided to take it along on my evening outing.

I always have company when I'm outside, and last night Misty Belle decided that a ball would help her entertain us while we sat.  She was correct as she acts like a complete loony toon when she has her favorite ball outside with her.  She doesn't expect us to throw it, in fact she prefers we not touch it at all, but she thoroughly enjoys playing with it, and in the process brings great joy to us, the onlookers.

The view if you look sideways from our chairs is out towards the field and the setting sun...it is always lovely this time of day.

We also have a hammock in this area, but last night I chose to sit in the chairs...having options is a wonderful thing don't you think?! ;)

Our Cosmos are just beginning to bloom and they look beautiful!  The foliage of Cosmos is almost as lovely as the blossoms themselves in my humble opinion.  It is a delicate, almost fluffy plant, topped off by flowers in shades that range from deep lavender to bright white in the mix that we purchased.  The petals spread wide to the heavens as though they are cupping every last drop of sunlight, while the foliage seems to hug the spindly blossoms and give them a cloud like base from which to grow.

After my jaunt around the yard, it was time to head back inside as the sun was setting.  Back inside I was greeted with the fact that we no longer have a proper place to sit in our living room.  We gave our son our old sectional couch for his new apartment.  I was thrilled at the possibility of replacing it, even though it was still in amazing shape, and I decided it would be fun to go out shopping for a new sofa after all of these years.

It turns out that as I get older, shopping really isn't my thing anymore.  I think it may be because I know exactly what I want, and I either can't afford it or I simply can't find it?!  I was tempted to rush into something that was "good enough," but instead I think I will take my time and wait until I find just what I want.  That of course means that I need to decide between color or neutral, skirted or not skirted, slipcovered or not, three cushion or two...the list goes on and one...hence the wait.

For now, I will simply enjoy the sad wing chairs we dragged together in one part of the room and my lovely coffee table which I hope will fit the new vision for the room.  I would LOVE to hear your opinions, experiences, etc. on different brands of sofas as I begin this quest to find a place to sit a spell.  Right now I'm leaning toward Lee Industries and maybe Hickory Chair...thoughts?

A Certain Sweetness

The past week has been fraught with change, some good, some bad.  With change comes a certain realization that things never remain constant, and for the most part that is a good thing, it is a way to make us grow even when we don't know that we need to.

Mr. Tide has taken a few days off from work and we've been busy cleaning out our garage, a task that was 7 years overdue.  Ever since we moved in to our "not so" new house, the garage has been a dumping ground for all things to be dealt with later.

It became the place we put the stuff from the attic at our old house as this house doesn't really have an attic.  It also became the place where the spare items from our renovation went to die...you never know when you will need that 3 inch piece of crown moulding, right? or how about that marble sink you got for a steal?!  It had to house our tools, including the riding mower, rototiller, etc.  It became our sports center, though truth be told some of those balls, sticks, and racquets haven't seen the light of day in a very long time!  And holiday stuff...forgetaboutit!

Of course there is the furniture that never quite fit in this house, but will work just great when your son gets his first apartment, so you better hang on to that.  The lawn furniture that you use for half the year.  The memorabilia from kids growing up...you can't part with that!  And don't even get me started on the number of pots I have...I could seriously open a nursery if I had the gumption to plant and water a million potted plants!

I did finally wise up this year and planted far fewer things that will require watering during our sometimes scorching summers...but that doesn't really account for the number of pots I have acquired over the years, perhaps I should add this to my shoe and flower obsessions.  On second thought, lets just blame it on the fact that I did inherit a lot of those pots and leave it at that.

I will say that over the past 3 days we have been taking stock of all of this "stuff" that was SO important to us that we schlepped it from one house after another, and haven't looked at much of it for 7 years now!

And along the way as we've cleared, cleaned, and contemplated, I figured out something very important.  My tastes have changed...a lot!  I don't mean in the last 7 years, but in the last 6 months.  I crave simplicity the way a person in the desert craves water.

I no longer want a bunch of "stuff" that I have to lug from place to place, and so I'm letting go.  I have never really been one to hoard things, I can't even really wrap my head around the concept of hoarding to be honest, and I feel for those who do suffer from that particular compulsion.

But in a way, we are all hoarders of sorts, no matter how small.  We tell ourselves that this or that will be important to us one day, we can't part with things people have given us, even if we never loved that thing to begin with.  Or as in my case, I often think "oh you should save that for the kids or maybe put it on Craig's List or sell it at a yard sale," all the while knowing that my kids probably won't want it, and the idea of having a yard sale gives me hives!  I mean really, getting up at 5 am after spending hours putting price tags on stuff that's only worth a quarter and then haggling with people who want to pay 5 cents for something really isn't my thing.  Though I am sometimes secretly jealous of those of you who do make the effort to go to yard sales and find amazing stuff...you know who you are Linda and Terri!!! :)

For me, and much more so as I grow older, the letting go is the simplest part.  There is a certain sweetness in filling up the back of your truck with bits and bobs that you know people will love discovering at the local thrift store.

Each trip we make to the dump, to the recycling center or thrift store is like a weight being lifted off of my shoulders.  And with each square inch of real estate I gain back in my garage I feel a sense of joy come over me.

Maybe it's the little things in life we are truly craving while we're busy accumulating or pinning things we hope to accumulate!  Like watching the muskrats swim back and forth all day long, perhaps accumulating their own clutter as they move from den to den?  Or the sweet smell of honeysuckle that wafts through the house from along our fenceline.  Or a very tuckered pup who thinks that all that crap you have is just something wonderful to cover in dog fur. 

Whatever has taken hold of me and turned me into a conscientious objector in the war on "buy more, it will make you happy," I'm liking it and I plan to keep ridding myself of things I no longer want or need.  By the time I reach 100, I should pretty much have a computer desk, a chair, and a bed...and that should be just about perfect, I think. :)

The Revery

I know some people hate bees...and clover, but I love both!

We hadn't seen very many bees yet this year, though we have been very accommodating in not mowing all the clover that blankets our yard until it's knee high to a possum or we can't see the dogs! ;)  Then on Saturday, the bees finally arrived, and by the looks of the little lady above, they've been very busy while we weren't looking.  Check out those pollen saddlebags!!!...she is bringing home the proverbial flower bacon!

I have to say that both Mr. Tide's and my heart skipped a beat when we saw this lovely honey bee, and some of her brethren.  We have been worried about hive collapse and all the issues that seem to be challenging one of the most important creatures on our planet, and not seeing any this year had us wringing our hands a bit.

Did you know that some of the new hybridized flowers either don't produce much pollen, or that their necks are so long that pollinators such as honey bees can't access their pollen?!  Did you also know that all worker bees are female?

But as if to say..."thanks for not mowing the clover or killing the weeds and flowers we love with chemicals,"...these sweet bees gave us their nod of approval.  Thankfully, we won't have to rely on the revery as Emily Dickinson suggests, and the bees will find a way to overcome our notion that manicured, weedless, and flowerless are signs of a beautiful yard!

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.” 
― Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems

Worth The Wait

Aside from my family, friends, and pets, there are few things I love more in this world than flowers.  I think it has something to do with the fact that my mother loved flowers and that one of her closest friends was a florist, so flowers were always an important design element around our house.

Flowers were used to adorn the exterior of our house, and inside they held a place of honor atop antique and vintage tables made of cherry, walnut, and tiger maple.

People used to stop and tell my parents how beautiful their yard was, especially in the spring when it was dressed in the latest finery of daffodils, tulips, cherry and plum blossoms, plus an array of other colorful blooms.

And on the farm property we own, my father decided to plant a half acre of Cosmos one year in shades ranging from deep fuchsia to white with just a hint of pink.  It was a show stopper, and something I intend to attempt at my own home this year...I have a bag full of Cosmos seed that promises to cover an acre!  All I need is someone to plow up the area and I'll be set to create my color explosion.

But of all the flowers my parents, grandparents, and friends all nurtured over the years, roses were never at the top of the list.  Sure, we had ramblers that managed, against all odds, to find their way into the nooks and crannies around various outbuildings, but formal roses just weren't on the menu for my family.

And yet my mother would drool when we visited historic homes and their formal rose gardens.  But I think she saw her house as a more humble abode, not worthy of such a prim and proper flower.

I think I likely had that notion for many years as well, until I met Connie of Hartwood Roses.  One short email exchange, or better yet, an in-person convo and visit to Connie's beautiful gardens will convince even the faintest of heart to grow roses.

There is just something about a rose that is unlike any other flower, and I'm a devoted fan of LOTS of flower species, but I am now addicted to roses!  Maybe it's their scent, or it could be their gorgeous shades that change as they mature and later wane...I don't know, but I do know that I love them.

I also love that their blossoms last well beyond my beloved peonies, lilacs, cherry blossoms...the list goes on and on.  And it is no surprise that royalty have prized, perfected, and pursued these delicate flowers for centuries.  I now join their ranks of admirers, and I bought 2 new David Austin rose bushes yesterday at a local nursery.  I had just left the nursery when my sister texted me with a picture saying she had also bought a David Austin, her first, just a half hour before at the same nursery.  I told her congratulations and gave her the "now you've gone and done it" talk, knowing she too will turn into one of those crazy rose loving gardners! :)

Some things need to be anticipated, like a big bunch of rose blossoms to grace your desk as you work, or a bowl of fresh, ripe strawberries grown organically and locally!

Maybe if we had these things at our disposal all year long we wouldn't appreciate their flavor, their scent, the magical impact they have on our senses.  Worth the wait?...you betcha!

Other things I've been waiting on that are now here...

1. Peonies

2. Hummingbirds

3. Lightning Bugs (just a few so far)

4. Sleeping with the windows open at night

5. Wearing shorts and flip flops

6. The smell of freshly mown grass

How about you, what do you wait for each spring?

Joyeuses Pâques

Joyeuses Pâques!

The Lion and The Lamb

It seems that March is being ushered in under the guise of a lamb, but the weather forecast speaks to the fact that a lion will soon be taking the place of our lamb like temperatures by bringing us snow, and worse still, ice!

It's hard to believe that this time last week I was enjoying short sleeved weather while visiting Hilton Head, South Carolina.  I did my best to envision bringing that weather back with me, but alas it was not to be.

It's ok though, at least I was able to suspend my reality for a few days and remind myself that warm weather is just around the corner.  And I took plenty of pictures to keep me busy if we do get snowed in for a long time.

It had been nearly 30 years since I last visited Hilton Head, though I've been to other parts of SC since that time, and the last time I was there I spent most of my time on the beach or playing in tennis tournaments, so this visit was vastly different.

This time, far removed from my youth, I paid attention to things like architecture instead of cute guys on the beach.  I was already with my own cute guy after all, so I could focus on other matters this time around.

I love how architecture speaks to an area and its heritage, and I feel a close kinship to my southern roots through the beautiful architecture of the south.

Throw in a bit of spanish moss for good measure, and I'm in hog heaven.

I also love the way most people slow down when they are at the beach.  They seem to reconnect with a part of themselves they often put on the back burner in their everyday lives, and find solace in the simple pleasures like surf fishing...

Or watching the waves come and go, wondering if the sea foam will reveal tales of mermaids and sea creatures.

Old Oaks, draped in moss, could tell tales of storms and other hardships they and others have endured over the years.  Or maybe they would entertain us with fanciful yarns about young love and first kisses stolen under their arching branches.

That is the joy of venturing outside our own four walls, it opens us up to beautiful places, new people, and things we might not otherwise experience.  As in weather, life is full of lions and lambs, each meant to broaden our horizons and make us appreciate all that we have.

I hope you each have a lamb of a week or that the lion won't roar too loudly!

Calm

We've been away for a few days.

Enjoying the sounds of pounding surf, the smell of salt air, and taking long walks, hand in hand, along sandy shores.

Though I am lucky enough to live on the water, there is nothing quite like the ocean to help soothe the savage beast in us all.

It had been far too long since we had gazed out across her boundless beauty, contemplating things large and small, and we decided we won't let so much time past before we visit her again.

I hope all is well in your world. 

Slow Moving

It's been slow going around here since my last post.  I came down with the flu, then our son, then our daughter...their significant others, and so on, and so on until Mr. Tide was the last man standing.

I literally stayed in bed for days, hoping that someone would either shoot me, or that my head would stop feeling as though it was inside a giant vise!

I didn't return emails, so I apologize to those of you who so kindly wrote to me or left comments, but I just couldn't even bring myself to type a few words in return.  Today is the first day I really even felt like a human being again, and I truly can't remember feeling as badly as I have for the past week and a half, for a very long time!  Thankfully I have a wonderful nurse in the form of my husband, who took really good care of me and catered to my every whim.

Now, there is just a bit of a cough lingering, and I'm still easily tired out, but I can live with that, no problemo!

Needless to say, the picture taking has been at a standstill since I came down with my virus, so the swan pics in this post are from a few weeks ago.

The tundra swans were late in arriving this year, by almost 2 months.  We had nearly given up hope that they would come, when one day we looked outside the window and saw a few.  Slowly but surely, over the past 3 or 4 weeks, more have come to join us, even when our creek was frozen over.  They would Jemima Puddle Duck their way from one end of the creek to the other, stopping to feed at any open spot, or sleeping on the huge patches of ice.  It was slow going for them too, but they didn't seem to mind.

In the pictures above, the swans showing a bit of bravado are standing on ice, and giving us their best moves.  Their wings remind me so much of angel wings that I wanted to darken the images and really give them that ethereal, otherworldly appearance, hence the dark and soft feel of these particular pics.

At last count we had 38 swans, including cygnets, gliding along our shores, eating our underwater vegetation, and making a racket after the sun goes down...for reasons we don't yet understand.  We will be sad to see them go when the weather begins to warm, but we are happy they chose to spend another winter with us!

I will be out of pocket for a few days tending to some family/work stuff, but hopefully everything will be back to normal by the end of next week!  I hope you all enjoy your week!

Love Lost

(Photo via Coach)

So, here they are, the booties I have pined over for months.  The boots I have checked the Coach website every single day almost waiting for them to go on super sale.  The boots in the perfect shade of saddle brown that I have built outfits around in my head.  The boots that I ponied up the cash to buy, even though I knew it was crazy to spend that much on boots I don't need...yup it was love, true love!

But it was unrequited love, a love that could never be.  I knew it the moment I slipped the first one on my foot.  The fit was fine, albeit a little roomy, but I was undaunted, these were MY boots and if I had to wear thicker socks to make it work, then so be it I thought!

I held the second boot up to my nose, breathed in its intoxicating real leather smell (think finely carved western saddle), and put it on my other foot.  These were perfect I thought, but the little voice in my head screamed in that annoying way you can't ignore..."are you sure about that Kat?!"

I stood up, certain I could quell that nasty, know it all voice in my head, took a few steps and then sighed.  These were not my boots, they were boots that had lured me with their shiny gold plate that said Coach on the back, the beauty of the stacked wooden heels, the supple leather that brought back childhood memories of my grandfather and our horses, and the sexy stitching that made me swoon.  No, it had all been a ruse, a cruel joke that made me believe I could walk in heels that made me feel like a 6 year old wearing her mother's high heels for the first time.  And even after I stopped walking like Bambi, I realized that they hurt, not a little, but a lot!

Not one to listen to reason, I wandered around my house, even invited my son and his girlfriend down to take a look...to help convince me that these were in fact my boots, and perhaps first impressions weren't always the best.  They of course LOVED them too, we were all taken in by their beguiling beauty, and so I told myself this would take some time.  Maybe these boots didn't love me the way I loved them, but in time, with some cushy inserts, we could learn to love one another, we were after all, meant to be together!

This morning I awoke with hope and promise, and with the balls of my feet no longer aching from the night before.  I tried on my Vince Camuto boots, the ones that started my lust for height and fashion.  They had been true to me, so how could these Coach boots be so different I thought.  But after trying on my other boots, feeling the way they hugged every subtle nuance of my foot and ankle without pain or irritation, it became undeniable that a 1/4 inch and the angle at which a boot is made, really can make or break a relationship.

In time I will get over this disappointing break-up, heck, I will probably find a new love sometime this week as I peruse other shoe sales, and those other boots will become a distant memory.  I will tell others about how they let me down, how I gave them everything, including my credit card and how I called all over the country to find them in my size only to be scorned and hurt for my trouble.  It will take some time, all break ups do, but I know it's the right thing to do, the sane thing to do, and so I will move on...but oh how I will miss the thought of them, the vision I had created in my head.  Goodbye sweet boots, may you find another to love, and one who will love you as much as I had hoped to! ;-)

Excuses and Regrets

The great thing about doing a photo shoot for a magazine is that it gives you a perfect excuse to buy flowers...sometimes lots of flowers.

And this time of year, fresh flowers are a perfect pick me up for very little money.

It also makes you take a long hard look at what you "want" to see in an image, which often leads to editing down to the bare essentials...something I'm striving for these days anyway.

This past weekend I bit the bullet and ordered the boots I wanted...the boots that had spoken to me for so long.  It's a rare thing for me to spend a lot of money on clothes or shoes, I'm way too much of a bargain/clearance shopper for that.  I love the thrill of the chase, and am rarely regretful if something slips through my fingers as I stalk the manufacturer waiting for their bottom basement price, but this time they won out.

I love nice things, I just don't love paying a high price for them.  I think this harkens back to the days when I was a sales rep for high end children's clothing and accessories.  I did clothing shows in New York, Charlotte N.C., and the DC metro area, and so I knew the cost of manufacturing verses retail and I was never really able to go back to full retail after that eye opening experience.

But at the same time, I can appreciate the cost of some things...furniture, antiques, jewelry, and apparently boots in the perfect shade of saddle brown!  They were on sale after all, and I justified my purchase by telling myself that I will wear them every day, of every week, of every month...hah!

Just as I rarely regret losing the clearance tug of war from time to time, I have no regrets when I put my money on the table in other instances.  The pie safe pictured above is one such example.  It was purchased when we were young, didn't have 2 nickles to rub together, and I had to pay for it over time.  It has been with us for 25 years now, traveling from home to home, room to room, and I still love it just as much as when I first saw it in a local antique store.

My father used to always say, and my mother too, that if you really want it, you better go ahead and get it or it might not be there later...something a wise reader reminded me of in her comment on my last post.  I guess from time to time we have to splurge a little, on those special things that speak to us and which we can't get out of our heads.  I doubt I will ever lose my cheapskate ways, but I'm betting I also won't regret strutting around in my new boots either!

What do you splurge on?!...do tell!