Purple Haze

The rain and wind haven't let up for days here, and although it makes it hard to get outside to mow the grass, the spring flowers are loving life these days.

The lilac bush we planted last spring is rewarding us with a handful of blossoms that smell like heaven.

And columbine flowers in shades of deep purple and magenta are spreading like wildfire in our front flower bed, even with the weeds trying to take their place.  Hang in there columbine...when the rain ends we'll come to your rescue!

I ventured out during a break in between downpours today to cut a few of these lovely blossoms to brighten my house and fill my senses.  There is nothing quite like the scent of a fresh lilac bloom...it makes my heart skip a beat and reminds me of my grandmother who loved lilacs as much as I do.

I think flowers are medicine for the soul.  And though I would probably never fill my home with purple or even lavender furnishings or accessories, I still love the color and enjoy having my own little purple haze each spring as these regal colors fill my garden, and ultimately my vases.

Do you have a favorite color springtime blossom?

Joyeuses Pâques

Joyeuses Pâques!

Go Your Own Way

It's been a few weeks since I posted, and although I would love to tell you that I've been lounging on a beach somewhere or taking in the sights of some exotic locale during that time, the truth is I've been working instead...sigh!

In between working until 1 a.m. some nights, we've moved kids into a rental house, celebrated Mr. Tide's 50th Bday and generally been running ourselves ragged doing the things that life demands of all of us much of the time.  I know so many of you can more than relate!

I know the payoff for all of this hard work will be worth it, but man oh man, sometimes you have to stop and wonder don't you?!  But just as soon as I think maybe I should put a few pipe dreams on the back burner, I get a sign, a phone call or an email that tells me I'm on the right path.

And I'm fortunate to have friends and family who are right with me every step of the way saying, "do it your way and you'll be much happier in the long run," so I soldier on and hope for the best.

And I am also lucky in that this road I'm on, no matter how bumpy has allowed me to meet some amazing people, some of whom are heading in the exact same direction that I am heading.  One friend in particular is traversing the path right alongside me, and when I'm down and out she gives me a nudge to keep moving forward, and hopefully I do the same for her.

It's nice to go your own way, but it's even nicer when you have someone else who is going "your" way too...I think we all need that in life.

Friends, partners, and confidants who can take one look at your face and say..."I get it, been there, done that!"  Misery may love company, but I prefer company to keep misery at bay.

In a few weeks I will be selling my artwork online.  Oh, I've had a website for awhile now, but this will be the real deal...no foolin' around.  You'll be able to purchase stretched canvas prints and framed prints thanks to a partnership I've made with a wonderful online gallery.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to share with you some of the artwork I've been busy creating.  It's brand spankin' new stuff, and it's not like anything I've really shown you before, so I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed creating it. 

Below is a sneak peek at a few of the prints that will be available, and I'm working on some very cool printing and framing techniques to make each piece special.

In the meantime it's back to the grindstone for me.  I do come up for air every now and again and I'm still out there nosing around your blogs, though I'm often bleary eyed and not up to commenting, so for now lurking will have to do.

And when I'm a little crispy fried from long hours and too much time on the computer, well I stop to smell the lavender.  I can personally attest to its soothing aroma!

I hope all is well in your world, and thank you for providing me with the motivation and the inspiration to follow a path that makes me happy!  When you go your own way you go with the knowledge that whether you flop or you fly high, you'll be contented trying...and that's what matters, right?!

Lovely Lilacs

Hello lovely lilacs...I've been waiting for you.

For the sweet fragrance of your blooms.

For your delicate petals to open so that I could capture them and turn their beauty into art.

Though your blossoms are already works of art.

Not requiring any manipulation on my part...yet still I do.

Because I can't help myself.

Maybe because I am delirious from your heady fragrance which smells like sunshine and sweetness all rolled in to one.

We wait with baited breath for you to return each spring...and oh the wait is so worth it!

And so I will leave you just as you are, beautiful in your simplicity, able to conjure up childhood memories, and the perfect compliment to white pitchers everywhere!  Thank you lovely lilacs...until we meet again!

What Would They Say?

If you were run over by a truck tomorrow what would you want people to remember about you?



 

I know that's a crazy #$$ question, but I think it's one we should all really ponder from time to time.

Would you want them to say that you were an awesome blogger, or that you were an awesome mother, father, wife, husband, sister, brother, daughter, or son?  Or would you want them to say both?

Would you want people to say that you were kind, considerate, giving, helpful, loving or that you were cut throat, ruthless, and #1 at whatever it is you do?  Are all of these things incongruent with one another or do we each have a little bit of all of those things rolled into us as human beings?

Yesterday and this morning I pondered all of these questions...and more.  And as I looked in the mirror and wondered if my skinny jeans would ever fit again I had to wonder who I wanted to be and what I would be willing to give up to get there.  And I had to remember that every day can't be perfect and neither can we, but it can be pretty darned close if we focus on the positives and not the negatives.  Nurture ourselves and others, not try to build ourselves up by tearing others down...what a waste of precious energy that must be.

These are tough questions my friends, hard ones to answer and some that just can't be answered.  But I think that as we push and pull ourselves to succeed, be it on a blog or anywhere in life we have to also remind ourselves to not lose a bit of ourselves in the process...unless of course you are losing the bad things, then I think that would be a good thing. 

Inspiration and Desperation

Thank you everyone for your lovely Valentine's Day wishes yesterday.  I hope each of you had a wonderful day!

My day (and Mr. Tide's) consisted of straightening up for a home appraiser to pay us a visit yesterday afternoon, followed by what I can only term as an "interesting" evening.

We sent Bugs, our son, off with the dogs for a few hours while the appraiser was here, and after he had been gone for a little bit the phone rang.  He informed Mr. Tide and me that he had gotten a little bored while hanging out with the pups at our farm property and had gone for a bit of a joy ride around the fields.

Sounds like a good idea right?  He was in a 4 wheel drive vehicle after all...but what he failed to take into account was how soft parts of the field were, and how where a big tree had been uprooted last fall there was now a small pond that had formed where the roots had once been. 

He made it by said pond on the way in, but on the way out he wasn't quite so lucky and ended up with the front end of the truck deep in muck and mire.  This meant that I would need to hang out to meet with the appraiser while Mr. Tide ventured over to try and get the truck unstuck! 

Needless to say, this wasn't exactly how I had envisioned our Valentine's Day evening would turn out, but hey, no one was hurt, well except maybe our son's pride, so it was all good.

Several hours, and a bit of desperation caused by a few failed attempts, plus a tractor pull or two later, the truck was free but nicely covered in mud.  The dogs were perfect, and behaved beautifully for having been through a 5 hour ordeal which they thought was going to be a simple outing.

The best part was as I was driving home I had to go through a retail parking lot and I got some rather confused looks from teenage boys who initially thought..."ahh cool, they went muddin"...followed by a really confused look that I can only imagine went something like..."what the heck, that old lady went muddin?!"

I'm happy to report that today was much calmer.  I was able to get lots of work done, and I was even able to tap in to a little inspiration provided by some pansies I bought last weekend.  They are so pretty, and so was the weather today, so I went outside and gathered a few to bring inside and put into my tiny glass vase which is perfect for things like pansy blossoms.

Oh, and the truck, well Bugs took it to the car wash, so it's feeling much better now too!

What has inspired you lately?

A Little Beauty

In life sometimes we just need a little beauty.

Something to remind us that life is sweet...

Even in times when life seems unfair.

When things happen that we just can't understand.

Like a friend who has cancer, or a life taken too soon.

As I picked the tiny viola flowers for a completely different sort of post today I was struck by how frost bitten their delicate petals were.

But how despite their blemishes they were still so very beautiful.  Reminding us that life is imperfect, and that even with the bumps and bruises we gather along the way, there is beauty deep down.

As I have been having some of the best weeks of my life career wise, some of my blog friends have been having some very hard days.  So this post is dedicated to them...especially Jenni.

To those of you who are struggling, I wish you strength, love, support, and comfort.  And I hope that even in the darkness you will find the beauty.