time in Maryland and then back home.

Hello,
I had a great time with my daughter in Maryland, but it is so good to be home. I can continue working on my little (and big) projects and that makes me happy! I was also thrilled to be able to see my little granddaughter Ayla and my poodle, Pootie. My daughter decided to give pootie a Mohawk which really steamed me,(I work so hard on styling him) but I cooled off and decided to make him look fabulous again by perking up what my daughter did.

I forgot to send in my electric bill before I left. It was still sitting on my desk with the stamp and everything. So when I walked in after a long drive of 12 hours, my house was muggy, dark and without water. (they cut it all off) So I spent the night with a window open in my room to let that slightly humid Florida air in. It wasn't too bad since it wasn't a hot night.
The next morning, I called immediately to have it turned on. I did some errands and came home to find it still not on. Eventually it was on and I felt so relieved. My life was back. I have an aquarium and I am concerned about my little fishes getting ick. Otherwise all is well.

While in Maryland, Marisa took me to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Check out their site. http://www.avam.org/exhibitions/index.html This is a great museum for

anyone and especially those interested in what someone can do with a great imagination and a creative mind. Most, if not all of the art pieces were done by self- taught artists. It made me want to run home and get busy. Just driving up to the building was exciting because of all the beautiful artwork arranged around the outside. Camera's were not allowed inside but I've added a few pic's of the beauties located on the outside.


We also spent a day in D.C. I wanted to catch a glimpse of our new President, knowing it would be unlikely. And no, it didn't happen but we were told that he was in the west wing and about to meet with the Presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan. A few people drifted out of the doors of the West Wing and made their way to the outside of the gate. She had obviously just met President Obama and excitedly spouted some expletives that I can't say here. I had to smile because she was so happy.

Now that I am back and working on my little art/craft items, hopefully I will be able to post some pics of those soon.
Until then...

Good morning!
Since I am away these days with only moments to steal at a laptop I thought I would add a post that I had written for an older blog. I hope you like it.

The little girl on the street just grew up.

Having four dogs, it is my responsibility to take them for a walk. Because it is so hot and humid here, I wait until it gets cool outside before I venture away from the house. Tonight was one of those nights. As I was walking Heidi, I had time to reflect on the neighbor across the street from our house.

The homeowner is a neighbor that has made it pretty clear that he is not crazy about us. It could be the fact that I yelled at them one night plenty years ago because it was about 3AM and I couldn't stand to hear one more blast of their fireworks.

But, living in that house with her dad is a very nice young lady that holds no such grudge against us. I met her the first week that we moved into our house because she came over and said hi. She was the only neighbor that welcomed us.

I noticed over the years that she was a pied piper of children and would be outside with a group of kids of all ages around her. She would swing them around, carry them, chase them and come to their rescue when they were hurt or insulted. She loved animals and would pet and walk your dog happily. She would come around with her box of candy bars for us to buy for her school fundraisers.

As time moved on I would see her walking to her friends house or have a crowd of teens in her yard listening and dancing to music on the front porch. She never failed to wave and say hi when we passed. I would see her mowing the grass, taking out the trash and helping her dad. Once I heard a young girlfriend running from her parent's car excitedly screaming "We're going to see Britney!, We're going to see Britney!"

My little neighbor was always happy it seemed. She came and borrowed some peroxide once and said she wanted to try something on her hair. I was worried but whatever she did spurred her to plan to go to hair school because she proudly told us so.

I remember seeing her out in the front yard twirling a big flag. I guess she was in band. It didn't last long. I would see her outside less and less but she could still be seen walking around the corner of her house heading off to a friends house.

One day when I was outside I saw her driving. I was stunned. Driving! She could not be old enough. I did the math. I have lived here eight years this January. That makes her 16!!! I would see her in different cars driving around and thought .. another milestone for her. Not long afterward, I saw her in a beautiful bright red dress. I shouted across the street. "How beautiful! What's the occasion?" "My prom", she said beaming! Once again I added it up. Yup, possible.

A few months later seeing her outside, she excitedly told me "look, dad bought me a car for graduation, a Mustang!" I mumbled something like, that is so great, congratulations." but I was thinking, Where does time go, and why a Mustang!!!

So tonight, as I am walking Heidi, I am suddenly feeling sad. I really can't say I know this girl that well. Really, not at all. But as I look in her driveway and notice her car is not at home and there is no high spirited chatter on her front porch, I realize that I miss her. I don't see her walking with her friends anymore. and she has moved on to adult things. A rite of passage that I also went through. Once the car appeared, my bike Flighty went to the basement.

I have planted a little tree and watched it grow big. I have taken many holiday decorations up and down. But what is the most unsettling surprise to me is that I would feel so bittersweet about the growing up of a little neighborhood girl from across the street. She was just eight. Now she is an adult. Good luck to you, my grown-up friend.

That's the way things happen.

Isn't it strange how things happen at the most inopportune times? My SD card has been working just fine for all this time and now that I got my blog up and going it has decided to give me problems. I can't download them to my computer. My daughter , which is a computer pro has told me what I have to do but that means I have to lose the pics that I have there. I have some darn good shots on that card! So I am hesitating, thinking maybe she's wrong. If any of you know how to help please let me know.

I have several projects in the works. Every work table in my studio has something started on it. I have 4 work tables. One holds my sewing machine. The other three are counter high so I can stand and move around when working on a collage or an assemblage. My studio goes from messy, disorganized to partly messy and disorganized to great all round. The last being the least often. I find that if I try to clean too much, it disrupts the creative process. But on the other hand I have a hard time getting started with something new with a really messy room. Opposite as it sounds I get inspiration from looking through all my bins, boxes, files, baskets and all the other clutter/ paper/ thingie holders. I also get inspiration by just looking at something. I think it is a common trait for creative people to do this. Some days I have so many ideas I exhaust myself just thinking about them. I try to stop because I can easily start going in circles, and not getting my already started projects done. I ask myself if I have some brain problem. I have lists and lists of ideas that I want to do. I do keep a notebook going at all times but I will grab anything to make a note because I know how fast I can forget the details. I would worry except for the fact that I have heard other creative people say that they too do this. I do finally finish my projects but I wish I could be more focused on one or two at a time. This is one reason that I have had a site on Etsy in like forever but without a darn thing on it. I am going to promise myself that I am going to attend to Etsy very soon. There! I've promised in writing. That means I must.

Play-doh sculptures will live on.

Spending a day with with my little buddy is such fun. The only problem creating with play-doh is finally having to mash it all up to fit it back in the can. That isn't so hard though when you have a photo to remind you of what you made in an afternoon. You can tell by the smile that she is quite proud. Maybe next time she can sculpt her version of Michaelangelo's David, completely attired of course.

Earth Day 1970 and beyond.

I remember the first Earth Day celebrated here in America. I watched the gatherers for the environment on television which were held on the White House Mall and sites around the country. We all wanted to participate in some way.



I was a high school sophomore and when I think back I am so proud of our school. I don't know whose idea it was but the plan was to have the military bring their vehicles from nearby Ft Campbell and take student to collect trash and treasures placed on the street and taken to the landfills. It was a great day. A friend and I worked our behinds off jumping off the truck tossing in bags while our cute soldier drove us around. My city was buzzing with the activity of all the military trucks and energetic students. I forget the statistics from that day. How many truck were filled etc... but I know we were very proud of ourselves. This day as I look back was not exactly what Senator Gaylord Nelson had in mind when he founded Earth Day. But what it did for me is to remind me every year of what I did in my own little way to help our world. I have never worked that hard on Earth Day since, but this year, in light of all we know, I think I will sleep on it tonight and decide on a plan for Earth Day 2009.

Thank you, mother nature, for color.

I love color. I can guess what your thinking, everyone does. But I think that color-love happens in varying degrees with people. That is probably why some wear very flamboyant colors and yes, I know they probably like attention too. But think of how people choose art. Some like bright and vibrant, some muted pastels and some of course a mixture of both. The point I am making is that I might choose a nice painting for my home that is softly shaded, but my eye undoubtedly was stuck on the vivid colored canvas hanging down the way.

I have heard that your eye is not a good judge to remember color shades. I mean, for example, say you are trying to match the shade of blue on your sofa with a few yards of fabric to make accessories but you have forgotten to bring a swatch. Can you match that shade? I am not totally lost at matching by memory but I had a friend that was right on almost every time. She would say, "Oh I have a sweater that exactly matches your skirt." And she would!

When asked what my favorite color is I always say either pink or purple. But the truth is I would have to go into a bit more detail because every color is beautiful in the right place.
So with that said, today for my first blog post, I celebrate , mother natures great gift, wonderful, exciting color.