Friday, November 30, 2012

Listen



Simplify says the voice within. Simplify.

Lists can be made, and checked.
Cards can be mailed, lights strung,
stockings hung...carols can be sung.
I can remember the reason or
get caught up in the season.
Buying, trimming, stuffing, wrapping - even laughing!
Inside I'm baking, outside it's flaking...
Before I know it - resolution making.

The crowd is loud, the ads
bombard me, and still my goal
is lofty ~ past traditions kept, new
traditions made. Mind's a-whirling, time's a-swirling...
and the voice within grows dim.

Until...I remember wise words from
days gone by....a Somerset Maugham
quote that lives in my heart.

"Tradition is a guide and not a jailer."

So, as November becomes December, I
set myself free. I take a
deep breath - so happy to be
gently led through the holidays by
familiar traditions...all the while listening
to that voice. My voice. Simplify.

My Memory Art
Won't you join us today?
What is your VOICE telling you?
Link up, and share - six words at a time!


Thursday, November 29, 2012

Good Hours



One by one they come back down the stairs, a plate of hot food in their hands. The 
album pages have been pushed aside and the conversation is lively. I hear the pros 
and cons of marble vs. granite counter tops. I hear tips about good vacation spots. One 
woman is catching up with someone she hasn’t seen in a while, sensitively asking 
about her son’s progress in school. The middle school years were tough – the first year of 
high school is better.

The chicken – spinach – pasta bake that I made is a hit, and everyone’s wondering about my secret ingredients. The conversation shifts to pinterest.  iPhones buzz, and someone teases me about whether today’s lunch will make it onto the blog. I smile to myself, knowing that pictures of this meal are safely stored on my memory card…and that, yes, today’s lunch will probably make an appearance on the blog.


It’s funny how much these gals applaud the food I fix for them every week. I think it’s probably because someone else has actually done the cooking and they’ve gotten to take off their care-giver cap for a few hours. I’m guessing that the food tastes better to them then it really is! Whatever the reason, watching my friends relax and enjoy this time is one of the highlights of my week.

I stand up and start to collect the plates, “reminding” everyone to get back to work. Break’s over! As I climb the basement stairs that lead to my kitchen, I leave laughter and chatter behind me. Lunch is over, and we have a few more hours of scrapbooking before we have to head off to errands or to work or to collect children from school. These are good hours.

Hours spent on us and a craft that we enjoy. Hours spent with women we’ve grown to trust – at least enough to promise each other that what happens at scrapbooking, stays at scrapbooking! Hours spent making sure that our stories –the stories that make us who we are - will be passed down and told for years , for generations to come. Yes, these are good hours.


Back at my table, I sit quietly, choosing photos and planning layouts. A silence settles over the room, as each of us turns our concentration to the project before us. It’s a comfortable silence. It’s in this moment when I discover, quite by accident, how beautiful a subtly patterned sheet of paper looks behind some of my instagram shots. I cut...arrange...tape….and a walk I took this past spring comes back to life.

As I lift my eyes and watch the other five pairs of hands doing as I have done, I’m struck by the significance of this gathering. Called to these workshop tables to create memory books, we have been given so much more. We’ve been given warmth and nourishment, friendship and purpose. We are not only preserving memories, we are making memories. Together.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

"Wintery Mix"


A few flakes.
Lots of rainy, sleety stuff.
Ready or not, the cold is settling in!



Black and White Wednesday

It's beginning...


...to feel a little like Christmas??

Hmmm...not really!
I'm not quite ready to make the leap, to decorate...
I have a few special crafts planned, and look forward to seeing my favorite people...
And I got excited writing about my favorite holiday tradition
      to share today over at Bigger Picture Blogs! Hop on over!

But full on holiday prep? Not yet!


Sunday, November 25, 2012

There is...

...such beauty 
as the earth lets go 
and 
surrenders
to the season of rest.


"Whisper"


"Sparkle"


"Glow"
and
 then, she {snapped}

Saturday


"Where we love is home,
Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."
Oliver Wendell Holmes


This morning, in the kitchen, I fixed the last of this weekend's food.
A yummy Pinterest find and my trusty banana bread.
Please note the totally-on-sale-paper plates bought for all post turkey day munching.
It's time for leftovers and I'm off dish duty!




My favorite couple added a puppy to their little family.
We all love having him around!


I'm thankful for my daughter's hands - gentle, strong hands
that care for children, cuddle puppies, take wonderful photos 
and shuffle a mean deck of cards.


I'm not sure if it was the bubbles in the cocktail,
the cocktail itself,
poor card playing skills
or just dumb luck...
but I lost our afternoon game of hearts.


To cheer me up after the tragic defeat,
we got out a beautiful puzzle...
a beautiful, large, difficult puzzle.
If when we finish it,
we'll be joining the trees, pond and lily pads
near the Japanese Bridge in Monet's garden.


Linking up with Tabitha for Sunday Citar
and Ashley for Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Long Walk



Long weekend?
Long walks.


And one long necked bird.



Linking up with Weekend Relflections

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Six Word Fridays ~ Stuff


Apple crisp, candles and cinnamon sticks.
Football, mixed drinks, movies and games.
We laugh 'til we cry, and hang
out in sweats. No pretense here.
We know and are well known.
We love and are well loved.
Memories work their magic - times past 
linger, comfort and tie us together.
For faith, we wrestle together and
in ambition we support each other.
This is good. This is the
stuff our family is made of.


{Caption your photo with six words. Write a poem, tell a story...just do it six words at a time! Join us!}


Today


Today is quiet, laziness, football...a day with my boys.
Today is reflection, a long walk...a nap, perhaps?
Today is ham and roasted veggies...and filling the crock pot with tomorrow's sauerkraut.

Today
we focus on the blessings.
Today
we remember the good.
Today
the positive outshines
out sings
out lives
and over shadows
the negative.

Today could be an any day, an every day.
I am grateful that each day we have the possibility to choose gratitude.
May today's heart carry us through the next days and months.

Today is quiet here...tomorrow, we feast!

Happy Thanksgiving!




Find more gratitude posts here
Or at Mama Kat's here

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Up In the Treetops


Spotted:
Christmas lights in the town trees!!

We're in full on Thanksgiving mode at my place ~ sunflowers and fall colors abound.
I'll have a full house over the weekend. Food, drink, puzzles, movies...parades and football.
Don't let my excitement over soon-to-be-lit tree lights make you think I'm not looking forward to our
      Thanksgiving fun...cause I am!
Don't let the fact that I'm {secretly} listening to Christmas music in my car worry you...the turkey is waiting
      to be stuffed, and I won't turn the carols on in the house until after everyone else is completely stuffed...
Don't let the berries, pine cones, glass and glitter that I'm hoarding in the basement for Christmas crafts give
       you the idea that our Thanksgiving table won't be beautiful...you'll see, it will be!

Yup, we're in full on Thanksgiving mode over here....for just another couple of days!


Black and White Wednesday


****Please link up with me here this Friday for Six Word Fridays. This week our word is STUFF****

Monday, November 19, 2012

A Girl Can Dream


Don't mind me while I trespass in your back yard.
The weathered wood of your boards draw me out of the church yard, through the crunchy leaves and into your private space.
You are beautiful.
And I begin to wonder...as I wander...
{wondering is the best thing about wandering}
I wonder who's hands labored to build you and how many seasons you have stood your ground under this sky. Under these trees. Did you stable horses? For a country gentleman or a war hero? How many children ran playfully through your doors, chasing their dog....chasing a ball...or chasing each other?  How many youngsters were ushered outside in the bitter cold to collect eggs and finish their chores? I wonder if any young lovers hid away here together...just a blanket, some hay and each other.


Did you pass through many seasons neglected? 
And who's loving hands restored you? 
As you stand today, in the back yard of a lovely old home, I'm longing to belong to you. To become a part of your story. I'd set up a cozy nook in your loft. A writer's nook. Under the window...a funky old secretary desk and a sink-down-deep-into-it chair. Some favorite old photos and a vintage lamp or two. The down stairs would house bold, long mismatched tables and chairs. With tool laden workbenches lining the walls and baskets stocked with colorful paper...we would craft here. Books, cards, banners, frames...we'd craft here together. Our friends who love to knit would be chatting as they sat in the comfortable couches that line the back wall. We'd make magic here together in my studio.
And memories.


And there would be parties.
Where husbands and friends and children could join us. And share in the friendship that we found in this place while we craft and chatter away. Can't you just picture the tables outside with bright table clothes and lanterns....filled with snacks and drinks and bathed in tunes and laughter that are just loud enough to entice the neighbors to join in!

Oops. Someone's coming.
Better wander off now.
A girl can dream, can't she?!!


Joining Heather to Just Write
and linking up with Tricia for Barn Charm

****Please link up with me here this Friday for Six Word Fridays. This week our word is STUFF****

Autumn Sunset



"Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm,
but to add color to my sunset sky."
Rabindranath Tagore




and
 then, she {snapped}

Sunday, November 18, 2012

More New England Love

It's no secret.
If you've hung around here at all with me,
you know I love New England.
Well, I had another one of those
"I am so in love with this place"
moments this week.
It started as a simple work errand. Needed to pick up drawings and permits
at the Acton building department.
On my way there, I drove through Concord center,
right by the church where I was married.

 Still as beautiful as it was the day that
we vowed to stay true to the vision of a life together.

 Once in Acton,
I discovered that the town hall was a beautiful, old building
with a monument square right across the street.
And since the permits weren't ready, I had about an hour to wander.
I love to wander.
This monument stands strong - honoring soldiers who fought in 1775.

And I don't know about you, but I think that 
the wheels on this cannon look like buttons!

 These old street signs still map the way for 
travelers...wonder how long they have been standing?

"...the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self control. 
Against such things, there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23
The fruits of God's spirit,
wherever I find them...
in whomever I find them...
Even if they just seem to be captured in a garden statue...
Well, that's my favorite fruit.

Wishing you a fruit filled Sunday!


Linking up with Tabitha for Sunday Citar
and with Ashley's Scavenger Hunt

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Frosty Birthday Morn


 Fifty-two.
Does that mean that I am finally playing with a full deck?
I like that idea!
I thought about listing 52 things that I "know for sure"...
...but then immediately knew I didn't know that many things for sure.
So I picked up my camera and walked out into 
my frosty birthday morning.
And knew that this day
{this year?}
was going to be about listening to my heart.
About continuing to silence the "shoulds" that still fight their way to the
surface in my mind.
About following my passions.


This morning?
A few minutes with my camera.
Some blog time.
Hot coffee.
Country Music.


This afternoon?
Craft fair!
Sharing about scrapbooking
and meeting new scrapbookers!


Tonight?
Date night.
This will be the 30th time we've celebrated my birthday together.
Doesn't get any better than that!


Happy Birthday to me!!


photography challenge, photography challenges, online photo contest, photography tips,
Linking up to the fall finale
with Kristi here

Friday, November 16, 2012

New Device ~ Old Tunes


I remember my parents' record collection.
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
This or that city's philharmonic orchestra.

I remember my first albums...Beatles,
Elton John, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady
and each and every Barbra Streisand.
Let's not forget Simon and Garfunkel,
Jesus Christ Superstar...A Chorus Line...

I've survived the transition from albums
to cassettes, owned a boom box,
bought Cd's and "wore" a Walkman.

Now, on the eve of my 
fifty-second birthday, I'm proud to say
I own a brand spankin' new
iPod nano. Join with my generous 
family in welcoming me to the 
21st century! And celebrate with me 
as they help me turn her
into the soundtrack of my life.




Thursday, November 15, 2012

No Small Thing


Christmas came early in our family this year.
In the form of a brown box with a treasure inside....a long awaited, long desired treasure.
My daughter's been nice this year...and Santa's been blessed.
So he and Mrs. Claus are spreading the joy...
{my son's been nice too...and he hasn't been forgotten...but that's a different story}

Thing is, Mr. and Mrs. Claus needed help yesterday to make this gift thing happen.
UPS needed a signature {there was, after all, treasure in the box!} and we were all stuck at work.

Good thing I have a Heidi in my life.
She's a pretty blonde elf. With a heart of gold.
She's my friend.
And when the call went out for help, she dropped what she was doing, went to my house and waited for the delivery.
And this is no small thing.
Oh, maybe technically, it was just a "little" favor. Maybe.
Thing is, having a friend, who has your back.....
Having a friend who sweats the big and small stuff right along side of you...
Having a friend who gets how much this brown box means to your daughter...
Having this kind of friend
is
never
a
small
thing.

So, when I texted my daughter, and told her not to worry, that Heidi was headed to the house to rescue her treasure...she knew it would be safe. And we were both reminded that the treasure in the box was nothing
compared to the treasure of real friendship.

Thanks, friend.



Today we're linking up
at Corrine's place!



Our word for tomorrow (11/16/12) is
SOUND.
Join me for Six Word Fridays.
Link up here!