note to self

"When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, 'You’re too this, or I’m too this.' That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are."

Ram Dass 

free

Favorite thing on the web right now? Copyright free literature at Project Gutenberg.

"Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths."

Rumi

ti

testing. 123.

An approach to easter egg dying that includes beet, paprika, red onion, blueberry, turmeric and kale in vinegar baths.

rhododendron


I've got a lot more love for rhododendrons after this past weekend in Highlands, North Carolina. Morning walks through a forest of them, all crazy, twisting trunks that reminded me of Van Gogh paintings. I never knew the blooms were sticky. Olive was always sauntering in with a flower strewn coat. At first, the squishy brown stuff peeled off bare feet was yucky, but whatever.
Here's to blossoms that don't cling to the vine.

brights











The first picture (found, not staged) is of my colors this winter.

The box of little Le Creuset pots and lids that always gives me a warm fuzzy when I see them.

The cork from a delightful and delightfully cheap tempranillo I sometimes buy.
Is it wolves trying to get birds from the trees?

Just a hat and plastic bags.

Hello, Claire! Hello, Mary! This was when I had just bought my printer and was trying out all sorts of stuff. I do love this picture...and, there it was, 8x10. Little sweethearts in smocked dresses, who grew up to be awesome women, can raise the spirits, so I slapped 'em up on my bathroom wall.

decorating














The top picture is of my table when I first saw it at the thrift store. It was thirty dollars and is already well loved. That's not Carol in the picture but I think of it as her every time I see it.

The second is a piece of abstract collage I found. "For Louisa" is scrawled on the mat.

Spierlick? Okay. I love this chair and should have a real picture of it, here, because it's a kind of subtle rocking chair that I've never seen before. Looks mid-century Italian. Yum. El Dorado? the seller, I guess.

I saw this paper-cutout piece at the same time as the chair. My reservation with this was that it was a little too girly and folk arty, but in the end I psyched myself up to go back and get them both. This was gone, though. Ack. I'm so glad I took a picture of it at least. I feel it was made by a teenager. Certainly female, right?

The sail boat picture was pleasingly three dimensional with puffed out sails. I kind of wish I'd gotten it now.

I had just had my bangs (fringe) cut.

patchwork











I am eating this quilt up.
It really is a bunch of visual stories.
And now, instead of having the space heater on all night (which leaves me dry and stiff,) I sleep under a duvet and a quilt - warm, heavy goodness.
Bright, too.