HappyDAZE!

Today was a kick of a day, let me tell you.

Darling Daughter was/is somewhere between home and her final destination in Peru. I could get all freaky over this but am deliberately choosing NOT to.

Sister #3/Dea called this morning to let me know that Sister #4/Lia was having a BAD day. Her dog, the one that has lived with my folks off and on (mostly on) for the last few years, has been so very sick that she finally decided to have him put down. Serious bummer. Called Lia. So sorry, Darling. So sorry. And Momma & Daddy. I know you all loved Leo. It's sad. I'm proud of your courage, Lia.

:: Rest in peace, Leo ::

Then the phone rang again. Another friend bearing tidings that were NOT happy. Spent time, off and on the rest of the morning and early afternoon talking to dear friends who are in various unpleasant situations.

*SIGH* I really love my friends and family.  It's hard to watch and not want to wave my non-existant magic wand and make it all better. Bummer. But... I can and am there for them, as they have and will be there for me. That's what it's all about, right? ;) An ear, a shoulder, a caring heart...

This evening I found out that I've "won" (long story) a most glorious and generous gift. Really-truly. I feel as if I've been offered "half of the kingdom".  Talk about a HUGE beautiful delicious and delightful cherry-on-top of this day. WOW! THANK YOU, Michael James!

:: Looks like I'll be able to make this afterall! ::

It's been a day. I got a lot of the work done that I set out to do. The studio did get some attention. Hurray! Tomorrow... LOL!

Tomorrow is another day.

HURRAYYYYY!!!! Bring it on! Just bring it on.

ONWARD!!!!!

And They're Off!!!

Sid and I took Jessie up to the local "International" airport this afternoon. We stood around and watched while she checked in and went through security. Our airport has a big THICK glass "cage" that everyone that has gone through security waits in. It's nice because we could see and visit via our cell phones and text messages. LOL! Funny! We waited about an hour plus before they boarded the plane, then we went out to the parking lot and waited to see her plain lift off.

16 girls, 1 boy and several adults. Lots of luggage. Each person took a carry-on, a bag/purse, a check-in and then one BIG HUGE trunk that was pre-packed by the gatherers of such things. Mostly backpacks and school supplies for the children in Peru. That's about 21 trunks of stuff that won't be coming back up when they return. Nice.

And so, she's gone. My darling daughter has been away for a week before. She goes to camp in the summer. A week each time. But this time it's for 10 days and it's a LOT further journey. She'll have a great time. She'll make new friends within her fellow traveling school mates. She'll get to see how other people in other places live. She'll get to go up and down and up and down... LOL!... in airplanes.

I'll be praying for her safety. I'll be praying that she has a wonderful trip and comes home soon. Mostly though, I'll miss her. Really-truly.

I  love you, Jessica May! I truly-dooly do.

The Studio Challenge

Jessie and I snapped about 300 pictures today. LOVE digital. We deleted out the ugh ones and have a full and over-flowing 100+ left. HA! Nope, I'm not putting them all up here. Not hardly. But in the middle of all that snapping away, Jess went into my studio space and began taking pictures of the little bits of beauty. Here and there and...

:: baskets containing the parts for a couple quilts ::

:: a big jar full of tarnished SILVERware ::

(came with this house)

:: a little pillow that Jessica made for years ago ::

:: part of my brass collection ::

:: apricot-pineapple, blueberry and strawberry jams ::

:: part of my collection of "sticks" ::

:: never enough colored pencils ::

:: wooden thread spools ::

:: art books ::

:: a wee felt bear that Jessie made years ago ::

:: Jessie's pincushion ::

I came in and noticed that she was going around being VERY selective. Now there's nothing wrong with being selective. I mean, discretion is a GOOD thing, right? Well... that got me thinking. And here's what came out of that!!;)

We decided to take big pictures. Really-truly pictures of what the studio REALLY looks like. It's my studio, the place where everything that I could ever need to make anything I'd ever want to make. All the supplies are there. And there's a bit of Jessie's stuff. And there are cardboard boxes, empty containers purchased to help contain stuff, yarn, books, patterns, canning supplies... We don't have a garage or anywhere to store stuff that's not in use. No attic, no unused space in the basement. AURGH! So, everything that doesn't have a place finds it's place there, in the studio. All that makes it nearly impossible to move through the room, let alone be creative. Hate it.

So, here's the deal. We took pictures. These are the before pictures. When Jessica gets home from her mission trip to Peru on March 24th, ten days from tomorrow, I will have it clean or nearly. Organized, orderly and things thrown away, given away, donated... whatever. 10 days. How much can a motivated artist/mom get done in that amount of time? I guess we'll see, huh?

Here's the UGLY truth. ;)

:: Come on in, I'll show you around ::

:: standing in the doorway, looking right ::

:: Still in the doorway, looking straight ahead ::

:: looking a bit to the left ::

:: inside the room turned fully to the left ::

Okay, that's enough torture. :) I won't make you walk that narrow path. Can be dangerous! Anyway, you get the picture. What I'll do is post daily before and after shots. This has to happen and now is the time. Let "The Studio Challenge" begin!

ONWARD!!!!

My Baby Girl

Reminiscence Thursday

This week has been full of thoughts and doings for Matthew (his 14th birthday) and Jessica (her trip to Peru...flies out on Sun.). And so, here are sweet memories of them. ;)

:: Matthew's 6th Month Portrait ::

LOL! This picture always makes me laugh. Matthew LOVED that G-button. Sid picked it up at one of his computer conferences and brought it home for the kids. It became the "Good Button". If you're good, you get to wear it. Ohhh, how he'd prance when he had that big ol' red button on his chest.

:: Playing with the swing ::

"Grandma's Little Preacher"

:: Jessica's 6th Month Portrait ::

:: And Now She Toddles off to Peru???"

:: Here's lookin' at You! ::

:: Two Cutie-Pies! ::

:: Backpacking with Dad ::

And this is for David. ;) You've come a long way, Son!

Happy Birthday, Young Man!

I've been sick since the weekend and not feeling energetic enough to do much but sit, lie around and sleep. Today I picked up my knitting again and my camera... Loveliness! I think I'm on the mend.

And today was SPECIAL day. It is our youngest's 14th birthday. Anti-climatic for him, to be sure. Mom is sick. No birthday cake, no big surprises. But I'm a believer in the concept of celebrating for the days before and the days after, any time in the month and we'll make it happen.

Today was a day of strange contrasts. Memories of the wee baby in my arms followed by the reality of a man child who is too big to sit in his momma lap any more. What he likes now as opposed to what he liked a few years ago. Now he wants a long board and unicycle. He loves history (same as me!) and math (NOT me, but like his dad)

This morning, we sat side by side and watched a documentry series on Auschwitz. When his dad came home from work, he went downstairs and watched "Hogan's Heros" with Sid. How's that for contrast!? Reality and comedy. How does that work?? Weird contrast. Strange and in my mind, wrong. I did a wiki-search and discovered that 5 of the actors that were in "Hogan's Heros" were Jews who were either in the concentration camps or escaped from Hilter's men. Interesting and more interesting.

So, the photos!!! 

Our fabulous 14 year old, taken this morning while we were sitting together.

 Happy Birthday, Boogie! ;)

 

My current knitting project.

Garter-Stitch Blanket designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann

This shot explains what I'm trying to do. LOL! Thus far I've knitted one "A" and I've past the first corner of a "B"... I've got a long way to go before I finish the two "A" units and the two "B" units and... I want this to fit on our queen-size bed with a nice drop over three sides, so I figure it's going to take at least 4, if not 6 of these four piece units to do the job. LOL! I'm in for a long haul!

It's interesting that I've gotten a lot of knitting done today since I wasn't busy click-click-clicking on my virtual farms. LOL! No surprise. Onward with that! I've not been tempted in the least to take it back up again.

ONWARD!!!

Virtually Crazy

Over the last few weeks, I've been VERY busy. Extremely busy. I've planted corn, clover, lavendar and wheat. I've plowed, fertilized and planted apples, nuts, apricots, roses, and sunflowers. Busy, busy, busy. I've acquired a flock of sheep, a few cows, some chickens, a goose, a peacock, a cat and a pet mallard. I've built a horse barn, purchased a bed and breakfast and four guest cottages. I've put up miles of white fences. Yes, INDEED these last few weeks have been extremely busy. And...

Extremely crazy. Yes, in those busybusy moments, I sorta saw the insanity but... on I went working away, collecting cash and coins and building and planting and hoeing and...

Virtual farming. Not even close to real... I mean, what sheep do YOU know that eats wheat stacks, hulls and all?! Not!

It's *click* *click* *click* of the mouse and things happen. It only takes a few hours from the time you *click* plant to grow a crop of carrots to feed the bunnies and the a few seconds later the bunnies are ready to be sheared, their wool goes off to a fancy machine that "weaves" it unto sweaters. WHAT!? I'm a KNITTER You don't weave a sweater! You KNIT sweaters. But *click* *click*, things happen. Virtual wealth accumulates.  Your farm grows, you buy more "land" and more and more and...*click* *click* *click*. "Just a minute, Honey, I need to finish harvesting these oranges..." "Oh, dear! I forgot to get the bees to pollinate before I harvested the clover! And now I won't have honey to use with the fruit to make fruit jams..."

Okay. ENOUGH! No more virtual farming. Enough. The end. Finished. Done.

In my real world, I need to get well. I've been sick for several days. So, sleep, drink, rest. No staying up feeding the cows to get the milk to make the bread... No. In my real world, my daughter is leaving the country for Peru in a few days. She needs help getting ready. In my real world there's always laundry and dishes and bread to bake and shall I mention the REAL weeds and the REAL garden that needs prepared for the REAL seeds that will NOT be ready for harvest in a few hours? :)

Back to reality. Reality is a pretty neat place. I've got several creative project going... painted and embroidered dishtowels (for ME!), a big huge knitted blanket for our bed, sewing...endless creative reality.

Reality is a great family! My husband is a sweetheart. I couldn't ask for more or better. Our kids are fab. My parents are super, my sisters... they are my friends AND my sisters.

Reality is sweet. Reality is quiet and calm and busy and not... No, I'm not emassing a fortune. That's a fact. But hey! Who cares! I'm having a BLAST in my REALITY!

Bye-bye virtual. Hello reality!

ONWARD!

{{Sabbath}}

Sabbath, yes, that's right. I go to church (usually) and observe Saturday as my day of rest. From sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, every week and since forever. I'm a Seventh-day Adventist and so are my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents and... you get the picture? ;)

So, how is it different from what the usual go-to-church-on-Sunday folks? Well, since I'm not one of those, I can only tell you how it IS, not how it isn't. This is how it is. Not the reasons, I'll save that for another time, but tonight I'll tell you what thats like.

As the sun goes down on Friday, things around here wind down and take on a quiet, friendly calm. Our family has supper and then sits and visits a while before having worship. Worship is a time to read aloud a book that we've chosen and then have prayer together. Then it's off to bed. Usually earlier than we do on most other nights, because we can! Love it!

Sabbath morning is a quiet starting day. No hurry or rush. Sabbath School (yeah, like Sunday School, I guess.) starts at 9:30am so there's time for showers, breakfast and getting dressed without the usually RUSH and bustle.

After Sabbath School is the church service. We have a new pastor, whom we all adore. He's from New Zealand, has a gorgeous accent and a wild shawk of red hair. He has a fabulous sense of humor, a deep and firm belief in God and His word and... Man, does he deliver a good sermon. Don't want to miss that. I always come away refreshed, challenged, energized, blessed and smarter. ;) What's not to love, huh?

Another fun thing, this preacher is not a clock watcher. LOL! He preaches until he's done and then he quits. He says, "What's the hurry, it's SABBATH!!!" :) Gotta love it. So, what that means is, we usually get home and start getting lunch ready after 1pm. (Note to self - Figure out the delay timer on the oven!) By about 2:30pm you're most likely to find us all happily fed and lounging around together in the living room. In fact, dessert is always eaten in the living room. Funny, huh!? Don't know how that got started but it's a good thing and we keep doing it. We talk and laugh and just BE together. Usually Sid and/or I will doze off at some point. Sometimes we'll find a better horizontal surface for that adventure, sometimes not.

The kids quietly entertain themselves. Always have. It's a wonderful thing. Jessie likes to draw, Matt is almost always on a computer, futzing around. Ben usually researches stuff in books or on the computer about birds or Native Americans or whatever...All of us are relaxed and low-key. Sometimes we'll go for a walk or hike. Sometimes I'll knit. Whatever. Easy. Gentle. Quiet.

We don't work during the Sabbath hours. Food prep, yes, but not clean up, generally. No yard work, no project that we need to get done around here. Sid doesn't do any of his freelance work or work for the University. We don't watch TV or listen music unless it is of a spiritual nature. (THREE CHEERS for Blue Mt. TV!) The overriding theme of the Sabbath is communing with each other and with our Creator. Rest. Rejuvenate. Re-Creation.

And so, today one of the things I did was walk around in the house, looking for beauty that needed to be photographed. FUN! Here are some of the result!

:: Young Techie on my Dapple (A Dell with an Apple sticker) ::

:: Ficus Tree ::

:: Orchid ::

:: Snake Plant aka Mother-in-law's Tongue ;) ::

:: Betta John and his new roommate Al ::

:: Hoya ::

:: Baby Christmas Cactus ::

:: Nature Collections from Sabbath afternoon walks ::

:: Read the words... look closely ::

Did you notice, like I did, that the beauty and loveliness is all Creator-made? Even the Young Techie! *wink*  But the "Pile of Junk"... it was a wonderful thing for a while! Brilliant! Marvelous!!! And then, it got old and became a pile of junk. It took it's place in the trash after I snapped a few pictures and saved the keys for a future project. Interesting.

The rocks in the glass vase... how old are they? As old as the earth! And still beautiful and inspiring to me. The plants... growing, changing. Alive. Some were gifts, some I started from little cuttings. The baby Christmas Cactus came to me in the bottom of a box. Two little "leaf" joints made an accidental journey from Idaho to our home. I stuck them in dirt, kept it watered and now those two little original joints have grown into this little plant. How old is the mother plant that lives at my aunt's house? Who knows! But it belonged to my great-grandmothers and that's as far back as I know about.

I'm delighted with the little collections and bits of beauty around the house. And, I noticed today something that I've never been aware of before.  There's a theme... to my decor. It's all about the organic shapes, the natural, the real pieces of nature.

I started this photo session trying to capture the "Pile of Junk" before it made it's final stop and then thought to capture some indoor beauty. How lovely, how profound and random.

Without really putting conscious thought to it, I've surrounded myself, inside our home, with the work of The Creator. The King of the Universe. My Heavenly Father...

Tonight I am reminded that I am a Princess and my Creative Father has created me creative. How cool is THAT!!!! LOL!!!

ONWARD!!!!

Creativity

Since last night, I've been thinking about creativity and how it manifests itself in many ways besides the paintings that get hung on walls, the sculptures that grace a room or garden, the lovely vases... all those things are indeed the results of creative energy. Indeed. But what about how the way that the glasses are arranged on the shelf? Or how the clothes are folded and arranged in their drawers?

The reason for this wondering is that I've pretty much discounted my lifes artistic endeavors because I have based it on the thought that it had to be about paintings, ceramics, scupture and the like. And that hasn't been much a part of my life.

I've made lots of stuff, true enough. LOL! I wish I had a picture of everything I've made. Really. I have pictures of the knitting that I've done over the last year and that is a WONDERFUL way to look back and count up.

Sewing, quilting, beading, knitting... working in the yard, figuring out what goes where and what colors, etc. when we rebuilt this house. All those thing have elements of creativity. Some lots, some little. My knitting isn't usually creative as much as it is a craft. My skills improve with practice and I can see that at some point I'll have an understanding of knitting like I have with sewing and then I can just wing it. LOL! That'll be fun and funky!

There are somethings in life that aren't creative. Let's face it. Doing the dishes? Scrubbing the toilet and tub? And yet... Why not! I'm beginning to wonder if the elusive creative is attitude mix with action.

I think I need to get over the worry over not being creative. It's such a bowl of bunk. Heaping full and running over. LOL!

The bottom line is that I need to change my glasses and start seeing things in a different light. Create beauty with each breath. Every waking moment. Just let it flow. See it for what it is and enjoy the moments.

 This is an afghan that I whipped up in a couple weeks, as a gift for my mother-in-law. In this picture it's damp and spread out flat to dry. Without doing this it's a funky knitted blob. Jessie is in the picture to get perspective on the size of this thing. It turned out very soft and lovely.

This one makes me laugh every time I see it. And, of course, there's a story behind it.

On Wednesday night, when my knitting friends get together, there is often the latest yarn purchases to show and tell. Some of the yarns out there are absolutely delicious and I've often suggested that perhaps I should bring a bib, because this beautiful stuff can make me drool! I'd hate to mess up their beautiful new yarn, ya know? Well, one day I came home and thought... Huh! I should MAKE a bib, as a joke, you know? The next morning I started rootling around looking for the right materials to make a bib out of and I suddenly thought of this stretchy t-shirt fabric bag that I had. The words on it and the picture are SOOOooo related to the subject at hand. Yarn! Fiber! Bamboo, cotton, soy... all these and more are used to produce yarn so.... Here's what I came up with. This is HUGE! It fits me shoulder to shoulder and...

the knitters loved it! They howled with laughter!

It it GOOD!!!

It's a VERY good thing to go back and look. This evening I've begun to look at old photos, looking for art projects that I've done. What I've come up with is an overwhelming feeling and a solid rememberance of what my life has been all about. Here, let me show you! And I'm starting a Arline Griffith-Nash blog tradition. Thursday Photo Memories.

Here we go!

"Baby David James Nash - minutes old"

The beginning of parenthood. My first seconds of being a mom. A life-changing, "Buckle up, here we go!" moment.

David has always been a wonderful big brother. This was David and Ben when we lived in Weiser, ID. Ben was about 2 years old, David about 4. Cuties! These little sweater hat sets were a gift from their Great Aunt Orpha. (Sid's Aunt) and they are in my one box of treasured kids clothes. Little things I couldn't part with. Sweet memories.

Payload!

This was the recycling from a big holiday weekend at Upper Lake Clementine, CA. We were the campground hosts for two summers down there. And after each weekend, I'd go thru all the trash cans and pull out the recycleables. Aluminum cans and glass. The money that I earned from this venture was my laundry and spending money. And yes! I wore gloves!!! LOL! Trust me! This WAS creative living.  ;D

And this was "home" for those two summers. We have a ton of happy memories from there. (David enjoyed it so much that he proposed to Mandy there!) The bigger trailer was a whooping 16' in length. with a little loft bed up front. The other trailer was a utility trailer that Sid fixed up with a canopy. One year it was our storage, the next it was the boys' bedroom. Yes, indeed! This is creative living!

Enough for tonight. I need to save more for another Thursday and it's time for me to get busy PLAYING!

ONWARD!!!