family

"other things may change us...

but we start...

and end...

with

family..."

~anthony brandt

happy halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy halloween!

Candy...Candy...Candy....!

(old metal alpha lettering by paula kesselring designs)

when i was in your heart....

once upon a time.......

time flies.......

time flies.........it sure does!

my dad's birthday is rolling around again next week.

i'll use this little ditty to make his birthday card...

and yes........

that handsome fella is my dad...

she who must be obeyed......

still playing...........

how sweet it is.......

i have just been determined to learn how to collage digitally. i'll have to say it's a whole lot easier way to collage than the ol' cut and paste deal..... photographing and making my own elements has sparked a multitude of creative ideas.....i'm loving it!

digital collage.........

sweet!

rediscovering jody.....

"some things you can't find out...

but you will never know you can't

by guessing and supposing...

no...you have to be patient

and go on experimenting

until you find out that...

you can't find out.

and it is delightful

to have it that way...

it makes the world so

interesting."

~Mark Twain, Eve's Diary

if there is one thing that i do know...it's that i am where i am because of decisions that i have made. it appears i've come full circle in my life...after many detours off the path i'm returning to myself....welcome back jody...i've missed you...

love pours from heaven....

perhaps they are not the stars

but rather openings in

heaven where the love of

our lost ones pours through

and shines down upon us

to let us know they are

happy.

~ eskimo folklore

basking in the glow of love from above..........

hello my space cowboy......

...i would pick more daisies

If I Had My Life To Live Over

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax, I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.

I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles,
but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who live
sensibly and sanely hour after hour,
day after day.

Oh, I've had my moments,
And if I had it to do over again,
I'd have more of them.
In fact, I'd try to have nothing else.
Just moments, one after another,
instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat
and a parachute.
If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over,
I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

Nadine Stair,
85 years old.

an insatiable thief.....

"age is an insatiable thief.

it steals the pleasures of your youth...

then locks you inside your own body

with your desires

still

glowing...."

~james lee burke

the glass rainbow

mr. burke....

truer words were never spoken.....

reminiscing....

“life: a cycle.

a series of events…

meetings…and departures.

friends discovered…

others lost.

precious time wastes away.

big droplet tears

are shed

for yesterday…

but are dried

in time for tomorrow…

until all that remain

are foggy…

broken

memories…

of a happy

yesteryear.”

~daniela gallo

yesteryear is much on my mind lately

a byproduct of aging...

probably

so many memories...

regrets...

loves...

playing...

like an old 8mm film...

scratching...

and popping...

behind closed eyes...

as i sit

quietly

sipping wine...

reminiscing....

wassail and pumpkins....

i woke up this morning to a beautiful...crisp...fall like day....drove up to windy hill orchard and bought some wassail. evidently... before the shelves held the bottles of cider and wassail they were the proud nesting place of one 'henny penny' cause we had to keep shooing her away as i made my purchase. maybe she was the welcoming hen....or just trying to help me make up my mind between the cider and wassail....

on the drive to the orchard i passed our local produce stand and.........PUMPKINS! it sooooo feels like fall today. after a lunch of carolina barbeque and potato salad i'm retiring to the couch with a wonderful smelling cup of joe (does anything smell better than a fresh cup of coffee...organic peruvian...YUM) to watch a christmas movie i found on the dvr....that's right...CHRISTMAS....and last night i worked in my studio on some halloween goodies.....

can you tell this is my FAVORITE time of the year?

happy labor day

have a cotton picking safe and happy labor day!

stone me to my soul.....

Happy Birthday Van Morrison!

after all these years....

you still

STONE

ME

TO

MY

SOUL...

she slipped on her wings...

" having tired
of the negative words...
she laid them down.
being finished
with the weighted boots...
she burned them.
touching a feather to her tears…
she slipped on her wings…
turned to her sky….
and flew…."

~terri st. cloud

memories....

sunbeams filled with fairy dust....the sweet smell of fresh cut hay....laying in a secret hide away... under the creaking ....popping....tin...reading.....daydreaming....just... being.........memories......

a flash of harmless lightening

“a flash of harmless lightening…
a mist of rainbow dyes…
the burnished sunbeams brightening…
from flower to flower he flies…”

~john banister tabb

two bare feet on the dashboard....

"two bare feet on the dashboard

cheap shades and a tattoo

and a yoo-hoo bottle rollin' on the floorboard..."

~kenny chesney

pencil art

someone sent me these pictures in an email...

i think they are awesome!

there was no info about the artist....

dear artist...

who ever you are....

you do amazing work!

they teach me how to listen.......

“i pray to the birds

because i believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward.

i pray to them because i believe in their existence...

the way their songs begin and end each day...

the invocations and benedictions of earth.

i pray to the birds because they remind me of what i love

rather than what i fear.

and at the end of my prayers...

they teach me how to listen.”

~ terry tempest williams