Accentuate the Positive

"In times of great adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive."
-Lee Iacocca

Amen and Amen

Green Baby Green

Talk to me about going green...how about the Green diet? laced with a little red and yellow.

Why I was raised on a green spoon, started eating organic about the time I started eating solid food...farm raised chickens, eggs and milk. Homegrown vegetables, fresh herbs, canned foods from the fields for the winter.



This summer we are blessed by the Jolly Green Giant and Mother Nature's Rain ...numerous pints of pickled green beans, refrigerator cucumber pickles, cartons of beans and squash in the deep freeze. Daily doses of cucumber, tomato and yogurt salad. Luscious, juicy tomato sandwiches, piquant, garlicky pesto and caponata. Ahhhh, the freshness.



A Saturday jaunt to a North Carolina tailgate market to see what they have that we don't...not much, I see, but I did grab a bagfull of good HOT jalapenos, since ours are not quite ready.





bean basket photo by J.T. Hammond

Matinee Mania

painting - Laurence of Hospicia, artist unknown

Already, the long hot summery days call for diversion and escape to faraway places. The breeze lulls, afternoon storms rumble through, the laundry flaps on the clothesline.

I run to gather in the freshly dried clothes before the next stormcloud bursts. The dog hunkers in the corner, then paces and pants and worries over the noise and the drama of these daily summer occurrences. He seeks comfort in the closeness of his companion.

Hours of study and research go by. Mornings spent planting, weeding and watering before the heat becomes oppressive.

There are endless projects and tasks to attend to, but there is an inner yen to flee. A need for other scenery. These walls are dark, the air is stale.

For a while I roamed markets of castoff treasures and collected odd pieces to trade off or use in other creations. Now I pile full boxes of excess, hauling away for others to plunder through.

I go for a matinee. A much anticipated outing with my good friend. City princesses trek off to exotic places in their overwhelmingly garish fashions. They whine and complain of their less than perfect perfect lives. The outcome of this escape was far less cathartic than I had hoped, the movie part, that is. Delirious Divas riding camels across dunes and picnicking under tents while served by handsome butlers.

I once rode on an elephant with a friend. We were at a State Fair and I dare say had more fun on that excursion than those silly divas in their harem couture.

What we need here is a windfall, a ship, a real job. Spare me from the hours of waiting for my number to be called in this game of economic roulette.

Calgon, take me away...

Floating along

painting - 'Adrift'

days float by, studying, gardening, finishing old projects and starting new ones

spring rain has created lush environs and many blooms and blossoms scattered on the porches

spring cleaning removes the cobwebs from the mind and the crevices

turning the soil and planting seeds and plants will make our summer table alive with nourishment

berries ripen. our anniversary approaches. celebration. we have grown another year closer

To Market

Callie and Susan go to market..

Asheville Farmer's Market, Annual Herb Sale. She's told me about it for years. Why I've never gone before is inexplicable and inexcusable. We had a post-birthday outing in her honor to go and procure plants for our summer garden. She wore her new and lovely sun hat. I was astounded at the greenery and floral abunda. We had a wonderful day gazing at fragrant herbs, exotic flowering plants and enormous strawberries that exuded intoxicating aromas.



flying pig



mermaid art





Lovely Mermaid Art by Burton Edwards of the J & B Herb & Plant Farms in Roxboro, NC

We came home with Cinnamon Basil, Lime Basil, Lime Thyme, Purple Basil (it was a veritable Basil Heaven), Lavender of at least two kinds, Herbal Dog Biscuits, Chives, Russian Tarragon and yes, a piece of Mermaid Art.

Such amazing discoveries...I must go every year evermore.

Giving

painted birdhouse - Homes of Hope

Giving what I've got. That is what I do these days. I've found amazing satisfaction in creating from my resources to give to people and places that mean something huge to me. While digging out my creative space, I found many pieces of art materials that had lingered too long here, so I decided to donate them to a place made specifically for creating, where people come when they have nowhere else to go. The Art Room at the Triune Mercy Center, Greenville, SC. Nowhere have I ever felt so much energy in an artistic fashion. I know that is saying a lot. I haven't gone there yet to create art, but the people who run it are so full of spirit and creative inspiration, I am so inspired that a place such as this exists. I hope to spend more time with them in the future. I attended an Easter holiday Tea Party there recently that was such a vision of enthusiasm, it was very hard to leave. My next gift to Triune was a painted birdhouse for their contribution to a fundraising auction for Homes of Hope. The Tea Party featured the painted birdhouses as centerpieces, painted by local artists as centerpieces amongst fresh garden flowers and many festive balloons.

For my family, I try to give things from my heart and my hands. I became a quilter at an early age inspired by my grandmother and my mother. For Sarah and Thomas, I created designs for their surroundings appropriate to the times and places where they were born. Thomas' quilt was a four square that included a Tall Pine Tree pattern in honor of North Carolina where his mother hailed from, a Maple Leaf signifying Vermont, where I was living at the time, and a Chinese puzzle to note his birth in Hong Kong. A quilt for Sarah was a medallion of a sailboat that signified her parents' love for sailing, the sea and great adventure.


My most recent handspun piece is another small coverlet directly from and inspired by Claude's Cove. A simple fishing boat, a great blue heron and fish. For all of my days at Claude's Cove, I will never express all the inspiration that comes from this place and what it means to me in regards to my family.

On Saturday we will celebrate my mother's birthday and I will give Charlie his special "Claude's Cove" quilt. I hope he has not already grown up to much too have his baby quilt, but it can go with him throughout his days as a memento to where his family came from.


Love to all.

Ever After

painting - Angel Oak











Whether it be the presentation of the colors for a veteran of one of the most horrific wars of our time, or the playing of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones as a recessional, these were portions of services I have attended in these early months of this still new year.Two people who I've met who touched my life and then went on. It is fitting that passing into that next dimension does involve some ceremony that individualizes the one who is being honored and remembered.

As I recently strolled the grounds of the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, I was entrenched in a calmness of quiet and beauty. A balmy breeze whispered through the Spanish moss draped throughout the graceful and magnificent trees and shrubs interspersed around acres of sculptural elegance. Many generations rest there. It is a stunning expanse perched along the Saint Augustine Creek where a plantation once stood dating back to the 1700s.

The banks of the Saint Augustine are a tranquil repose for contemplating the hereafter. It would be a satisfying spot to have my ashes set along the banks to blow out into the marshes, the sea and evermore, or any place of that sort.

Cemetery Etiquette: Enjoy the natural peace and serenity of the cemetery.


Rest in Peace, Johnny Mercer