I am in love with this tone of "Scandenavian Blue" ...it is a very pale tone...something of a blue-grey but not blue. I think it is fresh and clean looking, and seems so suited to roses!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Hearts & Roses
I am in love with this tone of "Scandenavian Blue" ...it is a very pale tone...something of a blue-grey but not blue. I think it is fresh and clean looking, and seems so suited to roses!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
how can you be 3?
how can you be 3 weeks old already, little grandaughter?! 3 weeks ago today you were born and our lives have been blessed beyond our imagination.
WE LOVE YOU!
hugs and baby kisses
I miss you
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Reminders of Spring
We've had a few days of sunshine of late (a rarity this past month) and so i was coaxed outside to walk through the gardens (hurridly..it was cold!). I came upon an abandoned nest, a left over from last spring, that i'd forgotten about. I'd watched the nest last year...the mother nestled deep within to keep her babies protected, the adults busy as bees running hatchlings their food. It was a beautiful nest..delicately woven of fragile twigs that still sprouted tiny bright green leaf buds.
Coming across the dried nest bleached grey from the weather was a wonderful reminder of that past spring, and of the spring soon on it's way.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Life Springs Anew
Babies, little eggs, nests appearing up in the trees.....all are signs that, despite the cold and the grey and the snow, new life, like the return of Spring, perseveres.
blessings,
r.a.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
*WHEW* I needed that!
...a fix! a grandaughter fix! gee..it had been 2 days since i'd seen her and held her and i really needed a baby grandaughter fix! Went there today and i stole a few snuggles and i feel so much better now!
Grandma loves you, baby Leighton!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
HAPPY ONE WEEK BIRTHDAY, SWEET LEIGHTON!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sleeping Beauty
Isn't she an angel?! I think i can really get into this 'grandma-brag' thing!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
WELCOME TO THE WORLD, LEIGHTON REBECCA!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
CHINA ROSES
Since there is about 2 feet of snow outside and the driveway is ice, i'm guessing it's gonna be a while before we see flowers blooming. Until then, i'll take them wherever i can get them..including strewn over old china plates..
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
THE ROSE STUDY
It's that time of year again that every gardener awaits with bated breath...the arrival of the new year flower and garden catalogs! What better way to spend a blustery day than pouring over glossy rose photos, researching possibilities, and daydreaming of the perfect garden which, surely, must be within our grasp!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
h e l l o , s p r i n g !
Ok, so we have another snow storm headed this way and nights have been at or below zero for the past 4 nights and so i guess i'm jumping the gun a bit by saying 'hello, spring'....but i can do whatever i want in the imaginary world of painting!
Monday, January 4, 2010
The Birds and the Bees
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Little Breakfast
I am not a morning person. Perhaps i need to be greeted by warm muffins and fresh flowers to make me one!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thoughts of Spring
Spring WILL return....sooner or later!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Ray of Sunshine
check it out: Sunrise/Sunset Calendar
Yes...it's that time of year when I become obsessed with gaining even a smidge more daylight with each passing day. Come January, by the end of the month our Illinois sun will rise 14 minutes earlier than it did at the beginning of the month, and it will set 34 minutes later! Whoopeee!
Check out the calendar for your own little part of the world!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Blessed. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed
Merry Christmas, dear readers!
I had planned on posting a wonderful and warm holiday family photo for you here, after our big annual Christmas Eve family gathering. I fired up the computer for the first time in a couple of days - such a rarity for me - and realized i had totally forgotten to take a photo in the chaos of our gathering.
boy was i mad at myself. I had wanted a family photo ..one last one while daughter 1 was pregnant, while youngest son is still in highschool, etc etc. Darn it all.
But then, it occured to me...how very blessed i am that we were so busy talking together, so busy laughing together, so busy hugging each other, so busy helping each other and delighting each other with carefully chosen gifts, that there simply wasn't time to take a photo of it all.
Blessed. Some people have no home to make festive and warm and cozy. We have comfy sofas and a warm fire and rooms filled with family.
Blessed. Some people have no one to talk to. We had the young and the old, even the not-born-yet, and all ages and generations under our roof to talk to.
Blessed. Some people are darkly sad not only at the holidays but all the time. We share funny memories of childhoods shared and find so many joys in anticpating our futures as a family.
Blessed. Some people are all alone and have no one to hug and no one to hug them back. We get big crushing bear hugs from our teenage son and miraculous baby kicks from our grandchild still carried in her mommy. I still get little girl hugs from my 26 year old daughter and comforting hugs from our oldest son. And we have a daughter-in-law who hugs us with genuine love, and two amazing son-in-laws who hug us every time we see them.
Blessed. Some people feel they have no one to turn to for help. We are blessed with the peace of knowing that should any of us at any time need any help, every single one of us in this family would help without being asked.
Blessed. Warm slippers given to me since my sister knows i work over a cold tile floor all winter and my feet get cold and she won't have that. A book made of sonogram photos of our grandaughter because our daughter knows this baby already brings me unmeasurable joy. A feathered crow because our daughter knows that birds always make me smile, even on snowy and blowy days. A favored scent because our son's girlfriend knows it is a little luxury i would never buy myself and how i do adore it. A huge pile of firewood because my son and his wife know how much i look forward to spending the 2 days after Christmas laying on the couch, in front of a toasty fire, dreaming happy dreams of the holidays with family.
Some people have not known the joy of recieving the gift of a macaroni covered school child's ornament, nor have they known the joy of giving.
And so, while i may not have a photograph to show how blessed i am, i have something even better. I have the real thing. I have the memories. I have my family.
I am blessed.
Merry Christmas to you and to yours
blessings,
r.a.
I had planned on posting a wonderful and warm holiday family photo for you here, after our big annual Christmas Eve family gathering. I fired up the computer for the first time in a couple of days - such a rarity for me - and realized i had totally forgotten to take a photo in the chaos of our gathering.
boy was i mad at myself. I had wanted a family photo ..one last one while daughter 1 was pregnant, while youngest son is still in highschool, etc etc. Darn it all.
But then, it occured to me...how very blessed i am that we were so busy talking together, so busy laughing together, so busy hugging each other, so busy helping each other and delighting each other with carefully chosen gifts, that there simply wasn't time to take a photo of it all.
Blessed. Some people have no home to make festive and warm and cozy. We have comfy sofas and a warm fire and rooms filled with family.
Blessed. Some people have no one to talk to. We had the young and the old, even the not-born-yet, and all ages and generations under our roof to talk to.
Blessed. Some people are darkly sad not only at the holidays but all the time. We share funny memories of childhoods shared and find so many joys in anticpating our futures as a family.
Blessed. Some people are all alone and have no one to hug and no one to hug them back. We get big crushing bear hugs from our teenage son and miraculous baby kicks from our grandchild still carried in her mommy. I still get little girl hugs from my 26 year old daughter and comforting hugs from our oldest son. And we have a daughter-in-law who hugs us with genuine love, and two amazing son-in-laws who hug us every time we see them.
Blessed. Some people feel they have no one to turn to for help. We are blessed with the peace of knowing that should any of us at any time need any help, every single one of us in this family would help without being asked.
Blessed. Warm slippers given to me since my sister knows i work over a cold tile floor all winter and my feet get cold and she won't have that. A book made of sonogram photos of our grandaughter because our daughter knows this baby already brings me unmeasurable joy. A feathered crow because our daughter knows that birds always make me smile, even on snowy and blowy days. A favored scent because our son's girlfriend knows it is a little luxury i would never buy myself and how i do adore it. A huge pile of firewood because my son and his wife know how much i look forward to spending the 2 days after Christmas laying on the couch, in front of a toasty fire, dreaming happy dreams of the holidays with family.
Some people have not known the joy of recieving the gift of a macaroni covered school child's ornament, nor have they known the joy of giving.
And so, while i may not have a photograph to show how blessed i am, i have something even better. I have the real thing. I have the memories. I have my family.
I am blessed.
Merry Christmas to you and to yours
blessings,
r.a.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
countdown to grandma-hood!
I can hardly stand the wait (right along with the rest of the family, not to mention daughter and son-in-law)!!! Our first grandchild, a little girl, is due in THREE short weeks!!
I think she needs more shoes!
Monday, December 21, 2009
For my kids......come and get your Christmas hints!!!
DJ: one of yours, as i said, is ecologically correct.
Rach: one of yours is something a dental hygenist would love to get her hands on
Bex: Tho one of yours belongs in the kitchen, i wouldn't cook with it.
Bubs: one of yours is really meant for little people.
ha! I love to drive my kids crazy with my obscure hints..and, yes, every year they complain about them!
any guesses, huh huh huh?????
love
mom
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Graceful things
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Cheery things
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Peaceful Places
Monday, December 7, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
a few favorite things
Softly worn, old china, a graceful chair, fresh flowers and a good book...a few favorite things
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
think spring?
Yes..i'm looking forward to the holiday catalogs being replaced by nursery catalogs, aren't you?!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Stretching one's wings
While painting birds is not new to me, painting the California Quail was! I love trying new painting subjects - it gives me the chance to learn about them (for instance, did you know that the California Quail has been clocked flying at 58mph?!), and stretch my own artistic wings!
Sweet Songs
What could be sweeter than being greeted by the songs of birds in the morning? well..maybe a kiss and a bird song?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
