i have felt in love...

felting by the christmas tree last night

I have knitted since i was a young girl, taught by my Irish grandmother who would visit sunny California for 6 weeks every year and bring me the most wonderful sweaters, vests (yes, I wore vests back then), hats and mittens. We would sit outside in the sun, or at the kitchen table and knit together, she would fix my mistakes and compliment my work.

I love wool, the smell, texture, working with it, and have been very interested in felting for a long time...so, when this great gal offered up her little workshop, I jumped like a wild banchee.

And well, I have fallen in love with felting and am finding myself thinking of when I can sit down to felt next...

quiet breaks...

this is a holiday week for us, all week, and sometimes at times such as these it is nice to have the quiet of home life, little mumbles of conversations in the corner from dolls and lego men, building grand ships and exploring new galaxies, baking cookies and eating them out of the oven, playing games at the table, spreading out on the floor to play together, reading on the couch, starting the making of christmas gifts...

such a warm and cozy time.

It is for these things...and so so many more, I am most thankful.

The Girl Effect: The Clock is Ticking

The Girl Effect is defined as the powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their society.

When I was 7 my family moved to Africa...the middle of Africa, that is, to Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic...for a young, blond, California girl this was, to put it mildly, a HUGE shift in culture, language, lifestyle, family life, friends, all around LIFE changes beyond description...I saw things and experienced the raw reality of life, for which I had not been prepared for, no one could prepare me for that type of change.

The open market, unusal foods, shifts in security, I remember being viewed as a very different kind of person, my hair and fair skin was something of an awe-like nature to this culture, it made me feel separated and uncomfortable in a way I could not define at 7....this was to be my life for a few years.

Private French school, arts, education, music, so different from life in So. Cal....and I fit in, but always felt different. All the while, I would see the young African girls, close to my age, walking by and working everyday on the busy road near where we lived, carrying large bundles on their backs and heads, carrying babies, which I thought were brothers and sisters, but now do not know...I had no idea what was happening there at this time and now realize that life in these cultures, does not change or shift too much over time, and so The Girl Effect speaks to me on so many levels and I see this and it touches my soul...I know this to be true, I know it is real...let's make a difference...today.

Here is how you can do something right now: 1. Learn more here.

2. Donate to the cause right now.

Get in the know here.

around the bend...

on a recent sunny day, this wee family drove down a country road, out of the blue we passed an opening in the brush...

we glanced at each other

'what was that we just saw?

we must go back.'

this is what we found:

crumbling paths from a time long ago...

mosses and lichen of the most wonderous kind...

men connected with the earth.




paths paved by broken down trees,
time, it would seem, had won over here, in the most beautiful of ways.

traveling on still...

up, up further into the hills...

we found the resting places of fairies and gnomes
where they find homes in trees and brush...surrounded by the mystical, the magical.
wee creatures greeted us, then flittered home to be with their loved ones.

we danced...like no one was watching...

because no one was watching.go gently and love the moment.

in the midst...

in the midst of chaos...i stop and remember the bliss of work, the love of my hands in the soil, the creating of things small and wide, the feel of grapewood in my hands and the connection i have with my work...so, i breathe deeply and stretch my bones, feel the earth under my feet and move onward.

be kind and gentle lovelies.

fun time of year...

it is just plain great to dress up and share in fun and memories...

i downright love this little family of mine.

truth be...

portion of yard work before....

and ahhhfter...

things don't go as planned...
that is a fact, i know, however, when it hits you in the face and you are reminded at times when something of importance goes awry, well, it does not feel too great, and often causes much distress....i am here to not always write of the lovely and interesting...but, sometimes of the reality that is life and pretty much can throw one for a loop.

so, i think forward to positive results, to moving ahead in a calm and clear manner in order to work through it all.reminder to self: stuff does roll downhill...afterall.