i'm still scared...

well, i wonder when i will be of the age that the principal doesn't make me nervous... eli and i were recently running errands at the W. store, and eli is begging, pleading and annoyingly dragging me into the halloween costume section... he heads right for the evil things, digging in the bin of satan's pitchforks, or the evil sickle carried by that scary robed dead man...

and of course, he is lit up with what looks like insane glee.... i drag him over to the costumes, show him the robin hood, knight in shining armor, anything...and he's just not buying into it... i looked at the prices and announced, we will make something, lets go...

then...to my own halloween horror, there she is, the principal. my heart jumps to the roof, and starts that fast beating, once again... i smile and make small talk - eli has run back to the bin of killer objects... i roll my eyes and tell her that this year he wants to be something scary. she is watching him pull out the killer objects in his insane glee.... she states (you know she's a principal, and so everything is STATED, and never just said), "it's a shame when they want to start dressing in those costumes." if i could have, i would've melted before her eyes just as the wicked witch had done...leaving just a puddle of the unfit mother that i must be, then she would take eli into her own home and dress him like a good mother would...

afterwards...and after having to nearly wrestle and drag eli from the killers tools we were on our way. i looked down at the both of us, what a mess i thought, we both look like 2 homeless people walking through the store...why didn't i wash my hair and fix it up...and weren't these the pants that i grabbed off the chair and threw on, the ones she probably saw me wearing yesterday...why did i let him wear that shirt, and why is he wearing shorts - it's freezing outside!

i don't think i'll ever be old enough not to fear the principal, even if she is younger than I.

eli has a new friend in school...he told me all about him, how smart he is, he loves to read, how they like to do their work together, how they get good grades together and have fun on the playground... i loved this kid immediately, like he was my own son...i thought of all the fun they would have playing at our house, running around and doing those mysterious 'boy' things. I would bake him cookies when he came to play, we would have the best time ever. Certainly the boy would never ever want to go home from OUR house.

then eli said, "his dad is the vice principal". OMG i thought...well he will never be able to come over here...the house is a mess, i'm sure when they came to pick him up you both would be misplaced and then found in the yard running naked...my son would be thought of as huckleberry finn influencing their tom sawyer...the cookies would burn...they would take you and keep you with them, thinking it was best for you. NO NO NO, we can't have the vice principal's son over here, the stress and responsibility is far to much. then eli threw in to my already spinning thoughts, 'he's not allowed to watch tv", well i new then, all was lost...we would be the 'bad family', the rule breakers, the wild and crazy people the mom who believes cookies are a healthy snack... the mom who never uses caps., she's full of sentence fragments, and all those periods....all this, and we haven't even gotten to dad yet...

eli took his costume to school this morning for the school party; he is sherlock holmes...he was happy, i hope the principal will be pleased too.

simon and garfunkel

this morning while i was making the little guy some breakfast, i heard this song in the background...a song from my youth, but so appropriate for today... we are getting hit hard in north carolina by the economy, more than 200 people are loosing their jobs a day...yes, a day....and i know it is happening all over the country...i thought this song was perfect, for we all need somebody to lean on sometimes...and that's ok.

the first snow give away...

if you are on my email update list - then you already have heard... but if you aren't, it isn't to late to enter to win! below is the email that was sent out today...if you are not on my email update list...just email me from my blog site - i will add you to the update list and enter you to win the 'well worn heart' game board...

Today is our first snow of the season….schools have been closed…children are noisily anticipating playing outside when the wind dies down.

The studio is warm and toasty with the first fire of the season, and I am painting game boards for you and your loved ones…hubby is out warming up his truck so he can drive through the snow…it’s a custom of his to see how long he can go without using 4 x 4.

Life is just perfect so let’s celebrate that with the “well worn heart”, game board and have a giveaway.

I haven’t painted the piece yet, so it will be painted especially for YOU…and sent to you in mid December… Best of luck to all of you!!!

so that's it - but you do have to enter to win!!!

the first snow...

last night it began, on a cold and windy night...the first flakes of snow appearing on the sky. there is always talk that 'today is the day', but you really never know if it will happen until you see those first snow flakes...

and then the alarm went off...which is one of us calling for everyone to come see...as we huddled around the window we are reminded, again, to slow down and take in the miracle of nature.

the morning is the most magical of all...for throughout the night the snow flakes have created their white carpet over my small town... school is delayed, (then canceled as i'm writing this), work will come eventually for everyone, for we all lag on mornings like these, and things just are naturally slowed down.

i will do what i always do on the first day of snow...pull out the rest of the winter blankets, check the coats making sure they fit, locate mittens, gloves and hats and hang them in the hall... and cook a pot of tortilla soup....and hopefully play in the snow today if the wind dies down...

vote....

not many more days to make that decision if you haven't already... be sure to go out and vote - a freedom that was fought by many to bring us this choice... with the times as they are, and jobs being lost everyday your vote is needed more than ever to elect the officials that will do the best for your family and the country...

so just do it!

pumpkins....

i love the fall...i love the change of season - the slowing down, simmering soup and late night coffee... fall embraces the color orange, from the leaves, to the pumpkins and squash... while the pumpkins and mums can hold their own on your front porch for a good two months - it's also a fun time if you celebrate halloween, for kids and candy go hand and hand...having still one little one at home even i try to find something spooky to cook up for him...and as i'm known (i'm afraid), for burning just about everything i encounter i think even i can tackle some of these spooky treats...

i wanted to show you some pictures from two sites: Better Homes & Gardens and Country Living Magazine...i'm always browsing both for this and that...

I love the simplicity of the entry way below...and looking at it i do believe that we all could tackle this look and pull it off...

Better Homes and Gardens:
i love their site - it's not real quick to navigate, but i'm always surfing for recipes and cooking them up... i will confess, i do not like to cook 'much', and if i do cook, i want it to be something that i haven't tried before...sad for the hubby who says, 'this is really good", (in a surprised voice), and at which time i have to remind him....you'll never get it again, sorry.

Country Living Magazine:

as you know they are my FAVORITE magazine - their site is easy to navigate around on, whether it's decorating or recipes i'm looking for...

how cute are those pumpkins? all of the photos are taken from both sites - so if you need more info., or inspiration, just click on the links above...

mary myers...nutcrackers

it's time to show off some of my artist friends and their wonderful work... i have shown mary myers' work in the past, and her link is always listed under artists to the left - but for you new readers i wanted to show her off again...and brag about her success...

this year mary celebrated making her 6000 nutcracker - yes, you heard correctly. each of her pieces are signed and numbered so she knows for sure that this is indeed true...

her ideas for each piece come from her mind, her imagination - then she puts them to paper and finally to wood...when asked how this all started, mary says:

"I have always loved wood. Growing up in Virginia where my father built houses, I would often accompany him to the lumberyards where I would invariably bring home blocks of wood. In 1989, I wanted a nutcracker but could not find one I liked so I sketched a design and then had my husband turn the basic shape on his lathe. I carved the nutcracker and painted it with muted colors to install an antique finish. I showed it to a buyer from New York City’s American Folk Art Museum. Before I knew it, I had an order for two dozen soldier nutcrackers. My career as an artist began!"

could you imagine getting the phone call that you are asked to make a nutcracker tree topper for the white house christmas tree?, well it happened, and she did in 1996. her pieces have appeared in countless magazines over the many years and she has been named "best american craftsman", by early american life magazine several times...

if you would like to view more of mary's work - here is her link - mary myers nutcrackers

how many of mary's pieces do i have in my own home?, well i'd have to go from room to room to count - for i am so fond of her work and talents, soldiers march in line in my son's room, mine as well, childhood book characters can be found in my studio, angels in my bathroom, pumpkin men in the kitchen and patriotic in my family room...there always seems to be room to add a special piece by her...and now i see there is a football player, what a wonderful piece for me to have to remember my little guys first year in football...and my moms home?, well to many to count too...

I do believe mary's work is full of our own imaginations too, whether it be from our childhood memories, celebrations of the seasons, our lives or events in our children's lives - her carvings bring us a keepsake of these times...

be sure to check out mary myers nutcrackers - you will have fun seeing all of her creations...click on the link below!

mary myers nutcrackers

time to vote...

it's coming very close to the time for us all to vote...so i thought i'd take this time to do some research about the past, the freedom to vote and share with you what i find over the next week or two...

since i am 49 i wasn't involved in women's suffrage, nor the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution which prohibits each government in the United States to prevent a citizen from voting based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude (i.e., slavery), it was ratified on February 3, 1870, nor was i old enough to stand up for the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Act prohibited states from imposing any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure, vital to the civil rights movement...i have always felt that i was born in the wrong era, so to speak...for the causes of the past i am passionate about...

i did grow up in a time, however, where young girls would either marry right out of high school or become a secretary...where i was told i wasn't "tall" enough to become an airline attendant... and in this strange time, i was raised by a mother who would madly type letters to anyone in office on her manual typewriter determined to fight for women's rights...i remember coming home from school, and being directed to a stack of typed papers to be signed by my sisters and i... for the future debate of laws for women...perhaps this is why i just kind of shake my head in disbelief when i think of somebody having to fight for the right to vote...

years ago while i was at our local coffee shop, one of the young college girls started to complain to me how 'old fashioned' her mother was - how she didn't get it... i was shocked, because this was really the first true blue generation of young girls who were raised to believe that they could be anything - they could do anything...but yet they couldn't look back just a little in history to see how all these things were made possible for them? i, of course, was compelled to express my thoughts to her for maybe she could understand that her mother was born in a different time, a time of limited opportunities...and that she was the first true generation of young women to have limitless opportunities...

i came home that day and wrote this poem - which is attached to my game board, "before me"

before me

the women before me

are ingrained inme

a well worn path

to follow

as i d a n c e

down their path

witness to

their triumphant gardens

i too

will bend down

clearing the earth

with my hands

for the others

for i am rose's

daughter

hazel and dorothy's

granddaughter

loella and jessie's

great granddaughter

emma and mary jane's

great great granddaughter

Women won the right to vote first in New Zealand 1893, South Australia 1894, Western Australia 1898, Australia as a whole 1902 and the USA in 1920.

Native Americans won the right to vote in 1924 after the Indian Citizenship Act was passed. In 1956 the State of Utah became the first State to grant that right.

uggg....the dr....

i recently went to the dr. where he announced to me - "i want to see you do 90 minutes of road work a day".... well...what is road work exactly, i wondered... a shovel, a pick....like the old movies showing the soon to be escaped convicts? blowing leaves down the road into nice piles for the leaf truck to come and suck and mulch? the mind just didn't want to wrap itself around the thought of - feet hitting road for 90 minutes a day...oh noooo, exercise...

now i will say - that i'm an observer. i like to take a book to the park and watch people walking and running on the exercise path....i like to watch the people run and walk by my home, viewed from the couch or deck... so it was bound to happen, that i would one day get my orders to straighten up and walk right.


we are full of "used" stores here, for the college kids come and go, buy and donate. so there is always a surplus of things to be found and snatched up. one place, in particular, is known for its exercise equipment/bikes, so i headed off yesterday and 'i think', i found the perfect stationery bike for this 'road work'. now i do understand that it isn't really 'road work', but nonetheless the weather is quite cold right now, snow will be falling soon - and at least 6 months out of each year would just be unbearable to be walking the hills for 90 minutes, that is, for a baby like me.

so now my bike is parked inside the studio - so that i will be inclined to 'ride' before work, at lunch and hopefully in the evening... i think it is a good start to meeting the dr.'s orders...and yes, it does look almost exactly like the one above - but mine is rusty, somebody left it out in the rain or out on a porch for some time - but i'm feeling a little old and rusty - so it will be a perfect match - and it was quite affordable - $12.50.

i was talking to my mom yesterday - and told her that i hope to ride my bike across the country - landing at my girlfriend linda's in sacremento. we giggled, and then i told her i must log my efforts and have a map to tell me how far i've gone... so i will begin this - for i have to have something to look forward too or it's just exercise, and i know i don't like to do that! i will keep you up to date on my adventure across the country on my stationery bicycle.

boone, north carolina to sacremento, california is 2,618 miles...i looked to see how long it would take me to walk there - 35 days and 12 hours (is this a sleepless 35 days?)... it gives me hope that i will be able to get where i am going....CALIFORNIA OR BUST!!!

the brain...

my dad sent this to me.... thought you might enjoy it...

it feels like a monday....

it may be friday, but it feels like another monday...

the rain began to come through last night - really just a drizzle, and today the same... the leaf change is in full parade now - with the reds to be added over the next few days... and then the starkness of a winter view...

today i must stick to my 'list', for i feel that i will wander off in any direction....back into the warm down or for a walk along the river...so i will save that for later..., my reward after the work is done...

wanted to bring you a view of the appalachians this time of year...while we are enjoying the crisp change of seasons the ski slopes are getting in full gear for their upcoming season...

excuse me....i don't want to sound rude...

much to my surprise i've been added to a google search entitled -

artists making a difference in the world -

evidently this is based on my writings on my blog..., and somehow google has been watching me... (kind of spooky)... when i read this on google, led there by some accidental research about blogs, (actually being lost in internet land) - well, to be honest i think i sat up just a little bit straighter, a slight smile on my face....and said to myself - "hey, somebody is reading my blog", for one never really knows....and one never really knows if i'm boring you out of your mind...

so i ponder my 'no politics' for blogging ethic - art, music, nature is my 'theme', if you will - i was surprised that i was put into 'this' category...since i stay far away from the politics of the world in my blog....(o.k., perhaps something slips in every now and then...), but maybe i am sharing an "under the surface", political view with you? perhaps...

my politics is simple - for the people - across the world - from day to day considerations of others - (letting somebody go in line before me at the check-out, after all, i'm pretty much never in a hurry), to stopping to help the stranger in need on the side of the road....,worldwide - well i can't get to them, but i can try to help by stopping naive prejudices, giving time or money...or blogging about them...

oh dear....there goes that john lennon song again in the background...

but i wanted to share this with you - for it IS the little things that can make a difference and we really do not know the effect that we have on others...noticed or unnoticed...

ok....i'm forced to give into myself and play that song for you....yes, again...

so yummy....

my friend, pandora, sent this site to me today - i thought i'd share it with you... if you have little ones at home - it's a santa site, with games for the kids, things to color and lots more, they will spend much time surfing this site...

for others - lots of recipes for the yummy gift giving or for your own table....

here is the link - http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/

and the winner is....

just wanted to give you an update on the american express grant contest...

kiva came in at a very respectable 3rd - after just 3 years of it's creation...they were awarded $300,000 to fund their loans to entrepreneurs around the world...with over 25,000 votes! They will be able to do so much good with this grant - thanks amex. for making it possible.

i checked their site this morning - and found this greeting...and honestly had to read it several times before it sunk in...

"Thanks Kiva Lenders! You've funded EVERY loan on the site!!

To date, Kiva has enabled lenders to send $46,168,910 to the working poor around the world.
Currently, we are experiencing a traffic spike and all previously fundraising loans have been fully funded. Our team is working with Kiva's Field Partners around the globe to approve new loan applications every day."

there are NO MORE LOANS to give....who would've ever thought that would be the case? certainly not them...it's stunning....with all the exposure that kiva received during this time - they received many new lenders, and are in the process of making dreams come true...for every 28 seconds a loan was given this week...

2 people started this company - 2 young people wanting to make a difference in the world, it's a very powerful thing - and it gives me hope for the good that the future generations will bring...

http://www.kiva.org/

another monday....

i'm down in the studio and thanking all of you for a successful 1st web show... and the first thing to do is look at my very low supply of wood... and head off to the lumber yard to bargain today's prices...

strangely, for 2 years i have had an issue with my wood... it all began...well, in the beginning i guess...

the wood that is used for each game board is baltic birch... at one time it was called russian birch, but due to politics (the cold war), "they" felt, over here, that is, that the word 'russian' just might not be a big seller, so the name was changed to 'baltic'... it is indeed from the baltic regions... norway has the best birch on the market - but the prices are unaffordable... 2nd is russia - and the prices skyrocketed.

here is a short history lesson on the last two years of trying to obtain my baltic birch...

2 winters ago - russia didn't have a good freeze over the waters... so last year - little wood was available and the prices therefore doubled...understandable...

so when i ordered wood earlier this year - i'm thinking there will be a surplus....since they were not able to bring it back the previous year, and they had a good freeze...one would think anyway... but this year the price is being driven up even more...



one lumber store will tell you one thing.... and another one, another... so here is what they are saying... russia is sitting on the wood, yep there we go again....to keep the prices higher....russia is trading with other countries....yep, they are mad at us again... everyone seems to have their opinions... all i know is that last year my concern was that the people were not getting paid in russia - since they were not able to do their work, my concern was that children's stomachs would suffer through the change in this weather, their dads not being able to drive over the ice...it would drive up my prices - but i could deal with that, they would come down again...



the increase of wood over the past 5 years, has gone from $18 a sheet to $39, and since i haven't gone to see them yet this morning - who knows what it will be today... the sheets are 5' x 5', smaller than a regular sheet of wood...but, oh so nice.

i do believe - if politics were taken off the table, countries would see that the people of each and every country have the same goals - to provide for their families..., (i do believe i can hear the john lennon, imagine song in the background right now) and that we can work things out... for so many years while i'm working with this wood - i do think of all the hands that touched each piece, from the seed planter, lumber jack, trucks, ships and eventually on to me - in another set of mountains that seems like worlds apart... i cannot do what i do if it weren't for them - i guess that is what the big guys call export/import...and where the power structure is - i just look at it from the people to people view...

for my artwork - i choose the highest quality wood that is available and affordable and is not endangered, more costly because it is less prone to disease over there than our american birch- so less flaws will appear... the shipping costs on top of that raise it on up... but i like the idea that so many people are involved in this process for my game boards, how many hands touched this one piece of wood before i myself put my hand print on the back of each piece...my hand print is symbolic to me for it is humbling to know i cannot do what i do without the help of the world...

so when we do hear of problems with trade with other countries....don't forget the 'little guys' on each side... and i know - this isn't a 'political' blog - which i have stated that i wouldn't talk politics - and i'm not, in my mind... this is just fact based life in my studio in the appalachians...

we are at the end...

kiva update....only 2 more days before the winner is chosen...

they are 3rd now (yippeeee!!!) in the running for the 1.5 million grant from american express.... if you haven't voted yet - read more about the contest from an earlier blog this week (late sunday), you can still vote with the link that is shown...


here is a short 'commericial' about kiva that they have submitted to american express...

ok....i must say it...

i'm not one to criticize...i'm pretty much a pollyanna to be honest...

(term "pollyanna" (along with the adjective "pollyannaish" and the noun "Pollyannaism") to describe someone who is cheerfully optimistic and who always maintains a generous attitude toward the motives of other people) -

but as i'm arriving to the studio this morning on a gray drizzly cold october day, i thought - turn on the music... and first to mind is james blunt... i just love his lyrics, his voice... and it's an easy listen to get off on a slower note this morning...

i thought i'd check out you.tube to see what he has there... now first....realize that this is one of my favorite songs, and i do miss hearing it on the radio all the time...don't we all want someone pining for us...? and i'm just certain that whatever woman is in his life is one of the luckiest, for his lyrics would make any girl fall....

where as, in my life, i have to keep asking hubby, did you hear what i said, and then he, taken off guard yet again, tries to mumble something that may possibly be in my top 3 to 'talk about'....well you probably all know what happens next...

anyway, i'm watching this video - just making sure that it is 'clean' and i can post it on my blog - you know how we want everyone to hear (and perhaps suffer), through our favorite songs?

i do believe - i will never be able to listen to this song again without giggling... and there are so many parts to giggle about... from the disrobing of his shirts (guess he wanted us to see that he isn't that skinny guy we thought he was).... to the neat placement and straightening of his shoes....now i have man/boys around me and this isn't the way it goes.... at 43, 25, 25 & 9, the shoes are kicked off - obtaining flight through the air - to come to a final landing place...it surely must stop at a latter age, for i don't recall my dad doing this...?

so anyway - here it goes... the first line....is my favorite line.... being a pollyanna and all...

the freedom quilting bee...

i talked to my mom today and she had quilting at her house...wish i could've been there eating that pumpkin strudel with the girls and looking to see what everybody is making....it made me think of one of my favorite things - gee's bend - the quilters and the quilts...so today as i was surfing 'gee's bend, i fell upon this quilting bee and thought that you might find it as fascinating as i - and there is a connection to the gee's bend quilters...

The Freedom Quilting Bee, an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, was established in 1966, as local people were losing their income and sometimes their homes on local farms after registering to vote. Father Francis X Walter, an Episcopal priest and civil rights worker, saw the potential economic value of quilts he saw hanging on a clothesline and helped the group get started.

This was a women’s quilting collective in Alberta, Alabama, near to Boykin or Gee's Bend. Some of the women whose quilts are represented in the Quilts of Gee's Bend exhibit once made quilts for this economic collective. Others did not. Nevertheless, it is through this earlier collective that Gee's Bend came first to be known for its quilts, for the strength of its community and the resourcefulness and artistry of it's quilters..

In 1968, the Bee purchased 23 acres of land where they built the present production site. Eight lots were sold to families that had been evicted from their homes. 1970-1996, the bee leased part of the building for a day care center. This is a photo of the groundbreaking... i also found it interesting how a day care center had been leased - women always looking for ways to provide for the children, no matter at what age is just an instinct that seams together so perfectly...

In later days they began making smaller items; potholders, bags, napkins and aprons to sell at stores.

if you are in a quilting group - let me know about it! i can blog about each of you and what you are making - and a photo would be great too... last time i sent a photo of my quilting group - "stitch n' _itch... i had sent it to oprah telling her we all needed a makeover and to please help...well i did get a call...it was from the show...and they wanted to know if we would all be interested in joining a getting fit program, right there in dallas....well, i told THEM that i could never take that back to my group - it would be horrifying!, and that we just were not interested in THAT!!! well, later is when dr. phil became well known, ala dallas link - so my guess it was working with him to get all fit and trim....but no thanks - we just wanted to look beautiful for a day...