|
Before the sun went down.. We took a lazy stroll around our backyard last night. I took the camera with me to see if I could get any good shots in the dimming light. It was pretty hard to do. The best part of last night was finding that the ocean of honey suckles have finally bloomed. The bush sits way back in the corner of our property and guards the entrance to Tylor and Samantha's secret path that leads to a clearing underneath a tree. For the past couple of years we have slowly been working on a secret garden back there. Tylor has already carried out rocks to outline the circle. I love that area. We haven't cut the grass lately and we discovered these lovely waves of dainty purple flowers. It is so enchanting - I'm sure a few fairies had something to do with it ;)
Last year we didn't get to enjoy our honeysuckle bush because of a drought. I really missed the sweet scented air mixed in with the cool of night! It warmed my heart to see my children happy and inspired by this sweet vine that I use to be so fond of when I was a little girl. I remember sitting in the front seat of my mom's car with the windows down as she drove us home on late spring nights. The cool air was thick with this sugary perfume. I'd let my hand ride the wind up and down and my heart felt safe and full of peace as a breathed in its sweet contentment! Can you do that I wonder? Breathe in a feeling? This is the only way I can describe how I felt. I do know that moments like these make me thankful to be alive :)
~ Valaine
I've got seeds on the brain because of the Illustration Friday topic. I'm not sure if I'll get finished with my ideas this week.
Talking about seeds, I planted peas and they are here!
I've never seen peas in a pod before :) they are very cool. Tylor, Samantha and I each tasted a pea, it was like
mmm, yuck, mmm, yuck, yuck! Samantha spit hers out. But they make yummy pictures.
Tomorrow the kittens will be one week old!
~ Valaine
Yesterday I had a pretty crumby day emotionally. I stayed off by myself a good part of the day trying to work myself out of my funk I was in. Mostly about how I let people treat me, relationships and not producing any art that I'd like to. I read a couple of blogs that always inspires me like Susi Blu and Christine Kane. Susie Blu wrote about working faster than the negative words come so that you can't hear them anymore. I like that concept. Christine Kane wrote about the law of attraction vs being a super hero. She wrote: "Now, I’m a big fan of clear communication, correcting mistakes, and apologizing in situations when you’ve messed up... but sometimes the best answer is to take off the orange cape and mask and simply let go. It’s oh-so tempting to think that because you’re a “conscious” person, or because you understand Law of Attraction, that you now have to slog through every negative situation in your life in order to figure out how you “attracted it” and how you might “heal from it.”We’re certain that we could transform any situation if we could only use our powers of thought in the perfect and right ways. Sometimes, however, this isn’t the best choice. Often, it makes us stay in bad relationships, draining friendships, and hurtful jobs to prove that we are able to leap tall negativity in a single bound. It will benefit you, your dog, your children, your friends and the entire planet if you get over this as quickly as possible." I know that I can control the way that I think but sometimes it is really hard and I feel too weak to overcome negative thoughts. Sometimes I just have to let things go.
The trees in the storm don't try to stand up straight and tall and erect. They allow themselves to bend and be blown with the wind. They understand the power of letting go. Those trees and those branches that try too hard to stand up strong and straight are the ones that break. It's a slow work in progress I know. It takes time to completely let things go. We seem to hold on to things because this is what is familiar to us, even if those things hinder and hurts us. It takes courage to change. I was finally able to snap out of it last night. Thoughts fizzled away while I watched a really good movie with Jay called The Illusionist. Then we watched half of The Golden Compass with Tylor and Samantha. I love movies that enlighten my creative spirit and help me escape for a while :) Today we slept in really late because we all went to bed at 2 in the morning! After I finish with this post I'm going to go spend some time with my family :) and finish watching The Golden Compass. I have an idea for a painting. I want to set up a still life for a seed packet or packets, some garden gloves and a small shovel or something like that. I want it to be rich in earth colors. I'll paint it on a 4x4 canvas that I have hidden in my closet. Now what seed packet should I choose? I need to go pull out all my packets and decide :) I love this song right now.
Let go. Why do you cling to pain?
There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday.
It is not yours to judge.
Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?
Beyond Boundaries
~ Valaine
Sometimes ~ Valaine
(1) When I was little I read a story about a girl who had a special wooden box. She hid her box under her bed and inside she kept her special treasures which were a feather, a rock and a blue robin's egg. I was enchanted by that wondrous color of blue and I often went on treasure (egg) hunts to see if I could find my own blue egg. Soon I found one and discovered that it was broken. It looked as though someone had thrown it against the metal fence because I could see yoke was splattered. I imagined some cruel boy who had found it before me and out of pure meanness wanted to destroy it. I was so disappointed! I left it there in the tall grass undisturbed. Several times I came across these tiny broken eggs and gave up on finding one whole. As I got older I no longer thought that mean boys were finding them and smashing them but that it was better for them to be empty because that meant that a baby bird had hatched in its nest somewhere. I eventually stopped searching for a perfect blue egg to keep for myself (although I would still see broken ones periodically and it would always make me smile to remember my younger self). The other day my daughter came across a blue egg with the top missing. She was thrilled. That moment took me back to when I was a little girl. I felt so connected to my daughter at that moment. I quickly went over to her as she bent down to admire her new found treasure. I picked it up with a stick and after gently washing it I put it in a tiny jar for her :)
(2) It is very rare that I don't have my camera with me. I try my best to take pictures of my children when they don't know that I am (which is very hard to do now that they are getting older). I love capturing them when they are playing, thinking, laughing - wishing :)
I also love taking pictures of my garden.
(3) I started playing the guitar two months after my 29th birthday. I decided I was going to learn before I turned 30. I try to play every day or every other day. It took me a while to get my fingers use to it, but now I can play for about 2 hours straight - I'm very proud of that. I taught Jay (my husband) what I learned and now he plays too! He is really good at it. Some of my favorite songs that I love to play are - Easier To Lie by AquaLung, Trouble by Coldplay, Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley, Grace Like Rain by Todd Agnew.
(4) I stopped drinking coffee about two months ago. I think it was one of the causes of me having palpitations and feeling sluggish all the time. Also it was staining my teeth. Now I feel better, I have more energy, and my teeth are whiter :) (5) I have one sibling, a younger brother we are 20 months apart. He has been playing the guitar since he was 14, and was once in a band with his friends. They were pretty good too - sort of a mixture between Jeff Buckley and Creed.
(7) When I was a freshman in high school I loved to dance so I joined the dance/drill team. We did dance routines during the pep rallies and football games. When I was 15 I wanted to be one of Janet Jackson's dancers and decided that I was going to find out all that I needed to know to be one once I graduated.
Okay, I tag:
This past Tuesday my cat had her kittens! It was the first time I had experienced a cat giving birth. It was very exciting and very stressful at the same time. She started labor at about 6:00 pm and had her last one at almost midnight. We are all very happy with our extended family :) Of course we won't be able to keep all of them. I'm sure it will be very hard to let them go. Sophie was so sweet and loving to me, and such a wonderful mommy. She let me help her when she needed help and we didn't lose any kittens. She is so gentle with them - I'm so proud of her :)
~ Valaine
|
I was tagged by 
(6) I enjoy making my own journals. For some reason I don't like
to use store bought ones. I have torn several books apart to see
how they were created. When I was nine I saw how books were made
on Reading Rainbow and made my own using wrapping paper, my dad's yellow notepad and some staples. Below is a picture
of my new journal :)
