Snow and more snow

Just a quick to from the land of white. I made a fast drive over to Spokane this week to check on Anita. She came down with a bad case of the Shingles (adult stage chicken pox) and reacted badly to the pain medication. She is on track now. I left her to head to the library (here now) and she was thinking of cloroxing the bathroom! We awoke this morning to 4 inches of snow on the ground!!! So much fun for starting the April gardening. I am sorry I didn't remember my camera for a picture of Anita in her yellow robe (the same one Dad use to wear). We are all thinking - "Maybe THAT would be a good Christmas gift"but you know she won't wear a NEW robe. So, all is well and I will head back to Kingston by Saturday to see if there is any chance to garden but am doubtful. Be well and be happy. Today is worth a smile!

Love,
Mamallama

Do you speak Bunny?

I am home from 10 days gallivanting around the East Coast and having nothing but fun. Note that I forgot to use my blog to share my travel adventures in real time. Not to worry! I intend to catch up with remembering and sharing as the weeks of April unfold...I hope into sunshine.

This is who I found waiting at home, with a little brother or sister. Momma Pearl had 8 babies but only 2 made it and since they are now 4 weeks old I am announcing them into the world. Names are not yet chosen so I am open to suggestions. Both bunnies are brown and gray in color with their short little faces and baby ears. They look pretty cute and are very soft.

Aside from the new babies, little has changed on Tulin Road in the last 10 days. There are a few more flowers blooming. Daffodils and forsythia are hopeful signs of coming sunshine. Pink rhododendrons and purple crocus show that we are headed in the right direction. I threw some spinach and arugula seeds in before I left and they seems to have come up. I would say about two thirds of the starts made it through my absence so only a few to restart, which is more than I could have hoped for. And there is my reminder to us all for this Spring- take a chance and expect the best.

It is obvious that this Spring and this year hold for us all more than the usual number of opportunities for decision and direction. Remembering the half full/ half empty epitaph, we are challenged to see the fullness of our lives and opportunities. There is no more reality in the half empty glass, just the decision to expect the worst and inevitably help it to happen.

The challenge that pays off in better returns is seeing the fullness of each challenge. Acknowledge and celebrate your successes big and small. Where frustration lurks, see the opportunities for new learning and new direction. See the gifts and the special qualities in those that share your work (then whack them upside their head).

Life is note easy and won't be no matter what you do, right or wrong. Don't make it harder by seeing problems and unhappiness in the present or the future. Expect success and see it even when things aren't perfect. Small successes are the best way to accomplish big rewards. It is an old story not needing to be belabored but still the best story. Believe in tomorrow and in today's opportunities to make it greater. When you trip, stand up and start skipping. You will be part of the many successes of this year- personal and professional. Know it now and make your days happier. Look forward to the adventure even when you know there will be trade offs and hard work. It all makes life the best show in town.

Brooklyn Style

Don't get me wrong, Fashion Weeks (now thankfully over) are great, but this look is divine---in more ways than one!

attitude Attitude ATTITUDE

Attitude
(a haiku)

ASH
Norma Jean - Elle Wood
Kyrsa - Erin - Susan

In Like a Lion...

March has been true to it's nature. The lion roared March in with rain and wind in the Northwest and with freezing snow storms on the East coast. But it is March and not January. For the coming month winter will sprint into life, only to be chased away after a day by the warm rains of Spring. We might as well enjoy it all...a lion is just as remarkable and wonderful as a lamb.

Along with enjoying the last drama of winter, we are challenged to spend time and energy exploring and enjoying life. The winter wears us down into the doldrums. Now it is time to realize that life is here for us to enjoy, not to bemoan. Make fun a priority today. Tomorrow is no different than yesterday, but today we can make a difference. Take excursions, have a glass of wine out on the town, invite friends over to share a meal or cuddle while you watch a movie at home. Decide that now is the rest of your life and make the time to enjoy it. Don't wait any longer and smile when you can't make things change as quickly as you wish.

Today Anita and I walked the beach at Point No Point, enjoying the sun that stayed longer than expected between rain showers. It was beautiful to see the blue water and hear the crashing waves from the barges zooming past. I am certainly glad we did not wait for a better time- it was a great touch of Spring unexpected in an otherwise wintery day.

Make time to create fun moments and memories. You won't have any better time than today.
Happy times marching with the lions and the lambs.
Love you,
Mamallama

Pancake Tuesday

Mardis Gras, or as we all know it "Pancake Tuesday" is this week. The crocuses are up and uncovered in the front garden and the seedlings are started in the sun room. Spring IS just around the corner! We are almost there and already there is too much to do to be ready. Breath everyone breath... and take a walk with a smile on you face. Make yourself realize that life will go on without you running at break neck speed. You can't control much so enjoy some moments before they are lost to you. I am proud of all your hard work so be kind to yourself. Don't give up fun for Lent.

Love you.

Have you had your Spring haircut?

Just a little visual from Angora Acre. This weekend we had beautiful blue skies that pretended to be Spring so Mama Mary had her hair cut. Not a bad job for a nonprofessional using the kitchen shears! I am heading off to the library this morning but leave you all with a wish for smiles on your faces. Take time to look for the little crocuses popping up around you with the promise that soon there will be flowers on the trees.

Love,
Mama Llama

Happy February Days?

What a great Monday morning it is when I hear from the hearts and minds of those I love most. After beginning the winter clean up in the garden last week, I woke to snow on the ground this morning. Where do I live? But still, we ARE to February already.

I am reminded as to why Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras are set in February.This time of the year we all need reminders to love and to laugh. After the gray and cold of December and January, crankiness sets in to our bones. As a stretching exercise to keep the bones from getting stuck in cranky, keep "doing" that art. I am also placing a challenge to be taken up by each and everyone of us. I challenge us all to:
1. Start each day naming 5 things we are happy to have in our lives
2. Say "I love you" at least once a day
3. Say "thank you" at least once at home and once out in the world of STRANGERS
4. Be kind rather than right and then smile when it works out better!

That it the challenge and the end of my sermon. I had a busy weekend with tree spraying, a wonderful symphony evening and a day of fiber show sales in Seattle. The show was great fun, since I made everyone come to visit me. Alex, Sofia, Sam, Marketta and Jeff even stopped by to say hello. I met great women artist and received inspirations from them. I was inspired to new projects and reminded that I really do not enjoy selling. One thing that always makes me happy is the opportunity to create what I want to create without thinking about marketplace issues, though I do enjoy chatting with strangers!

As February rushes through us, combining frigid days with brief promises of sun, seeing the beauty of it all is our salvation: little gems of discover around us.The globes floating in the trees are a reminder that we are all together in the world- Maybe those grocery bag balloons are really alien parachutes-they do seem to land everywhere from Kingston to the "stans". Take time to play, eat chocolate as a health food and look for more art and surprises in the "garbage" of February.

Love,
mama llama

Collision

A weekend break from the cold. 60 degree Saturday drove the last ice off the sidewalk. But wind is bringing a chill back already and we are collectively reminding ourselves that this happens every year - the burst of spring to let us know there's light at the end of the tunnel, but snow and slush will force the wipers and blinders back on before we really reach it.

Coco also makes me wonder what cares one loses or gains when he or she decides not to BE something, but to DO something.

Here's accidental art of the day. In the evening, when the light is rich, abandoned grocery bags, picked up by winds and caught by sharp branches without their green summer mitts, glow like that plug-in globe I hauled out of the dump when I was ten. I loved that globe. Ditto these treed plastic bags (which are SO depressing on grayer days of winter, when they look like old dead snow without the strength to stay upright).

Strange quote encountered this week. From the Mary Oliver book from Lynne and Linda:
I... heard, in that lonely place,
two voices coming down the hill,
and I was thrilled
to be granted this secret,
that the coyotes, walking together
can talk together,
for I thought, what else could it be?
And even though what emerged
were two young women, two-legged for sure
and not at all aware of me,
...and though I knew
I had believed something probably not true,
yet it was wonderful
to have believed it.
And it has stayed with me
as a present once given is forever given...

My World

"How many cares one loses when one decides not to
be something but to be someone."
— Coco Chanel

While doing research the other day, I came across this quote by the ever sage, if scary, Coco Chanel. This, along with a snapshot of my everyday view, provide a wee insight to my February world. I wish all of you were part of it everyday. Happy Friday!

Love,
Erin