Postcrossing from Georgia

Today I received this very cute postcard form JonneBunny in Georgia!

 If interested in sending and receiving postcards go to

http://www.postcrossing.com/

this is fun!

On Children by Kahlil Gibran

My friend..well my daughter's friend Shelley...sent this to me after a friend of hers sent it to her after Shelley posted my  Simone de Beauvoir quote on facebook...whew...many connections there...and Shelley is definitely my friend too!  Thanks Shelley!

my children

Your Children are not Your Children

They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

© Kahlil Gibran, 1923, 1973.

Found in Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

  

Chipotle-Rubbed Salmon Tacos

Today I had an urge to cook...this has not been happening for me me in quite a while, love eating but only love cooking when I am in the mood. This recipe is from the March issue of Food and Drink...fun to make and delicious! The top pic is the chipotle, orange zest rub, then next the salmon being seared and  finally the finished dish. Now... it is a bit of a trick to prep the food, sip some wine, serve it,  photograph it and eat it while it is still hot!

Insomnia

Last night when I should have been sleeping...after reading for 2 hours...trying to fall asleep for 1 whole hour...I gave up and just played with my camera...I woke at 10:00 am...my crazy internal clock!

postcrossing from China

Today I received this postcard from China, not only is the card beautiful but the stamps are as well...Thanks Cheung

Thought du Jour

Today while sitting in Balzac's enjoying a pot of ginger tea I came across this quote in the Globe

"It's frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself"

                          -Simone de Beauvoir

As I was walking home in the fabulous sunshine I kept thinking about the possible implications...

my birthday gift

Today I received my birthday gift...a day late...the fault of Canada Post not Tom...a fabulous new lens for my camera! I am so happy! A new toy...this should allow me to actually get some of the photos I have been wanted to capture. Tonight I was just playing, came across this wreath still in my loft waiting to be packed away, perfect...it gave me a chance to work with depth of field and a little glitter!

paper love

One of my favourite things is paper...of all kinds but especially these wonderful papers from The Paper Place in Toronto on Queen St W. Whenever I travel by train and have my 2 hour stop in Toronto I head immediately to this perfect shop and stock up on whatever catches my eye on that day. Above are samples of what I purchased yesterday as I travelled back to Stratford from a visit to my parents north of Port Hope.  I will use these in card making, collages, gift wraping or just gazing at and admiring their beauty.

Postcrossing

Today I received this lovely card from Yulia in Odessa Ukraine! Lucky me...this card is not only a beautiful image, the stamps are also gorgeous along with the very thoughtful greeting...so much went into the choosing...thank you Yulia!

http://www.postcrossing.com/

 

New York Daily Photo: Sieve of Darwin

New York Daily Photo: Sieve of Darwin


a blog I follow and love...oh the romance of NYC

Sunday

Sunday was such a beautiful day here in Southwestern Ontario, about 8 degrees and sunshine! Tom, Aaron and I visited The Clay and Glass Museum in Waterloo, something I have been planning to do for a long time! Along with enjoying the lovely space I fell in love with the sculptures... Broken... But Still Standing by Louise Pentz. A perfect tribute to International Womens Day, these works in clay were so hautingly beautiful. Unfortunately my lighting was a bit off for the photos I took inside but should give and idea of what was happening at the museum.

http://www.canadianclayandglassmuseum.ca/

enroute to Washington State

This beautiful card is on its way to a lady who loves reading, drawing, music and snowflakes! I chose this card because of the resemblance to snowflakes although it is actually titled Fairy Tales by Paul Klee. The original is watercolour and gouache on paper...I just love it!

Play Day

There are probably a million things I should be doing but instead...just playing...baked some muffins....listened to Amos Lee...read the paper...took pics around the house.

The first pic is my lunch...organic free range soft boiled egg with fresh ground pepper and Maldon Sea Salt, along with toasted 7 grain bread from the Grainharvest Breadhouse in Waterloo...lucky for us The Gentle Rain here in Straford carries it!

The next pic is of the most beautiful flowers...a gift from the family of a very special girl that I have worked with for over 2 years. My work is ending because of the family moving away, tomorrow will be my last day with my beautiful friend.

The last pic is paper...one of my passions...hanging in my loft on a red bamboo ladder and that is exactly what I think ladders are for!

Enroute to Russia

This postcard is on it's way to St. Petersburg, Russia! This will be card #4 that I have sent, 1 to the Netherlands, 1 to Finland and 1 to Virginia! So much fun to read a little about the recpient and then hunt for the perfect card for that person! The above is going to a prof of engineering who likes mysterious and unusual cards...hope she wioll like this one.

Gods in the Mail

Today I received my first postcard through postcrossing. It is from Alexoundza in Greece!!! I love it..it is just so perfect. It reperesents the three ancient gods Afrodite, Pan and Eros. Of course Eros is the god of love, Afrodite  the goddess of love and Pan the god of nature...how perfect is that!

Balance Among the Chaos

Balance Among the Chaos
Originally uploaded by hyacinth50

This is a watercolour painting I did a few years ago, from a photograph that I took in the Shakespeare garden in Stratford. I have done very little painting recently and need/want to start something new. I am making myself a promise that I will have one on the go within the next couple of weeks!

Sunday Afternoon

While out for a walk this afternoon I came across this amazing frost and moisture in a window at the Post Office...such a beautiful day for February, sun shining, 1 degree, losts of people on the streets!

I have included a couple of pics of Tom in his new hat purchased yesterday at the antique market...a place we never go but ended up there for a few minutes, Tom the mega shopper picked up the hat...it is called the Buffalonian made for the Kleinhans Co of Buffalo. We think it was made in the 40's and is in perfect condition...as Tom say "no bullet holes " ...he even spent a few minutes this morning steaming and shaping it.

Sometimes A Girl Just Has to Shop

Yesterday I headed downtown Stratford to pick up a card and ended up browsing and actually loving everthing I looked at! A few of these items are for me and a few are to be given away. The orange item is one of those long flowing vests...I never wear this colour, black is my usual but I am thinking I need a little colour...hope I can pull this off. Underneath is a chocolate 3/4 sleeve pima cotton Tshirt I picked up half price...great find. In the same shop on impulse I picked up the very pretty headband, now this is not an item I would usually buy but I fell in love with it and it is hand made in Nova Scotia! Bonus!!!  The buttons I just could not resist...mostly to give. The Big Bear Hug is a book for a very special girl who I will be saying a goodbye to soon...hugs are one of her favourite things next to chocolate.  There is a roll of Tibetan prayer flags which I will be giving away. The Lisa See novel Shanghai Girls is for me...my reward in between volumes of Proust. At the  moment I am on page 376 of Swann's Way.

Often when I shop with a purpose I find nothing but sometimes it all just works!

a meditation

What a great day yesterday with our son Aaron visiting. Spent a few hours just relaxing, snacking and watching some Olympics.

  Aaron and I then set out for a walk along the river in the old grove here in Stratford , if you go to the right you end up in the cemetary. It was the perfect day for a walk like that. The day was cool and gray, the crows joined us with lots of chatter. Aaron mentioned that Grampa (my Dad) has some relatives buried in this cemetary and asked if I had ever found any of the graves. No sooner had he mentioned it I looked up and saw one with the name Nat Fowler, who I was sure was a relative, took a few pics, went to Balzac's one of Stratford's great coffee places.

In the evening we watched a Japanese film called Departures. What a beautiful movie. This is a must see, beautiful pace, filming and story, full of grace, respect and honour. This film won an Academy Award for best foreign language film and also 10 Japan Academy Award prizes. Much of this film is about preparing the deceased for burial and entrance into the next life. Thanks to my dear friend Lori who is the most knowledgable peson I know with regard to film among other things...she passed the DVD to us.

As I was heading up to bed after the movie Aaron asked if I had had a nice day. I assured him that I had...he then said "It has been a meditation on death". I had not thought of it in that way but it certainly was with our walk in the cemetary, finding relatives then watching this magnificent film!

I must mention that chef Tom cooked up a great pasta dinner!

www.departures-themovie.com/

Desire

I absolutely love these boots, have been lusting after them for a few years but...I am not getting any younger and I keep thinking I am too old for these, although once I am even older and eccentric perhaps I could  pull it off. I remember my daughter wearing Docs as a teenager. I thought they were pretty cool but only for her generation. Strange how now I would LOVE a pair. I would probably go for the shorter length because...can you imagine trying to lace into the tall ones even though they would go great with leggings and a long sweater.

A girl can dream about any boot she wishes as she slips into her comfy Clarkes!

Postcrossing

My nephew Jesse emailed me yesterday to tell about a site he had just discovered, his words were "this is an Aunt Karen thing".  He is right. I have joined postcrossing.

 What you do is register and then you will be given a name and address to send a postcard to. In return your name and address will be given so someone somewhere who will send a post card to you. I know I really don't need to be adding this to my to do list but I just cannot resist.

 My first post card is going to Suzannaa in the Netherlands. On her profile she mentioned loving art,books etc, so today I went in search of a great postcard to send to her.; I ended up buying two, one is a Georgia O'Keeffe and the other is called Joy with a quote by Shakespeare "I wish you all the joy that you can wish". I have decided to send the Joy to Suzannaa because we can all use a little joy in our lives.


http://www.postcrossing.com/

On Time

Often I feel that I just do not have enough time...time to do all the things I would like to do...that includes time to just be.

Last night I was reading from a book I own called

The Creative License by Danny Gregory

I flipped to a page on clearing your mind. He talks of the modern stuff that clutters our minds such as billions of web pages, thousands of new products, 500 cable channels, hundreds of new movies each year, thousands of DVD's, cell phones, emails, news, marketing and useless mind candy. He suggests disengaging from all of the media that there is calling it an:

electron fast

This includes:

No TV (I do not do this anyway although it is on my to do list)
Stay off the internet (oops, here I am)
Ignore email
Do not read the paper, magazines or books (except his)


He goes on to suggest that this will free up a great deal of time to become more aware of what surrounds you and just " be" and of course this will lead to creativity.

I love this but not sure I can fully follow his advise. I will try to reduce time spent on the above but not sure I can give them up totally although I like the idea and would like to be more present and creative.

A quote he used:

"If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, the eternal life belongs to those who live in the present"

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Such a beautiful quote and the fact that my son Aaron is studying Wittgenstein makes it even more special to me.

This is Fashion!

I cannot help but spend too much time exploring the photo site called Flickr. I have a link to my flickr photos in the sidebar, this will take you to the Flickr site.  Today I came across some amazing pics from archives in The Hague over the last 100 years. This one made me sigh...so beautiful!

A Birthday

Gabrielle

yummy cakes

Madeline

Yesterday was Tom's birthday so we picked up Aaron in Waterloo and headed into Toronto to spend some time with Jenny and family. What a great family day, hanging out at the Strakers...Jenny, Steve, 4 kids a dog and a cat! Well actually the oldest grandaughter Melaina was off to work, she was missed. Gabrielle grandaughter number 2 was with us for the day but then off to a movie with her BF, the rest of us headed out to dinner at The Green Eggplant in the beach. Lovely food, great bustling atmosphere then back to Jenny's for coffee and yummy cake. As we were getting ready to head back to Stratford...Aaron commented that he really didn't want to leave...he said "there is so much life in this house".  Oh how true...what is better than a happy family!

Unfortunately I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked but will next time.

Of note the dog Holden  says Yumm Yumm for his treats, the cat Pink, who is actually black High Fives for his treats. Now I know what Jenny does with her spare time!

another journal page

I often have a problem falling asleep and when I do I tend read but there are times when I just love to cut and paste. I love all things paper, found objects, stamps, etc...I also keep 2 journals going at all times one is all text the other as above is anything goes!

journal page

my wish list ... oh I know dream on...but look at that hair!!!! I love simple tailored cotton pj's,  I am constantly in search of the perfect white cotton shirt and jeans that make me look....mmm 21 well how about 35..even that would be great or just the perfect fitting jean would do...all shallow I know but I am a girl!

on reading Proust

In Search of Lost Time

For Christmas I received the first 3 volumes of In Search Of Lost Time along with a readers guide...this from my son Aaron. I am not sure if he has great faith in me or thinks I need a challenge. So here I am on page 112 of Swann's Way and am starting to love it. Already I am making margin notes which I only occasionally do with a novel. Funny things are happening with this book. While I was reading a few days ago I picked up another book I own called defining moments in Books to see what may be mentioned on Proust. What I found was a key passage from Swann's Way "No sooner had the warm liquid and the crumbs with it, touched my palate"...etc. I then continued to read from Swann's way and 2 pages later came to the exact paragraph. Now in a book of 606 pages what are the chances of that!

Something else I found interesting was in a description of M. Legrandin  an engineeer who is also  a writer...this passage... He was one of that class of men who, apart from a scientific career in which they may well have proved brilliantly successful, have acquired an entirely diffenent kind of culture, literary or artistic, for which their professional specialisation has no use but by which their conversation profits. More lettered than many men of letters.....endowed of greater "facility" than many painters, they imagine that the life they are obliged to lead is not for which they are really fitted, and they bring to their regular occupations either an indifference tinged with fantasy, or a sustained and haughty application, scornful, bitter and conscientious.

That I found amazing in the sense that so many people throughout life are living a life that is not truly who they are...just a thought!

Well on with my mission....volume one of seven!

Our Christmas Project

 In the Doorway Between Day and Night

This year Tom and I decided to put together a book of his poetry and my photos to give as a gift to family and special friends. I must admit that Tom did most of the work. He used the Blurb website and spent many many hours on this project. All I did was take the pics. Together we tried to find some connection between the photos and poems, some obvious some not so much. We used the photo above as our cover pic.

In all it was our pleasure to give 13 books as gifts.

Follow the link blow to view the book.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1109607

playing with colour

I was wondering if my blog was too dark so started to play a little with the colour, this is brighter but not sure I like it..

The Nest

Our son Aaron has been with us for a month and today he has left to continue his path. He will only be about 40 minutes away which will be nice and a big change since he has lived away from us for about 10 years, spending time on both the east and west coasts as well as in Ottawa. Most recently he has lived in Victoria BC while attending U Vic. He has made the decision to transfer to Waterloo.

Yesterday we started helping him move some things into a little "nest" in Kitchener. Today he and his father have left Stratford to deposit him in this new place. My thoughts are mixed. It was fun having Aaron with us, but of course it threw off our routines completely but perhaps that is not a bad thing. In some ways it will be nice to have my space back. I will miss him though. It feels good to have him close. While at this space he has rented I was disturbed by how cold it was. Now it was the coldest day of winter so far, it took me about 8 hours to get the chill out of my bones. I have sent him off with an electric blanket if only to make myself feel better.

Once a mom always a mom...does not matter how old our chidren are...we continue to hold them close.

Good luck to my amazing son!

Happy New Year

Brought in New Years Day with Tom and Aaron and a walk in the snow here in Stratford. It is a perfect snowy day to start 2010. I love New Years Day! I love putting up my new calendars! There is a little sadness in putting Christmas away but kind of a cleansing as well...other than that will spend the day relaxing, reading...a few pages left in The Bishops Man, and watching movies and the snow falling gently outside my window.

Happy New Year!