Happy Easter

Hyacinths at signpost.

If the kids were here, we would have had an Easter Egg Hunt. The last one was when our son was in 10th or 11th grade. He was new in school and I'm not sure his friends had ever met anyone as nutty as his mom -- planning an egg hunt for 16 year olds! We all had a blast.

Daffodils in the front garden.

As it was, my husband and I spent today like most other Sundays: church, lunch out, browsing at our fav bookstore (he gets coffee, I read magazines) and a leisurely drive home on the scenic route.

Daffodils ready for town festival later this month.

When we returned home one of B's friends had sent him a link to Peeps dioramas. Ya gotta check it out. We were in hysterics. Having read a lot of books to my kids, I was delighted to see their favorites featured: "Where The Wild Peeps Are" And "Goodnight Peep." We laughed and laughed and I had to share it. What will you make with Peeps next year?

Enjoy!!!

Big Creativity, Small Space

My wedding shoe, embellished!

My husband said the nicest thing to me the other day.

We . . . no let's be honest . . . I was talking about my studio and wondering why I found it so difficult to create in. It's small. It's small and cluttered and did I mention small? There is just one work table/desk and I have not disciplined myself to clean it off at the end of the day, so it is also always cluttered. I was worried it was me or artist's block or something.

What my husband essentially said was that my creative ideas are too big and expansive for the space I have carved out of the barn/antique shop. I thought that was an awfully sweet thing to say. And it was a new idea to me.

He then suggested I might consider using the whole 600 sq ft of my shop as a studio and even then it might not be enough space. I don't think I need 600 sq ft, and I really don't want to give up the shop, but he made me think about the space in new ways. It often happens when I bounce things off him, he provided a perspective that had not occurred to me.

Sometimes I don't think he pays any attention to what I am doing. This doesn't bother me at all. I was raised with the theory of "loving neglect," where my brother, sister and I were left alone to do our own thing, in a very loving way.

Still it was really nice to have him point out that I have big creative ideas. It made me feel good & gotten and it also made me stop wondering why the studio wasn't working.

I've been comparing myself to others -- if an amazing artist can house her studio in her dishwasher, why wasn't 90 sq ft large enough for me? And the answer is, everyone is different and comparisons only drive a person nuts.

The way the shop is situated, particularly entrances, front & back, windows, load-bearing posts, and the zigs & zags of an old structure, it's a challenge to carve out a single large space. But I was able to push the "walls" (bookcases) out 2 feet.

I added another bookcase around the work table to hold supplies.

I like having my supplies close and I like looking at inspirational things.

I cleared the table off just for this photo.

I also discovered that leaving a space between the table and the bookcases makes the table seem more workman like. Before I had a row of pens, buttons, pretty things at the edge of the table. Now they are on a bookshelf, so they don't take up any room I could use for making art.

New step -- a place to put stuff coming in or going out.

Enough, already!

OK, Enough!

I have sat on my butt long enough. I've re-read Harry Potter (yes all 7 books), discovered Twilight (Showtime on demand preview), caught-up on TV episodes from the sublime, Glee, to the ridiculous, Fringe (I love them both!) and it's time to move back into the world of living people.

I don't even care anymore what put me into the tailspin. I can't credit SPRING, my favorite season, for pulling me out, as we're getting torrential rains and flooding here in New England and I'm not sure anyone has seen the sun for weeks! I wish I could credit going out to lunch at a fav restaurant, but I had 3 wisdom teeth removed yesterday and I'm really sorry to say my diet for the next week is gonna be cottage cheese, applesauce and Campbell's tomato soup. Who knew how much one could miss chewing!?!

I'm giving myself one more day to recuperate and then it's just time to get up off the couch, find the digital camera, take some photos and post something pretty and uplifting and fun.

Thanks to everyone who's checked in. You are truly appreciated!

Pink Birthday Reminiscences

Happy Pink Saturday!

Happy Birthday Friday!

I have always loved my birthday!

It's just far enough away from Christmas to feel special. I'm close to my dad and we celebrated in January. My brother & sister's birthdays are snuggled up against 4th of July, so the year was divided in half in the nicest way.

I grew up in Southern California so it was never a particularly cold day. It snowed on my 11th birthday! Not much, 1/2 an inch of so . . . I was in awe that this amazing thing happened on my birthday. It hadn't snowed in LA for 10 years! I planned to wear my party shoes to school and I didn't let a bit of snow dissuade me! I just had to be really careful on the playground not to slip and fall!

And as beautiful as the snow was, I remember being out in the front yard with my dad as he worried about the snow/frost killing the lawn. Like the rest of our neighbors we had dichondra, which is not a grass at all. Very pretty, but oh so delicate. Walking on it while it was frosty was sure to leave a tell-tale footprint. Y'know I still think anything but dichondra isn't really a lawn!

Irresistable pink cake with yellow roses.

Freshman year in college a dozen yellow roses were delivered to my dorm room. I may have been a hippie at a hippie college, but I was thrilled at this gift from my Nana. When Nana found out they were sent early she must have given them what-for cuz on the day of my birthday another dozen yellow roses were delivered to my dorm room! I wandered around handing out yellow roses all day!

Today is Suzanne & Nina's birthday. Suzanne I met the first day of college freshman year. Nina I met when we were in 3rd grade and moved in across the street from each other. I love almost-sharing my birthday with them.

This has been a fun week. I've eaten lunch out every day and not felt guilty. I talked to my mom and liked it! I talked to my best friend Kath -- every time I do it's so clear why we've been friends since high school! I started re-reading Eat, Pray, Love and it's just as good the second time! I discovered an L.L.Bean outlet store and bought a men's field coat and called my mom again to tell her about the gift she bought me!

Next week I may have to get serious. But this week was all about celebrating!

A Holiday from "shoulds"

I am going to be taking a holiday from blogging in January.

I know I have that button, "blogging without obligation," but really, it doesn't work! I still feel like I ought to blog more regularly.

A therapist I know has a business card with all the usual stuff on the front and on the back is this line
Don't Should On Me!

I'm taking blogging out of the should category. Recently I've felt I wasn't always me when I've posted and I'd like this space to be both pretty and real.


Usually I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but this year, while soaking up the sun in the desert, I thought I would get more organized, get rid of the excess stuff I have collected over the years,** blog more, stop leaving my studio and shop in such a mess, make more art. You know the list!


What seems do-able sitting on a bench in the sun doesn't always seem so easy under grey skies and with all the stuff at home that yells at me: 1000's of inches of wallpaper to strip, boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff to sort thru, laundry, papers to file.**

Something had to go. As much as I love blogging, I realized I needed to revamp 3 really important areas of my life, and the blog was one of them. The other two are getting the shop ready to re-open in March, and designing a studio I can really create in!

So I'm taking my creative life on as a full-time job, 9-5. I have no idea if I can do this. I would much rather sit down and read a book than do anything else. Shopping & going out for lunch are easy! Getting into the shop/studio is tough. Staying there all day is almost impossible. But if I don't do it now, I'll never do it. I have so many beautiful ideas. I know I have taste. It's the Nike slogan
Just do it!

Feel free to leave comments or send emails. I will respond to all of them. I'll also let you know when I'm back.

~Marilee


**While on our trip both my kids asked if I had seen the TV show Hoarders. My daughter was glad to discover hoarding is a "thing;" that other people have trouble with holding on to things. The kids said they didn't think I was that far gone, but perhaps I ought to watch it as a cautionary tale. They're right. I'm not a hoarder, but I do have too much stuff and it's tough to get rid of it.

Pink Saturday

If I was at home, I would think of sharing photos of pink lustre tea cups or pretty pink linens or the pink pointsettia I purchased for the shop.

But I am in the desert and discovered there are some beautiful pinks amongst the succulents!

A Barrel Cactus

Different Barrel Cacti


Prickly Pear
genus Opuntia
(genus info supplied by my environmentalist son)


Prickly Pear
with insect residue.
(I tried to remove it to make a prettier picture, but well, that seemed a little to0 punctilious, even for me!)


Being together with our kids is such a joy. We all went to The Living Desert the day before Christmas. The guys went hiking, the women looked at the animals (cats were the favs). When my daughter got tired of it all and wanted to read Harry Potter, I wandered off into the gardens, happily taking pictures and enjoying the quiet of being by myself.

Happy Boxing Day!
Hope your Christmas was full of love, joy, family and good things.

and now, since we are at a desert resort, we're all going swimming!

Out and Back Again

My dear friend Lori wrote and asked if all was well. After sending her a long note I thought I ought to post something here.

I've just been working out some personal issues.
I'm fine and all is well with my family!

We are off to the desert for Christmas.

My son's internship is out near Death Valley and since he wasn't coming home, we decided to go out and hang with him.

I promise to share all my fun things of Silver Bella and the antiquing trip home, and our holiday in sun, sand and cactus after the new year.

ps these photos were taken by my son. I think they are amazing!
correction, the desert photos were taken by my son.