SO LONG 2012

You say good bye

and I say hello

I don't know why you say good-bye

I say hello

I am finally getting my muster back...lots to share

one thing I want to say...I do a lot of blog reading late in the night from my Ipad which for some reason will not let me leave comments...but dear ones...I have  kept in close touch with you and look forward to things kind of getting back to normal in the next day or two...

who knows...

I might even take a bath!

IN GREAT SORROW AND HUMBLE GRATITUDE

PURA VIDA

pure life

I was in a wreck on Thursday that was not my fault and I totaled my car

We had our family Christmas this weekend and it was fun 

My brother is here to visit

My baby brother has a new girlfriend

Our new daughter Jena is having morning sickness

Coach Been's team lost

Grace went to California to the art gallery opening of David Caruso

we watched Betty

This morning as I held this precious life close to me and waited on her mom to come pick her up for school

I watched a couple on tv talk about what their precious baby wore to school Friday

including sparkly ugs...just like Betty has...a bouncy ponytail and a bright happy smile

and that when she found out she was gone 

she went home 

and crawled back into the bed that her 6 year old had just left

Pura Vida will pause to pray for this unspeakable loss

and to give thanks for the life and gifts 

that have not been

 taken 

from us

PARFUME FIDDLE

my hippie bff is such a cool grandmother

this summer she had a little yard sale for her 3 granddaughters and I happened upon them

This lovely little atomizer belonged to HER aunt

I snatched it up so fast and paid them extra!

and then I got a most clever idea~

for my dressing room table to be 

I am going to take photos of my small collection of

vintage perfume bottles

and I'm going to 

FIDDLE

them

on to a 12x12x2 wrapped canvas

my favorite is 

Oil Paint Style

You might like

Deep Sponge

Or Knife Impasto

Or Heavy Knife Impasto

Or Oil Paint Mild

I haven't decided yet...still playing around with the thought of it all

you know..backgrounds, placement, all different?  all the same?

which bottles?  all the same color?

and if you visit the site, you will find dozens of styles from sketch to sepia...tons to choose from

I think I could spend all day fiddlling this one little perfume bottle

and my next idea was to print it on some old paper and mat and frame it

for my hippy bff for Christmas and her vintage dressing table!

PEACE

I confess

I have not enjoyed a great deal of peace these past two years

I mean, really, how can one obtain peace when constantly surrounded by

destruction?

I only realize now that we are in the home stretch, how very hard it has been

(mentally) to take a perfectly good house and take it down to the bare bones

to build it back up again.  

It has gone against my nature

 the desire for 

peace

is instilled in us 

deeper than we can ever imagine

Peace is a beautiful ornament we wear

a pleasant garment we put on

an essence that exudes from within

As we remember this day 

December 7, 1941

and the overwhelming destruction

let us also remember in this Christmas season that 

peace

is a sister to 

hope

and to my precious daughter Grace,

I am so grateful that you teach me each day

EMBRACE THE GRACE

so elegantly

Peace creates grace and grace gives peace 

In memory of Roy Lynn Bulls...who left as a boy to fight for his country and made it home to be my dad

TABLE AT THE READY

Long Christmases ago, my dear mother purchased each child (5)

a 12 piece place setting and serving dishes of

Fitz and Floyd

St. NICHOLAS

I love to set my little breakfast table with them

so that they are at my fingertips whether I want a cup of cocoa

or a full blown dinner party

It makes for such a festive view when you step into our kitchen

and I just love how you can see all the way down the house out the window

and into the neighbor's yard!

and when you have little ones around

you need to have a few Santas too!

We found this one under the original stairs when we tore them out and moved them

I love his charming and nostalgic face

We found this treasure in the house too!

I love to mix the formal with the retro with the whimsy with the contemporary

and the soul with the spirit

Yesiree...we are pretty ready at 822

MANTEL 2012

On Barkley Street

we have owls

that nest in the tree down the street

Have you ever seen a baby owl in the nest?

Evidently 

Pier 1 has!

They have nailed it!

They are little tiny white balls of fluff with huge eyes

the mantel in the living room/music room

is a nature mantel

with pine cone garland

bark deer

wicker trees

and

owls in nests

(the nests are filled with shredded music from the piano teacher whose house I lived in years ago..I found the hymnals in her basement)

These little fluffs are our 3 daughters

these two strong bucks are our sons

(I have another one stashed for when we get another son)

And this...this poor lonely little ball of fur (Betty) 

will be lonely no more

because in a few short months 

(actually 9 or so )

well....let's just say...in our excitement we have added a teeny tiny stocking to the 

mantel

2012

YOUR FRONT DOOR

"THEY" say....paint your front door your favorite color...no matter what that color is!  The theory is that when you come home from a long day, the first thing you will see is something you're crazy about!  I like that thought!

Currently my front door is this...and I must say...it may not be my favorite color, but it's my all time favorite 

door that I have ever had.  

I will never be allowed to paint it, but if I could, I would paint it green!

This is my ex-front door and I am so glad our daughter lives here.

I painted it black, and then barn red and then this turquoise...letting all the old colors crackle and show through.

This is a group of photos of doors 

I am so intrigued with I love to photograph them

If they are not from vacation photos, they are from google

and who!  who?

can not love this precious little front door?

knock knock

who's there?

what color is YOUR door?

do you love it?

PASS ON THE GOOD STUFF

In a recent post my fun friend Linda Beam from Stager Linda posted 

A NEW SPIN ON CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

I thought it was so wonderful that I immediately copy/pasted in an email to my large and kookie family

Hubs when I was telling him what KB said:  You forgot to send it to me

Well indeed I did...when I email him...my own email comes up as a choice (since we have the same name :-) and I sent it to myself..sorry hon)

From KB: Ths is fab!!!  Going to do my part to make it go viral!  How do I do that?

From Robert: Well I helped that Gangnam guy's dance go viral. Until I showed him how to do the dance it was just a just a song!

From my mother: 
O.K., Gina:  I decided to start doing all of the numbers you listed for the "2012 Christmas Game".

 1.  I went to WalMart today and everyone I met down the aisles, I roared "Merry Christmas!" 

2.  I sent a Christmas ACEO to a friend from my ACEO group that I had not communicated with since 2008.  She answered by email with a WOW!!!

3.  I took a cup of coffee to Clay's Dumpster Girl Friend (who comes by with her pushcart and goes through our dumpster).  She looked at me and refused the coffee.

4.  I didn't have a $5.00 bill to leave in the store isle, so I just emptied my change purse (mostly pennies) for someone to discover.

5.  Then I went to the grocery store...but I didn't have any money to give to the bell ringer, so I just roared "Merry Christmas"  to him.

6.  I went to the fast food (Church's Chicken) to get some food coupons to give away; I forgot why I was there, so I just ordered chicken for me and Jet's supper.  Does Jet (my dog) count?

7.  I will do later (family gift exchange), I have to check out what I have left over from the garage sale Ross and I had.

8.  I climbed up in the attic and got down my "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" and made one ornament for it.  

As for me?  we don't have bell ringers but we do have others that would enjoy a cup of warmth; the kids down the street superglued 2 quarters to the sidewalk...I think I might go leave some change there;  and I think I'll dig out the Wishing Ball that I tucked away because we don't always have the same people in our family from year to year...and... I will look forward to the rest of the list!

Here is the game from Linda...Thanks Linda!

Christmas 2012 Game  

This is a year when so many have so little.  In an effort to focus on fun, frivolity, helping, sharing, caring and giving, let's share our wealth of spirit and generosity.

1.  From today through Christmas, greet a stranger with a roaring, "Merry Christmas!"
2.  Send a Christmas Card with a personal note to a distant relative, old friend, or business associate that you don't typically connect with during the holidays.
3.  Take a cup of coffee or hot chocolate to a bell ringer, construction worker, traffic cop, parking lot attendant, or human billboard.
4.  Make someones day!  Leave a $5 bill or dispense five $1 bills on a sidewalk, park, parking lot, store aisle or playground for someone to discover.
5.  Contribute to an organization, individual, or family and share the reason and what it means to you.
6.  Be a not-so-secret-Santa!  Buy a $5 book of fast food coupons and enclose it in a Christmas Card.  Present the card to a grocery clerk, receptionist, vet tech, or bank teller, etc.
7.  For our family gift exchange, find a book, CD, DVD, picture, poem, quote you already own and cherish.  Wrap it with a note to explain the meaning behind it.
8.  Also for our family gift exchange, re-gift something foolish or of no use to you. Present it creatively in anything but store bought gift wrap. 
9.  Make an ornament for our family tree. Be original and creative!
10. Bring a prop or costume to wear for our family Christmas Holiday photo.

UNDER OUR TREES

I'm not a scrooge by any stretch of the imagination

in fact, you won't find a person more into the season

whatever that season may be!

And I consider myself very lucky to be mother to children who share the same holiday spirit

we don't do black Friday, or Cyber Monday or shop till you drop Christmas

our holidays are simple and without any kind of flair except

lots of cooking, wining, decorating and hanging out

and so....I do love to decorate 

under my trees you won't find presents

but you will find the greatest gift

The garden tree

now located in the atrium

features lots and lots of nature ornaments

Jesus

Others

You

brings the greatest feeling of 

beneath it is this nostalgic manger scene from years and years gone by

In the music room you will find a heavily flocked tree also with nature ornaments

Me and Pops have owls on our shoulders...fun!

My mother made this bejeweled nativity in the late 1960's

Baby Jesus has gone missing...so I just place a tiny gift here

I think it's the perfect answer, don't you?

In the entry are a grouping of 3 trees that have mirrors, tree ornaments, peacocks, fancy chairs

and gold and green balls

and this very old manger scene that we bought an estate auction

Why is Baby Jesus always missing?

So we can find Him!

In my kitchen at the baking station where no one bakes

a tiny glittery nativity

and my grandmother's handwritten recipes

yummy goody ornaments

Nutcrackers and baking utensils

even in the powder room

a wooden tree

with a teeny tiny nativity from Peru

I know why Baby Jesus is missing...little bo peep loves to play with Him

And perhaps my very most favorite nativity in all the world

We found this under some rubble as we were tearing out the old garage apartment

covered in dust an other bad stuff

It lives in an art niche in a prominent place to remind us throughout this season

why we celebrate

EVERY 

season 

and that yes

oh yes....

Wise men 

still 

seek Him