Aaaaah, spring...

I spent a wonderful day in my garden on Sunday, cleaning up and readying my pots for herbs and flowers. Though I am impatient to have them, I will be waiting until mid-May, when threats of frost in upstate NY have passed. Meanwhile, I am just enjoying temperatures above freezing, open windows, singing birds and sunny days.

AVERY...HOME SWEET HOME!!!!!

She's home!!!!!

Her first words upon entering the house were "Mommy, I'm home," followed by an immediate run to the goldfish bowl, where Gigi the goldfish, and Daddy #2 (the replacement for Daddy #1) were happily swimming. "Wow, Daddy's big!" she observed. As though suspecting that something was up, she rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a pair of binoculars to get a closer look.

When I called last night, she was not taking calls, as she ran from room to room, thrilled to be home at last.

I've said this before, but words are really inadequate to express the gratitude my family and I feel for all of you who have shared your thoughts and prayers and good wishes and gifts with Avery and all of us. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

House of love...

I recently went on a wonderful scavenger hunt at the local salvage warehouse with some fellow artists...I am already planning a return trip -OMG - what fun!!! Like an indoor yard sale of discarded house parts!!!. Among my finds were the escutcheons and keyholes that now adorn this piece of fence post...the fence post itself was saved from a previous junque outing...I just knew that I'd find a use for it one of these days.

I also brought back some larger pieces - shutters & window screens, perfectly distressed with age, which will find their way into some future projects. I love old things -- well some old things. Actually some things are not so good old. For instance: computers, underwear, milk, Danny Bonaduce, water pipes and teeth all come to mind.

So it's probably safe to say that you won't find any old underwear (or teeth) in my mixed media pieces. Or Danny Bonaduce (or old teeth) in my underwear. I just thought you should know.

A glimpse of summer around my house...

I am really loving the summer this year. Even with all the rain, we've have relatively cool evenings until this week, and I love opening the windows wide and listening to the birds singing outside my windows.

And Cutes (my niece's nickname)is doing well. She's had all of chest tubes removed and is slowly being weaned from pain meds, ventilator, etc. Next week, I have will have a Cutes-related giveaway. Stay tuned!!

Have a good weekend all!

There's no place like home...

Tomorrow, my last heart in the "nine hearts" series (previous post) will be headed to Boston, so I created a new series. This one has an obvious theme. It will carry with it my wish (and all of yours) for Avery's full recovery so that she can go home and resume her normal five-year-old life, with friends, neighbors, swingset, goldfish, a fridge full of Pelligrino and stops by the ice cream man, to name just a few of her favorites. These are just simple pencil sketches on foam core, embellished with buttons & velvet rickrack.

I have also been busy with some new heart paintings, which will make their debut here soon. I need to add just a few finishing touches!

And speaking of Avery, just a quick update:
She continues to amaze her doctors and make progress. Her lungs are improving and her heart has been stable. She may be extubated in the next few days (again), and we hope this is the road to her return home for sure this time!!

ramblings

Enjoying the simple pleasures

of fall...

This has been an amazingly beautiful September, with warm sunny days and cool evenings perfect for opening windows wide and curling up beneath the covers to sleep, usually with my dog Max at my side. I fall asleep to the serenade of crickets and katydids, along with late night drivers on my not-so-country road. This may seem quite ordinary, but one of the many feuds I lost with my husband on a regular basis was keeping the windows open, so I am appreciating the novelty of it right now.

I had an opportunity this weekend to take a leisurely ride out to the Artifacts Country Store in Melrose, NY for their annual harvest fest. Their store is a tiny gem out in the country, filled to the rafters with antiques and folk art crafts, much of which spills out onto their patio and beneath the trees that surround their lovely property. I enjoyed a cup of cider while watching the chipmunks scurry behind pumpkins and beneath the ground cover. Proprietors and artists Beth and Paul Cunningham have made their art a way of life, and it's a treat to be able to soak up some of their creativity. If you live in the Northeast, I encourage you to check them out.



I went there looking for little treasures, such as lavender sachets and vintage ornaments, of which there are many, but left with a wonderful table, handpainted by Paul, instead. I decided to use this piece in lieu of a coffee table, as I like to do a lot of my creating (and eating dinner) in the living room and the height is perfect if I pull it up to the sofa. Notice too the paper lamp in the background. My sister treated me to the lamp while we were on the Vineyard. I had no place to hang it, until I stumbled (literally) and so fortuitously upon that great stick from which is hangs. I am not sure if it is whimsical or just plain ridiculous, but for now it illuminates my evenings like a big green full moon!

Press type for walls!!

On a recent excursion with a friend, I found giant press type -- the kind that we used to use in graphic design in the olden days before computers, when design was tactile and fun in a very different way than digital design. Anyway, I saw this phrase and knew that it would look just perfect over my stove. I am thinking that eventually I need a phrase for every room in my house. I just love typography and whimsy, and I think these "wall words" are both!

Sisters...

My sisters and I got together for my dad's birthday on Saturday night. I cannot say enough good things about my sisters. We all have busy lives now, so we don't get together as often as we'd like, but when we do, it's the most comfortable of relationships, where we know each other so well that there is no effort at all involved in being together. They are smart, funny, energetic and just really good people.

It was a rather typical family gathering - a delicious dinner, a fabulous dirty martini (okay two) made by my sister Cheryl , my sister Jennifer making sure that everything runs smoothly, a little meltdown from my 3-year-old-niece, who has been battling all of the usual plagues of daycare, and quiet conversations as the evening wound down. I had also meant to stop on my way into town to take a picture of the Catskill mountains a little beyond peak for leaf peepers but still a breathtaking backdrop to my home town, but when approached the turn for dad's, I was anxious to get there, as I always am, and didn't take the moment to stop. I should have, because by the time I visit again, the mountains will be bare, or snow-capped. One of these years, I will actually slow down and take it in.