Pleasures of the Day

I went for a walk tonight. I tried to observe and soak in everything around me.

There was a little patch of woods 1/2 mile from my home that enchanted me. Fireflies were blinking off and on in the depth of the branches. I could imagine fairies playing in the flowers that grew wild within the forested blanket of that little wood.

I walked into the field next to the woods. I saw Crow tracks left in the mud, the tracks had dried and looked almost fossil like. It made my heart leap. It may sound silly but I live for little moments like these.

It was my first walk in a long while, and I struggled to complete it. But I'm walking again tomorrow, and I might just see those fairies after all.
Nita

Inspiration

Christ, detail of Last Supper, 1495-1497

Leonardo da Vinci

Successful living hinges on the capacity to believe.

The unconquered and unconquerable of this world are those who have mastered the art of faith. They draw constantly on this inner source of strength, for they have acquired and hold fresh in their hearts an abiding faith- in a higher power, and in their own destiny.

Without such Faith they are defenseless before the inevitable difficulties that all must face; with it they are armored against even the most cruel of adversaries.

From the book , The Art of Real Happiness, by Norman Vincent Peale

God doesn't require us to succeed; He only requires that you try.- Mother Teresa

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all Flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?

Jeremiah 32:7

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you are doing it. Maya Angelo, Poet

We can't take any credits for our talents. It's how we use them that counts. Madeleine L' Engle, Writer

This is the thought to ponder on today:

" Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

- Nelson Mandela

Spring by Winslow Homer

I want to thank everyone who responded to my Journey post. You were all very encouraging and made me feel very cared about.

Shelley, I tried to log on to your site but it is AOL and I couldn't get signed in without creating an account. But thank you for your kind words.You can e-mail me , and I will e-mail you back

xoxo Nita

Little Corner

Pink Lollipop

My daughter made this lamp. She is the pink girl. Anything pink, she loves. We have this one in the front room.

Little Corner of My Yard

This little shed behind the clay pots, my husband built. It's a neat little shed. I have my collection of clay pots on this old plant stand in front of it. It has four rows of clay pots.

I have used the tiny pots to make pincushions. The bigger ones for plants, and I use them to put candles in for the picnic table.I also use them on the ground with candles in them to light the way to the backyard.

Little Corner of My World

This is my Wisteria vine in the far left corner of my yard. My pink picnic table is to the right. I love this area the most.

I can sit at my picnic table and look into the backyard from here. I have white lights strung on the arbor so we can come out at night and lite a fire in the fire pit and just sit and enjoy each others company.

You can't see it, but I have a mint garden on the other side of the picnic table with :Chocolate Mint, Pineapple Mint, Apple Mint and regular Spearmint. The mint draws alot of butterflies.

Orange Lamp in Kitchen

This is one of the lamps that I made a few months ago. I learned how to make them from my Aunt. She was into Victorian Lampshades and she got me into them. I put a modern twist on them . I make the large ones as well.

Little Corners of My Yard

This is a section of the front yard.

The angel sits on a piece of sandstone that I got from a dry creek bed. Marigolds are one of my favorite flowers, and they have a place in almost every area of my yard. The purple flowers are wild flowers my Mom gave me.

What is you favorite thing about your yard?

Another Little Corner

This is my junk corner.

I love it because it has bits and pieces of odd stuff I treasure. The little white birds nest with the three birds, I recently made from clay.

I am into making little birds right now. The duck is actually a squirty ducky, so watch out! The Prairie Finch feather, my sweet husband found for me in the front yard. The shell purse, I got from the Art Museum FOR 5.00!

Corners of My home

This is part of my hutch.

I like to put little pictures on it with the antique dishes. There is a picture of me and my boys on it when they were little. And a picture of Liz with our friend Vicki. There is also other little pictures of my oldest son when he was a newborn and in 2nd grade.

Corners of My Home

This is my windowsill garden.

I have some blackberry beads in the glass jars. The Aloe on the left is only a year old. The plant in the middle is a string of hearts plant. And you can see part of a Crows Feet plant in the far right corner.

Black Venus by Niki de Saint- Phalle

This picture makes me happy. I love the strength of this woman. She looks like she could conquer the world. What do you like about it?

Creation of the Birds by Remedios Varo

I got these great pictures out of a book titled, Women Artists An Illustrated History. Do you like this picture? I really like it. It isn't ordinary! I love the imagination of this artist.

Two Sisters by Susan Macdowell Eakins circa 1879

This picture reminds me so much of me and my sister Jamie. I have the book, she is sewing. What I love about my sister is that we can be riding in the car for 20 minutes and not say a word to each other. I don't feel like I have to entertain her. But, we usually do talk, alot!

She is several years older than me, but it feels like we are the same age. When I feel down I know she will have an encouraging word for me. And I will have one for her when she needs it. God knew what he was doing when He gave us sisters, didn't He?

Wisdom

All the arts are brothers, each one is a light to the others. - Voltaire

Loyalty is the greatest good in the human heart. - Latin Proverb

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above it. - Irving

The wise man becomes full of good, even if he gathers it little by little.- Buddha

If any man seeks greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both.-Horace Mann

We value great men by their virtue, and not their success. - Nepos

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.-The Bible

Poem

Needs
Charles Hanson Towne

I want a little house
Upon a little hill,
With lilacs laughing at the door
When afternoons are still.

I want an apple tree
Laden with drifts of bloom;
I want blue china all about
In every little room.

I want a little path
Bordered with brilliant phlox,
And on each windowsill I want
A painted flower box.

And- then I want you there
In sun, and frost, and rain,
To smile when I come trudging home
Through a dim, scented lane.

For what's a little house
Upon a little hill,
Unless you light the fire for me
When nights are strangely still?

Wishful Thinking

I want to be a river gypsy.

Give me a houseboat and set me sailing. I'd have to watch out for rapids and waterfalls though! ( scary)

I could just see me snoozing one evening after a long day of sailing; when suddenly my rope frays and breaks, and my boat is sailing by itself. We are going through wild jungle rivers, when suddenly a huge lion jumps on my boat!

He decides to eat me in my sleep. But he doesn't know that even the sound of a pin dropping will wake me up. I wait as he approaches my bed, then I push the button by my lamp for the trap door, and he falls right into the river! Phew! I'm saved. by Nita

ATC Crazy Quilt

I made this one today.

There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.-Virgil

Inspiration

Your life is a blank slate waiting to be filled.


Only one thing is necessary : to posses God.
Amiel

Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there.
Old English Legend

Such was the rule of life! I worked my best, subject to ultimate judgement, God's not man's.-Browning

What we must do, let us love to do. Never lose an opportunity to see anything beautiful. Beauty is God's handwriting.-Kingsley

Miracle
Lizette Woodworth Reese

Who is in love with loveliness,
Need not shake with cold:
For he may tear a star in two,
And frock himself in gold.

Who holds her first within in his heart,
In certain favor goes;
If his roof tumbles, he may find
Harbor in a rose.

I have always been told, in order to be happy we must seek our own happiness.
Even if you are the poorest person on earth there is happiness all around you. We must be seekers of loveliness. Seekers of what truly makes us happy, because if we aren't happy how can we make others happy.
We have free libraries with magazines and books on decorating just waiting to be checked out. If you live in an apartment and don't have room for a garden, grow yourself a windowsill garden. African violets, herbs. vines, all grow well in windows. Look for ideas they are all around you. Have a blessed day. Nita

Inspiration

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage...

Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising up every time we fail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

" When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."

Thomas Jefferson

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Chinese Proverb

Those who achieve victory, believe in it the strongest and the longest.

There have been many times I have felt like giving up, but somehow I always talk myself out of it. For anybody out there who is thinking that way, don't give up. Tomorrow is a new day, and your problems always seem better after a good nights sleep. God Bless Nita

American Indian Monday

Wilma Pearl Mankiller

Born November 18, 1945

Present day leaders among Indians would include former Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller.

Mankiller was the first female in modern history to lead a major Native Tribe.( 1985-1995)

Mankiller championed to improve conditions among rural commerce. And in 1990 , Chief Mankiller signed an historic Self- Governance Agreement that authorized the Cherokee Nation to administer federal funds that previously had been administered by the bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington.

Mankiller faced many obstacles during her tenure in office. Upon becoming Principal Chief, the Cherokee Nation was male- dominated. Such a structure contrasted with traditional Cherokee culture and value- system, which emphasized a balance between the two genders. Over the course of her three terms, Mankiller would make great strides to bring back that balance.

"Prior to my election, says Mankiller "young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become Chief."

Books she has written: A Chief and Her People

and Everyday Is a Good Day

Excerts from: American Indian Biographies edited by Harvey Markowitz and Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Beach Days Gone Awry

We usually go to the beach several times a year. Last year we happened to go when the carnival was in town. The day was beautiful, a Monet day, my brother would say to describe a day that beautiful. My daughter and her friends were on their rafts, and I was floating in my inner tube. I was looking lazily at the clouds letting time and space just float away, when I saw a 400 pound man in a speed-o coming right in my direction. Mind you, I am not a small person, but I felt fear strike me right in the heart.

Not for me, but for my towel. It is laying defenceless right in the man's path. And of course he sees the towel and plops right down on it. He then proceeds to fumble about with the shirt he has carried with him and out comes a bar of soap! I swear, a bar of soap! My heart sinks right down to my feet. I have a bad feeling about what he is going to do with that soap.

The man wallows to the water and starts lathering up. Mind you there are running showers not even a hundred feet from the beach. I am paddling frantically away from the man and head to where my daughter and her friends are. At that moment five more people join this man and begin bathing too in their equally skimpy outfits.

I tell the kids that it is time to go. I have lost all hope for the towel, and I cut my losses. As we are leaving the water the huge man with the speed-o is drying off with my towel, not the nice kinda drying either. He is drying between his legs, one hand in front ,and one in back doing a see saw motion with my poor towel.

I give him a dirty look, which he ignores. And he tells me we should come to the carnival tonight in town. That him, and his lake bathing buddies are all workers there. I decline his offer as nicely as I can , because face it, the man has molested my towel in the most heinous of ways.

I walk away, and as we are driving home I find all these incidents suddenly hilarious, I start laughing, the kids start laughing. It was a day we will never forget. Nita

Serenity (ATC)

I am having a creative spurt. I am really liking the little clocks. Anybody else like the clocks?

Praire Finch Feather

I finished this a few minutes ago. I going to start working on an 8 by 10 collage tomorrow. I have been sorting out colors all week-end for it.

Petit Lampe

I made this ATC about an hour ago. It has been a good day. I had a great time at Abundant Curiosities last night. Amy has pictures where you can make stories up about the photographs. I was laughing so hard while making up the stories I was crying! Thanks Amy.