Happy New Year

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New Year’s Reflections

Looking back on the months gone by,
As a new year starts and an old one ends,
We contemplate what brought us joy,
And we think of our loved ones and our friends.

Recalling all the happy times,
Remembering how they enriched our lives,
We reflect upon who really counts,
As the fresh and bright new year arrives.

And when I ponder those who do,
I immediately think of you.

Thanks for being one of the reasons I'll have a Happy New Year!

(Joanna Fuchs)

May the coming year bring you health, magic, and joy.

May the magic be yours

(Image Source: Bing)

My, oh my, where has time gone?! I can hardly believe it's been a month since my last post! I can only blame it on my new passion: mini albums. If you are a crafter/altered art "connoisseur" you'll probably know what they are. Mini albums vary in size and styles. Most of mine are constructed by folding a single sheet of paper in order to create pockets to insert tags, photos, and secret messages. Fun, simple and certainly addictive :0) I will try and add some photos to my next post.

It will be a bittersweet Christmas. Our son will not be with us this year. Mothers out there will know what I mean...however, our home is ready, shopping is done. As I wrap the last gift and turn down the lights I seek comfort in the things I hold dear...

Family, friends, trinkets, mementos, gathered while taking a walk and discovering a small, tucked in a corner little shop right off the beaten path.

I want to wish each and everyone a special season filled with love and inner peace.

May the magic be yours!



Note: I have tried to leave messages on your Blogs but for some weird reason I've been unable to! Please know I am not ignoring you, I may have been busy with the mini albums but never too busy to drop by and see what you guys are up to!

Giving Thanks



(Image Source: Bing)

We usually go through our days wishing, striving, pushing for more. There's nothing wrong with that as long as that drive doesn't prevent us  from enjoying the view, from recognizing when we can't push anymore, from stopping here and there to enjoy all we have done.

On this Thanksgiving Day I am blessed to have a very long list of things for which to be thankful. My husband, my children, my family, my friends, my dear, sweet Abby, my home, my freedom, my health and so much more.

In addition to being Thanksgiving Day it's also my 32nd wedding anniversary. One of the biggest things for which to be thankful!

Just wanted to take a moment and wish each and everyone a beautiful day and magical season.

Belated Wishes

My wishes for a Happy Halloween for you, my magical friends, is a bit late. We were part of the many thousands without electric power. For almost 48 hours we suffered the damp kind of cold that while it's not freezing, will chill every bone. I have to add my voice to the many who claim  never to have seen anything like this in October. Saturday morning this was the view from my window

Autum leaves shining brightly under the soft falling snow...

No one, not even the fairies or the jack-o-lanterns could have imagined the surprise Mother Nature had in store...

The day went by quietly, but towards evening the terrible sound of the cracking branches filled the air. One by one they started to fall. Standing by my window I watched helplessly...

Morning came and we were able to step outside. It was hard to take it all in. Even Abby seemed to be taken aback by the chaos and destruction...

Tears were shed, but we were okay and that's what really mattered. Needless to say Halloween Day was a bit strange but with our precious, dear Abby, who can stay sad? She was a trooper and allowed me to dress her up. She even posed patiently for the photographs!

Such a good little witch! LOL

And so, this is it for now.  Please accept my belated, but very heartfelt wishes for a Happy Halloween. May the season's magic continue to be yours!



Amber days

"The foliage has been losing it's freshness, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first grey hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many"

(Oliver Wendell Holmes)

Autumn's luminosity is re-grouping and re-assembling. The sun is getting ready to go on holiday and while it's still quite warm there's a touch of "something" in the early morning breeze.

(Image Source: Magnolia Pearl)

I, too, have been re-grouping and re-assembling. I have stood still and listened to our home's new sounds. Less footsteps, shorter showers, a pantry door that's not opened every half hour...small, subtle changes with such big impact...

Stormy days filled with wind and rain, a frantic rush to hold and capture a dying Summer.

(Image Source: Pinrest)

Long walks, meeting with friends, the glorious feel of holding a cold glass of wine and watch the sunset.

Going shopping, curling up with a good book. Meditating, eyes closed, slow breaths, wondrous walks deep within, opening doors and discovering new chambers that shimmer with a light that's startling new.

(Image Source: Google Images)

I've been sort of quiet, moving about softly, afraid to disturb an inner ripple that came as a result of outer and inevitable changes. I've felt cushioned, enveloped in an aura that has made my senses sharper, keener.  In my heart, tiny fairies play songs only I can hear...

(Image Source: Weheartit.com)

  The end of Summer at the Caravan has been spent

choosing curtains and dressing up the makeshift sofa...



watching Abby enjoy the sunshine, mesmerized by the love and loyalty I find in those amazing brown eyes...

Enjoying afternoons in which the dying sun made every special thing even more special...

Summer is gone. Gone too, is the tinkling song of the ice cream truck. Autumn is here. As the light changes, so does the mood of the house... sounds are muffled.  Everything seems to be getting ready for the coming colder days...
 

Beds look more inviting...

Gorgeous leaves everywhere...

Cooler nights spent in my craft room ("studio" sounds a bit pretentious to me :0) creating a birthday gift for a dear friend

A stylish little witch to celebrate the season...

I love altered art. Mixing paper with fabrics, sequins, ribbons and discarded items. Altered art reminds me of ordinary days. A mixture of sounds, feelings, colors and textures. New experiences laying the background for new ones...

Time marches on. Plans are made, birds and  squirrels run about busy. Searching. Building warmer nests. All around, the cycle of life is asking to be heard, to be seen. Let us stop and listen!

Times they are a' changing...



Sweltering heat, wooden floors that feel as if they had a fever. Long lazy days that melt and disappear into glorious golden sunsets. Fireflies that come out and guide my footsteps round the darkened garden paths. The crickets' lullaby, the fluttering of wings, the sound of flowers bursting wide open. The smell of earth after a brief and fierce thunderstorm... I have succumbed. Helpless. Intoxicated. I don't want to move, am afraid to break the spell... 

But the spell has been broken and life as we know it has changed. The last of our children, our sweet daughter Adriana is moving out. We are now part of that group called "The Empty Nesters." As I help her pack, organize, shop, and decide, I can't help but wonder: where has time gone?! Already the house is permeated by that peculiar scent of change, of closing chapters. The spirit of Melancholy hides behind the boxes, playing hide and go seek with Excitement. There's confusion when they collide, bewildered, they stare at each other only to turn around and run again.

I am very happy for her, proud to see her making the right choices. I have  no doubt she and Mitch will be fine together...and yet, she has not even left and I already miss her... our morning chats, our late evening glasses of wine, our silly tears over a movie or a song, our "fighting" over the bathroom mirror :0) Those carefree moments of everyday life when kids still live at home, and while I'm ready for the new special ones to come, I can't help but mourn for those that will stop. This feeling reminds me of  a book I once read (The Other Side of the Fire). My children were still very young and the empty nester years seemed very far away, but even back then these words caught my attention: "Sometimes she wondered whether it was her own childhood she mourned, or the childhood of her children."  Amazing.

I am back until Monday, then I will return to the country. The porch is done except for the floor, which will be painted sometime next week before bringing in some pieces of furniture. I want to keep it simple and just allow the surrounding beauty be the focal point.

Abby knows I'm busy so she keeps a look out for unexpected visitors

 such as this one.

She also lets me know when the Clematis bloom

My dear sweet Abby :0)

The guest room is finished

There's still a lot to do but for now I need to slow down, try to take it all in, re-adjust and go along with the changes.

(Image Source: Weheartit.com)

"We live...for moments...minutes, fractions of an hour...for these intervals are timeless. While they last, we have complete understanding, happiness and strength.  We live in a true sense and we perceive the meaning of life." 

 British Butterflies (an antique butterfly book)

May all your moments be wonderful,

Welcome Summer!

(Image Source: Bing)

"This is June, the month of grass and leaves...already the aspens are trembling again, and a new summer is offered me."

Henry David Thoreau

Hello Everyone,

How I've missed you all! Can't wait to have a chance and stop by to see what you've been up to :0) I am back for just two days then will return to the country. These past few weeks have been a blur of paint, brushes, and trips to the local hardware store. The porch is almost finished. I still need to paint somethings here and there, but the bigger part is done. I am so looking forward to hanging the curtains, and pay attention to the garden. Days go by too quickly, don't you think?

Remember what it looked like?





This is now...





It was a happy moment when I was able to hang the butterfly that had been sitting in the attic for the past three years waiting for the "right spot" 

Abby has also been hard at work. She's discovered the joy of digging huge holes in the ground :0) 



Some puppies have all the luck!

I must get going but before I do, I just want to wish you all a wonderful Summer filled with joy, magic, and cotton candy fun.

See you soon! XO