henna

I did this pretty one on Megan the other day. She said she's been getting compliments on it alot.


This is my arm, 2 weeks after it was done. I thought this design was kind of cool. But now I am ready to be done with it. Hopefully it will fade soon. I'll scrub it alot in the shower......

knitting

I finally got to the end of knitting this sweater. I think it was cursed. I had to rip it out a few times! The last time only because it wasn't long enough. Then of course when I finished the whole sweater, and put it into the bathtub with loads of water, and dried it- it was about 6" longer!!! aaargh! but it is done, and is so fabulously soft.

no vegetables

I saw these beautiful artichokes at Trader Joe's yesterday. HAD to buy them. Love eating them and have since I was quite young. These ones were big and fresh and glorious. I cooked them for supper, assuming the boys would eat the pizza I had made.

much to my surprise, when I offered a bite to Emmett, he was intrigued, and accepted... then proceeded to eat tons of my artichoke! what!?! The child who says "I don't like fruits or vegetables" ... has now declared that he "LOVES" artichokes!

half birthday

(for some reason I can't rotate this great photo... will work on it)
emmett saw this post and said "ew, I don't EAT sideways..."

I tried to say something to Emmett the other day about how he is 5 1/2 now. Silly me. forgot to do his 1/2 birthday! He was adamant that he wasn't 5 1/2 until we did that.... so we picked out what kind of cake and frosting to make 1/2 of... and Eli did the trick candle for him, which he loved. He chose a red balloon which he wanted to pop as soon as we were done with the mini celebration. He did so incredibly gleefully! funny kid. now he is 5 1/2.....

Emmett and Chloe:
his favorite...... (he says he is going to marry her)

easter walk

we used to canter down this path on our horses

We went for a fabulous walk in the sun. The town nearby has miles and miles of trails in the reservoir. There are at least 6 big bodies of water, so much open green space, lots of paved trails for good walking and biking, and miles of trails that are through the woods. I spent hours and hours riding horses on them as a teenager and beyond. I know the trails like the back of my hand, and there is a wonderful familiarity and freedom about being there.

It was so incredibly cold and breezy, but so bright and sunny that it was good to get out and be in the sunshine of the day. Was good for the soul.

easter bunnies....

this made me laugh.....

marketing .... in class

I am loving the business class I have been taking. It is good for me on so many levels.

Yesterday's class was given by Kathy McAfee, The Marketing Motivator. She was so great, and yes, very motivating. Her presentation was fabulous and inspiring. I am looking forward to attending some of her workshops.

I really want to keep going with my community center and keep energy going with it even though it is not what I am doing for the class. I do feel that it is really what I need to be doing, and that so much of my last 10 years has been leading toward it. I need to hook up with more people, but so far so many people are interested. Just need to find the right partner. Will write more at some point about it, as it just draws me more and more. It really seems right in many ways.

For now, school is really good, and I think it will keep me on my path......
good energy.......

henna all day

A 2 hour drive up to Providence on Saturday morning started my day. It was a stunningly beautiful sunny day to drive, and I was in really good spirits.

Heather hosted the gathering at her apartment, and she is a fantastic henna artist! I was in awe of what she creates. Check out Heather's site, and also see more photos of all of us doing henna and our day there!

the henna on Heather's arm (above) is my work....

There were only 4 of us, and so it was nice and small. We had great indian food for lunch, and just talked and hennaed the day away.
We rolled cones (which I am getting better at doing now) and I found I liked them a bit better in some ways than the j-bottles I use. Much easier to squeeze the henna out, so far less tiring on the hands, and also you can get finer lines. But I am finding it still hard to get good control as your fingers are farther away from the tip. practice....... But there were some differences. The ones I had used were thinner cello wrap. One woman brought some much heavier stuff, and I liked using that in smaller cones. I will have to hunt some of that down.

I didn't leave until about 10:30pm, and got home at almost 1 am. so for a day that started at 5:30am- I was exhausted! It was all I could do to wrap my hennaed hands and climb into bed.

Emmett's face when he helped me unwrap in the morning was so great. Heather had applied glitter to accent my henna, and it stayed intact overnight since I had wrapped it. When emmett unwrapped my hand and he saw it... his jaw literally dropped, then quickly turned into a amazed and smiling expression of awe. He couldn't believe it! he loved it and asked me all about it. It did look so cool. I even showered with a bag over my hand to keep it long enough to show off to friends.

trees on the wall

During supper the other night, I looked across the room and noticed how beautiful the shadows were on the wall. The trees from outside were pouring into the room in such a way that I was drawn to them. I had to jump up from the table to capture it...
I only grabbed 5 shots of it before it was gone.....

I love to take the time to notice the fleeting beauty around me........

skies are blue

so nice to see this!
It has certainly felt like spring is in the air lately......


I am wanting to eat lighter things, and feeling very in synch with the season change.
wish I had planted bulbs last fall to come up and be pretty ones in my garden. But first I need to make it a raised bed. Then I can do it.

I have been knitting a bunch lately- determined to finsh the alpaca rollneck sweater for my friend Jenny. Then, after that, I'd love to finsh the ribbed turtleneck sweater I started for me. It is such a wonderful heathered greenish blue. I have been getting more knitting done since I joined a Stich 'n Bitch group and go every week for a few hours. It's a fun group to be in.

I think the next thing after that may be ripping out this sweater:
and using the yarn to make something else. This was the most labor intensive sweater I ever made, and the yarn is linen and wool. But, for how much time and energy I put into this sweater, I don't like it very much. And I feel like I should be on the Cosby Show (remember Bill Cosby's sweaters?). I want a great sweater that I will reach for time and time again.

new little ones

Oscar and Chloe

and then there were three.....

They hardly had a rocky start at all, in spite of what I expected. They tussled just a bit and then they have all been getting along. They all sleep together in a big lump. Totally cute. Oscar is a huge pudge. He has been eating since he arrived. I moved the food dish off of the floor, since he would just lie in front of it and eat. Now he actually has to move his lard butt up the ramps in the cage to get to eat.

Chloe is sweet, and mellow. We couldn't have asked for better pets! We adopted them because the owner wasn't dealing with them at all. So a guy who helped him move one day, told them he would find them a better home. They hadn't been out of a cage for ages, and if they did, it was only to the confinement of a small bathroom. No wonder Oscar is a chunk!
The three of them together are totally fun to watch. Great entertainment. I love listening to their chortling. I love having something sweet, furry and cuddly to be with and to enjoy.

I am glad we adopted these little guys. The boys have been great with them too. More photos to come, but for now it is hard to capture them as they have this new freedom to run around, and they are exploring that to the fullest!

struggling

okay- need to kind of journal my thinking here for a bit.

I am having a hard time with the idea of my business class right now. okay, actually for over a week now. To begin with I was really psyched about it. I was loving the idea of a holistic community center. I still am. It pulls together all sorts of things that intrigue me and pull me.
Could it hold the ADD me for longer than a short while? Yes, I think so as it would be a maleable thing in many ways. I had journaled about doing it, and it is so right in so many ways. I was spinning in fabulous energy.

But... it was too big for me to do by myself. I am not a solitary person in too many ways. Taking the class and finding the time to do all of the work, and starting the center on my own.... no.... don't really have it in me to bite off that big a chunk alone.

So, last Monday I went in to class having shifted to doing the henna business. And it just feels somehow dissapointing. Yes, I can handle the workload now, as it is far less. But reality.... I feel it's not enough for this class.

And I know me, the henna will keep me sucked in for a while, but then it will be something that I am only doing for a bit. I tend to think it will be like my knitting..... which is always good, but it is something I do for a bit and make a sweater or two, then burn out, then get back to it a few months later.

So where does that leave me at the moment? not really sure. I want to be proud of what I create. I want an income, not just a little something on the side. I want something I love and will love for ages.

I have been thinking that I should do this class and use my tea business. But that's not right either, as I really feel like I need to be done with my tea business for now. It is another job where I work alone. Completely. I'm a shipper. Doesn't matter that I am passionate about the tea.

So, I think if I were to take this course for the henna, it would be a waste. $650 to develop something that is fine to do by the seat of my pants? no. To do it for the holistic community center would be great...when I find someone to do it with, and more is right, as the clas sis for developing a business, not 'just a class'. To do the class for my tea business isn't right either. I think it would be just spending a ton of time and money trying to salvage something that isn't right, and that I don't want to really do anymore. It would just be using it to do the class. I think right now it woud not be good.

I do want to make some money to call my own. I also still have young kids that need attention from me. I also need to be doing something I really want to do. So somehow I need to figure that piece out, and not let go of the fabulous energy that I have had going for a bit. I will keep spinning, and find something that is good. I have been sending good energy out into the universe, and I have faith that something right is there to find me.

pango's world

It's about to be rocked. We have enjoyed having our little ferret, who is sweet and entertaining. He is playful and interactive. The boys love him and love to hold him and play with him. Eli has saved his money to help buy fun tubes for him to climb through, and they create fun ways for him to go through it. But... we have had more than one ferret in the past. They are very social little animals and are so cute when they have playmates. I always said that I would never have "just one" ferret again.

Pango sleeping in his cage......

The other day, there was a post on freecycle for some ferrets needing a good home. I called, we went to visit them, and of course we will be getting them! I couldn't resist. It will be more work, and more cleaning up, but I do love them. Pango will grow to play with and accept these new ones, but he will be mad at first I think, and probably horror-stricken! How dare they come into HIS space!

But these new two have only been able to have a space as big as a small bathroom to play in. They have never been able to play in any space bigger. We give ours free run of the entire house. These little guys will be whipping around for days I think! and my boys will be entertained and have a blast. It will certainly cut down on the arguing over who gets to hold the one ferret that we have! and with three, it won't always be that they want a certain one, the way it might be if we had just two. Three will be a whole different dynamic. They are supposed to arrive on Sunday.

I love having animals........

sunny day skiing

Emmett and I skied today in the early afternoon. it was sunny and beautiful. We only did about 4 runs, but they were great.... and we had fun hanging out in the sunshine at the lodge. You can see how deserted it is.

Then I dropped him at home with Adam, and picked up Eli as he got off of the schoolbus. We skied a whole bunch for 2 hours, but the sun had just gone down. Much different temperatures then! So tomorrow, Eli has a 1/2 day of school, so I will take him and be there by 2, so he will get to experience spring skiing in the sunny warmth.

I don't get many photos of Eli and skiing since, he doesn't like his photo taken, and when we are skiing I can't video very well, since I am trying desperately to keep up!


but that said, I did get these of him just after his glorious wipeout... I wasn't quick enough on the draw to capture him sprawled... but digging the huge amount of snow out of his hindside just after! and he was cracking up too. I did get him being funny on video which I will add to the post tomorrow.....