The summer night is like a perfection of thought. Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Sunday, a summer day. I can hear a lawn mower in the distance. No kids playing yet, but I am sure they will be out later, screeching and calling to each other. The robins have found another home to lay their second brood and sometime tonight the town will shoot of the fireworks that were canceled by rain last night.
I have been busy the last few weeks. I painted Meghan's room while she was away in Florida. She had a great time with friends and came home to an orange room that had been planned for 2 years. I only had a gallon of paint, my mum and dad had bought it when they came to visit in 2007 to thank her for letting them stay in her room. It was only enough for 3 walls so instead of trying to match the color I did one wall in a blue/purple color. It was difficult to move around the room with her furniture in the middle of the room, the mattress and box spring leaning against a wall that I wasn't painting. I managed though and she was surprised when she got home, I think that the Jonas brothers poster was the thing she enjoyed most though. I had put it in a poster frame and it is up on her wall, so she can change the poster when she gets tired of them (hopefully soon). One of the things I am most excited about is taking off her closet door, which gives her a lot more room. Now just to find a beaded curtain to cover up the mess inside. I saw a wonderful glow in the dark one that I want to get.

Unfortunately I have been plagued by back and neck pain for a few weeks now and it is hard for me to do much of anything. Sitting in the computer chair is only comfortable if I lean back, which doesn't help with my typing and sitting in the recliner is OK, except for getting in and out. Turning over in bed is almost impossible and sitting on the hard kitchen chairs is not too comfy either. I have managed to get a few things done, but mostly I have been reading and feeling lazy, not wanting to bend over for anything I don't have to.

I sorted my photos. I know I have more somewhere but the ones I had in plastic containers here in the living room I went through and sorted into categories. I tried to go by the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid) and it seemed to work, just picking a few titles to start, family, friends, places, and of course the three kids. Troy and I had one category together as there are a lot of photos with both of us in. It actually went pretty fast. Then I started sub-categories. Troy's family, Laura's family, Parents etc. I am not done with that part yet, but I am really glad to have the photos in some sort of order, now to find the rest that are hiding in the house in a dark corner somewhere. I think the hardest thing is going to be purging the pictures, letting go of something that I once thought important enough to take a picture of.


What started me off sorting the pictures was a list of things I want to scrap into albums. I found a starter on Plinky. "What values do you want to instill in your kids?". That got me to thinking and then I thought about others that I want to do. I would like to make a green book. Green in my favorite color and it would be easy to pull the things I have that are green together into an album. Also, suggested in an online magazine, Scrapbook & Cards today,I saw an article that suggested using facebook as a journal, expecialy those 25 random fact notes that I have participated in. Another great blog is Creativity Prompt that has lots of ideas for blogging and scrapbooking and jornaling, I don't think I will ever get through them all. There are so many resources on line that it is easy to get distracted from actually doing to just browsing. I really want to set a goal of 'doing' so I can get some real things done.

I will say that contrary to my quote for the title of my post I am not a fan of summer. Hot, sticky and buggy: my least favorite things. Spring and fall are much more my style. The mornings with the frost on the grass. The rustle of leaves sounding like the sea or the seemingly dead trees showing new buds ready to burst with bright green. I do enjoy the longer days and the summer fruits and vegetables though.



So off I go to do. Well maybe after a nap.

Time to talk about Poetry

Hello. I missed posting yesterday. There wasn't much to talk about and my Daughter and I went to get our ears pierced. She is 11 and got them done for the first time. I was impressed. I thought she would chicken out at the last minute. She picked a beautiful pair of light green studs and I must say they sparkle in her ears. I was 11 when I got mine done the first time too. Memories of my mum taking me to the jewelry store to get it done, taking out the studs when we got home and putting sleepers in so I could sleep easier. I, on the other hand, got my 8th piercing. I had 3 pairs in my ears, and one in my nose. I got one in my upper left ear. (after encouragement by DD). I just have a tiny stud, I didn't want anything big and flashy until it heals.
Today I thought I would share some of my poetry. It is kind of funny but I like to rhyme words. It is almost as much fun for me as crossword puzzles, and it keeps my mind off other things. Some of my poems are silly and some are deep and dark. My thought is that my art and my poetry will meet and combine into works in and of themselves.
Here is one I wrote this summer. We can start on one of the darker ones, as I always like to leave on a light note.

out of the woods

I sit and look out from the Woods
I want to leave but I am afraid
There are dark places here
Unknown hollows and beasts I do know
I could get lost and not return
Becoming another; not at all myself
Each step makes my legs heavy
It is hard not to look back
To dwell on things long past
As I inch closer to the edge
I am blinded by the hot light
Shedding layers I have clung to
I step back frustrated with myself
It is not the same, a shadow of what was
Leaving only one choice, forward
To the unkown of continued hope and fear
What was still consumes me
A door I cannot close tight
Where am I going to end up
In the light or back at the beginning
Starting again, looking out from the dark.

This is called Rain

Dripping, Splashing, Running.
The rain falls out of the sky.
Darkening, Soaking, Relieving.
The Earth that has grown dry.

Waving, Blowing, Moving.
The trees and plants around.
Watering, Bolstering, Moistening.
The growth beneath the ground.

Renewing, Charming, Helping.
The earth continue to grow.
Relaxing, Charming, Hoping
The world; deep green aglow.

And this last one is one I wrote while working second shift for DD. We only got to see each other for 1/2 hour each morning before she left for school, and on weekends if I wasn't working overtime. I would doodle little sketches or write notes.
Mrs. Brown

Mrs. Brown had a cow.
She also had an onion.
When she went to see the sow
She was pained by a bunion.
Now Betty Brown was smart,
She knew the perfect cure.
She asked the cow to do her part,
and rode her without a sore.
Mrs.Brown was pleased as punch,
Not half as much as sow Molly
She gave the onion to the cow for lunch
and Clara cow said "By Golly!"

Well there you have it. Just silly things can really make a difference in your day. Out of the woods is something that I never realized that I was feeling until I wrote it. The Cow still makes me laugh, and I have actually another two about Mrs Brown that I can share later.