the blue muse

I thought I was going to catch up on things this weekend, I did paperwork all day Saturday, attended a graduation party for my niece on Saturday night, and planned to make jewelry all day Sunday. A fairly routine weekend for me.

Life tends not to care about your plans, though. One of our kittens, George, was hit by a car just after I let him out yesterday morning, something I have lived in fear of since the day he and his brother, Brett, showed up just over a year ago.

But keeping these two inside was never an option, they came to us as wild children, we took them in and cared for them, but what they lived for was to be outside, hunting. George was always first out the door every morning, not even pausing to eat first. Brett would have a snack and follow a few minutes later. In and out they would go all day, stopping in only for a brief snack before heading back out to their hunting ground. I brought them in every night, much to their chagrin. And now Brett is lost without his brother, his always-there partner in crime. They were like twins.

I will write more about George later this week over at Mrs. Mediocrity. He was a very special kitty, and I have more to say about him than I can put into words today..

But I guess my point when I started this post was simply to say, you just never know. A not-so-gentle reminder about how important it is to live in the moment, because you just never know what will happen next.

In the end, I made my jewelry yesterday, trying to stay busy and not think about what had happened. There will be the salt of tears fired into this batch of precious metal clay pieces.

When I finished, I went for a very long, long walk, alone, and in silence.

And all I could come up with was:

oh, life.

It’s always there, all around us, this circle, we cannot escape it or deny it,
we can only live within it.

Some days I find this constraining, other days, comforting.

Still other days, I see the possibilities for growth.

Here’s to possibility.

He lives in the reservoir of my window box.

I only see him (and his friends) when I water and his pool overflows.

But it always makes me smile.

I am so easily amused.

Some days are hot, some days are cold. Some days you are up, some days you are down. It’s all life, cycling through us and around us and giving us a reference for the passing of time.

The things we put behind us always add to the way we see the things that lie before us.

That’s where I am just now, holding in the the long inhale of the past few weeks, almost ready to exhale and relax a bit and recover from the whirlwind that has been spinning through my days.

I want to sit in my garden and put my feet up for an entire afternoon with nothing but a good book for company.. And one of these days, soon, I will do just that. I will sip a glass of wine as I watch the sunset once again behind that tree. I will let my self do nothing for a day, an evening, a morning.

It’s been far too long since I’ve done nothing.

I miss nothing.

I want nothing.

I need nothing.

I want to pour myself into the white space of that sun and breathe in all of that nothing.

Let it fill my lungs with light and joy and possibility.

Oh yes, you most definitely can get something

from nothing.

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p.s. Once again, I want to say thank you for all of your kind wishes these past few weeks. Our show went well this past weekend, the knee was a little stiff from all the standing but still okay, and my husband is up and around and doing fine. I so appreciate all of your support and encouragement. xoxo, kelly

What a relief it is to have made it to this day! Whew!

My husband’s surgery went well, he is home and on the mend, and I am all ready for our show this weekend, later today it will be time to go and set up.

There were times this week when I didn’t think I would make it, a lot of deep breaths were taken, not enough sleep was had. But all’s well that ends well.

It is going to be hot, hot, hot this weekend!

If you are in the area, stop by and say hello to us at

The Cornhill Arts Festival

in Rochester, New York

Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Booth 200

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Have a great weekend, and thank you all so much
for your well wishes this week!

Everywhere I look, there is green. Summer has finally arrived, I think, it’s been hot for the first time this year, and this weekend is supposed to be hotter. Hot being relative of course, it has been in the high 80s almost making its way to 90, but I know there are plenty of people out there dealing with crazy over 100 degree temps, whew!

I am almost ready for the Cornhill Arts Festival this weekend, and it is always hot for this one! I am hoping that it will also be sunny or at least not rainy, though we are getting to the point where we could use some rain, after the rainiest May in ages, June was one of the driest.

My favorite new necklace this year was made by pressing an actual fern into the precious metal clay to get a lovely imprint. This is a new technique I plan to keep experimenting with. I think I need to make one of these for myself!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer, things are happening so fast around here my head is spinning! Tomorrow is my husband’s surgery, and then Saturday and Sunday is our show. Fortunately we have plenty of family nearby to help take care of my husband while I am melting, er, having fun at the show.

It is going to be one crazy week, it’s a good thing I am used to crazy!

one glorious sun

happy july 4th to you

Still.

I love the calm that this photo exudes,
I want to step into it and live there for a while.

Perhaps I’ll sit on a stump and gaze at the water as bugs skitter over the surface, look up at the sky as a heron flies by all blue and majestic, close my eyes and listen to the birds sing songs of joy and warning.

If I squint, I can see myself there, half-hidden in the trees.

Come, sit with me,
we’ll talk about life and
wait for the stars.

How cute are they?

The other night I took a little walk down to the swamp at the bottom of the hill I live on. As I walked up to the edge of the water I surprised a mama duck, I think she was a wood duck, though it was hard to tell. She promptly hopped into the water and took off, leaving her babies to scramble after her. They were so tiny and they huddled close together in a little ball of fuzz as they made their way out to their mama.

Mama, wait for us….

Ah, safe and sound, all together once more.

I was a little surprised that she didn’t stay to protect her babies, but glad that it all worked out in the end.

On the other side of the swamp there was a gaggle of geese, it looked like two sets of parents with their almost-grown children, all honking and clamoring around, just like noisy teenagers, not really listening to their parent’s instruction.

It was so good to be out walking, seeing babies, watching the sunset.

Enjoying life.

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to blossom

breathe life in

raise your face to the sun

drink the rain

shiver in the mist

revel in the moment.

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one day

to be all the beauty

that you are.

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