And what did you see in your yard today?

Raise your hand if... your minivan radiator blew from here to kingdom come yesterday. Ditto here. Sigh.

Yesterday was one of "those" days where I woke up cranky and it was downhill from there. After a really s-l-o-w start to the day, I finally got my youngest daughter to the college she'll be attending in order to complete some forms. At the moment I was pulling into the last parking spot available, the radiator blew with a vengeance. (Evidently, we're supposed to be monitoring that little temperature gauge thingy on the dashboard...who knew?)

It was quite a spectacular sight, let me tell you. The steam pouring from the engine was so impressive that people in other cars were closing their windows!! We sat back and watched the pyrotechnic show emanating from the engine, then figured what the heck...we went inside and accomplished what we were there for.

After all was said and done, I called AAA (at 1:25 p.m.) and they said they'd be there by 2:10. Wellll....2:10 came and went, so did 2:30, 2:45 and 3:00. Around 3:15 the tow truck showed up and the guy just sort of sat there, looked at my van which was nose-in the parking spot, beeped his horn at me (not sure why...evidently he didn't want to have to wait), and said, "How am I going to get it on the truck?"

Huh?! Wha...?!

I actually heard myself say to the "expert", "Perhaps we could back the van out first?" I'm not sure he heard the dripping sarcasm in my voice.


Anyway, the upside was that I got to spend two hours with my youngest, chatting, laughing, whining, reminiscing, answering her questions (not all of them, mind you), and just enjoying her company. That was the silver lining to an otherwise crappy day. :) And how was YOUR day?

Today marks the one year anniversary of losing this young man to drowning.

He was our son's best friend, someone who was like another son to my husband and me, another brother to our daughters, and an "uncle" to our granddaughter. His death has buried us all under a heavy blanket of pain, sadness and loss.

His family has been trying so hard to get through the days, the hours, and the minutes. His memory is everywhere...he was filled with life and light.

I went to the cemetery yesterday and as always, I came away with the anger still bubbling inside of me that this amazing young person, this strong, vibrant, loving, funny, talented, warm young person, had to die so young and so tragically. I know that anger is not what I should be feeling, but it is.

"They" say that in every loss, something good comes of it. His sister, who had been trying to have a baby for eleven years...eleven years...is due to give birth at the end of October. It is a joyous miracle, I know that. But why does God have to take one before He can give one?

And so tomorrow we will be at church remembering the one year anniversary of losing this beautiful young man, and afterward, we will be attending a shower celebrating the upcoming birth of his first niece.

"A baby is God's way of saying the world should go on."

We love you, kid.

Raise your hand if...you canNOT get out of your own way lately, if your creativity seems to be taking a hiatus, and if you feel all jumbled inside. Yeah, me too.

It sort of feels like my soul is tap-tapping her fingers, rolling her eyes, saying "get it in gear dear girl; you're wasting time".

My "Note from the Universe" this morning is very well-timed...

Be still, Carol.

Stop thinking.

Feel.

Take action.

Visualize.

Repeat.

Yours,
The Universe

Raise your hand if...you're back from vacation and wishing you could find a way to live on the lake for real. Sigh.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. :)

Raise your hand if...you're leaving for a week in northern Vermont tomorrow, on the lake that brings you immense healing, surrounded by mountains and evergreens, with your husband, your three daughters, your mom, AND the dog. :)

It's the place that I crave all year long, the place that I first visited over 30 years ago and have loved ever since. My husband's grandparents had a "camp" on this lake since time began, then his parents were able to own a small camp, then a little larger one, so my husband has grown up on this lake, as have our kids.

I love this place year-round, through every season. It feels like home.

Springtime at the lake doesn't always mean warm temperatures and lots of green! This was taken mid-April...a soft dusting of snow (by that I mean four inches!) covered the landscape when we awoke.

Autumn brings the quintessential New England...color, crisp, chilly air, the smell of wood-burning stoves, the lake beginning to turn its midnight blue.



I almost love it best in the winter because of the quiet that is so profound. As a rule, only the locals are there during the winter and time stands still.

I hope you all have a good week, be it vacation week or not. I'll have more photos to share when we get home. See ya. :)

Hi there. I don't know about where you live, but it's hot as hell here in Massachusetts...hotter than that even! So, what do you do when it's hot as hell? You make sun tea, of course. :)

It's actually too hot for me to work out in my studio, but I wanted to share a photo of what it looks like this summer.

Please note the lovely hydrangea...isn't it sweet? I've had that plant for six or eight years with NO blooms on it. Well, evidently you're not supposed to cut it back every autumn; it blooms on old wood. Who knew? (not me, that's for sure).

I finally let it grown without trimming it and lo and behold...nine blossoms! The header photo on my blog is actually one of the blooms up close. I love the gentle color.

I hope everyone's staying cool and comfortable these days. :)

Hi there again. Well, one guess where I've spent about six hours today...indeed; out in my cottage. I think I've finished just about all that I've been working on this week, so I tried my best to take some photos to share. For whatever reason, whether it's me, the camera, the fact that the tiles are glass and are reflecting...I have no idea. All I know is that the colors I see and the colors the camera show are not the same.

Anyway, just visualize vibrant purples, greens, oranges, yellows, etc., and you'll get a better idea of what these babies truly look like. You might also want to visualize them all being CLEAR! A bunch of them came out blurry as well. Enjoy. :)































































These two I made into magnets.






These three sweeties are a brand new idea I had. They're teeny little rubber stamps and I used my colored pencils to color them in. Ta da! They aren't completely finished yet, but I may have found a brand new addiction passion! Oh my.