Some thoughts about realignment

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I’ve been watching a pair of robins build their nest in the forsythia (fake) wreath on my front door. They did a great job with twigs, grass and mud, but it was a little too heavy and slid to the side of the wreath holder. Oops, the eggs fell out. They built a second nest above the first and the same thing happened, slid to the side and oops, another clutch of eggs hit the floor of the porch. I felt bad for them and this morning, I noticed a pair of robins building in a tree close to the house. I hope that it’s the pair from the porch who made the necessary adjustments to their housing arrangements.

Sometimes, you just need to rethink things.

Flags for a Gray Day

Yesterday was a perfectly beautiful day! I spent several hours hauling year old mulch around my yard, whacking weeds with my scuffle hoe and admiring my handiwork. Today is another story. Cold. Wet. Gray (or is that grey?). So I’m heading to my studio to make some yard flags to cheer me up. I’ll show you a picture when they’re done.

Got a few cut out, stitched up, the day improved and the sun is out!!! Even took a picture, (and video, but that might be more than I can handle getting on here).

End of the century (plant)

We have a little place in Arizona where we can retreat when Central New York winters become too long and gray.  I spent 2 weeks there by myself in February and when I left, the agave in the front yard was its usual pointy sharp self.  Michael and I came out in March and lo and behold, it had sprouted a 6 – 8 foot shoot.  This is the beginning of the end for the century plant which only lives for 25 to 30 year

You almost can’t see me.

New growth

anyway. The name century plant is overly optimistic.  A return visit in May was surprising, it was close to 30 feet tall.  We admired it for a week and then started to wonder what would happen when it fell over.  The leaves were starting to wither and brown, but this is the desert.  We asked the gardener who was working on the common areas around our house to take a look.  He said, “That is very dangerous.”  One chainsaw later and goodbye stalk!  It was very heavy, probably several hundred pounds, so it was a good thing we whacked it before it whacked us or the car.  Now, it is just ugly.

It’s about Time

I’ve been thinking about time lately. I complain about my lack of it, how quickly it goes, how I’m spending it, how we waste it. Before I went to the Uplevel Your Business Gold Retreat in Asheville, I had committed to writing another blog post and I did try to do it the night before the event started, in my hotel room. I couldn’t remember how to do it because I had not spent enough time practicing and couldn’t figure out the link. So I think the point of this post is that I am making a new commitment to really pay attention to time and use it in the way that best feeds my soul.

(The photo is a beautiful sunset over Lake Champlain gleefully lifted from either my daughter, the lovely erin meharg Harris or Jen Kahn Rich, I don’t remember which.  Next time, we’ll see if I can figure out links.)

Movin’ on up

This was erin’s studio and this is her story. However, it’s mine now and there will be a story from me………..eventually.

wear helm

Want to know the best form of procrastination?  Make a big move of your workspace and shop.  Spend several weeks moving and sorting through all your shit, then go on vacation for two weeks.  Return, get the space set up perfectly.  Then paint.  Move all your furniture to one side.  Paint that side.  Move everything to the other side.  Paint the other side.  (It makes much more sense to paint now then when the space was totally empty, trust me).  Then, make a move into a new space.  Do this all in a 4 month period for maximum un-productivity…

I’ve felt stagnant the last few months.  I was very excited to move into my new space in downtown Syracuse.  After getting it all set up, I just didn’t feel inspired.  The building I’m in is great: There are a ton of other artists, everyone is so encouraging and creative, I…

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Spring?

I’m starting to believe it’s coming. It is March 28th, not April Fools Day!

A tale of 2 pens

We have been giving out wonderful bent pens for years at Franklin Square Orthodontics, aka FSO and I always do my spiel where I say, “it’s a bent pen, but we could straighten it out, we’re an orthodontic practice.” Several of our patients mentioned that we should give out straight ones at the end and I did eventually remember to order some. So I had to smile when I noticed that I had 2 pens on the kitchen counter, one straight and one bent. I find the bent one much more interesting as a conversation starter!

6 months later, another post

erin did a great job hooking me up with a blog of my own as my Mother’s Day gift.  Unfortunately,  I didn’t practice very much and totally forgot everything she taught me.  I started a program with Christine Kane a few weeks ago, called UpLevel You which has spurred me to finish some projects and get working on others that have been on the very, very back burner.  One of those was blogging, another was my studio.  It looks as though I may gain a studio outside the home when erin moves back to Vermont.  I will take over her Delavan studio (which is close to Michael’s orthodontic practice) and use it for a metal clay working/quilting space.  Guess that means that I have to change the name of the blog to Metal Quiltodontist!

Not quite ready for Blog Time

OK, so erin gave me this blog for Mother’s Day and we all know that was almost 2 months ago. There we 2 postings and then life intervened and I never got back to it. I am currently following progress on her Kickstarter project – check it out! erin l m harris on Kickstarter, the name of the project is PETite Prints. It is a wonderful heartfelt way to show your love for your pet. I would send you a link, but I don’t know how to do that yet!

My husband and daughter at her wedding. I made that coat with my mother for my senior prom (which I went to with my husband-it’s when he “knew” he wanted to marry me!)

My first actual posting

Well, erin gave me a lovely gift yesterday for Mother’s Day.  She set up a blog for me on Word Press.  A blog was something that I’d said I would like to do some day, but like many women, I never seem to make the time for the intentions that I have stated for myself.

I enjoyed all the pictures of mothers that found their way to people’s Facebook pages and blogs and thought that a picture of my Mom would be an appropriate first posting.

This piece is a faux encaustic that I made at the Red Thread Retreat with Claudine Hellmuth in October.  The theme of the retreat was Me, Myself and I, our past, present and future.  There were three wonderful teachers, Claudine, Nina Bagley and Lesley Riley who each had a day as the featured teacher.  Nineteen women, no cooking, but plenty of eating, wine and 24 hour studio access in a beautiful mountain retreat center.  My Mother would have loved it!