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...among us, and oh so pretty. Remembering these gorgeous babies I found out beside the barn in Cadrieu, makes me smile. One winter, they were prolific. When I look at these photos, it makes me want to sit outside on a nearby stone to reach out and touch them...the fungi, the moss, the damp wood; and probably a very wet seat to my overalls!
Sounds heavenly to me!
When I found out I was going to have to push my trip home back from the end of April to the end of June; I was devestated. But I was most disappointed because I was not going to be able to have Evelyn's Lucie with me when Evelyn makes a return to the states.
Dali, Sam and I always loved having Lucie with us. She is part of our family.
This trip, Sam will be staying with her Uncles Mike and John at Mahogany Oaks while I'm in Cadrieu. (She's her usual lump under the covers whether she's in Cadrieu, Covington, or on Columbus Street.) So, I'll be running solo. What a great time it would have been to reconnect with one of our chosen four-legged family.
I know Evelyn will share her with me while we're both there.
Can't wait for those Lucie hugs and kisses!
Days in my life are so much more fluid than when I was working full-time for others. Even though there is form to my weeks with teaching, appointments and special work projects; I find I still lose track of what day it is from time to time.
I tend to chalk it up to getting "older", but it reflects much more than age.
Sunday is my regroup day. All those days between Sundays can jumble up as much as they want, but Sunday gets me back on track. Do you really need to know what day it is? My parents would often say that it didn't make any difference because they didn't really have anything they had to do anyway.
I really got to thinking about it when my friend Carol Miles posted one of those crazy quizzes from FB that tells you something about yourself based on their informaiton. This one answered: At what age will you retire?
Carol got "70". I laughed because she and I had just been talking on the phone about retirement. She saw herself working a long time into the future. I didn't. Carol had observed that I would have absolutely no problem retiring. I roared when taking the same quiz, I got the age of "56".
When I was 56 years old, it was 2010 and I was living in Cadrieu full time. I'd begun to work contracts that took me away for two months at a time to various locations in Europe, and I'd generally do about two of those per year. As you can see, I was semi-retired in my own way at the age of "56".
It can be difficult to go from very rigid structure in your life to no structure at all.
My journey to living a "retirement" life-style began in 1998 when I quit my job and went to spend two months in France-5 weeks in Tour de Faure and 3 weeks in an apartment in Paris.
I confronted my own cold turkey journey that summer, and have since eased in to piecing my work and my "life" life together in ways that make sense for me. I've been told I make it look easy. It's not. Truth be told, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina kicked that process up to the speed of light!
But, I wouldn't trade it for a million dollars.
As I begin my long range planning to MORE "retirement" in 2017 that begins with 2 months home in Cadrieu this summer; my eyes are on the prize of spring next year with full-time home once more. It won't really matter what day it is. I will be able to live in to all my days to the natural flow.
I better see if I can find where I put that poppy hat!!!
Happy Sunday!
...and so much fun in overalls! These shots jumped out at me this morning, as I remembered a conversation that I had with Stew and Eric when they came for dinner last night. I've had similar conversations with other friends. You know you're really good friends with people when:
You don't have to put on your earrings and lipstick;
You can stay in your pajamas;
It's okay to wear your slippers; and after last night,
It's okay to have dinner with your friends with your curler in your hair!
I did at least check to see if it bothered them. It was loads of fun and just plain comfortable. So many of my friends fit this bill. I am blessed! And, I'm especially blessed in overalls.
These photos were taken by my friend Marina Gendel during the summer of 2014 in Cadrieu. That hot pink chapeau was my 60th birthday present. Hmmm-62 in Cadrieu this year! Can't wait! Huge Merci to Marina!
I have come to the grand realization that I NEED NATURE! I am going through LONG TERM NATURE WITHDRAWAL. I've now participated in two 7-day nature photo events on FB. The first go round, I followed the instructions and stuck to the one photo and asking friends to join.
The second time I wanted to do something different, so I collaged 5 nature photos but did NOT ask my friends to join. It felt too much like a chain letter or some kind of coersion to me.
I found I enjoyed my collages of five very much, and so did my friends. I also found that (very different than in New Orleans) I am immersed, plunged and surrounded by nature at home in Cadrieu.
Nature is so easy for me there.
You'll find nature inside and outside of the Chatette.
And so today, when soothing strength is needed; I want to share the pure joy and glory of nature at home.
All of these shots are from the summer of 2012, as Dali, Sam and I were having to make the difficult decision to return to the states.
Happy Friday...
...and ENJOY!
Our Dal was still with us then. Little did we know that we would only have six more months with her once we returned. She was our girl. We still miss her...a couple last shots in homage to our sweet and wonderful Dali...who I miss as much or even more than I miss nature!
In the midst of layers of cascading color and dancing-prancing plumes everywhere; it was insteresting to see that some of the Downtown Mardi Gras Indians opted for no feathers, few feathers, and dressed in black. They stood out in the flow of things and quickly pulled my eyes and my camera to them. It was almost restful to see a little something different!
And, fun...
...passing on Orleans Avenue!
Enjoy!
...faraway
the diamonds dance
most everyday.
If by chance
you wish to dance
a Lot of
diamond light
and love
will fill your heart.
Ever since the new neighbors moved in next door, we have had visitors in the yard. Two cats, one tiger and one black and white. I wasn't sure if one belonged to the renters and one belonged to the owner, but I discovered that both "Henry" (Tiger) and "Pele" (BW) belong to the renters who are on the driveway side of our place.
Not only do I have names and genders now, but when I teased my neighbor about Pele being a soccer guy, he explained that he'd actually been found wrapped in a soccer net.
I'd seen my neighbor on the street the other morning and had gone out to let him know that I'd seen Henry foaming at the mouth the other morning. I was concerned. I became even more concerned when he told me that he hadn't been home for a while and had been gone longer than usual. What I didn't tell him was that I'd heard screaming animals under the house and that I was now afraid that maybe Henry was the aroma I'd been smelling recently.
When I saw him out in the car in the neighborhood looking for Henry, I broke down and told him that I was afraid that maybe Henry was under our house.
He'd mentioned maybe coming to crawl under the house and take a look, but he hasn't mentioned it again when I've seen him.
It breaks my heart to think it's Henry. Part of the reason that I don't let Sam outside at all here is because of the time when one of our 4 cats at the time, little teenage girl Bijou, was out and a wild dog had gotten attacked her under the house. Dali knew something was wrong, she ran up and down in the yard along the side of the house barking and crying-I was afraid it was Bijou, and I was right. It broke my heart. I still hear her screams and feel mine and Dali's distress. Since then, no more outside cats.
I don't have any photos of Henry, but Pele has been a real poser. My neighbor told me that Pele knows what room they're in and sits on that ledge outside their window. All I have to do is knock on my kitchen window and he is happy to turn around for me. The other day, I was able to scoop some other fun shots of him out in the yard.
Here's hoping Henry returns and Pele is careful. Sam will continue to watch from the back door, where she isn't happy about it-but she's my safe and inside girl when we're in New Orleans.
...& lace,
carry me to a place of
peace,
magic, &
beauty.
It's a place where
a flower grows
& the shadow knows.
I am home.
The garden is really coming along this year. First it was the blooming orchid tree from Stew and Eric. Then, I got Mom's memorial camellia from Pat and Monsieur Honey planted. The trumpets are trumpeting regularly. The bananas are bursting.
And then, what I assumed to be a very basic green house plant (that was left behind by a former tenant), began blooming. I'd never seen anything like this. First there was long and pink and then there were all of these beautiful tiny bursts of navy, yellow, green and pink blooms on the ends. I had no idea what it was, and was totally content until my friend Evelyn Jackson asked if I knew.
I sent a photo to Kat and Tom M. to see if Tom might know. He and his family have had Merello and Sons Landscaping for years. Tom didn't know, but we have another ace in the hole. Tom's sister Mary works at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Mary asked her friend Bruce who informed us that this plant is:
Billbergia Nutans
Evidently, it flowers like crazy for a few days and then just goes back to being green.
I sent this information on to Evelyn, who wrote back and said that she'd googled it and that it's common name is:
Queen's Tears
With our Queen's Tears beginning to fade in the garden, I decided to bring some of them inside to put in a vase to spruce us up for a little wine and cheese I was having on Friday evening. I'm out there cutting away with the pruner, only to discover that these long pink babies lifted right out with no effort at all.
I'm going to miss these guys when they're gone. They are so pretty, unique and so totally unexpected. What another wonderful garden surprise this year!