Blessings

So as not to be a downer, alls I'm gonna say is that things have been unusually challenging recently in my personal life. That led me to want to make a post to remind myself to think about the positive blessings and not dwell on the negative and I wanted to share some of them with you.

Special places where a person's heart's and soul's desires perhaps from many generations ago are hidden and reveal themselves when they are ready or you are open to their love. Thank heavens I have my art as an outlet, I would have been stuffing my wallet with pizza for years without it (you GOTTA watch Multiplicity A.S.A.P. even if you've seen it, you should see it again).

There's not enough room in the universe to talk about what friends get you through. Even if they are not physically with you, they are the greatest comfort to know that they are out there when you need them or just want to enjoy them.

Plus they don't have to live with you so if you annoy them they take a break and come back later; you are like their grandchildren!

Soul sisters which I also call "soul sitters" because they look after your heart and soul and keep you safe from harm...

...and you do the same for them when they need it and allow it...

...support like none other, for me at least...the greatest gift God's given to me.

And my Family of Man...or men, in my case.

Except for my one "daughter" in India...Lobsong.

Plus Tunesess and the four-legged grandpup, Boh, short for Natty Boh, short for National Bohemian, the National beer of Maryland.

Here and gone...

...waiting to be together again in sweet glory.

And God, Buddha, Mohammad, Allah showing themselves as loving, giving eternal fathers embracing us in good times and bad. Walking with us on the beach or in glass; always with us and always loving us no matter what.

And the winner is...

...drum roll please......Michelle B.!!!!!!! Thank you to all who participated in this giveaway; I wish I had something to sent to all of you, how about my love? I promise to have another giveaway soon. Michelle, please email me your info and I'll get this little pretty out to you right away. Congratulations!

Yee Haw!!!!

I'm at home alone!! This is the first time that Paul and Matt have gone out of town and left me at home (except for my 89-year-old tather-in-law two floors down). I've imagined what I would do with the extra time and without interruptions and, so far, I'm executing things quite well. I've been getting some things done that were way overdue such as painting this great headboard I got from PJ's months ago and just either kept forgetting or hadn't had time to give it a new color. I like it. And, of course, the sanity saver-art. I stayed in my workroom until the wee hours last night and...

...again tonight.

Plus collecting things that have been hanging around waiting for me to pack them up and take them to the shop which I'll be doing tomorrow.

But most of my time has been spent at the show house making this room into...

...this room-so far. Karen and Janine did all the crummy work before I got back and have been there with me while I painted. They did all the taping, priming, and trim, then I just waltzed in, grabbed a roller and got the joy of covering those crappy yellow walls with beautiful robins' egg blue. You probably won't get any more sneak peeks until we are finished decorating-the fun part-but I shall post that a.s.a.p.

I even cleaned up the garden this evening before the bugs got too bad. The things that I have not gotten around to doing are...

...this...

...this...or...

...this. But these are always waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the to-do list so what's new?

Silver Bella Giveaway

Since everyone is champing at the bit for swaps but none have presented themselves yet, I'm going to jump-start things with a giveaway. This giveaway has a bit of a challenge; don't be afraid, I'm sure y'all are all up to it. Here's the deal: Now that your on my blog check out anything/everything you desire but leave a comment on this post and also the post named, "What's New with Doojies @ The Pink Cabbage?". Then go to http://www.mizjuneytalks.blogspot.com/ and get to know a Bella new this year and leave a comment on any of her posts; she's Julia and we've been best friends since we were in elementary school (and we are old). We haven't seen each other in over 15 years but have remained close via email and blogs and will finally be reunited at Silver Bella in November. So many awesome things to look forward to but that will definitely be the cherry and whipped cream for me. Do all this by August 20th and I will draw on the 21st. I shall be equitable about choosing; there will be a hat involved and completely random, no favorites, sorry, though I love you all who I know and all I will get to know; it's an amazing event. Gig 'em. P.S. Oops, I guess you might want some details on this giveaway piece. It's an antique silver plate tea server I got from Chicks Picks topped with a once-rustic bird from the cottage and a little baby bird. I painted all robin's egg blue then covered it with the same color German glass glitter and added a little nest basket with eggs and tied on with a silk ribbon and pink velvet leaves. It stands about 10" tall. Sent to the lucky winner free of charge.

New news of newly new things at The Pink Cabbage

Just a peek here at some of the new changes and rearranges at The Pink Cabbage recently...

...Purse-N-Ality has moved downstairs and added home decor accessories.

And new items from some same friends here and...

...there.

And a new shop went into the space opened upstairs by Purse-N-Ality moving downstairs. Anyway, it's Virginia's Rose and they've got lots of great stuff.

For more photos and info check out The Pink Cabbage blog at http://www.pinkcabbage.blogspot.com/ .

Me and Indi

"I am not my hair..." -India Aire and me

Especially important to me right now..."This too shall pass." -St. Peter and India.Aire

Please read the words to her song:

I've achieved so much in life, but I'm an amateur in love

My bank account is doing just fine but my emotions are bankrupt My body is nice and strong but my heart is in a million pieces

When the sun is shining so am I but when night falls, so do my tears Sometimes the beat is so loud in my heart that I can barely tell the voices apart

Sometimes the fear is so loud in my head that I can barely hear what God says

but then I hear a whisper that this too shall pass

I hear the angels whisper that this too shall pass

my ancestors whisper that this day will one day be the past

so I walk in faith that this too shall pass

The ones that loved me the most turned around and hurt me the worst

Been doing my best to move on but the pain just keeps singing me songs My head and my heart are at war cause love ain't happening the way I want it

Feel like I'm about to break down can't hear the light at the end of the tunnel

is when I pray for healing in my heart to be put back together what is torn apart

and I pray for quiet in my head that I can hear clearly what GOD says

but then I hear a whisper that this too shall pass

I hear the angels whisper that this too shall pass

my ancestors whisper that this day will one day be the past

so I walk in faith that this too shall pass

All of a sudden I realized that it only hurts worst to fight it

So I embrace my shadow and hold on to the morning light this too shall pass...

Life Interupted

I want to take time out from blathering on and on about our trip to Oregon, good as it was. While there an Alabama Ex notified me via email that John Stallings, son of football coach Gene Stallings, had passed away. Gene Stallings was head football coach at Texas A&M while I was growing up in Bryan, Texas and my family was good friends with their family. His older daughter, Annalee, was a good friend of mine. They were/are a truly exceptional family and I believe that's what sustained John far beyond what was expected of him by others. If you would like to read more about this remarkable, inspiring man and his family you can go to: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/COLUMNIST0201/808050344/1002/SPORTS My prayers go out to the Stallings family of sorrow, happiness, hopefulness, and inspiration.

Events...

Crater Lake

It's like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, awestruck. These photos won't do it justice, you gotta go for yourself. Aaron and I decided to do something alone together for the first time in years. We decided to climb Watchman Overlook. It goes from 7400 to 8056 feet, a mile and a half round trip. Above, it's hard to see but the little cabin where you end up is at the top right.

Aaron showing off the view from 8056 feet. I don't think he realized that we were really going all the way up but I think he felt good that we did, at least I hope so.

Aaron discovers a more civilized way to write your name in the snow on the path up to the Watchman Overlook.

It was hard not to whip out the luge and rip down the mountain; we did it the hard way though-walking.

Here's a close up of the cabin at the top-Watchman Overlook.

The color is unbelievable; it's all rain and snow water, pure and clean.

A person could stay and just look for hours and we did.

It's truly azure, sapphire blue.

Diamond Lake

The closest place to stay outside of Crater Lake is Diamond Lake and we stayed here at Diamond Lake Lodge. It reminded me of Big Sur Lodge and many other state park lodges...I love that.

You can see why it's called Diamond Lake although I haven't done it justice in these photos.

The morning we left to go for our second time around Crater Lake the boys got to play bumper boats and had great fun.

Coos Bay

So the deal with Coos Bay is that north of there are all these giant dunes. We found a place where you can rent three or four wheeler atvs or dune buggies or dune trucks and then you go out onto the dunes yourself. Not being the beachy, sandy girl, I let the guys go without me and they had a great time. That's them in the middle heading out. "But what will you do while we're gone?", they asked. Hummmmm, I managed. It was cool but the sun was warm so I laid out on the wooden bench in front of the place and read and relaxed. As I said, I managed.

Matt and Aaron sand surfing.

This young man highly recommends this place for all your dune dragging needs.

The Lighthouse

Next was the lighthouse with this big old boat and some men fishing for buggers in front of it.

Nice lighthouse, one of our first on the West Coast. We've been to many, many on the East Coast. We've got a thing going about them now.

Down the road was another lighthouse but we got distracted by this beach. We spent a couple of hours here, the boys playing in the water and lots of interesting rocks, seaweed, trees, and fauna for me to study and enjoy.

This is how little Aaron and Matt look on the beach compared to the mountain edging up to the sea.The boys getting into the surf.

The Pool

They have a totally cool swim park in Corvallis. I don't know what other pools they have as this is the only one the family has let us see; I'm sure you can see why. There's a separate part where there are huge inter tubes where you can just float and tan or torture others. Here Aaron and Matt are torturing Lucas' travel buddy, Jovis, chasing him all around. It was a question as to who was wearing who out first. And this huge water slide. To the left is all manner of jungle gyms, climbing equipment, stationary (other than being able to aim at the moms' faces as they come out of the water...I still want to give that kid a wedgie) water guns, water falls, and more fun than a kid can have in one day.

So we made a point of going twice this time which is much lower than who knows how many times the last visit, but staying over 3 hours each time made up for it.