My Quiet Corner

I live with my 2 adorable cats and my husband of 23 years, in our first home in western CT, not very far from the red dot. In this part of the state, there are many long, winding roads, barns & farms, covered bridges as well as a rich Native American history (Chief Waramaug, the great sachem, lived nearby) with lots of trees and still wild areas, where the houses are fairly spread apart. Not being able to see neighbors, was in our top 5 criteria when we were looking to buy and.. meeting all 5 and THEN SOME, is most likely why we're still here, 21 years later and still in love with the location.

Last night on the porch and today (forecast, above) were perfect examples, of the peace and the rejuvenation that we find here in the solitude of living on a dead end street in beautiful New England: quiet except for the tree toads and cicadas, taking naps, watching a Red Sox baseball game and having to put on sweats before dinner! Nature is all around us and we enjoyed the show that the "battling hummingbirds" were putting on for us at the 2 feeders and even heard the Barred Owl pair screeching deep in the woods.

I am ever grateful that we both count the simple things as blessings, because we have SO MUCH to be thankful for! Living in a quiet corner of our town, being surrounded by trees and having privacy from the neighbors, being perched on the edge of a large, protected nature preserve for hiking and snowshoeing and having so many back roads for biking and long walks with little traffic.. oh, yes, and our health and each other!

April in Boston. At a ballgame, of course!

Art From My Heart

Tonight, as I was browsing through my flickr collection of the same name, I recalled many fond memories of the wonderful mixed media artist friends I've made over the years through collaborations of all shapes and sizes. We met through flickr, our blogs, Ebay ATC groups, Yahoo groups, NINGs from 6 years ago, challenges, swaps, skinny books, art-e-zine and SO MUCH MORE. So.... here is a random selection of a few of my older art pieces that were part of all that "coming together!" 

I am happy to say, many of us still keep in touch!

Thank you for inspiring me, dear friends! (Art is from June 2007-Nov 2009.)

Gratitude & Little Henry

After somewhat of a drought this summer, I'm happy to report I've felt a :: RUSH :: of creativity over the last week or so, and have been busily working in my art journals, being open to the process and letting the creativity f.l.o.w.

I also attribute my continued affection toward art journaling to the amazing wealth of inpiration I find in my artist friends:

• Effy Wild
• Samie Kira
• Stephanie Gagos
• Tamara Laporte

..spending time catching up on their amazing work through their blogs, facebook groups and social websites on NING. Please take a moment to see the WEALTH of information, classes, youtube tutorials, workshops & private coaching that some of them offer!! 

And here's my latest spread about my 17 year-old father's favorite photography subject: his littlest brother, Henry and their family dog circa 1937 ~

A Love Affair

Yes, I must fess up, it's true! I'm head-over-heels in love with my iphone/apps, since i bought my phone on 3 July (who's counting?) and I've already maxed out the memory :C

Could you blame me???

15 July

27 July

7 aug

14 aug

29 aug

Surrounded by so much captured beauty, i am exhilarated; invigorated and therefore inspired to continue making art, taking more photographs... and have even returned to writing poetry after DECADES of silence. For all of that, I remain forever grateful. This is what truly makes my heart sing!

Farquhar Family: Julia

Our dear grandmother was an actress & a performer at heart, illustrated by her glamorous pose and the "come-hither" expression in her eyes. Having a great sense of humor, no doubt she was simply joking around for the camera!!

At her happiest on stage, julia was born in an era where good methodist girls did NO SUCH THING! And although I can easily imagine she had dreams of bigger stages, I am grateful that she was able to satisfy at least PART of those dreams by devoting as much time as possible singing in the choir, also as a soprano soloist, acting in church plays, performing piano recitals and even accompanying a silent film or two, I've been told.

PERFORMANCE was the breath in her body, the light in her eyes and the fire in her heart. Sadly she was tied down with 4 young children by the time she was 30 and dealt with much stress and strife in her homelife throughout the decades. I have a strong feeling there was alot more beneath the surface, a true ARTIST, if anyone took the time to really know her. I love her and acknowledge her bright spark and the creative juices that flowed through her veins.

Thank you, mimi, for that part of you... inside of me. XO

Art Journal page 10Jun11

From an earlier blog post about counting my blessings with 3 of my flower photos, I was inspired to write a little "poem" in my written journal. Next, a prompt from Tee Thompson of green isles crafts inspired me to re-create this on a page in my ART journal and it felt like a FULL CIRCLE moment to me! Maybe YOU'LL be inspired by a word or an image here so that I can "pay it forward."

refreshed & renewed

Sitting here today I had a growing feeling that I needed to take a moment to reflect on what's behind me and what's ahead of me.

Currently in the US our flowers are in bloom and the change of seasons seem to make me want to quietly count my blessings one-by-one and, almost like a stopwatch, hit the RESET button. If I don't stop for a few precious minutes to focus on all of the positives in my life, then I find it's all too easy to get caught up in all of the million little tasks at hand and ultimately, I begin to feel frustrated... believing there's ever ENOUGH!!

Time
Money
Projects Completed
Trips Taken
Goals Met
People Seen
Emails Sent
Phone calls Made

~ you fill in the blank.

And I was inspired to jot this down on a piece of paper..

"There is healing found in the cycles of the natural world and I'm certain it was here that God intended we discover the lesson of renewal. Ebb and Flow. Sunrise and Sunset. Wax and Wane. Summer's Warmth and Winter's Cold. Give and Take. Birth and Death. Tides, Sun, Moon, Seasons, Life. When we take the time to contemplate the mysteries that surround us… questions are answered. And we emerge refreshed... renewed."

Happy Spring into Summer!

A Family's Pride for "Our" WWII Veteran

A little background history on naval aviation in the US:

By the end of WWI, Naval Aviation had firmly established itself as a premier fighting force for our country. At this time, approximately 100 pilots were being trained each month. As the nation entered into WWII, Naval Aviation and Pensacola was again called upon to produce the much needed flight crews to support the war effort. Naval Aviator production grew to over 1000 pilots a month and the Navy's aircraft inventory swelled to over 130,000 aircraft and during 1944, NAS Pensacola trained an all time high of 12,010 pilots that year. It is said that the War in the Pacific was largely won by the heroic actions of Naval Aviators aboard the carriers that wages war both at sea and during the island campaigns supporting the Marines and Army ground forces.

His story:

After college, my father joined the Navy and waited to be called. Upon graduation from Springfield College, with a degree in Phys.Ed., he returned to his hometown in New Jersey and taught the same while coaching Basketball. I recently learned that during this same time, in addition to teaching and coaching, he also travelled the short distance to Philadelphia and was a dance instructor (in his spare time) for Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

When dad was called up, he was selected for Naval Air Primary Flight Training Command, studying long and hard over the next 9 months, to become a pilot. He studied at some of the top universities on the east coast and was eternally grateful for what he called, "a million dollar education!"


Following several months deliberation, it was determined that dad's graduating class would not be needed for active duty, as our military successes increased and there was no longer a need to replace our downed pilots. My father would become a (fighter plane) Flight Instructor. Having gotten his wings, my parents could now go forward with their plans to be married. What a relief my mother must've experienced to learn her new husband would remain stateside and they could live off-base together!


... and they lived happily ever after, married for almost 60 years - xo

"Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime."

~William Shakespeare

For my sweet, precious mother. You are a TREASURE and we love you so much. Happy 86th Birthday!
soft gel txr image, heat embossed handmade frame.

HEALTH UPDATE: mom was diagnosed with rectal cancer in may. Her CT Scan, Laproscopic Ultrasound, a physical exam, and soooo many prayers, indicated she is one of the lucky few that did NOT require either a colostomy, chemo or radiation! On June 11 she was scheduled to have "SAME DAY SURGERY" in her home state of Vermont with approximately 4 weeks needed to heal while she stayed with me in CT until she could sit and/or drive comfortably.

She was kept overnight for observation, most likely due to her age and physical condition as well as the face down positioning for surgery. Mom was discharged the very next day...... back at our house it was a different story.

Unbeknownst to us, she began to develop "aspirational pneumonia" that first night and around 9Am the next day, we called her surgeon followed by 911 and got her right back into a different hospital in a different state! She had fantastic care, throughout the 13 days she spent in the hospital and while regaining her strength at the Rehab Center. She is back in her home in Vermont and has just been cleared by her doctor to drive... only one month after surgery.

I have all of the faith in the world that she will be completely back to her former self in the next few weeks and, no doubt, begin contemplating the 3 annual trips we take (when we can) to the south jersey shore in September, to her next Boston red sox game and this time we're planning on seeing The Cloisters in our annual mother-daughter trip to NYC!

Thank you again to all of our family and friends for your steadfast love & support and for all of your prayers, flowers and good wishes. We truly appreciate you and know how important a support system is to health, healing and general well-being! Added to that I had a friend that was travelling to her family home in Brazil for her brother's wedding right before mom's surgery. She was able to include a special blessing for our mother in Basilica of Bom Jesus Lord Iguapea. She brought back 2 prayer ribbons from this amazing church that has been recognized, for several hundred years, as a location for religious pilgrimage. "Eunice, you touched our hearts! - xox"

So, please schedule a colonoscopy today if you are 50 or older and consult your doctor to schedule one sooner if polyps run in your family because ~ PREVENTATIVE medicine ~ saves ~ lives! ~

Begin Again

"Don’t ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs

is people

who have come alive."

-Howard Thurman

So I'm back, bottle of glue in hand.. ready and willing to share my gifts with the world! In other words, although I haven't posted in nearly 2 months, I assure you I've been:

TAKING A LOCAL BOOK ALTERING CLASS, Going to Redsox games, MAKING MORE ART, Tending my roses, EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TECHNIQUES, Making new friends, SIGNING UP FOR A LOCAL ART JOURNAL WORKSHOP, Lots of photograpy, STRETCHING MY ARTISTIC WINGS. Basically I have been loving my life and counting each and every blessing.

Pics to follow... stay tuned, dear friends!

Forget Them Not

Today is Veteran's Day in the US and, unlike Memorial Day which honors those that PERISHED in service to their country, it is an opportunity to honor ALL U.S. military veterans!

This is a special post because I am an extremely proud daughter of a WWII veteran who passed away 3.5 years ago at the age of 85, wrapped in his family's arms. (we miss you, dad!)

Following my father's college graduation, with a nation at war, he enlisted in the pilot training program for the United States Navy. Travelling up and down the East Coast studying long and hard at several of the top universities, he called it "a million dollar education" and he was grateful for the opportunity! Receiving his wings in early 1945, dad was in line to become one of the elite fighter pilots for the US Navy. Shortly before marrying my mother (and LUCKY FOR US) his graduating class was RANDOMLY selected to remain state-side and he became a Flight Instructor stationed at Barin Filed in Pensacola, Florida, USA. Their lives were forever changed by the collective pain and sacrifice of so many.

One month before their wedding day, Germany surrendered.

Every year, on this day, our nation pays tribute to its war dead by symbolically laying a presidential wreath & the playing of "Taps" at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields… - John_McCrae

My husband and I wish to give our heartfelt thanks to all who serve!

~ You are our h.e.r.o.e.s. ~