friends are like perennials

i was thinking about a conversation i had with my sweet friend joanne, about flowers.  which in turn made me think about my dear friends i have in my life.  each one of you are like the perennial flowers i have planted in my gardens. you are there for me year after year. you are a constant and i don't have to worry about you not returning the next year.  you are brilliant and beautiful and bursting forth with the tenderness of a newborn.  the one i chose to delete from my life this year, must have been an annual.  there will be no returning next year, or any year.  that flower had thorns that hurt me.  i didn't need that.

flowers,  like friends need nurturing and care.  some flowers are newer than others in my garden, as are my friends.  but i care deeply for each of you as if you have been planted there for decades. 

what is planted in your garden?  xo

Hoppy Monday!!

hoppy monday to you!

one of my little fellows that live in my garden in caliente!

hope you have a "ribbiting" good week!  xo

Charming gardeners

LET US BE GRATEUL

To people who make us happy;

They are the charming gardeners

who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

pictures of my backyard in boulder city.

what makes your soul blossom?

xo

don't look back!

Summer is just flying by, which suits me just fine since the summers are so brutal here in southern Nevada.  Looking forward to our vacation in Oregon in the fall.  Autumn is my favorite season, and especially spent in the beautiful state of Oregon.  The colors must rival New England, at least in my mind!  I am always in amazement at the vast amount of colors, textures and fauna that i experience when I am there. From ferns of every kind to the moss.  MOSS, coming from the desert, this is quite appealing to me. The campground hosts and park rangers are always chuckling as I scurry around Valley of the Rogue campground outside Grants Pass, Oregon, picking up acorns by the pound,  filling my bags with beautiful leaves and picking the lonely blackberry stragglers left on the bushes.  Sitting by the mighty Rogue River and daydreaming of living on it feeds my soul.  This year I intend to sit there with my sketchbook.

Yesterday, my husband Lee and I went to Las Vegas to do some shopping and get groceries.  We stopped by the Total Wine and More store to look around.  As we were checking out, the cashier Pamela asked Lee for his I.D. with his credit card.  So me being the smart ass I am, asked Lee who he was. The cashier said to me "i know you just met him in the parking lot and want him to buy you some beer, because you are underage."  I laughed and said "I wish".  She said, not me, she wouldn't go back.  She said marriages and kids and life in general.  She wants to only look ahead and not look back.  Wow!  I thought about it and told her how that really was so true.  She said there is so much to look forward to.  I couldn't stop thinking about that all day.  I tend to revert back to the past, and the what if's, and maybe if I had done this or that differently.  I really want to focus on today and think of all the wonderful things I have going for me and the wonderful people I have in my life NOW.  Thank you Pamela and if you read this and I didn't quote you exactly right, set me straight! 

Last week I got to Skype with my sweet friend Livve in the U.K. and Phyllis in North Carolina.  Phyllis got us on a group chat.  I LOVED Livvie's accent.  We are all excited and busy planning our grand adventure to Artfest in Port Townsend, Wa. next spring.  There is a group of us that met online during Misty Mawn's class.  We formed such a strong bond, that we are all sharing a house up there. Of course I am sharing a room with one of my very bestest friends in the world, Jodi Kincaid!  I can't imagine getting to meet my stretching sisters in real life!  Wishing our friends Michele Redman, Joanne Rose, Kristin Hyde and Jenny Wentworth could join us.  That would make this journey complete!

Guess I will quit babbling and let you enjoy your Tuesday.  What are you planning for the week?
Have a wonderful week and DON'T LOOK BACK!  xoxo  Carlanda

her name is Dottie.  5x5 canvas.

friday's funnies

Hi ya'll! I am surprised I still have my eyes open and it is only 5:43 pm, considering I was still wide awake and chatting with Phyllis on the computer till 2:30 am or so.  Menopause and artsy thoughts and jewelry designs and painted collaged canvases racing around in my head (oh my)! makes it hard for a girl to get some decent sleep! Looks like I could pack for Europe in the bags under my eyes!!

I must say my day started wonderfully, with a shared conversation between the always lovely Joanne Rose and myself.  If she is not the sweetest, kindest, kindred spirit sister I have, I'll eat Phyllis' new hats!  Thank you Joanne.  You inspire me and I admire you!  xo

Today had some funny moments I would like to share with you.  I went to Las Vegas to get groceries at Trader Joe's and use my Joanns and Hobby Lobby coupons. I was so pleased to see that Joanns is making a large section with Tim Holtz products. They are expanding their jewelry section and carrying vintaj elements, but sadly they are downsizing their fine art section. I  got some 2 oz jars of liquitex concentrated professional acrylic paints for $1.97 ea. on clearance and some flat canvases.  Lots of coupons and some good deals.  Then went to Hobby Lobby and FINALLY  they had Jen Cushman's book "Explore, Create, Resinate".  Used my 40% off (or... as some husbands say "60% on) coupon.  Deal!  I would love to save for a nice big easel.  Hmmmm....maybe for Christmas!  My little 8x10" canvases will look just swell on a big ole easel!!  Then I went to Trader Joe's.  I had my cart full of healthy, organic stuff and I notice this lady, about my age looking at me.  Is she looking at those bags under my eyes??  She comes really close and in a low voice says "you look like you know your way around this store, can you tell me about the fruit?"  THE FRUIT??  I said I buy it all the time and it is fine.  She smiled and thanked me and left.  Bizarro!  Maybe I looked like I knew my way around the store from the size of my butt!  Then I headed back to Boulder City with the 108 degree temp.  Here I sit needing to make some phone calls and do some painting, but...there is always tomorrow!

The funnies:
1.  I saw a sign in a strip mall for "great massages".  What is the alternative?  Bad massages?
2.  A sign for a business called "Pretty Kitty", a  brazilian wax joint!!  LOL!  Wish I could have snapped a picture with my phone.  I will the next time by there.
3.  The expiration date on the vinegar.  Really?  And how do you know it has gone bad?  It smells good?

Also a miraculous day for me.
1.  I didn't buy a tootsie roll at Joanns on the way out.  (probably a first!)
2.  I didn't stop and get a bean burrito at Taco Bell.  (maybe another first)
and....
3.  I spent less than $100.00 at Trader Joe's!

"Simone"

Collaged and painted on 8x10" canvas

If you are still hanging in there reading this, what did  you do on this fabulous Friday?  I'd love to hear from you.  Have a great weekend and enjoy life.  As my favorite saying goes.......Live the life you've imagined.  xo

my journey begins TODAY

My most favorite coffee cup.

Love the colors.

Love the scooter.

But MOST of all...

I love the message.

Let your journey begin TODAY.

the desert

i have been pondering my thoughts about leaving the desert behind, when we move to oregon.  will i miss it? certain aspects i will.  i have lived here for 56 years and have suffered headaches from the unforgiving heat. and i am sad my skin looks parched with sunspots, even though it has been slathered with creams and sunscreen.  won't miss that!  i do though, enjoy spending time in the quiet, peaceful desert.  sitting on a rock, wondering who walked there before me, searching for beautiful rocks, chasing lizards that are always a fingertip away, and smelling the sagebrush after a desert rain.  sunsets in the desert are brilliant.  lightning storms are vivid.  the wild horses and burros are fascinating. searching through forgotten dumps, left by pioneers long before us is always rewarding.  looking for arrowheads and flint left behind by the indians that lived on this land, is always fun.  will i find another desert in oregon to explore..of course i will!  but in the meantime, i am giddy with excitement anticipating the rain.  that phenomenon of liquid falling from the sky that we don't get to enjoy very often here!  i know it is not for everyone, but cloudy, gray, rain swollen clouds make my heart skip a beat!  i actually get more accomplished and my muse works overtime when it is overcast.  i'll leave you with a poem i wrote after being in the desert this past year.

the desert

the desert floor sparkles like finely ground glitter

too bad it is covered in so much litter

the fresh smell of sage indulges my senses

the stillness and quiet remove all my tensions

who walked here before me, i'd love to know

lakota, choctow or maybe the crows

for now i'll enjoy this glorious day

picking up rocks along my way

what are you pondering today?  have a wonderful sunday and thank you for coming by for a visit!