this week

love a small town memorial day parade!

some moleskines ready to mail out for graduation day

the view from my studio

pennyroyal planted in thrifted bowls. i've heard that this herb helps keep bugs away. we shall see.  certainly doesn't keep the birds away as you can see! the table has since been cleaned and painted :)

morning thoughts with milky tea.

ginger's morning thoughts

making thank you tags for orders

hope you're having an amazing week! my youngest comes home from college today so i will have both my boys home for the summer - i'm one happy mama!

weeds

even though the temperatures are still pretty cool for spring and we had a threat of a frost last night, the grass already needs to be cut. but this is what is growing in between all those blades of grass - these lovely violets.

i think some people might consider them weeds, after all they are growing just like dandelions. makes me wonder what makes a weed a weed?

oh the grass can wait a little...

some new work

love notes - mixed media painting

glorious creatures - found text collage on paper

the road to...

via kiki sloane

capricorns

the new year brings two birthdays in our house.  the first is my youngest son and then comes mine two days later.  i'll promise not to go on and on about this but i'm having a hard time believing that my youngest, my baby, is now 18. where did the time go?

i do have to talk about my birthday cake.  for reasons i won't bore you with, my daughter was moving on my birthday.  full blown renting-a-van-filling-it-with-a-couch-bed-etc.-moving.  so for more reasons i won't bore you with my middle son and i went with my daughter to her new home 2 and 1/2 hours away and helped her while my youngest stayed home.  we didn't get home till 2:30 in the morning but there, waiting for me, was a birthday cake, baked by my youngest who had never made a cake before in his life.  he even shaved some chocolate on top.  it was so unexpected.  it was beautiful.  it was delicious.  best birthday cake i ever had at 2:30 in the morning. 

and i was so pleasantly surprised to find the next post art exchange in my mail box!  even the mailer is a work of art.  now i've got to add my little bit to it and send it on.  i am loving this whole experience.  

measuring time

i've been quiet here for awhile but there's been lots happening.  much thinking and testing out this empty nest thing that seems to be going on without my consent and despite the dragging of my heels.  i can remember laughing and rolling out cookie dough with my daughter when she was 3 years old.  now she's just moved out and gone to the big city and even though it was time for her to go i still miss her like crazy.  middle son is away at college and youngest son is in the process of applying to colleges.  i find myself thinking, at odd moments, - this time next year you'll be preparing for thanksgiving on your own lisa.  or - you're going to be doing a lot less laundry next year.  don't get me wrong, i'm thrilled for them.  after all isn't that the job of a mother, a parent?  to raise your kids the best you can so they can go out and be awesome people and live happy lives? 

i know this.  i do.

  

maybe i'm just having trouble figuring out what i'm gonna do with myself. like, um, maybe that means i have to get a life.  hmmm...

so in honor of thoughts about time passing here's the second annual humble hand drawn fortune cookie wisdom calendar for 2013.  such a mouthful.:)

i just found out that my calendar has been featured at mercantile muse.  pam holds a link party every couple of weeks and i've been lucky to have been featured there once before.  on her blog she shares moments in her life with great humor and sensitivity.  she has also built a strong community by sharing what she knows, everything from recipes to business tips including her awesome link party.  

here's a couple of my favorites from her shop 

thanks pam!


and i just feel the need to say out loud that i haven't started my christmas shopping yet.  not one gift.  anybody else in the same boat as me?
i hope not.

sunday

one down, one to go.  ginger brew to help this cold go away.

leftover homemade soup in yes, a cool whip container, for lunch, to help this cold go away.

my daughter's pearls, unstrung

i sat, with youngest son, in the wreckage that is my studio, and listened to him laugh on the phone with his friend.  his complete abandon, his joyful laughter made my sunday.  oh those little moments.