‘a soft morning rain…’

This morning I awoke to the sound of soft pattering rain which I love as it infuses the air with the scent of white lilacs (in my garden) and seaweed. I have a little porch off my studio that nestles right into the topmost branches of the apple tree, and so I made myself a cup of green tea and sat in a quite meditation lulled with the sound of this gentle spring rain.

I have been thinking about putting up a shelf in my studio to place small flotsam and jetsam I collect on the beach, (seaglass, shells, driftwood, feathers) the tiny perfume bottle you see pictured above with a wildflower and perhaps a favorite polaroid ~ but have not been at all inspired with shelving I see in the shops. In my heart of hearts I imagine a piece of flat driftwood, tumbled by the sea and bleached by the sun would be exactly perfect.

‘looking…..’

So, on my morning beach walk my dog and I kept an eye out for that very special piece of driftwood that would become a shelf in my studio, in my house by the sea. We did not find it on this walk but we found many other things…an eagles feather, a starfish stranded on the beach after the tide withdrew (so we carefully put it back in the water) an abandoned blue plastic shovel for scooping sand and a little red baby crab.

‘waiting….’

when I returned home I curled up with tea and toast and read from a book I just purchased recently and love to bits. ‘Absence and Presence’ is a beautiful book filled with writings, poetry and remembrances of Pablo Neruda as well as a treasure trove of incredible black and white photo’s taken in his home at Isla Negra. If I haven’t mentioned it a least a zillion times I have quite the crush on this man with his vivid intellect, passion and deep love of his country and humanity. This book is rich with intimacy and these photo’s of his home he shared with Matilde are wonderfully revealing to me.

But I digress:)

As I was glancing through images of his home (oh my! he loved little ships in glass bottles just like me!) I stumbled upon a small remembrance by Mario Toral and it read….

‘In Isla Negra, just when his new workroom had been built, he said to Matilde, “I need a desk, a special desk….I don’t know what, but it has to be special.”
Matilde made various suggestions ~ windows, old doors ~ which he waved aside. One day, looking out to sea from the almost finished room, he saw something that caught his attention.
“Matilde! Matilde! My desk! My desk!”
They both went down to the beach and sat on the sand, waiting for a wave to wash up the wood that was to be Neruda’s desk.

and so….

I shall wait too.

‘pablo’s peaches’ ~ photo by madelyn mulvaney taken with a vintage sx70 polaroid camera

It is Sunday

I made cinnamon coffee in my moka pot and there is real Irish oatmeal with fresh organic cream, raspberries, hemp seeds and brown sugar (and a little drizzle of maple syrup)

the birds are singing and experimenting with interpretive dance steps outside my window

There is a record spinning on the turntable.

I read Lily’s (I call her Lily but she is actually Judy) interview curled up on the couch with said coffee listening to said record

and decided right then and there that Judy’s interview is a Sunday conversation

perhaps the only sunday conversation i will ever post because i am very territorial about sunday’s and would prefer to sing my own praises

but Judy’s interview helped herself to a cup of coffee and announced

‘I can’t help but think I am especially excellent Sunday material. Send me out there to wow your small but devoted audience.’

so i admit i am quite inclined to say yes…therefore…without further ado ~ I present the wondersome Judy Ford.

My world is often filled with green things and hello

Today my lovely friend Debi sent me the entire chapter entitled ‘oasis’ from ‘wind, sand and stars’ to read….and these lines resonated with me (well…the whole of the chapter gave me such a profound and curious sense of dazzled recognition but these lines leapt off the page)

‘Space is not the measure of distance. A garden wall at home may enclose more secrets than the Great Wall of China, and the soul of a little girl is better guarded by silence than the Sahara’s oases by the surrounding sands. I dropped down to earth once somewhere in the world. It was near Concordia, in the Argentine, but it might have been anywhere at all, for mystery is everywhere.’

~wind, sand, and stars ~

Oh yes.

Today I am working on an interview I was asked to do for a very talented and provocative  woman  and I am realizing with such a fervor that I am drawn to subjects which grace  the gorgeous and essential rhythms of the natural world….springtime (of course), the changes of the moon, the tides of the seas, the chatter of rivers, language of leaves and the constant and eternal presence of the stars.  Amen.

This week’s lesson coming up for my e~course is ‘creative space’ so I shot this little film this afternoon ~ I had my dog and two boys and was suddenly infused with the idea of making a gallery down by the sea…the boys held the string (fishing tackle) the dog chased the seagulls..and I believe I shot this video (on my little point and shoot camera) ohhhh…5 times because the boys kept laughing and messing up my natural soundtrack. It was a very misty evening but I quite like the moodiness of this little film. I just love the idea of an outdoors gallery, or an organic clothing shop in the forest (with clothes hanging on branches) ~ I am so completely at home in the wild expanse of nature.

Oh! Oh! Oh! and speaking of creative ~ pop by here and see what these two beautiful women are up to:)

i picked you, as an apple is picked by the little peasants for their girls
~ee cummings ~

Today was extraordinary for one bright daylight hour as I lived with the earth.  The autumn sun struck through  branches, patches of clamoring moss , rosy crabapples. Which I swear, I was so pleased with, you would think I grew them myself as I gathered them up, beaming, in a basket. To make crab apple jelly I am thinking now. I set up my little portable record player and spun around to Jelly Roll Morton which is how I claimed the idea of crab apple jelly in the first place.

A poem.  This garden hour was  a poem. And I am completely, madly, deeply in love with yellow. Stay tuned:) Tomorrow I will return to a home I have loved….pick up a computer….a box of books and say farewell to the lilac tree.

Persisting Stars ~ ‘Yes’ course update: This course which began on Sunday is officially oversold! However, you are welcome to register for my January classes here:)

Have a most beautiful week:)

I am fully in the midst of a move ~ which, well, is not the loveliest way to spend hours upon hours I must say. There are several silver linings however as this morning I am shopping for paint ~ beautiful rich painterly yellow’s, deep indian blues and even a gorgeous green somehow insisted on sneaking in there. I am not above asking if anyone out there would like to come by and pitch in as I am having a painting party ~ I will be supplying autumn soups, rustic bread, salads, music and guinness beer:)

The weather is so beautiful and this afternoon I am going to take my bicycle out for a little spin down to the beach to take some photo’s with my new Holga ~ and some pictures of my front porch. I think I am going to miss my front porch most of all in the house I am about to leave. So many soft evenings of star gazing twined with mornings sipping coffee, a beautiful book.

Yesterday I drove past my very own ‘unphotographable’ ~ (this is a picture I did not take) ~ a woman dancing happily to the music on her ipod at the bus stop ~ all the while staring at herself in the reflection of the bus stop stand mirror, completely unconcerned with the surprised (and delighted) stares of passerby’s. Made me smile:)

Oh! and I have a giveaway today over at Soulemama ~ so pop by and say hi:) Have a most wonderful Saturday:)

‘I imagine that yes is the only living thing.’~ ee cummings ~

Today I said yes! to singing along to my  vinyl records, pumpkin spice cookies, a walk on the beach collecting sea glass and heart shaped stones, reading on the front porch barefoot in the sunshine, fresh new journals for tumbling thoughts inked out in jewel toned markers, exploring the limitless expanse of the human heart, and philosophical chattiness with my girlfriend on the phone…I said yes! to this extraordinary life that is mine and mine alone, and the intimate journey of being true to myself…I said yes! to a boiled egg in a vintage eggcup with buttered toast and tea, and I said yes! to my brand new ‘Bones of poet e~course’ which you can read all about here:)

what have you said yes to?

~ or what would you like to say yes to?

This week has been somewhat of a whirlwind of stress but still…there were snowberries and red shoes, curried tofu and wine….this book …this song.…good coffee (and we all know how important that is) reverse waterfalls, a chance to wear my midnight blue dress…the girl riding the bicycle...and at least one donut that I will own up to.

What beauty pebbled your world this week?

I am so happy with my new tripod I found in a thrift shop ~ it is metal and collapses down to a tabletop size ~ I used it for this shot perched on a picnic table. This image make me feel quite poetic and is called “I make only permanent tenderness’ ~ I am sure he would say I also make a lot of trouble but he’s wrong:) It is Monday and Monday is throwing challenges my way so while I am listening to a wonderful mix of songs my girlfriend made me, I thought I would throw a few links your way by way of compensation:)
Also a big shout out of appreciation for my beautiful friend Catherine who let me fling myself on her couch yesterday, drink her entire collection of tea and clean out her tin of homemade cookies while I talked about myself the whole time.
Very rude. Next time it’s your turn Cath ~ I promise:)

the Frances Han collection
my favorite poet
this brilliant treehouse
Delancey, in so many words
cursive buildings
story book collection drive!

well now…have a lovely week:)

Sunday finds me unfurling, surrendering to an irrepressible joy with the gift of a few days in a cabin on the lake. Is it possible that I love swimming in a shimmering lake even more than the sea? This photo was taken after a pearly afternoon swim ~ no one was around on this private beach so we skinny dipped which was so beautiful and yet…it was my soul which felt most naked as I slipped into the water with a full blooded ease that is nothing short of thrilling. The photo above was taken after my swim so please excuse the tangled tresses:)

What makes your soul feel naked?

I am in the mood for a little night swimming…and my favorite conductor Gustavo:) Have a lovely Sunday!