artsy

Every year I take the same snow pictures~ 
every year I take the same wild flower and mountain pictures.
No self control ?  
No.  It is more like it is just too hard to pass up these artsy shots.
And no two are ever the same.
And they are so pretty, so pretty

wonderful words

"I only went out for a walk,

and finally concluded to stay out till sundown for 

going out I found, was really going in." 

~John Muir 

have bench will travel

I believe in sitting places.  I have them all over.  

My favorite are cement benches which have been with me awhile.  

We have 2 that I bought donkey ages ago in Maryland

When we moved to Maine, they moved with us.  

They lived in Bridgton when we had our place on Kilgore Road 

and now they reside here.  

They have been moved from here to there & put on scenic spots.  

They weight a bloody ton and are not easily moved.  

I have over the years learned how to move them with my handy dandy tractor.  

I am getting to the stage where I am content to let them be - 

one on each hill top. 

Not too many years back a third cement bench, a lovely gift was added to the land.  

The concept of sitting is wonderful, however the long and short  of it 

is I do not sit on any of them as often 

as I would like for assorted reasons.  

Shunka has learned to hup up on the benches to get treats.  

I can send him 100 ft across the field to sit on the bench

and now Indigo has learned to hup....

Benches add a certain something to the landscape 

with or with the dogs.  

transistion

Each day the land changes.

 Some times it is hard to tell and then other times

 it is 

bingo 

wow 

wahoo 

change. 

 right now we are moving 

 to pinks and purples....

one day none

 and now 

bingo 

wow 

wahoo 

here they are 

and soft & lovely are they.

Phlox - for harmony, sweet dreams, trying to please you.

Rudbeckia - justice  tadah correct is echinacea

 

time marches on

This picture was taken in Joppa, Maryland on our 27 acre farm 

of me with John our welsh pony

  my niece Cathy 

and nephew Bob.  Bob is now 37 

and today Bob told us he is expecting his first child in February 2014.  

This picture looks to be about 35-36 years old

judging from the size of Bob.

We were all a great deal younger than.

2013

This year seems a year of change in so many ways--  

Friends dying, friends losing family, sickness, job changes, 

financial issues, political insanity.  

Like the earth or the universe is in a major upheaval.  

Around me things are the same 

but it seems Unsettled....out of sorts. 

just feels funky.  

our answers

Into the water’s world she looked

to find where she belonged.

She found the answer staring back

 it was herself she found.

~

~  they say, and I believe, that we have

  all the answers 

within us ~

no self help books needed

It is a matter of slowing and looking within

~how hard that seems when so much 

wants to grab us and take us away from this.

No wonder we often feel so lost.

grace like geese

at the solar fest 

in the garden

not so much like maine

Years ago we decided to relocate from Maryland for many reasons,

 too many people, too much developement and summer heat.  

We liked Maine's cool temps.  

Am wondering where those cool temps are this summer.

it still looks like Maine.  It sure feels like the south!

and just as a reminder only 6 months or so and this~

the other weather -
to every time there is a season....
lets not be impatient- 

reflections, ripples on the pond ~ happy happy

close to the earth

Tim has been helping Katherine Rhoda and David 

get their land ready to bring in their new home.  

I had not seen the land and stopped this afternoon just as work was ending. 

 Fine help I was! 

 Katherine is a talented treasure who lives close to the earth.  

Her land 20 -35 ? acres or more is in Hiram in the Hiram Hills and is wild and lovely.  

Such a change for her to bring in a newish trailer to live in.  

She has been living in a wonderful 30 year old trailer 

with no electric and no water for the winters for 30 years.  

I admire her gumption and the true simplicity of her life.  

Katherine lives close to the earth (I repeat this for she really really does) , walks her walk.

She plays her music in nursing homes

and to help non profits in clubs 

and on the streets and on the Island of Mohegan 

where she works and spends her summers.

She has recently been married to a lovely Brit 

so now she will be spending part of her winters abroad.  

Such wonderful people that we know.

what might happen if I did this?

"Try pausing right before and right after undertaking a new action, even something simple like putting a key the a lock to open a door. Such pauses take a brief moment, yet they have the effect of decompressing time and centering you".

the fallen

Once again Richard Bender has fallen off the wagon, 

although it sounds as if he just climbed right off or maybe lept off of it this time, 

waiting till the court told him he graduated and no longer had to check in.  

Permission to be on his own and on his own, he drinks.  

Took a whole day on his own.  It is remarkable, isn't it?

My heart is sad yet again.  And I am pissed. I am disappointed.
 Normal responses, yet again!

Drunks have disappointed me throughout my life.  

It boggles my brain why they self abuse.

I am addicted to hope, maybe this time.

And I am addicted to miracles, maybe a miracle will happen.

Maybe it is a death wish this drinking. 

Making themselves miserable seems their life's calling and they do it well. 

Mostly they lie, to themselves to us and to the world 

and go on hurting themselves, and us.

 Richard is back on the streets.

 As much as I try to protect myself from caring, 

I care and I hope and I pray for a miracle yet again. 
One always hopes.......

my orange period

Garden seems a little Monet right now.  

Daylilies and astillbe out back against the greens of the wood.

Skies continue gray, the mountains lost in the clouds.

Nice breeze which has taken some of the GD flies away.

We continue to drive up and walk at the fairgrounds

which seems to please us all, the drive, the walk and we meet all sorts there.

A couple from Australia had stopped.  They have been on the road 

in the states for 2 months with 3 more to go.  

3 wheeled motorcycle with a little popup is how they travel.  

They have been from CA to WA to TX to FL, NY city 
and now from ME going to VT, NY.

raining once again

I prefer the wet to the sunny hot and humid of last week.  

What I would really prefer is back to 

Maine the way it should be summer, 

70's, cool nights, no humidity, sunshine.  

At least it is not the 102 NM is having today.

The rains and the way the gardens are growing reminds me of English weather.

Things do seem to be content in all the wet.

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”

― Bob Marley

from my files

Over the years I have tucked away little bits of this and that -  good stuff worth rereading or sharing.  Don't have a clue who put this up or where but it has been years ago. 

full of advice, native or not...

I found this sheet of paper that was simply titled "Native American Indian Traditional Code of Ethics" a couple weeks ago. It's from '94, so it was crazy finding it just when I was thinking about peacemaker principles. And that I still have it since I've moved about a dozen times since then.

NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN TRADITIONAL CODE OF ETHICS

This article is from the "Inter-Tribal Times" - October 1994

Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek for the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit others (everyone).

Respect. Respect means "To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well being of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy". 

Showing respect is a basic law of life. Treat every person from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.   

Special respect should be given to Elders, Parents, Teachers and Community Leaders.  

No person should be made to feel "put down" by you, avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly person.

Touch nothing that belongs to someone else (especially sacred objects) 

without permission, or an understanding between you.

Respect the privacy of every person,  never intrude on a person’s quiet moment or personal space.

Never walk between people that are conversing.

Never interrupt people who are conversing.

Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are in the presence of Elders, strangers or others to whom special respect is due.

Do not speak unless invited to do so at gatherings where Elders are present 

(except to ask what is expected of you, should you be in doubt).

Never speak about others in a negative way, whether they are present or not.

Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. 

Do nothing to pollute our mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.

Show deep respect for the beliefs and religion of others.

Listen with courtesy to what others say even if you feel that what they say is worthless. Listen with your heart.

Respect the wisdom of the people in council. Once you give an idea to a council meeting it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people. Respect demands that you listen intently to the ideas of others in council and that you do not insist that your idea prevail. Indeed you should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the Spark of Truth

Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided.

If the council has made an error, that error will become apparent to everyone in its own time.

Be truthful at all times, and under all conditions.

Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give of your best food, your best blankets, the best part of your house, and your best service to your guests.

The hurt of one is the hurt of all, the honor of one is the honor of all.

Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as members of the human family.

All the races and tribes in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator they must all be respected.

To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation, and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created. Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the services of others.

Observe moderation and balance in all things. 

Know those things that lead to your well-being, and those things that lead to your destruction.

Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart.

 Expect guidance to come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in times of quiet solitude, and in the words and deeds of wise Elders and friend

july is color color color

In the snowy months, the white months this is what we miss----- the colors.

walking at the fairgrounds

rainy day blogging

So what does one what do...besides vacuum, laundry, read, etc.  Blog of course..

.

 here is why I like 

black and white.