P-A-R-T-Y

Spring
Originally uploaded by Naphátú.

Great party Saturday Night! Two of my closest friends moved within five months of each other last year. The chance to get them both visiting at the same time has not been easy. So when the opportunity presented itself.....you have a party! The gathering started late and ended early. It was so funny how 'tired' everyone was. "We're getting old" I hear. I had hoped for dryer weather. A bon fire would have been perfect that night. Wondering around, I felt like a shadow in my own house that night, and I liked it. Listening, watching, taking it all in. I went walking outside by myself several times. around the house looking into the windows. Watching people laughing, eating and drinking. It warmed my heart. in the kitchen window I could see John, looking stautes with his arms crossed. Mr. "I fastng today". Looking at him I
remembered an eairler conversation about his newest job and out of no where he tells me his brother is getting a divorce! six kids. Can't take the bitching. "I am so sorry to hear that " I said. "I was just thinking how lucky we are as a group of friends, to have no divorces among us". But according to John it could happen to any of us tomorrow. hmmmmm? I had to step away.
It's nice being the hostess. You have an excuse to step away from an uncomfortable conversation. "I have to be the hostess now please excuse me"

We totally blew off church Easter Sunday. We so needed that. The girls were beside themselves with a lack of sleep from the night before. Laying around reading. Tom eating the rest of last nights Birthday cake for breakfast. Then off to LaPorte to visit the family and slapping a ham down onto the counter. Our donation to the feast. Nieces turning into full blown teenagers. The me me me world. I can't dig it. I guess I will have to when it's my own.
Ham, hot cross buns and jello salad (yuck). We had left within hours to get back to our life. Reading books, hanging wine and beer bottles from last nights party on a tree in the south woods and Ebay. Life is good!

~Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts.  ~Author Unknown

Emerging

Emerging
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

I heard a thousand blended notes
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What Man has made of Man.

Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trail'd its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopp'd and play'd,
Their thoughts I cannot measure,
But the least motion which they made
It seem'd a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What Man has made of Man?

~William Wordsworth

Spring Moss

Spring Moss
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

What a beautiful sunny day. We are getting ready to leave and take Mackinaw to the park and run around. I'll take my camera with me with hopes of finding something new coming up this early spring.

I have the usuals, sundrops maroone, daffodils greens, iris' peaks. nothing cool. I thought this clump of spring moss would be delightful with its vivid green color. patches of it are all over our yard. The only true spring colors exsiting so far with winters' continued brown. The arbovites are drooping and untidy. The snow was so wet and heavy causing branches and whole trees to bend out of shape. The garden list is starting to grow. I am so excited. Now if the weather would just cooperate enough for me to get out there and get some work done. I am anxious to see how all my fall dividing turned out. Fingers are crossed.

I am ashamed to say I have been reading romance novels!!! Yes, science fiction fantasy. They have reguvenated my sex life. Where have you been???


I was picking up books on tape for my husband at the library . Tom has listened to so many books on tape that I have to make sure that they are at least this years edtions and at least 10 plus tapes long to make it worth his wild. (who new how wild) So here I am picking up thick books on tapes not looking too much at the 'type' of books I am getting. Just as long as they have some kind of sci-fi thang going on he'll like it. WELL, WELL, WELL!!! I picked up a doosey!!! I guess tom had to turn off the tape a few times because it was too much while he was driving! He kept coming home and telling me about this erotic tape I picked up and that I should listen to it. I poo-pooed it. thinking nothing much about. It sat around for a few days in the library basket while Tom gave me more snipits of the story. well, I became intriuged. I listen to it and I was hooked! I had to buy and read the next book and then the next! I am on a role here people!!!!

~ "I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope and that enables you to laugh at life's realities."
~ Doctor Seuss (1904-1991)

Namaste

Hilltop
Originally uploaded by Naphátú.

In India when we meet and part
we often say,
"Namaste," which means...
I honor the place in you
where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you
of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you
where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me,
there is only one of us.


Namaste.


~ Ram Dass, Grist for the Mill

Delphinium Blue

Delphinium Blue
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

Gardening:
This is my focus these days. Gardening. I adore Delphiniums. wishing I had enough sun to support the many varieties. Maybe we'll get a bad enough spring storm that will tumble a few trees and allow more sun to shine through. Just don't hit the house!

Girls:

Tom and I made the decision to send the girls back to school for next year. Registration was yesterday. The Welcome was very warm. But what else would I expect? We got the reactions we expected from the girls. Amy thrilled and Kelsey apprehensive. I'm starting to realize that Kelsey's 'issues' are not a "what's wrong deal". It a gift she received from her mother. The ability to absorb other people's emotions including her own and not setting up boundaries. She's too young to understaand what to do with this. The tools are at hand and need to be applied. She has opportunities to express it in positive ways like, writing, music, art, poetry. So young and such a gift. No layers to muck it up yet (unlike her mother). Tap! tap! tapping into it.

Jewlery:

Starting making jump rings with 18 gage copper wire this week. I don't think I have the right tools for the anal job I want to do before I start on the silver wire. I plan on asking the advice of my friend Cheryl about possible tool ideas. $$$$ But I am having fun creating anyway and adding my own twist to it.

Us:

Us is good. very good. I feel like we did the first year we met. I can't wait for him to get home from work. I can't wait to have a night alone. I look forward to sharing everything that concerns me. Why did I hold on to everything for so long? What was I afraid of. Silly me.....

~Communication is a continual balancing act, juggling the conflicting needs for intimacy and independence.--Deborah Tannen

From my Carpathian lover

A rose of love from my husband
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

I came home tonight with sadness, due to my inability to shop for cloths for myself. Tom assured me that I am super mom and that I could do anything. Off to work he went. I decided to get into my P.J's and went into my room and on my pillow was this beautiful single red rose and three Andes thin mints. How sweet. Tom has never done anything like this before. We did make a pact to write to eat other little notes of sweetness occasionally just to remember how important we are to each other. I didn't expect this. I feel so giddy.

Bleeding Heart

Bleeding Heart
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

Are we tired of the snow yet?
Easter is next week and we still have a few inches of snow left. I've had the pleasure of finding Gardening Blogs and seeing pictures in the warmer climates of blooming trees and flowers. The itch has begun. Vegetable seed order went and plans to enlarge the garden this year is set. I crave the smell of the earth's thaw. Let it begin!

Amy's Hoosierdads Recital

Amy's Hoosierdads Recital
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

The girls:

Twelve Bar Blues was played by Southside Denny's students' the night of the recital. What a great three hour show for all involved! The quaint venue was the fullest I have ever seen it so far this year. This year The Battell Community Center has open a concert series to buddy up with the on going Community Theater. The country group Everyday People and blues band Southside Denny had a concert there last month. Now they just need to get a website up and going with what would be a long list of local enteratinment guru's. Kelsey on the other hand, because she had to spend the night somewhere else in order for us to have our anniversay weekend, was an emotional mess that was completely handed over to my husband to handle. Thanks babe!

Breathe..........

Us:

Tom and I had the best weather we could hope for our weekend. Plenty of sunshine and warm breezes with temperatures in the early 60's. The recital concert Saturday night, a late night drink brought us to (beep beep)and sleeping in Sunday morning.
A pot of coffee and the Sunday paper in bed Then off to St. Joseph Michigan for lunch at Shues. Next we were off on long walk down the street to peer into store front windows.
To finish, a coffee house with hours of much needed conversations. Usually, times like this would give us the feeling that hours and hours had been added to our day. This time it went by too fast.
I had recieved plenty of new found strength through my husband this past weekend. Just what I've been looking for. I am feeling not so alone anymore. He has always been there. I just had to let him in.
~"Happy Anniversary babe, I look forward to the next 17 years together (13 of them married)".

Reading:

Picked up several books last week and landed on one while taking a nice hot soak last night. "The Earth Path" grounding your spirit in the rhythms of nature by Starhawk. I look forward to sharing more as I move through this book.
Peace out!

wire work

wire work
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

Making:

I love to make jewelry! I just recieved my sterling silver wire last week. Boy, five feet of wire doesn't look like much especially for the price I paid!!! This hobby is getting expensive! I better start wearing some it. I don't wear my stuff because I give it as gifts. There is so much joy to see the ones I love wearing something I made from the heart. Plus I don't have a thing to wear with anything I make! I need to buy clothing depending on what pieces of jewelry I make!

Cooking:

Red Lentil soup:

Crock pot method
1 lg onion: finely chopped
1 celery stalk; diced
1 gr. pepper
1 garlic clove PLEASE! thats not enough!!!
6 cup water
1tsp chili pwd
1tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black pepper
1 can tomato paste
~personally adding in
creole seasoning mix ( food network)
olvie oil to drizzle maybe butter if I feel bad. how about crumbled goat cheese? mmmm?

Reading:

Finished "Kissing Doorknobs" by Hessner. The story is funny and frightening. The life of an OCD is pretty intense and Hessner puts you right in this girls head. I bought this book as a suggestion for my oldest daughter. I won't be letting her read this. I don't think she is mature enough to handle this subject matter yet. The girl Tara is 11 years old. The crotch grabbing, launguage, teenage sex and drug talk isn't something I believe a 12 year old needs to be reading yet. I believe she would have to look up the word crotch!!!

needing something new to read I picked up six books yesterday at the library with hope that one might catch my attention. I am looking forward to the book discussion on "The Secret Life of Bees" on BOOKBLOG. Maybe I will read it again if none of these other pan out.

Girls:

Both the girls are reading Chicken Soup For The Soul books. One is for Sisters Soul and the other for Kids Soul. I am so glad to see Amy moving into another reading direction. This last snow has given us a chance to get another great sledding day in before winters end. This was the first time we had a totally fresh hill with no other tracks. It took us the first hour just to get a good base. We found out that the floaty rings from the lake make the best sleds. Us adult had to beg and plead for one slide down the hill with them. Man!! Tomorrow is Chess day with the group. Amy has her first Guitar recital this Saturday. She is so jammin on the blues!!!

Shakespeare:

Going to Chicago's Navy Pier to see a Shakespeare play "Comedy of Errors". Okay, I almost came this_____ close to getting Shakespeare for Dummies. Or Shakespeare for Idiots. I feel so uncultured sometimes. Reading like this cannot be simplified in my eyes.I need something for more of the moderate reader. So, while on line at the library I can see they have a copy of Shakespeare stories II by Leon Garfield. Thank god!! they have a copy. I mean ONE copy. Gotta go get it now bye!!!!!

March Winter

March Winter
Originally uploaded by merelyhere.

"Botanists say that trees need the powerful March winds to flex 
their trunks and main branches, so the sap is drawn up to 
nourish the budding leaves.  Perhaps we need the gales of life
in the same way, though we dislike enduring them."
  Jane Truax