Friday, September 16, 2011

Finding inspiration in ordinary places

I love to get up early while everyone's still asleep, slip downstairs and enjoy my first cup of coffee. The house is quiet and the silence allows my thoughts time to wake up and wonder what the day might bring, things that I need to do and in general, a few moments to pray the day is a good one.
Gazing out the window my thoughts follow and before long my sleeping muse is painting the landscape with poetry.

The wild flowers on the hillside became this:



Brown-eyed Susan, how she sways
To the soundless rhymn the breeze does play.
Rooted all day upon the hill
She dances around, never still.

Her sweet smelling nectar
Beckons thee,
Visit from the Honey Bee.

Who comes without a vial or glass
And steals the sweetness from the lass.



The colorful yellow flowers are forever etched in my thoughts and captured on paper.




















And here's another one. Warning, I have many poems like these because nothing inspires me like nature and its unique beauty at every turn.


















I saw a Sparrow hopping
Upon my window pane
And when he saw me watching
He flew away again.

I wonder if he knew
That I feel like him.
Standing on the outside
Always looking in.

***



Last one, promise.

Noodle

There once was a girl who loved Noodles.
She ate them alot, Oodles and oodles.
She ate them with butter, she ate them with cheese.
She ate then where ever, when ever she pleased.

All other food, either boiled or fried, Noodle refused,
Then she cried and she cried.

Father would plead and Mother would beg, but Noodle stood firmly
and shook her small head.

And so they gave into her childish wish
And served up another steaming hot dish.

Grandmother came to stay for awhile,
"I'm cooking now," she said with a smile.

With each dish she served came a story as well
And no more exciting than Grandma can tell.

She told about Gramps and his Army troop
With nothing to eat except for stone soup.

"He had to eat crow," Grandma was saying.
Noodle looked down where her chicken was laying.

When Grandma was finished, Noodle was too.
She wiped off her mouth and said she was through.
"Grandmother dear, you're the wisest and best.
Tomorrow at breakfast, please tell me the rest."

Mother and Father sat back with a smile
Thankful that Grandma could stay for awhile.


Given the chance, I could sit for hours beneath a shady tree or preferrably take a slow walk down our lovely country road, dragging along a stick and stir up all kinds of inspiration. So...what inspires you?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

What does 'Going Green' really mean?

I love the concept of going green. Green can be anything that benefits our world. Finding ways to keep and use something long after most people would have tossed it out is a wonderful example of being green.

Look at this old enamal pot. Someone took the time to fix the hole worn in the bottom by repairing it with a metal washer and screw. I don't know if it leaks or not because I've never used it for cooking. I thought it'd be a perfect wastebasket in my country-style bathroom. Of course I keep a Sears and Roebuck catalogue in the magazine rack, too! : )




I'm happiest when uncovering something that has been in the lives of others before me. Once shiny and new, these tin pots probably held all kinds of soups and vegetables, long ears of corn or boiled water for the sink. An invaluable tool for the women who provided nourishment to working men and growing children many years before being retired to the flea market. The pot, not the women. : )



Thursday, August 11, 2011

I still love Lucy


"I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not."





Isn't that a wonderful piece of advice? Who knew Lucille Ball could be so serious? Honestly, the Lucy show has given me so many laughs that I was thrilled beyond words when I came across the entire first season of the Lucy Show. I watched Lucy and Viv put in a shower yesterday and was laughing so hard my husband came in to check on me.
Aug 6th Lucille Ball would have been 100 years old. Can you imagine what our lives would have been like without her? Just like alot of things I sometimes take for granted, always there until one day it's not. It occured me (when I was scanning for a feel-good tv epidsode that was no longer on the air) that I should start collecting these fantastic shows if I want see them when I'm old and gray and have time to actually watch television. Which should be any day now.
: )
The ones I have so far are: The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, I Dream Of Jeannie, Andy Griffith Show and now the Lucy Show. What's your favorite?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Collecting and writing...fuel for the brain


I love to collect stuff. Always have and I've finally discovered how to tie both loves, my desire to write with my love of collecting stuff. Whenever I come across some neat old relic from days gone by, my mind immediately goes to the 'do you suppose' mode. You know, like 'who do you suppose first owned this item? Doesn't matter what it is, maybe I've come across an old telephone, the original number still visable in the center ring. Rembember when they had party lines? Maybe it was hooked to such a line. How often do you suppose they argued over the line being tied up? And whose phone number did it belong to? Was their last phone call made to an old friend or a close neighbor? Or did trembling fingers hurriedly dial 9-1-1 in an attempt to save someones life, maybe an urgent call for an ambulance because Auntie was having heart palpatations. Or maybe cousin Merl swallowed his dentures after having staggered home late from a night playing poker. No one checked in on him until it was too late. Sigh...poor guy.
See how fun collecting stuff can be?

Sunday, June 26, 2011

more nautical stuff






Okay,
So, to go with my pirate mug I found a lighthouse that when you put a candle inside, lights up the window. Not old but sorta cool and I found this mug shaped like a barrel or keg, which I thought would fit nicely into the collection. And then I found this really neat old replica pirate's flintlock. Givea 1800's, North Sea. I especially love the head of the cut-throat pirate on the end of the handle. Really love this find.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Toby Mug

I found this Toby mug a few years ago. There was a time when I had several headvases.