Confession: I Can Get Reeeally Excited About a Sump Pump!!

 

Oh my Gosh! It's a SUMP PUMP!!!!!!!!

I was working real hard the past two days to shorten the straps on a cabochon necklace that a lovely lady purchased from Art a la Carte in Bellefonte, where I make my work available along with lots of other fantastic artists. Great place for gifts at any time of year. Today I had planned to deliver it to the shop so Elizabeth could ship it out. Thank goodness the lovely lady was quite understanding and flexible in the delivery because I discovered we were not able to go anywhere!

The lovely cabochon necklace!
That diagonal is smooth as silk and just part of the glass fusion of patterns.
I'll be doing a few more of these in different colors.

I was asleep in my bed, having spent about six hours redoing the necklace straps and adding a new backing and border to the piece (gosh it's gorgeous!), and my plan was to hop in the shower and pop over to Bellefonte after I'd had my tea. HOWEVER, as I cowered under my covers about four hours before I wanted to wake up I suddenly felt the whole house shake and heard noises louder than I'd EVER HEARD BEFORE. Yep, the crew from our local Basement Waterproofing Gurus had arrived! It felt like there were 50 of them but there were only two, and sometimes five. 

I laid there, not at all ready to leave sleep and start the day, and as I listened to the jackhammer doing its thing I also felt the vibrations, almost like those beds your parents would give you quarters to put in to make them vibrate (see the movie Bonneville for a great example; nice hotels have them too : ) AND that is one of my FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL TIME for grief recovery and a bit of beauty, poignancy, and humor. So I'm lying in my bed thinking I really have to use the bathroom, but I'm sort of afraid that while I'm on the throne the whole thing will fall either straight down into the basement where some of the men are working, or maybe through the wall and right outside on the sidewalk for all the world to see! Welp, Nature was calling and there was nothing I could do but take a deep breath and risk the relocation of myself along with the throne with all that jackhammering.

Not only were they inside the house in the basement, hammering up the concrete to build a beeeeeeautiful trench that goes across two walls, they were also hammering up two recessed outdoor stairwells that had French drains installed back when the house was built in 1964. The French drains had never been totally cleaned out and redone, and it was high time since we had experienced many floods in the basement every time it rained heavily. Rob has spent many an hour shop vacuuming the water up, setting up fans, and I purchased a rather expensive dehumidifier to keep the water out of the air down there - it's a true basement, not exactly rec-room potential. Just needed a bit of TLC, which it's finally getting in spades. So these pros are here to completely dig up the French drains, rebuild them, and re-pour concrete, as well as trench for the sump pump in the basement AND take care of three gutter areas where they're trenching and putting in PVC to channel the water from certain gutters, under the sidewalks (to avoid ice flows in winter), and out into the yard, where the soil and grass can accommodate the overflow. BIG JOB!

The infamous basement doorway that lets in a river.
Yep, we're replacing the doors too.

We only had a few floods when we first moved in, and we could keep the basement pretty dry in-between storms. But as my Lovies who live in Central Pennsylvania know, our weather has warmed somewhat over the years, and we get rather a lot more water, plus we've had some reeeeally WET years, so the floods were becoming more frequent, hence the pros coming in to help us get a handle on it.

So I made it through the shortest of morning bathroom time, no long, hot shower, no lovely time putting on my makeup, just toss the hair into a clip, get dressed in the dark and get outta there quick as a bunny! Had my tea in the living room with my pup shivering and all atremble on my lap with yet more noise that he couldn't understand (cause we just got the roof done, and that's another story!). 

While we sat there, I read a sweet little book written by the grandfather of a friend of mine, called Warm Hearts for Cold Noses, by Edward R. Dionne, Jr., VMD, which is a true delight and also something I'd happily suggest for your reading pleasure or a gift for anyone who adores animals. Note that the author is the grandfather of my favorite spirit medium, Desiree Denis, and the father of my favorite past life regression expert, Terri Denis both of whom can be contacted at Spirit Guidance and Healing, where there's a host of WONDERFUL information on the classes they offer and the variety of their spiritual expertise you can tap, should you be so inclined.

So I sat with the pup rereading the same page several times (not due to the content of the story, rather due to the incredible decibels we were privy to) while my whole house shook and we did too. It was GLORIOUS! Because for all the noise and craziness, it's gonna be FIXED BIGTIME! And this really does excite me.

The trench along one of the basement walls.
Not done yet, more tomorrow.

So the pros will be back tomorrow to finish the trench and all the hookups in the basement and they'll pour concrete over it so it'll be all clean and will work for years, YAY!!

I said to my husband as we peeked out the windows every so often throughout the day, and stuck our heads out to say thank you to the men working so hard, "They must eat a LOT!" Because just like the roofers, I've never seen anyone work so hard with such heavy materials in all my life. It would kill me in a minute and they go all day six days a week. Wow. So we're getting them some donuts tomorrow because I want to FEED THEM! And they can eat ANYTHING THEY WANT because they work it off in five minutes flat! I might be a bit envious of that, but my little body was never made to do all that heavy muscle stuff. 

I have no idea what protocol is on house renovation but we feel like we should be here, especially when they're in the house, for the pup's comfort (he was so brave and SUCH a good dog all day) and also to answer any questions or whatever that might come up. 

I think they'll be two more days, but we might try to pop over to Bellefonte the third day once they're just working out on the back patio and no longer inside, and we'll be taking the pup with us XO He loves to ride in the car.

It's kind of amusing because all summer, for months and months, the city has been jammering up the roads in our neighborhood and installing new stormwater and sewage drains, and we've noticed a very fine layer of concrete dust that seeps into the house constantly even with the windows closed. They just finished up and moved along, about a day or two before OUR guys showed up and now I can actually say I think I know the almost metallic, dry flavor of concrete dust in my nose and throat, even though they of course installed plastic all around the indoor work areas. It's worth it. I'm using my saline spray and putting all kinds of respiratory healing herbs and spices in our stew and chicken pot pie of the past couple days, and it's working so far. Glory be! If it doesn't kill me I'll be thoroughly pleased, and I'm surrounding these hardworking guys in all the best ever blessings and thanks a heart can beam out!

It is wondrous to get really specialized people to help you take care of things that have been nagging at you with the home ownership thing. And sometimes I even pat the walls of the house and tell her, it's okay, we're just lovin' you back and you're gonna be just fine. Trust the process.

So that's this week with more to come. Will update as we go. But you know? I'm just so grateful for people who have this very specific knowledge and are willing to work that hard to help us and to feed their families. There is a place for everyone in this world. And that makes me just so happy. 

I invite you to share some of your renovation stories in appreciation of those who can do what we cannot XO

Namaste,

Jen
 

All the Everythings! WOOT!

 

OHAI!

Life is feeling SUPER full of ALL THE EVERYTHINGS right now so I thought I'd share a bit with you, especially as this year comes to a close and we get ready for a brand new one. 

She said she wanted color, so I'm ON IT!

One of my favorite people in all the world is Elizabeth Hay, who owns the gallery/shop, Art a la Carte, in Bellefonte, PA. Elizabeth represents a host of truly talented artists, whose beautiful creations she sells in her shop. Not only that, she is a wonderful mentor and representative, teacher, and one who encourages and inspires us to reach our highest potentials with our creativity. So when she says to me she envisions lots of bright color in my new creations I follow through and what a joy it is for me and also for those who become the new caretakers of what I am able to make for them! That's a win-win all the way around! Thanks Elizabeth!

In the photo above you see some of the newest arrivals in my studio and I'm now in the process of matching the necklaces with the gorgeous gemstone teardrops that have just arrived all the way from Jaipur, India. I work directly with this gemstone vendor, whom I've discovered recently, to have these handmade teardrops drilled vertically, customized to my specifications. What a glorious job they do, and what exquisite beads they create - definitely worth the wait and the cost! I'll be bringing these three-strand necklaces and teardrop earrings into the shop through the holidays and well into the New Year as there's plenty to keep me busy for some time to come. 

In the photo above we have tourmaline, amethyst, natural pink petrified rhodonite, moss agate, carnelian, and lapis lazuli in the heishi necklace beads. Each three strand is composed of about four 15-inch strands of heishi beads, along with either a silver or copper magnetic slider clasp. They look absolutely fabulous on everyone, are easy to wear with anything from jeans to dressy clothing, and the easy on/off clasp is one of my all-time favorites. I confess, I sometimes wear more than one of these necklaces at a time, such as a turquoise one with a red coral one since that is a combination of gemstone energies as old as time and well known throughout many cultures, enhancing the balance of masculine (active) and feminine (intuitive) energies in each of our physical/spiritual systems. 

Teardrops will become perfect complements
for the necklaces awaiting creation.

Though I love to suggest which earrings go really well with the gemstone necklaces, I generally don't confine sales to "sets," preferring to let the wearer choose their mood or expression, which may change according to their outfit, where they might be going, what they'll be doing, and even according to which kinds of gemstone energies they might want to have near them for specific purposes : ) If you'd like to learn more about gemstone energies and properties my favorite source of information is Judy Hall, who's written a number of wonderful books including The Crystal Bibles. No worries, I always write down the name of the gemstone(s) on the tag so in case you're not familiar with them you can look them up.

True turquoise comes in many natural shades, plus
who knew? - turquoise is a gemstone that doesn't mind being dyed!

The photo above shows the deep blues of lapis lazuli, bright greens of African green chrysoprase, soft greens, golds and purples of natural fluorite, and two different shades of beloved turquoise! WOOT! So that's partly what's happening in my studio in the next few weeks, along with mala making and beautiful cabochon necklace creation, book illustration, and writing. 

Above the studio....

So last week, I wasn't able to get a lot of work done inside my studio because of what's happening above the studio! And ALL OVER THE WHOLE ROOF! Yep! The WONDERFUL roofers came and descended upon our lovely home. At last! I understand that roofs generally need to be replaced about every ten years, and we were willing, but not able, due to four kids and blended family, university tuitions, student exchange programs, and elder care and travels for Rob's elders. So, though we LOVED our beautiful home from the minute we bought it 22 years ago, and she has loved us back, she went down on the priority list until now. WOOT! Now she's right back up there on top!

Oh my gosh, we felt in SUCH good hands when Stoltzfus came to take care of this huge job. You know why they won the bid? Not because they were the least expensive, not because of the schedule, not because they were the only ones working around our area. I'll tell you why. We got about six bids on the job, and heard all kinds of things and experienced all kinds of things, from people trying to sell us what we weren't looking for to people who never set foot upon the roof to check things out before bidding, and one day a Stoltzfus representative came and went on up there, walked all over, and when he popped down with the agility of a professional aerial performer he said to my husband, "You had an area that was leaking and I went ahead and patched it, no charge." WOW. Just WOW. 

So the bids all came in over a period of some weeks, and I said to my husband, who had given the wonderful Stoltzfus guy some cash even though he said no charge, they get my vote. Anyone with values like that who sees a leak and patches it even though they don't yet have the job, wow, THOSE are values I want to support! Those are the people I'll trust with the work we need done! And we've not been disappointed. Gosh, our roofing experience has been just the BEST EVER from start to finish. And they start EARLY! LOL! 

I don't know if I can dig up photos of the "before" up close, but we had peeling paint hanging from the soffit all the way around the house, and we had birds who tried to get into the fascia, and we even had baby tiny little trees growing in the gutters in some places because hubby was busy working and also getting a bit old to go up and clean out the gutters anymore, so okay. We were THAT house in the neighborhood. Didn't even have to decorate for Halloween, already done by Nature's helpers. 

So pretty much every day for a week we huddled in the house, comforting our pup while they banged on every square inch of roof, tearing off anything that needed it, replacing it, and going through a bunch of really impressive teamwork the likes of which I've never seen. They had all the big boy toys and equipment, and when we peeked out the windows to see what they were doing we saw them talking to each other with hand signs and things that only they understand and aerodynamics that made my tummy go willy. Not a lot of sleep was had since I work til about 3 a.m. many nights, and they showed up at around 7:30 a.m. most mornings. I huddled under the covers until the banging shook the house and I HAD to get up and make my tea, ready or not.

I've never seen such beautiful smiles as these guys flash, so full of some kind of special innocence and beauty. I've never seen such uncompromising eye contact between them and my husband as they discussed various milestones in the process. The eye contact sort of didn't come my way, until (I'm sure I overstepped some comfort zones of Amish behavior expected of women) I poked my head out and interrupted a conversation to declare my thanks and appreciation or ask a question. They were so polite! And they were so GREAT about cleanup every single day! And they laughed as they worked, just that lovely teamwork kind of laughter going on. And they stopped to eat lunch all together sitting on the lawn or in the driveway and I said to my hubby later on the porch, "I bet they EAT A LOT!" because I have never seen anyone work so hard for so many hours, just WOW! 

So now, we have a brand new roof and new soffit all the way around, new fascia, new gutters, and all of it is such that it makes our hearts SING! Thank you so much Stoltzfus team! You're highly recommended by us indeed! I will put up a finished photo of the great job but I have to remember to go out and take one tomorrow since it's dark out right now. Rob and I tease each other and say, "Wanna go ogle the soffit?!" And we do. We can see it all smooth and fresh and clean from every window and the porch and it makes us so darned happy. And that's just the start of the home renovations. 

I feel like putting up a sign for the neighbors: Painting coming in the spring, because the soffit wasn't the only thing that had peeling paint. Our home is made of redwood, and we learned during our research (Gosh I LOVE YouTube and the internet for GREAT help with research!) that redwood is one of the very best for siding, BUT it needs special treatment because it is a very oily wood and if you prime and paint it with latex it will bubble and peel (which it did three weeks after we first painted it when we moved in because we didn't know....) Welp, now we do, so we've collected bids for the priming and painting in spring when the weather is over 50 degrees (oil-based primer only, and two coats, back brushed, not sprayed, exterior latex okay but maybe two coats better). Not too many local painters know how to handle redwood properly. So the point is, much research being done on how to do our lovely home justice so it'll last and be as beautiful outside as inside. I just love a job well done!

Beloved dwarf maple, hm....

SO, this takes us to what needed to be done BEFORE we could have the roof replaced. We had two huge trees in the backyard which we've loved for all the 22 years we've been here. The first was a "dwarf" maple tree - does that photo look like a dwarf to you? Nope, me neither. My bad. When we first moved in it was just a twin trunk with five finger-like branches sticking out the top. I told my husband it had to go. But it was April with snow still on the ground (20 years ago we still got snow in April). Pretty soon it leafed out with the most delicate, beautiful little leaves that we decided to let it stay. And one day (here's my bad coming) I was gardening under that tree and discovered a bunch of black plastic, you know that icky stuff they put so the tree can't get any water and the weeds stay down. Welp, I hauled OUT all that black plastic so my tree could breathe and grow and flourish and wow, she became the biggest "dwarf" anything you've ever seen! She grew and she grew and she grew until she made a little throne upon which we could sit. 

Rob on the magical throne.

You could actually sit, cradled by this lovely maple and watch the sunset, great spot. Also I put birdseed in certain spots and all the critters would come, the chipmunks and the squirrels and a host of different kinds of birds. This tree also shaded our patio table for all those years. Everyone just loved to sit within her embrace. You could even sit under her in a light rain and you didn't get wet; her leaves were thick and plentiful. And then she started getting pretty old. She developed hollows that collected water and bumps and gnarls and scars. And she got WAY TOO BIG so that we only had a sunbeam for about half an hour on the WHOLE PATIO. And she grew up and over the roof. I knew it was only a matter of time until her twin trunks split (either in a great wind, or with the weight of rainwater or snow) and she would fall half on the roof and half in the pool, creating damages we would have a hard time recovering from. So with the new roof coming, we had to make some hard decisions and one of those was to send her back to the Garden in the Sky. It was time. My husband, a horticulturist, taught me that, "Trees have lifespans," and she was way past hers. I couldn't take the chance of having peeps over to eat on the patio and have the tree split and fall on them, it just wasn't safe anymore. ACK! So I sat on her beautiful fairy throne and said goodbye one sunset, and they came and took her away, though her memory will live forever in our hearts. Yes, I loved THAT tree.

AND there is one more tree story to tell, that of our beloved Metasequoia. It is a lovely story indeed. 

Our beloved Metasequoia, our "love fern."

So if you've ever seen the movie How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, you'll be familiar with the concept of the "love fern." Welp, when my husband and I were dating, centuries ago it sometimes seems, we spent a lot of time walking all over the campus where we both worked at Penn State University. And it is a gorgeous campus, with notable plants, including trees, shrubs, urns, and groundcover. Truly beeeautiful. I fell in love with a tree which I asked him about, because it felt beautiful and familiar to me - come to find out it was a Metasequoia, and they grow happily in California, where I'd spent about 18 years of my life. And because he's a little bit sentimental, he procured one and gave it to me! It was our LOVE FERN! It was about 3-4 years old, and we kept it in a pot for a couple of years, until we decided to marry, bought a house, and popped it in the ground shortly thereafter. Well, it grew, and it grew and oh baby, it GREW. Its roots weren't too happy being confined to the folly of a space we had chosen for it, so they headed towards the pool and the house and under the patio foundation, and welp, it became a bit of a problem. So with the new roof going on and the other maple treework being done, we decided that our love fern was becoming a danger to everything out there and we had to send it to the Garden in the Sky too. I said to him, "This is not a sign from Heaven or anything, our love is still strong and fine." He said, "I know." And we collected some tiny pine cones so we could get the seeds and maybe plant a new one.

Too green? 

We tried last year with some old cones, but they'd already split and there were no seeds, so I put them in a basket in my studio. We tried this year before Meta went to the Garden in the Sky, but they were too young and I was pretty sure they'd not provide us with any seeds, but I put them on my drafting table for a while, just keeping them around. 

Oh my goodness! Seeds!

And what do you know, but those young, green cones are amazingly resilient, and the house is awfully dry, and they dried out and popped open and produced lots of beeeautiful little Meta seeds! (My son wants to grow one but I've warned him to plant it only in huge territory since it will get very, very big.)

AND, who knew? We were growing FURNITURE!

Yeah, this is gonna be beeeeautiful!

So maybe it's a Western thing, or maybe peeps here like it too, but when we were in California, we had a chance to visit a place called It's a Burl, where they make all kinds of glorious live edge tables, and furniture out of old growth wood from the forests. I always wanted to buy something from there and say, "Build me a house around this!" It was magical indeed. SO when the tree people came to take care of Meta, I suddenly had the idea that I wanted some of her trunk and asked my husband to ask them if they could save us some. I learned that this is not an uncommon practice (even here on the East Coast, yay!) and they very kindly cut us seven slices, which are called "cookie slabs." If you care to learn more about them, it's very entertaining to look up making cookie slab furniture on YouTube.com. I've watched several videos on how this is done (it does vary, as do results, but it's waaaaay coooool!). We've promised the kids they can have some of the cookie slabs so they're pretty much all spoken for, but let me put a plug in that if you have big trees coming out, this is a really fun, very special thing you can do with parts of them so they can keep on giving and you can keep on loving them!

So WHEN the roofers came, I noticed our favorite guy eyeing our back porch and couldn't figure out quite what he was looking at. I was afraid I'd insulted him with my Buddhas all over the place, and incense holders and stuff, but it turns out this was not the case. Because when I stuck my head out to interrupt the conversation between him and my husband so as to thank him for all the good work, he took a moment to ask about the cookie slabs which are lined up along the back porch wall, drying (might take 6 months to a year for that)! Turns out he has access to a huge woodshop and has been studying how to make cookie slab furniture for a year! WOOT! So I asked him if he would like to have one of ours (since he was so nice and they fixed our leak without even charging us and all), and he was delighted to say YES! And he was also able to refer us to a shop that can make our tables for us, should we decide to proceed that way, which we likely will. How's that for a GOOD TRADE?! All that time we thought we were growing a love fern and we didn't even know we were growing heirloom quality furniture too!

Thank you for your beauty! We loooove you!

So off these beautiful trees went to the Garden in the Sky, and on the way they got to high five my little granddaughter just coming down for her new adventures. I'm in LOVE.

My lovely!! XOXOXO

My little beauty XO!

Now I snuck this pic and I can't put any names to it because my son and his wife are a little private about the new baby - though I can probably let you know her name is Haia, which translates to "Life." And that she is so full of it and so lovely. I'm a grandmother! My kids are totally entrenched in adulting and the parenthood club! Wowzers! I'm over the moon! I loved the facebook post I put up asking you all what your grandchildren call you and totally appreciate every single one of your responses. Adorable, all! I asked my son what he might suggest, and he said, "How about something from your Welsh heritage Mom?" I had already been leaning towards Nana because it's so friendly, come to find out when I looked up the Welsh (cause I'm Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, and 1% Melanesian according to the DNA test thing), I found that Nain is a term frequently used, and it's close enough for me! Nana Jen it shall be! Couldn't be happier to watch her grow, and can't wait to meet her and hold her and read to her and learn kidstuff from her and do stuff with her that will be fun. Happy Nana Jen!

So THERE we are with the EVERYTHINGS. And if you've made it this far through this way too long but fun blog post, I hope you feel the joy of life, and trust in the process of it, even though it takes some rain to get the rainbows. 

Love to you and yours, and happy holidays too!

Namaste,

Jen

Little Bit of Something Special

 

Something special indeed XO

So tomorrow is my sister's memorial ceremony, and though my mind and spirit are doing well with it, my little body surely does protest. Thank goodness her wonderful, loving husband is recording it and zooming it live. I have been too sick physically to be there in person. It has hit hard after nearly three years of her sickness and so many hospital stays for her. My heart has been in my throat or down in my feet and I'm working on getting it back where it belongs....

But there is love, and there is beauty, and there are verrrry special things to hold me together while I recover and learn to carry her in my heart. When there is the death of a sibling who has a family we often don't have the opportunity to inherit something to hold dear, but I am blessed in that I have. 

Years ago I gave my Sis a rather large, beautiful pottery container which perhaps was originally meant to serve stews or soups in but we made it a planter. She always kept it in the window right over her desk in her home study and it flourished there when she was well. As she got sicker with the big C she moved it to an area next to all her other plants and she watered it as she was able, but after many months she became unable to care properly for her plants. And, as many people who are suffering from sickness do, she didn't ask for help. 

So the last time she was in hospital I asked if there was anything I could do, and her loving husband said, "I'm not good with plants, so if you want to stop by the house and water her plants that would be great." So we did, and this container had a bunch of ugh in it and one struggling stem of pothos plant. I watered it but was pretty sure it wasn't coming back.

Then, after her passing, I inherited the container that I'd given her. It sat in my kitchen for a couple of days and I determined to clean it out and replant it. My thought was that I knew she loved it as best she could, so I would too, to honor a little bit of what she loved. So I washed out the container and prepared it with what I know to do with plants. Oh my gosh I made such a mess in the kitchen, but hubby didn't know because I did a good job cleaning up, lol.

I washed it all out, cleaned the pot with vinegar to take off the calcium buildup, and layered it with clean tiny gravel, charcoal, a layer of screen, and what fresh soil I had, and there it sat on our kitchen counter, waiting for new baby plants. I wasn't sure what I could or would plant in there. 

I hadn't said anything to my husband, but he's very sensitive, and picks up on a lot, so when I woke up the next morning, I discovered he'd been to the store, and when I went into the kitchen, the counter looked like Christmas! He'd brought home some more potting soil, and four gorgeous baby plants! They were all sitting there along with a bunch of beautiful alstroemeria flowers for me to put in our vases (which we only do in cool seasons since the house is hot in summer and we spend our time outside in the pool).

So that night I spent about an hour and a half planting the baby plants and making a total mess in the kitchen (sure would love a true mud room, but hey, I can clean up my mess, lol). And it FELT SO GOOD to be giving life back to something she loved. Wow. Every time I look at it, it makes my heart sing right out loud. I LOVE that I can become the caretaker of something she loved. 

Rabbit's foot fern

So after I planted the babies in her planter I had one left over, and picked out a lovely vase we haven't used for years because it's kind of huge and when we had sun in our yard before the trees got too big we put peonies in it but with the shade the peony bushes have not produced as much (soon to change with yardbuzz happening) so I figured this fern would be perfectly happy in this vase. Got my inspiration from all those British movies where they show so many absolutely gorgeous flower/plant containers. They do that so well. 

Happy bunny in the kitchen!

And after I had done the planting I spent a bit of time arranging the flowers my hubby brought, so this is what the well-dressed bunny is wearing this week, WOOT. 

My favorite vase from Lynn Anne XO

And I had enough flowers to fill my favorite vase from one of my favorite friends, the artist Lynn Anne Verbeck. I just love her work. 

Just LOVE.

AND I had a friend come and she gave me some beautiful white roses and told me she's thinking about me tomorrow and wishing me love and peace. Aren't friends just wonderful?! Yep!!

A little light goes a long way.

And the last thing I did on that night was refill my little Moroccan lanterns with new electric tealights, to lend their magic to our evening ambiance.

And I felt all filled up. With love. 

It doesn't take much to feel all filled up with love and sometimes working with plants and caretaking a bit of something our Lovies loved goes a long way to filling our hearts right up with all the good stuff.

May you feel the good stuff too, in all your experiences of life and the passing of loved ones. May you have something to hold dear, and if you don't inherit anything, take the love and memories and create some little thing that makes your heart sing. I'm sure our Lovies can feel when our hearts sing with them and they're singing right with us XO

Namaste,

Jen

 

Hello Goodbye Turn, Turn, Turn

I am making muffins, because food is love.

Hell of a year, and it's not done yet. Here is me making muffins. Because, yes, food is love. In this photo, we're about a year into my sister's diagnosis of the big C. NOTHING EVER can steal her sparkle. It comes from her eyes and her heart and it goes out boundless. As it always has. She's a Big Spirit and always has been.

Look at those eyes sparkling. My little minx.

My beautiful sister passed back to True Home September of 2023 and wow I miss her so very much, but still, I hold dear, so dear the love she gave and gave and gave. I hope she feels my love returning ALWAYS. 

During her sickness and physical challenges my sister was pretty fierce about owning her shit. I respect people who are comfortable with their imperfections (and mine). So she did go places without any wigs or head covering (though I bought her some lovely, soft caps for the cold days of winter, which she liked a lot). And it's good because we're all human and there isn't a one of us who doesn't have stuff to own up to though some of us sometimes pretend otherwise. Not buyin' that. A little color can add a whole lotta life.

We were born into the era that believed and taught us to believe that tobacco was good for you, HA! Check out those old commercials and the marketing campaigns, and the history of tobacco itself, which is truly interesting, going back to the Natives who taught that too much can steal your wind and encouraged reverence and moderation, as they did with all things, oh so wise were they. In fact, once when we were kids my father took us for a tour of a cigarette factory! Fascinating, and smelled sooo good. But probably not something we'd do with kids today....

However, the dollar often wins in our society (especially when we are not informed and wise with our buying choices) and we were unfortunately just as malleable then as peeps are now to marketing campaigns and propaganda about single use stuff and things we can't recycle. My family landed here in the 1600s and my Southern Dad's side were farmers who raised some of the best pure tobacco ever for many years, though he left and put himself through college and became a civil engineer, ending up with a career that took him and the family all over the world building, not tearing down or destroying or creating things that might hurt people. I've often wondered if our whole family is cursed with the karma of the tobacco years. Nope my ancestors didn't have slaves; they provided jobs for the people seeking freedom who came up from the deep South and treated them beautifully. I'm very proud of that within my Southern heritage. I appreciate that I was taught to value the differences of all cultures, the beauty and truth in each, rather than brought up to believe my own culture was the only "correct" one.

My sis and I were suckin' on my parents' cigarette butts and slurping their coffee leavings on Saturday mornings before we could even talk, when we were knee high to the side tables. My mother smoked through all three of her pregnancies and we turned out just fine, though probably already addicted.... I own my dumb stuff too, and when I said to my sis, "I'll be with you soon," she thought I was talking about visiting her during her last hospital visit, but that's not what I meant. She knows that now.... She said she'd never quit smoking and she didn't, and I hope it brought her pleasure during the trying times, because pleasure is one of the bennies of being here (ain't it great?! and if it's not, maybe we could rethink that?) and though pleasure usually has a price, sometimes it's a slow one, and sometimes it brings sooooo much good along the way, like most things. No judgies coming from me. Not ever. Unless someone's physically hurting others, in which case, I will intercede if at all possible, but otherwise, I say let's live and let live and love as big as we can along the way. And the thing is, so many people I know have died from the big C who never smoked a day in their lives, children, adolescents, adults, and elders. LOTS. So, I figure it's kind of a juggling act with none of us getting out of here except through that magical portal we call death. I think our spiritual agenda and will to live have a lot to do with our comings and goings on this planet, maybe even more than our dumb choices, which we can learn from as we grow....

My beautiful sister came to say goodbye, and like many who have terminal diseases whom we try our best to love all the way through, we did not talk about any possibility of death. So when she came, she knew, and I knew even though we never said any of the words out loud. She rang the doorbell sort of spontaneously, not calling or planning, she was just in the neighborhood (on the way back from another chemo appointment). She came in the front door and we hugged. A silent tight hug in which we did not cry. We held it for the longest time just knowing. Just filling each other up with each other.

She was tiny, so tiny I wanted to feed her massive amounts of macaroni, because cancer starves you and her 5' 4" frame was now down to a skeletal 89 lbs, so I took her hand and we walked slowly out to the back porch, which she had always loved. So many family barbecues out there on that patio that she was a major part of! Every year her birthday celebration around July 4th cause her birthday was on the 5th. So much fun. 

She sat, sunglasses firmly in place, in the chair I usually sit in and I sat next to her.

 

Yep the porch chair.

She spread her arms along its sides and sat, tiny in it, hands softly caressing the texture of the bamboo, a soft Mona Lisa smile on her face. And she looked out over the yard, as she'd done so many times before, drinking it in, every bit of green, every bit of dappled sunshine, every bit of history wafting into her and filling her up. I knew she was saying goodbye. I chattered about all kinds of things. I did not sob. I did not ask any questions. I did not grab her and hold onto her. Though I wanted to.

When she left to go home (this was the second to last time I saw her besides one hospital visit) she touched the kitchen chairs she'd sat in, she touched the doorways and the living room furniture she'd sat in so many times on holidays, her fingertips silently saying, I'm leaving my love and saying goodbye.

She went out the front door with another hug and promises of more visits. But the last visit was when I went to the hospital when the pneumonia got her yet again, and she rolled her little tiny self over the side of the bed to get out and announced, "This is harder than I thought it would be." "I know," I said, and turned to fluff the flowers we'd brought so she wouldn't see me cry.

But here's the thing: Wow, I'm so very grateful for ALL the LOVE she showered upon me throughout her life, and all the love she let me give her - it was a magnificent celebration between us for so many years and I'm pretty sure she wants me to live in those moments and let those sweet memories warm my heart.

So I make muffins for my Lovies. I remember the times we had together in those chairs and all the great conversations. And my heart stays warm and loving.

Conversation station XO

Dang, I'm still here.

I'm still here, so I must make it mean something. Isn't it funny how your body fights you when one of your beloveds goes down? Hair thins. Boils erupt. I won't even talk about the digestive system which refuses to digest anything but applesauce and toast. ACK!!

So I look back to see if I can survive this. And I find that I have managed to create beauty and to go on in hard times. Sometimes looking back can help us to be strong again.

Freesias

Freesias. I brought her some while she was sick. I put some in my house because they're her favorite. I will always honor her that way when they're in season. So fragrant I'm sure she'll smell them from her Heaven indeed.

We create.

I discover I can create beauty even in the midst of great sorrow. I planted this palm during the early time of her diagnosis and you should see it now! Looking back and remembering that I turned to Earth and growing things to feed my spirit when it was so low I remind myself I can do this and I will be able to scoot back into some kind of balance, even though sometimes I think I can't. 

And when those times happen, which I've shared with some special friends, here is the prayer/self-talk I say to myself:

I am surrounded by love.

I am loved.

I am loving.

I AM love.

Sometimes I say it several times to myself. It brings calm. And many times I say it about my Lovies who are in their Heavens. I have no doubt at all that it is the Truth, even when I can't always feel it.

And I count my blessings, which of course, include those still here on the planet with me, creating beautiful things, like my granddaughter soon to arrive. Whooooooopppppppieeeeee!

Yep, they've procreated! WOOT!!

My son and his beautiful wife are bringing into the world my beautiful granddaughter, with whom I am already completely in love. I can't wait to meet her and hold her and have fun with her. And watch them join the parenthood club. She is a verrrrry lucky girl indeed. And I am a happy grandmother in waiting.

Life brings a balance, we come, we go, we come, we go, and we LOVE. And love and love and love. And it's HARD sometimes, and sometimes it's so easy it's ridiculously wonderful. I'm all over that like a glove.

Fertility and abundance, yeah!

I am grateful for the cycles and the beeeeeautiful balance of life. I am looking back and grateful for the love of my sister and looking forward and grateful for the joys coming with the little one, and wise enough to firmly entrench myself in each and every moment, in all its glory. 

Aren't the moments just glorious? Aren't we lucky to experience them all?!

The Byrds with Turn Turn Turn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4

Namaste,

Jen

And Then There Were Three - Tribute to My Beloved Sister

 

(clockwise from bottom left)
Mom, brother David, Me, sister Melinda

I am a lucky girl to have a sister as special as mine was, not just to me but to everyone who came into her circle of influence. We were very close when we were young, being a little less than two years apart in age. And we did so very many things together, though we were as different as night and day in many ways. The solid underlying values systems were the same: our respect and love for the planet, the cosmos, and the orbits of humanity and family within which we moved.

One of the earliest memories I have is of the two of us sitting in the back seat of the car while my father drove through the jungles of Malaysia, where we lived for a couple of years while he was working there in the capacity of project management/civil engineering. My sister was a sensitive soul though she rarely let it show, and whenever she was feeling nervous in the backseat of that car she would ask me to hold her hand and we would sing together. A few years later we were still singing together, but not without first hooking up our swings four inches from the tippy top of the swingset in our backyard. We'd climb up and swing back and forth, back and forth, and sing at the top of our lungs. My mom said the neighbors thought it was delightful, though perhaps they were just being kind.

That backyard was simply divine, with three huge sycamore trees, two apple trees, a beautiful birch, and loads of ladybugs and butterflies, birds, and bees, and spiders and furry critters. It also sported a large sandbox my father made for us, in which we built and buried all manner of castles and kingdoms.

It was the late 70s and my mother was aces at handling the budget, part of which included mandating which items were "for your father," and which items we were allowed to eat. Lunch every day for us was peanut butter and jelly (Welch's grape is still my top favorite today!) and potato chips were "for your father," so we weren't allowed to have them, but that doesn't mean we didn't. We were a little bit naughty and had great imaginations, so between us we developed what we called "The Secret Club," in which we did things we weren't allowed to do. At lunchtime we'd wait for mom to leave the kitchen and go talk on the phone or over the back fence with one of her friends and we'd sneak into the pantry with our sandwiches and carefully open my father's big old potato chip bag, taking out four or five chips each. We looked for the flattest, roundest ones so we could open our sandwiches and lay the chips inside, then slap down the top and sneak back to the table. This way the chips didn't crunch too loud when we ate them and mom wouldn't see them if she came back into the kitchen. Ah, the good old days. Sneakin' with your Sis!

One thing we loved to do in our Secret Club was pretend we had long hair. My mother was one who preferred to keep our hair short, and I was18 the first time I was able to refuse the required haircut. My Sis and I would prance around our bedroom before bedtime with the radio on and our bathrobe belts tied around our heads with the long ends dangling down. We'd flip them over our shoulders and bat our eyelashes, practicing how to be coy. We were cool beans indeed!

And another thing we loved to do at that time was play dressups. We did that for hours and hours, happy as clams, prancing around the backyard in gorgeous gowns gifted to us by my mother and sometimes her friends. My favorite was a red chiffon party dress and my sister's favorite was a lavender strapless evening gown. We aerated the lawn with high heels too big for our little feet and corralled some of the neighborhood kids to play too. Eventually we wrote little plays and staged them from behind flowered sheets curtaining the swing set. On occasion we performed for some of the adult neighbors, charging a nickle a piece, whenever my parents had informal company for dinner. I never noticed any eye-rolling going on; again, they were nothing but kind, laughing and clapping at our antics. 

We shared a room for all the years we were growing up save for the latter years of high school when I moved up to the attic to have private space in which to dream and paint and write. During the earlier years my sister became interested in music and since she was the oldest, she always got to choose the radio station in our room. We were lucky, living so close to New York, as we were able to get the very best in radio at the time, and I was entranced, listening to Allison Steele (that incomparable magical DJ) every night as we floated off to sleep. And sometimes when my mother went out without us, which was rare, we'd sneak into the dining room to play albums on the good stereo, which had the most wonderful speakers. Those are the times my sister introduced me to so many truly wonderful music artists, like Melissa Manchester, Janis Ian, Dan Fogelberg, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and a host of musicians and bands that I adore and always will. Sometimes we danced and sometimes at night we lit the oil lamp and wrote in our journals. I'm so grateful to my Sis for introducing me to these great musicians who've accompanied me through all the seasons of my life, all the happy times, the sad ones, the celebration times, and the healing times. Melinda continued to be a wonderful musical influence, gifting me with hours and hours of joy that I love to share with others and that feed my spirit (and my plants both indoors and out) when I'm alone. Thanks Mellie XO

Melinda was "my person" all throughout my life, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way, as she was a very nurturing soul. The kind who shoveled off her elderly neighbors' cars in winter when she lived in a condo alone. The kind who hosted gorgeous dinner parties where she cooked EVERYTHING from scratch and the recipes were not simple ones. The kind who started her dinner parties with appetizers and went through all the courses right through to cheeses, fruits, and fancy desserts, special coffees and liqueurs, all served on gorgeous dishes, drinks in fancy crystal and coffee in demitasse cups. We felt entirely spoiled every time we got to attend one of her parties. 

It was a very good year.

As we got older, into our late 50s she was still hosting holiday gatherings for the family, even though we started feeling our age and it wasn't so easy anymore. We all teased her unmercifully at one of the later Thanksgiving spreads because she was very organized and had labeled ALL the serving dishes with little post it notes while everything was cooking so she'd know which food went into which dish, and what was so unforgettably funny was that she had labeled the unmistakable gravy boat "gravy." Oh my, we had a hoot laughing over that one. Very thorough indeed, she was. Never missed a trick.

Mellie and her husband were the "winter holiday home" and Rob and I were the "summer barbecue home" because we had the big patio and pool outside for entertaining. So many sweet memories of family celebrations to hold dear. So much love!

She was a well-traveled, worldly diva of a woman with great taste in clothing, jewelry, shoes, and a love of girlie self-care things like manicures, pedicures, massages, and perfectly dressed hair. She held a Ph.D and her students called her Dr. Wilkins. Some knew her as "the queen," though Glynda, the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz was one of her favorite role models. Her students were NEVER bored. She was a feminist who, nonetheless, loved and respected men in the best ways she knew how. The legacy she created through her students over so many impressive years as an instructor of several subjects at Penn State lives on. She was awesome.

And now she is free. I am so proud of her courage, dignity, fierce determination, and grace as she navigated the challenges of the big C for almost three years. She finally earned her angel wings on September 6th after yet another stint in the hospital with pneumonia. While in ICU she was too sick for visitors except her beloved husband who rarely left her side. And too sick for phone calls too. So I texted her "holding your hand and singing until you feel better." I knew she'd understand that. 

On Wednesday she was discharged from the hospital and when she arrived home, oxygen in tow, she headed for her happy place, her home study. That night she slept next to her beloved husband at last. And by Thursday's dawn she was part of the heavens. God's blessing she went in her sleep.

That's my person!

Celebrating your love and your life Melinda. Thank you for all the everythings you brought, and continue to bring to our relationship. The love never, ever dies. And I feel your spirit soaring. Sweet journeys near and far my Love.

I'll see you on the Other Side XO!

Cosmic Tree Cabochon Necklace is a Beauty Indeed!

Gorgeous new cabochon necklace is available at Art a la Carte PA!

For all of us who love TREES, the subtle "image" that I see in this round agate gemstone cab is of a single beeeautiful tree. With the colors, I gazed upon it and they sang out to me. It is paired with what's known as "phantom quartz" or "rainbow quartz" gemstone necklace straps and one of my favorite magnet clasps. Easy on/off but stays put while you're wearing it. Get a load of that needle! It's bent because the size 12 and size 10 beading needles need to be very thin to go through the tiny beads, so by the end of the project they're often bent. I sometimes prefer to use a bent needle so that it'll curve right up as I build up the border rows.

This is the start of the cabochon necklace. These are the colors that sing out from the cab itself. Yummy!

The cab gets glued to a fine piece of ultrasuede, which is the perfect host for the hundreds of beads that will comprise the border. My favorite stitch for this is the traditional Native American peyote stitch. To begin, I put four beads on at a time and backstitch down, up, and through, so they sit smoothly. This is what creates excellent quality. I've found over the years that if I do these too close together the rest won't work; it's the thread/cording that lets the beads breathe so they can sit nicely as I build the layers.

It can take years of experience to be able to gauge how much thread will fit through the tiny 11/0 seed beads, some of which must be able to take at least four, and sometimes five to six passes. I even have to switch needle sizes to get the final stitches done, which are woven back and forth through the border. No knots except for the start and finish. So it takes a couple of yards of thread (no tangling please!) to get through the whole border. If anyone wants to know, yes, I do talk to my thread, and it's usually very responsive. If it wants to tangle upon itself I say, "Oh this is just boring. Do you WANT to be a beeeautiful necklace?" And magically it will allow me to easily undo what could be a potential nightmare.... Only dreams please. Thanks! Magical tips: the cording hates competitive games or violence, so I'm picky about my TV and music while I'm working. YEP! It WORKS like a CHARM! Pretty good for me too! 

Yep, these are my TOOLS! And I LOVE THEM! The beeswax that you see has been used literally hundreds if not thousands of times as I condition the thread as I sew. This strengthens it and helps it not to tangle. The black is not dirt, it's what comes off the cording if I'm using the dark one. Yep, one of my tools is a verrry old-fashioned diaper pin that I used for my son's diapers before we switched to disposable ones (that was more than 30 years ago, how time flies!). Sometimes I have to use this to clean out the holes in some beads, especially wood ones, before I use them. And everyone knows that scissors are sacred, yes?

The spoon on top I use all the time for putting the tiny beads into their saucers for working. Apologies for not polishing it before the impromptu photos. It's sterling, Native American. I picked them both up in California. The one on the bottom somehow found its way into the garbage disposal for a few seconds (I wasn't manning the sink at the time, oh nooooo!) and I know just where to take it for repair. That's on my list of things to do.... 

The "tinies," or "littles" are the 15/0 inside row or two of beads that help the border to tighten around the cabochon. Also a skill that takes years to master properly. I choose a few different colors but wait for the cab to let me know which one(s) to use as I finish.

THERE she is! Do you see the image of a gorgeous tree? I'm in love with it. 

There's much that I do not have control over when I do this artistry. One of those things is the order in which I build up the border. I've learned over the years that before I begin, I must put each color of seed bead onto my needle and discern which ones are the widest and which are the narrowest, because for my process, it's essential to go from large to small (bottom row to top row) when building the border, otherwise it won't sit tightly when done.

Oh gosh, the border is done and I can tell it reeally wanted to be made, because though I don't "count," when I chose the final row to have a bit of extra decoration in the four larger green beads (at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock), the math worked out PERFECTLY. I LOVE when that happens. I suppose I could do the math beforehand, but I don't like to get bogged down when I'm in the creative process, unless I'm doing a beading chart for loomed bracelets or something like that. All the green around the cab will be trimmed off during the last few steps of the process.

Isn't she just lovely?! I don't know if she wants fringe yet, so far she hasn't asked for it, but she'll tell me after her necklace straps are on, which is the next step. Or, if someone is interested in her I'll do the fringe if they let me know they want it : ) It has to happen before the final backing so the start and finish knots don't show....

Here she is with the phantom/rainbow quartz beads that will comprise the necklace straps. She is emanating beautiful, soft, grounding and balancing energies.

So we're doing the second phase of this cabochon necklace. We've glued the backing on, and in this photo you can see the two layers of dark green ultrasuede.

I've trimmed the backing to about 1/16 inch around the outside. (Don't mind the reflected light....)

I push my needle between the two layers of dark green ultrasuede and out the back so the knot at the end of my cording sits inside and won't show. Excellent quality for my work means no knots showing, ever! I love when people say, "How'd she do that?!"

I pick up one bead and come up through the back to the front, making sure I get both layers but don't invade the rows already on there. Repeat, repeat, repeat, all the way around.

This is what the back looks like and I try to keep my stitches tiny and uniform.

Once you've made a few of these your hands learn how to hold everything to make things sit nicely. See that bead sitting on my finger? I'm going to make sure to push it towards the front of the piece so the row will sit nicely next to the other rows.

After I've finished putting on that whole row it kind of sits sort of raggle taggedy, so I sew around it again, and like magic they all sit beautifully aligned next to each other. Here, I'm sewing through the second time.

This photo shows how the beads are nicely aligned after the second round through along the bottom part, but the top part isn't done yet, and you can see it's a bit raggle taggedy. (Is that a word? It is now!)

She asked me for a bit of star power, so I sewed a sweet picot border all the way around with the red that's also in the cabochon itself. There are lots of different tutorials on YouTube for how to sew a picot border, and with this one, I went through twice as well, to make sure the red beads sit next to their sisters properly. Sorry for the poor lighting. Don't mind that white light on the cab, it's just my overhead OTT light (which I could not do this work without!)

The length of the necklace is 20 inches, so it sits a bit below the collar bone. With wear and a bit of age, the color of the copper clasp and wire guards will mellow and blend in. Most times with these necklace strands I take the extra effort to match the two sides though of course with the gemstones there's always a bit of variation; that's part of their charm!

Here you can see the 20 inches. I go through the necklace straps four times so they have about 32 lbs of strength in the cord itself on each side. With these necklaces I don't double up the cord to do this because the needles are verrrry thin so as to fit through those tiny seed beads, and they can break easily. So I take the extra time to go up and back, knot, then do a new thread and go up and back again. I like my work to last a long time : )

The cabochon is just shy of two inches. A really nice size, not too big and not too small.

Here she is! TA DA!

The lovely Cosmic Tree Cabochon necklace is finished! YAY!! Here's the lowdown on the final steps. She's now available at Art a la Carte PA!

Beautiful agate cabochon (the middle part), "phantom or rainbow quartz" necklace beads depending on how the vendor describes the gemstone, copper accent beads, and a luscious selection of seed beads with a sweet picot border. Yes, you can definitely wear her with jeans and a tee! She doesn't mind at all. I wear my cab necklaces with very informal clothing all the time : ) Or pop on a pair of heels with those jeans or some gold or silver sandals and a button down with extra buttons left undone for date nights. She likes to get dressed up with you for special events too. She's one of a kind, no other like her in the whole wide world!

Takes me about 16-20 hours to make these plus materials, which are the best quality I can get (some of my best cabochons come from Jaipur, India, and gemstone beads from all over the world), so when you see the price tag, which will be around $180, it's a giveaway full of love. What else would I rather be doing? It's one of my very favorite things to design these and I want you to enjoy them! Time well spent indeed : ) It's on my list to start doing some videos of the process but I'm not set up for that yet. 

No worries if she sells, I try to keep several special pieces available at Art a la Carte, and am happy to work with clients on custom pieces. The design process is so much fun and so personal, and it doesn't cost any more to have one made on commission. I've done commission work for people all over the world, so you don't need to be able to visit me in person, we can communicate and share photos in a number of ways thanks to technologies today, yay!

I'm at dreamkeepercreations@gmail.com

Thanks for taking a peek! Happy beading if you're checking in to learn! 

Namaste,

~Jen