Tall in the saddle; with alloy claws

Moving on to 0h ten, (is this what we will call the new year?) and putting the nails in the coffin of oh nine...in more ways than one. Here I have a motley collection; new shoes from Santa; a remake of the old saddle shoe variety but with a haute clomp. Clint Eastwood cd collection and the xmen trilogy set. Can't wait to watch them...how did Santa know exactly what I want? Oh that Santa, shopping online these days....Thrown in for good measure to represent the death of the old year and those hopes and dreams that can never be fulfilled, is Jesse James (Brad Pitt), stills photo shoot on location in Alberta by Canadian photographer, Kimberley French. A movie par excellence. Even though I'm not a huge Brad fan. Seriously. But I do like Angelina. But not Jenn. No cachet.

Sail away Sailor Dan Friendship-it endures!

Me Homies-or what's left of them. We used to call ourselves the magnificent seven....but...marriage...retirement....& the resulting moves...estrangement...all contrive to sabotage our bond...we're down to 4 now..not often we get together these days....I call us the fab four....I'll be John, (so this is Christmas, what have you done?)someone else can be Ringo, or Paul, or George, whatev. Here we are at Mano's celebrating Christmas and friendship with appetizers and wine. Each year we draw numbers for our gifts-this year we broke with tradition and got the waitress to divvy up the goods. Lo and behold, it did not matter. I always get Rachelle's gift! This year t'was chocolates, subliiiiime chocolates. and a funky scarf! Speaking of scarfs, the travelling scarf showed up and this year it went to Gloria....which means we have to go to Gloria's for I guess some Ukrainian celebration next! Looking forward to that! Here's to friendship---may it endure always!

Scarth Street Mall in Regina

One of my fave places to walk to at lunchtime back in the day when I worked in downtown Regina. Of course, in the summer it was sandals and sundresses. ( Ahh, those were the days!) Not so the day before yesterday! Although it felt fairly balmy compared to Saskatoon, it was still cold. I found myself navigating the downtown Christmas shopping traffic in rush hour and not remembering very well which streets were one way. My daughter and her man were sitting in a pub sipping a pint, so I embarked upon finding my way to the Scarth Street Mall. I don't recall the name of the pub, but I did take note of some rather good-looking suits. I'd like to take a week off in the summer and just enjoy the Queen City. Regina has such character, and although there is competition and sometimes feuding between our two fair cities, I have to say each has its own merits. Saskatoon is very pretty, and Regina has more brick and mortar, both figuratively and literally. This photo is courtesy of Guy, http://reginainpictures.blogspot.com

Don't Look Back

Live Each Day tothe Fullest. (author unknown) (first 2 verses)

Live each day to the fullest. Get the most from each hour, each day, and each age of your life. Then you can look forward with confidence and back without regrets.

Be yourself - but be your best self. Dare to be different and to follow your own star.

I love this poem for its simplistic message of happiness and its a great reminder to not waste the gift of life. The last line reads "Act as if everything depended upon you, and pray as if everything depended on God". I have it hanging in my bathroom in a frame. My friend actually found it behind her house by the dumpster one day when I was at her place. So I snagged it and took it home and cleaned it and have it hanging in my bathroom. So the "don't look back" part brings me to this pillar of selenite, which I absolutely love and I got it for a song at Charter House. Well it really was a more like a symphony, but a fraction of the price you'd pay for it at a crystal shop. Selenite is known for its peaceful qualities. I keep it on my nightstand with my other crystals.

(Might as well face it) ADDICTED TO MUGS

I can't help myself. I love buying mugs & cups. And giving mugs and cups. Usually in twos, because if the recipient doesn't like them, well then they only have two. But, sometimes its hard to decide which color you want. . (I'll take 3 of each, please.) So what the heck, just fill up the basket. Then go home and fill up the filter basket. These aren't all the cups I have bought in the past week, I gave 2 away, and I broke one already. I see that white one is being a bit stand-offish.

The Sawtooth Pack

I was working on a painting. From a photo I had taken of a wolf. A very old wolf, crippled and caged at the forestry farm. He looked so terribly sad. The photo I had taken myself was really not that great, and so I thought I should check out some books at the library, strictly for the photos. But what ended up happening, is that I read this whole beautiful book from cover to cover and fell in love with the Sawtooth pack. I even listened to the cd in the back cover of the sounds of the pack. The study that Jim and Jamie Dutcher did on living with wolves, is simply amazing. The photography is stunning. So I never did finish my painting. And I had a hefty fine when I finally returned the book.

http://www.livingwithwolves.org/

She aint' heavy, she's my sister

Typical goings on when my three girls get together...if they're not scrapping fighting Irish, they're goofing off. This is clearly the latter. But it was so great to have them all together for a day. Trying to get a good picture of the three of them is not an easy undertaking. Partly because they all live in different cities. The saying, timing is everything, is just not for comedy. It really applies to photography as well. Especially if you have one of those cameras where there is a delay. I wonder if photoshop can remove a twig from someone's head. I probably could if I had some extra large tweezers. Yes I know that is a substandard joke, but 'tis the best I can muster right now.

More than 2 leaves and a leaf bud

My mom brought me up this gorgeous coleus plant a few weeks back. Unfortuneately I do not have a green thumb, and it has suffered from dehydration in the last few days. So it is losing some leaves and some of the smaller leaf buds as well. However it rather looks like I imagine a tea plant to look, with a little pink flush on the leaves. This particular variety is called russet. As to why the phrase 'two leaves and a bud' is bandied about so much, it actually refers to the picking of the leaves. The topmost inch, consisting of the proverbial 2 leaves and a leaf bud, is what they snap off to make our tea. It takes 22,000 of these to make a kg of tea! oh and by the way, the painting in the background is an oil I did when I was 20. That is a very long time ago!!! The inside frame has been painted a few times to match the walls, but the last time I did this, I rather botched it. (I used acrylic, bad choice). So next time I paint the kitchen, I'll change it again.

SynchroniciTEA

I'm always amazed and in awe of the coincidences and synchronicities that continually occur. You could call this a tea weak. Yes that's weak as I've been steeped in a virus and left weak. Weak tea as well as I have been drinking lots of it, and no coffee since Monday morning. But I digress. Last weekend I picked up this hardcover "Darjeeling" for a whopping $1 at a liquidation store. On Wednesay, I started reading it. It is a rich brew of love, loss, and the politics of tea. 2 days earlier, on Monday, I was naming a rooibos latte "red velvet cape". (I could go for one of those right now). On Sunday, the antique tea cups came out of the china cabinet while I had my family over for a turkey dinner. The week before, I found myself wondering why they always have on the tea bag label, 2 leaves and a bud, or the symbol for it. Now I know why. So you see I have received my answer, as the Universe ALWAYS hears my question. That is synchronicity.

Lovely Helping Hands

These beautiful helping hands came over to assist me in the unloading of a very heavy glass and oak divider I snagged at work for a mere $8. I don't know what I'd do without these helping hands; she always lifts a finger or two or three when I ask her to. There when I need her. I guess that's the beauty of family.

Flux Incapacitator

Flux aka Electrika flew home this past weekend from Vancouver. She hasn't been here in a very long time. So it was great to see her along with my other Helvie's. She's a girl after my own feet; here wearing her fluevog "bond girl" boots. Guess you could say she grew up knowing you can never go wrong with boots, even if your two and wearing your dad's work boots. And wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt. Lately she's been lacing up her roller skates and joined the roller derby. Better watch out for Flux...and that's not reflux!

We'll ride them someday....

This drawing was done using the graffitti application on the old facebook. I found it very hard on the hand to use the mouse to draw it. There is some great art using graffiti and I wonder if these people are using stylus's or they're just great artists and well practised or all 3. Did you know there are wild horses in Saskatchewan? Recently, I happened to see an article about these horses, which I did not even know existed in this province.

http://www.canadiancowboy.ca/features/feb-mar05.html

Star of Wild Horse Canyon

This is a classic "Star of Wild Horse Canyon" drawing that I have probably done hundreds of times, as a child, using the picture on the cover of the "Scholastic" book as my inspiration. I guess my love affair with drawing horses began about that time, when I was no more than 8 or 9. Star was a white horse with a star on his forehead; imagine that. This black mare needs a name....Montrose de laFlamme....sounds fine to me.

What's in a Name?

It has been said that a rose, by any other name, will still smell as sweet. That is, a rose is a rose is a rose. And a horse is a horse of course of course. These beauties here are named wonderfully. Lyra, Dante and ........... I must leave a blank here as I'm afraid I'm drawing one for the other's name at the moment. Horses, not being subject to the same struggles as humans, are not likely to be so much affected by their given names. On the other hoof, Lyra is a name that suits this gorgeous animal. Dante is huge, strong, powerful! I really wonder, how does this happen? What chain of events, what energy is being manifested to draw a quality in a word to a person? And just how do we assign a quality to a word anyway? Sure, we have long and short vowels, and hard and soft consonents. But have you ever noticed that names have a propensity to affect your lot in life. Name a boy Peter, for example, and do you think perhaps he may end up in journalism? We certainly have a lot of Peter's there. Or driving dump trucks? What about Tom? A crusty alcoholic, perhaps a singer? Hmmmm... Strong names, weak names....I sometimes wonder...salt of the earth names, good solid trustworthy names that have stood the test of time? What about John? Now there is someone you can depend on. How about Mary? Same thing there, but some Mary's I have known, seem, well, a little shifty....Why are all the Julies and Julias extraverted? What will happen to the next generation of names when we'll have Apples and Oranges and Gangsta's running the country? What images are conjured up with the name Helvetica? What do you think?

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