Strawberries, sweet friends and sunshine

What a beautiful day. The For-get-me-nots were blooming in the sun and the bleeding hearts were pretty in pink. My girlfriends came by and we had coffee, tea and chai and strawberry shortcake sitting out on the deck in the dappled sunshine. We talked and shared art projects and ideas. After eating we took a stroll down on the lower road through the woods. We saw lots of moss and triliums. A little mushroom was growing in the crook of a maple tree. The smell of the woods is damp and fresh at this time of year. We felt we were in a fairy forest or a very primordial forest. My girlfriend wrote an email this morning and said it was like a 2 hour vacation with a walk in the woods. I am so glad strawberries are back in season. We love them on cereal and salads, in smoothies and on cakes.

Where is the Sun, la, la,la ,la

Our place looks stunning right now. All the trees are glowing with water logged moss. The leaves are opening and we are getting shelter from the world in our little forest. Every morning I am serenaded awake by the birds. 15 years ago I planted For-Get-Me-Nots and they have spread all over the front yard along with the pink Bleeding Hearts. Our sugar peas are up about 6 inches and reaching for the sun that isn't in the sky. The lettuce has sprouted but very small still. We are hoping for sun in the next day or so.
Friday is book club day and I am really looking forward to it. I heard that Ken Follett's book "World Without End" is going to be one of the books offered for us to pick. I was on page 316 before I heard this bit of info so I stopped reading it until after Friday. Joe and I really enjoyed Ken F's first part of the story, the book "Pillars of the Earth". Ken tells a gripping tale that is hard to put down.
I read Sea Glass these past few days and I really enjoyed the story. I think Anita Shreve is a good story teller. The book was about the
1920's and 30's and the mill workers and the strikes put on by the unions and communists to get better wages and conditions for the factory workers. I wondered how it was going to end and I was surprised. It could have been 50 pages shorter. I find I feel that way about a lot of books lately. I don't know what that means. Either the writer has drawn out the ending or I have lost interest. Today because of all the rain I will need to find a small book to read until Friday (today is Wednesday)

What a day. Rain pouring like cats and dogs. Great day to read a good book or do some art. I have just finished making a tiny book for my Friday Kahlo ATC. The book is less then 1"x1" and has 6 Frida paintings in it. It has ended up that I have done each ATC differently. I am trying to find a style that is lush like Frida's life. I just keep adding things to them and waiting to feel the magic. I am so enthralled with Fridas life and "The Lacuna" is a fun way to read about her life and the political climate at the time. Only 100 pages to go and looking forward to the next book I have on the book shelf. That's funny since I have hundreds of books on the selves to read.

April and ATC's

Yesterday I met up with my ATC group at our favorite Starbuck's and we exchanged our American Primitive ATC's.
Joe was so wonderful and cut me some copper tubing and flattened it and shined it up for the ATC's that I made. This next month we are making Frida Kahlo ATC's. We are reading The Lucana in our Book Hag group and Cinco De Mayo is next month so it seemed like a great excuse to make a Frida tribute.
I woke up really early thinking about how to make the ATC and I remembered some black and white paper I bought last year. I wanted to make something that looks like Mexican tile for the background. I have been up all morning coloring in flowers using gel pens. I think they look beautiful, if not totally like tile. Then low and behold I got inspired to make a big bacon and egg, potato and squeezed orange juice breakfast. I haven't done that in 5 years. Lucky Joe. He had a smile on his face.

House of Cards

This is a week of April letter-writing and card making. I am tickled to go to the mailbox and find cards from people I don't know. Lindsay has set up this swap and it seems to be going well. I had to move the cards to a new area because I have gotten so many.

Today I want to think about spiritual living. I have always believed in God and Jesus and the belief has just been a fabric of my being. My husband says I don't believe in the right way, hum, he can only speak for himself. I believe in the teachings of many of the enlightened that have lived throughout time. Buddha and Christ being two of the main teachers of a thoughtful, caring life for me. I had God speak to me when I was seven years old and I was told that the way of life should be through love. I tried to figure out a way that I could love others and show it. What does love look like. Well, my seven year old brain told me that I should hug people. Touching others with a hug would be one way to show love. This has worked fine in most cases but hugging is now becoming something of an issue, with so much child abuse and I have run into people that freak out when touched. It is sad that our society has put a bad spin on hugging. I think hugging is about healing not destruction. A poem I wrote years ago has the line, "I want to reach out my hand and touch those I can hoping love will show the way." I still believe that hugs and love show a spiritual path that God approves of.

Oh to sell or not to sell

My mom's house has been a question. Should we sell now or hope the economy improves. We have a renter and each month wonder how long he is going to stay. He has been great but the house takes a lot of money to keep heated.

Speaking of houses I have been making little Row house cards. They are so fun to make. Open the door and look inside. So far I have received 4 cards from the April card swap.

Today I went to the thrift store and found some beautiful postcards from Korea. I have been trying to figure out how to make them into some beautiful cards for others. I like to add on and add to cards to give to others.