If you don't like taking care of things like plants etc ..It is not for you.There is rinsing involved etc..Checking..I like taking care of things..
The world is facing so many unfortunate life changing events:(
The images coming out of the LA fires.. the wars..
So much criticism on all counts.
So many tears shed.
Today I made a huge batch of spaguetti sauce with meatballs..I watched the snow gently fall through the kitchen windows,realizing once more how grateful I am.
I love our home.I know I repeat myself but I do.
To see it go up in flames ..I cannot imagine.
All the memories.. the photos..the work that went into it.
Watching my littles grow here.. I cannot imagine.
My mother's things..
My own daughters things..The wedding dresses in the attic..the dollhouses..
My mom's paintings..
I cannot imagine..
All the while making my sauce..
Images flashing across our screens.. turmoil in politics..
and then this..
Our Canadian Water Bombers in LA.. helping our neighbours.
I am grateful for hobbies:)
Grateful for childhood friends who are thoughtful enough to send me 40 yr old photos of myself..40 yrs ago!! At least.See how fast time flies.That little one will be 48 this Feb..My youngest..And was I ever this young?
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I am so glad we did not have SM and phones etc..My attention was devoted to the girls.They were not on IG and TT..nor was I.
I think I lived in a much simpler time.
When you get to be 71.. you realize you are certainly not immortal.
Some worries set in.
And you hope so much for your littles now BIGS heading into their futures..
It doesn't take much to enjoy a little R and R
A fave spot with a very nice person.I am more a one on one now apart from family..not a party girl..not a group girl.
Too many people for 30 yrs..
I guess..who knows why we change?
I know a few reasons..I'm not being honest here lol..re why I prefer one on one now.
But the quality of one on one..
Is just precious.
Here's a bit of love in a cup for all.
So grateful for the Canadian Water Bombers although we are on the other side of the US. Lots of snow here with schools closed all last week. Have followed your blog for a long time❤️
ReplyDeleteI was so proud. so very proud..Neighbours who help neighbours.Thank you:)
DeleteYou ARE and most certainly were gorgeous ! I was watching a Leonard Cohen "special" and he said your 70's are the "foot hills" of old age. NOT old age. I am going with that !
ReplyDeleteEven J said oh look how young you were..I know..J:)I love LC..and you are pretty star like also:)
DeleteLook at You! Beautiful. I do treasure what feels like one on one with some of my Instagram peeps, that includes you. I would love for us to have a coffee and chat in real time, until then I will hang on here on line as long as I can stand it, even though it's not what it used to be. Don't I sound like an old lady!
ReplyDeleteThat was almost half a century ago🤭Gravity has changed things:)I too feel true camaraderie and am grateful🙏I’ll hang on too..imagine the future…
DeleteFrom the few photos that I have seen of you now you look almost the same…lovely. The little paintings sound like fun. You have so many interests to keep you occupied. It is terrible what is happening in California, the world, and what could happen in a few short weeks with the change in presidents. I think I will make a pot of spaghetti and think about my grandsons. Wishing you peace and love❤️
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very very good plan:) Ga..Ive never felt like this in 71 yrs.But you know that.The change of presidents:(His disrespect towards Canada is frightening.I assure you I look totally different:)
DeleteWhat a beautiful post! Great pictures AND paintings, you are so talent!
ReplyDeleteHave a great Sunday now...
Love from Titti
Oh titti..YOU are so talented! Truly!
DeleteFirst, I want to send heartfelt love and appreciation to our friends in Canada for working hard to help Californians who are so terribly desperate! It's hard for me to imagine what it must be like to see entire neighborhoods destroyed. I guess it's much like a war zone. I pray that this war is won, soon, and rebuilding of lives can ensue.
ReplyDeleteOne hundred paintings--oh my--if anyone can do it, you can, Monique! Please share them with us. I love seeing your work. It's obvious that your new sprouts kit is working well. Just think of the nutritional value in those little gems. That photo sent to you by a friend, is absolutely lovely! You and your daughter are so pretty. Such a sweet gesture for her to send it to you. Speaking of friends, I, too, have come to the conclusion that I prefer one on one. Sometimes I think it's because my aging brain can only keep up with one person at a time, lol. Another realization is that I don't enjoy going out to venues that are very noisy. Sometimes we take our kids out to their favorite restaurants, and I find myself looking forward to leaving--just for some peace. Oh well, it's just natural that we will continue to change as we age, and I am thankful to still be here, so I can experience being an old gal!
Oh your honesty Pam is something I love..Looking forward to leaving was always my thought at office parties lol first to arrive first to go.Dinner parties with more than another couple..same ..There is so much white noise with no meaning. I was so proud so thank you for attesting that that is what good neighbours do:)They are quick petites watercolors.. Very doable:)Maybe in sets of 30..I am not even following a theme..maybe the next set lol..I brought the boxes up to settle Christmas away..so today is the day.Its brilliant sunshine..and cold..so easier to do:)A tree looks better in darkness:) To see the fairy lights.My daughter is still pretty..:)Thank you:) ..
DeleteLove that photo of you. So very beautiful! ♥️
ReplyDeleteWe never realize the skin etc until it changes:) Thank you..that is a chapter 100 yrs ago.
DeleteAlways ❤❤❤ your insight of love and life
ReplyDeleteI know you lived through a fire and I am sorry I was not here to support you:( Very sorry for the loss of your home.Grateful you are in a new one and with a dear friend so close! Probably many:)
DeleteGood Morning (rather exactllly NOOON) from Sunny, snow-covered Indianannna! Woke late today, to the still-white lawn and all furniture and grill and cars indecipherable mounds of white, and the glint of what must be all that nitrogen for the plants and glimmers of all the prayers and good hopes that go up through the stratosphere. What a delightful glimpse of your doings and days---bright reds and greens and a blast of the happy linger of the holidays.
ReplyDeleteSuch a two weeks for us, all confined via a pesky alternator under the hood and such a blanket of white with all its beauty and risk. I dare not step out for feeding the cats---I cannot afford an injury, so their immense (plastic cake cover from a 9x13 and sturdy as a Sherman tank) cat cafeteria is filled by a deft hand with the Friskies-and-oil mixture twice a day from about five feet up, and my aim of that rain of little odorous fishies continues to improve. They are our only visitors, save for the few raccoons and two possums of the late-night meals. The precious young couple who come to help me clean house stepped daintily all over the back yard, laughing as they left, after a rather long look under the hood and a trial "jump" with the cables. So we're going to send in an order of supplies later today, to be delivered on the morrow, and my dear neighbor is taking the car to the shop.
Reminiscing over old photos is such a delight and pang of remembrance---faces and events and the fashions and cars---my album ranges from a great-aunt and her then-beau smiling from a goat cart on a turn of the Twentieth stiff postcard, with a later addendum. "The Martins. Mr. Luther Martin is dead." I'm just cackling writing this somber line, as I KNOW it was written in later years, and she meant his demise had been somewhere in the decades since that ride in the cart, but it just cracks me up every time I turn that page. I think I even pictured it on LAWN TEA once, just for the silly fun.
So lovely to see the YOU of any time beautiful faraway friend, and the shine of your sweet soul and self crosses the miles and decades with great purity and grace, now or anytime. I'm so proud and amazed to be your friend.
I'm so happy you found me as I revel in your prose..You paint pictures with your words and tell wonderful stories...Cat cafeteria:)Time takes it's toll on all.. well not anymore..so much one can do to do as Cher says..Turn back time..So young they start now..Pang of remembrance is right.I don't even remember really being that young.I remember the girls..but not me.Take care..have a lovely week..that young couple sounds so delightful Rachel:)
DeleteIt's heartbreaking all those people having lost their homes. Like you I think about my treasured items - gifts from my daughters, photos and albums, my dolls houses and much more. That is a lovely photo of you, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh yes THOSE treasures...absolutely..I was happy to receive the photos,but I must say..I don't rememner looking like that.I have had longer yrs looking like this..:)
DeleteAs always, I enjoy your memories and stories. What a gorgeous photo of you and your daughter.
ReplyDeleteAs for the mini painting project, of course you can do it. I look forward to seeing them.
MORE than 40 yrs ago.. time flies faster than I would have ever thought...I think I can;);)
DeleteIt’s hard to express my gratitude and admiration for your country’s response to the California fires, showing grace and compassion in spite of our next president’s hurtful, thoughtless remarks. Jeanette sclar
ReplyDeleteThank you.😢Your next president saddens me so much Jeanette.I go from angry to sad.Ive never felt like this about the USA before.And it’s all on him😢Merci beaucoup.
DeleteLove that photo of you. So very beautiful! I look forward to seeing the 100 small paintings :-) Of course you can do it.
ReplyDeleteIf I could turn back time;). Yes it's doable!! I agree..TY!
DeleteSuch heartbreak for those losing their cherished homes. I can not imagine the feeling. Monique, you are truly beautiful, love the photo of you and your sweet daughter.
ReplyDeleteI cannot either..Washing my floors today? No complaints.I have floors..Oh all the little mundane things...That was over 40 yrs ago..A lot has changed:) You look the same!
DeleteI'm more of a one-on-one too. Yesterday was Rick's house concert, which was lovely. There were about 45 people there (many I only barely knew and some I knew things about that probably few others know (and they know about me, too!). It was fun, terrific music, but I was glad to see all go. Too much social energy and I was exhausted. Give me a lovely lunch with a good friend or a crafternoon and I'm happiest!
ReplyDeleteI love your wee paintings. Well done on engaging in the challenge. I'm not very good at that follow through so hats off to you.
I will say that one of the best things about yesterday's concert was that it gave my mind a bit of a break from thinking about the dreadful fires, the impending administration change, the world situation. I can heartily recommend an hour of lovely harp for a bit of an escape! And I, too, thank Canadian firefighters for joining in on this dreadful LA fire.
Oh yes one on one craft..Mind you when I went to the wreath making many others were there..but..I was with my two daughters..and their dear friend..that I love.That is a ten for me.Your new president..I just cannot believe people voted for him.I think..humbly so had another candidate be on the ballot..He may have lost.It seems many are not ready for a female.But even a strong male ..may have made the difference.
DeleteI agree. It's getting pretty scary here.
DeleteWhat a wonderful gesture from Canada! I didn't realize they were helping. Thank you for letting me know! Bravo and I love your painting of the airplane. ♥ It seems like it will never end. So sad. It's going to take years to rebuild, if there is money to rebuild. So many changes, both here and in Canada! One this that doesn't change is your joy of painting. I love the lady walking in the snow in your sidebar. ♥ I love the photo your friend sent. You have the same hair! Maybe not the same color but the thickess. Lovely! I've been looking at a lot of old photos recently. Oh, the changes - LOL. We bought a new digital frame for both the girls and ourselves so I keep adding a few photos now and then. They're so much better than the old ones and even show iphone 'Live' photos which is awsome.
ReplyDeleteI should refresh the pics in our digital frame..actually I should plug it in..I think ours has a cord..a gift years ago..It does seem like it will never end..The clean up..insurance adjusters..rebuilding..landscaping..refurnishing.I think about them constantly.I did not know the Appalachian region was so hard hit with Helene..So sad too.Natural disasters.apparently if arson is proven insurance doesn’t pay?It was emotional for me to see the water bombers from here and Mexicans crossing to help.😢😢😢Oh my hair is not as thick as then😑Nothing is the same lol..
DeleteMy heart breaks for those in California losing everything. So tragic. I know what it is to lose all I have, but that was by choice. Quite a different thing. Still hard, but in a very different way. I can't wait to see your small pictures. I am sure they will be lovely. I know everything else you paint is! Loved seeing the photo of you from long ago. So pretty. You still are. I know we are our own worse critics, but you are a beautiful woman, inside and out, I think. I was never ever half as pretty as you are! Happy that Canada is doing what they can to help out with the water bombers. I remember as a young mum, my husband always having to go to fight forest fires, etc. I was always so afraid he would get hurt. The heart at the end. Don't you wish you knew how to do that? I do! (Wish that is.) Have a wonderful week! Thanks for all that you share with us! I love it all! xoxo
ReplyDeleteI do remember you leaving everything so very bravely and during Covid:( The mask on the plane..the hotel..All of it.I am so glad you life is richer here..so much more so..I am seeing. so many people go back to the shambles.. still being optimistic..Seeing people being the ONLY house that stood amidst the bubble f all the others.Firemen opening a safe ..so the woman could get her treasures( all sentimental)..Pretty is in the eye of the beholder..My favorite person who believed I was not a very heavy teen and loved me regardless..was gone..But I had two dolls to play with":) Living ones..Marie trust me.. I don't look anything like that..The heart..oh yes would love that! This is my little special one on one outing and that's the treat:) They bring us our cups and my face lights up:) So very special indeed.
DeleteLove this post! Such a pocket of joy with all the craziness that is going on in the world right now. I love your paintings so far. You are so talented! What a fun challenge for the new year. My personal new years resolution was to get our home organized and deep cleaned. I just scheduled a carpet cleaning which I am looking forward to. Thanks again for sharing. Can't wait to see what you paint next!
ReplyDeleteOh good for you! After I take the tree down with J and the rest..I get in an organizational mood lol..Im organized..If I wasn't it would seem hoarding-like..:(. I have to look at tidy..I may have OCD tendencies but not the type where you check the doors en times ..repeatedly wash hands.I just like to look at clean and tidy :)
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