Missions Accomplished

As I look at the photo's of my offerings tonight, the pictures seem serene. It in no way, tells the story of a mad woman blindly, working. Nor does it reveal the chaos of the entire kitchen; both the table where I work or the counters where my work spilled. Not a hint, that the stove and sink are piled with empty pots, pans and dishes. It looks more like a crime scene than that of a creative person meeting a deadline.

It seems that no matter how I plan my work days and leave a completely reasonable amount of time for my offerings... I am still working on at least one slacker on upload day. The past week has been a challenge indeed. Add to the mix that I needed to permanently set aside the cheater glasses and wait until my new "fulltimelearntodealwithbifocals" arrive. This should have been last Friday. Needless to say, I had no choice and cheater glasses did help me through this deadline.

Like many of you in the Northeast, the excessive rain hasn't been a joy ride. I am thankful that we haven't had the flooding, but I did have my own little sump-pump-turned-fountain drama at one in the morning. True, it is never dull and I never know what the day will bring. Right now it is bringing new help for a couple hours a day to take care of my Mom. I can't tell you how much it means to have someone help for just a little bit when you are care taking someone in your family. We have always been fortunate to have found good and caring people. It is sad to see someone leave, but this time it has brought a couple of aides back to us that we enjoyed and have missed. For all the bumps, trials and tribulations, everything did work out just fine. Tomorrow starts another day and I am nearly ready to crawl into bed....I hope. Enjoy my little friends on SIMPLY PRIMITIVES. Somehow they all came together after a bumpy journey.

Are We There Yet???

Birthday's are always so dependable and come along every year, right on time. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...I'm forty eight today and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. The day will be nearly the same as most and a little more special than some. Life really is a journey and I still have a lot of journey left. Just like any other road trip, I'll interrupt it from time to time and ask...."Are we there yet?"

Celebrate Spring

March always finds me eager for Spring. Last week we were fortunate enough to have a wonderfully long stretch of sunshine and warm temperatures. Now it's back to our regular Upstate New York March and I feel a even stronger yearning. I am still caring for my Mom and creating as time allows. My heart however is at Millie's this week!


I can't tell you just how badly I would love to drop in on Millie and Robert for their Spring Open House. We have shared many a laugh and a tear together. As Millie would tell you, if we lived closer, we'd be dangerous together! She is a kindred soul and I'm sure that in a different life, we have played hooky and gone fishing for our dinner. Millie and Robert are Caretakers of Olde. Their home is featured in Jill Peterson's book, The Settlement. Jill's magazine, A Simple Life has just been released and is a huge success. If you are not close enough to stop by the shop, just click on the invitation above and you can step into the shop and browse from your home. Millie and Robert are happy to oblige you and I know that you will enjoy them as much as I do. Much love to you both~ I miss you!

The Long Way Home

I'd like you to meet two of my new BFF's: Corinna the chicken and Paulette the cow. Animals are an endless source of inspiration for me and where I live, farms are close by. You would think that these critters would be just flying from my brain and on to paper on a regular basis. Sometimes though, the idea can be simple, it's just pulling exactly the look you want and putting it on paper. While Paulette came trough rather easily in face, I wanted to play around with sticks for legs. Corinna however just was going to be stubborn. I found that with Corinna after hours of sketches, pictures and yes, the real thing...her face came from looking back on my own work. Maybe you will see a bit of my Jake the Turkey in Corinna. These two wild and crazy girls are available on TDIPT tonight. Do stop by and visit them along with the works of many other talented artisans.

It Takes A Village...

It is evenings like these that make my heart smile. I am me, wrapped in memories and knowing that I am who I am, because of so many. As I knead the dough for pizza, my mind brings me back in time. My brother and I holding tight to each one of my Mother's hands as we make our way across Main Street and to DiBernardo's.

This is the place that my Mom worked as a teen. As we walked in, Angelo would shout, "Hey Scrubbo!" to my brother and ruffle his hair. Many times we would walk through to the kitchen where Jenny would be at the stove, over looking the biggest pot of sauce I had ever seen. Many times we came with our Mother for a soda and if we were very lucky, a piece of candy. These times would find us sitting up to the counter as we twisted our bottoms on the stools. We would always take a peek under the counter and check out the blobs of multi colored gum stuck there.

Sometimes we would sit at the booths and have a meatball sandwich for lunch. This simple lunch was pure heaven, but it was Jenny and Angelo's pizza that ruled. It was what we based any other pizza on, and still do. I still can remember the smell mixed with the cardboard box as it made it's way to Grandma's kitchen table. There were times that my Mother would make it for us as Jenny taught my Mother how to make the pizza sauce. Although it was very good, there is something to be said about the proper oven for a pizza. Jenny passed away a couple of years ago; she was 94. Tonight though, she was beside me and I smiled the whole time. I realize just how fortunate I am to have had them both touch and be so strong a part who I am, even for such a humble task, as making pizza for dinner.