promise

Extraordinarily lucky me, going to the beach today to let the waves crash over my feet, the wind blow through my hair, to walk in the sand and hear the seagulls. The promise of 'lovely' :)

grey

A grey day is at times all I need to kick into gear, get my creative juices flowing and get a lot done. Especially with the knowledge that I will be rewarded with a sunny day at the beach the day after.

little things

Often it is the little things that make us happy, for example looking at all these driftwood pieces that I collected on various beaches and that I now used to hang my hurricane bell.

apple tree

The Roxbury Russet apple is believed to be the oldest variety of apple bred in this country, actually in the early 17th century here in Roxbury Massachusetts. One of my favorite apples ever - a tree full of it is heaven to me. Thomas Jefferson planted a number of them in Monticello's South Orchard in 1778. I bet he had it with some cheese, wine and a good book just like I did today. Nashoba Winery has a huge variety of antique apples, people have no idea what they are missing if they only know Macs and it is one of the most beautiful places to visit in the fall.

goats

Goats are so funny and cute, for some reason they always make me happy when I watch them. Plus, they give us great milk to make the yummiest of goat's milk cheese.

get lost

Unanimously all five girls decided to ditch the map and try to get lost in the corn maze. So I just followed two of them since it is kind of nice to just keep walking without really any aim. We still never really got lost though, maybe we should have tried the map to get lost?

painted clouds

At times the sky is challenging our perception, throwing wild layers of chaotic clouds and weird weather at us. We found Salisbury Beach without the slightest breeze, but with humid and sticky air instead and the strangest sky that looked bizarre and different in every direction. I love the sky.

balloons

No matter what your age is, balloons are always fun and fascinating. Incredible how whipping out a box of these can induce excitement and hilarity.

autumn

Happy equinox day - autumn is here, my favorite season!

refuge

A space I call mine, a refuge, a garden-room, a place to take a break. Click on the picture to see my escape and join me.

happy beet surprise

It was raining all day today, though not beets (or frogs for that matter). Though when I came out of the house I found a bunch of fresh harvested beets on my car. It made me rather happy for multiple reasons. First of all I love beets, second it is wonderful to have a great friend who knows that and brings them by and as if by predetermination, I was making all-the-veggies-you-can-find-soup. To top it all: these beets are gorgeous, right?

kindred spirits

These rocks are in my mother's garden, they could just as well be in mine, since we are kindred spirits when it comes to rocks in the garden. We spent a day gardening today and it is so nice to have somebody understand your vision and ideas, getting excited about the same things and just actually getting 'me'.

first apples

The sudden switch to cold fall weather and the arrival of my apple-crazy mother prompted us to go out for the first apple picking of the season. A Sunday with sunshine, wind and a crazy sky and apples in abundance. To be honest though, the best thing was the hayride up the hill :)

stage light

It can be so fascinating to see the world differently via the means of a camera shifting time, light and space and altering our perception while often expressing more than the visual context and adding 'feel' to a scence. Here are glow bracelets during a dance number.

stage girl

I am completely amazed that my otherwise often shy and reserved daughter (purple dress) has not only a lack of stage fright, but actually loves being on stage and performing in front of an audience. I myself am near sudden death any time I have to put my feet up a stage.

iron spiral

Oh yes, lucky me, another spiral - hurrah! They have a very fun exhibition at Tower Hill with very big and very small iron sculptures. This one was rather big and looks like a fiddlehead.

peachy

Isn't this flower amazing? All the peachy tones in all those many petals - radiating in the sunlight with this warm color. That is actually the color of my bathroom and on grey days, it looks like the sun is shining in there.

head up the hill

A day so gorgeous as today needed to be spent out of doors. So I met a friend for a lovely brunch in a meadow of clover overlooking the South Bay of Wachusett Reservoir from Tower Hill.

incandescent gas

Sophie and I got to watch the gigantic nuclear furnace, that is powering all life, slowly disappear over the horizon. The sun was so round and orange and beautiful and at the same time, the full moon was coming up behind us, spectacular.

singer's camaraderie

In remembrance of the victims of 9/11, Johanna* and I participated in a big choral collaboration of many choruses and choirs. The music was wonderful and the ceremony moving without being too much to bear. What I found really amazing though was how nice almost all choristers were. You have 350 people thrown together in a small space, working to make one piece of music out of all the voices and everybody is friendly and courteous and there is a certain kind of singer's camaraderie. My mother used to say: "Go where there are people singing, 'cause evil people have no songs." That is a nice thought.

* (above in a picture from the T&G)

red & orange

This one is for you Marc! Recently the question came up if red and orange go together and I was the only person who loves that combination apparently. Of course it needs to be the right choice of each color with a similar degree of warmth, otherwise it might clash. How can they not go together, think about beautiful sunsets, amazing blanket flowers or hollyhocks and of course: gorgeous fall foliage.

type a

Call it type A or a touch of OCD, but I love all my pencils to be the same and all organized in a row. Don't really know how this fits in with my artsy brain, but I just shake it off as one of the juxtapositions of my strange mind.

mother and daughter

I am looking through my photo library for a contest of the perfect pair and when I saw this one, I thought it looks for sure like my oldest and me, just a bit cuddlier to the touch maybe.

malva

Woolen socks on my feet, hot tea in my hand and a thick fleece cardigan -  if it would not be for the flowers outside, I would think summer is over with. Thank you Malva Parkallee for the reminder.

lightning

Life is not always fair weather and star shine and that is okay with me, because lightning and thunder are pretty darn amazing. Drama in the sky.

dock

If one were to ask me what my favorite place to be is, the answer would always be: a boat dock, there is nothing better in the world!

starry sky

The dark hemisphere of the endless universe with sparkling stars above, all huddled together on the dock, swaying oh so gently on a very still night. Just the eerie sounds of loons and conversations about astronomy to be heard.

not exactly a difficult choice

You know you are having a great weekend if the biggest choice to make is between margaritas, Sam Adam's Oktoberfest or sangria. Sue's perfect margaritas won, hands down, no competition. Relax and enjoy the end of summer.

round and round

One year and 290 posts, this blog has its first anniversary. And because that's how it is in life: things go round and round with repetition and rituals. One of the nicest rituals in our life is the long and merry labor day weekend at Lake Kezar with friends. And that is where we are going tonight, to have a great time and soak our souls in the grandness of the ever changing beautiful sky over the lake!