On My Work Table

This piece has been through many transformations but I finally feel happy with where it is at.

 

It just needs a coat of varnish and then it will be complete.  What are you working on right now (doesn't have to be art)?

The Fragility Of Life

a familiar crash against the window pane

a human heart lurches in response

a stunned chickadee lying lifeless on the floor

 

sitting, waiting, watching, protecting

its eyes closed tight

chest rising and falling unnaturally fast

 

tears forming at the corner of her eyes

taking in its delicate features

not knowing how this will end

 

seeing the fear and confusion

its fight and struggle

wanting so much for this tiny creature

 

willing it to live, to sing

to spread its wings

and fly

The View From My Couch

For those of you who were wondering . . . . . my foot operation went well last Thursday (other than blacking out on the nurse doing my IV line).

Since then I have alternated between being laid up on my bed or the living room couch.

You may be wondering what birds have to do with my foot op?

 

Well they've been keeping me company during my recovery.  I made sure I opened the blinds and positioned everything so that I could enjoy a piece of nature even while being holed up inside.

The chickadees have me fixated at the moment.  They keep singing and ruffling their feathers, so fun to watch.

I've been trying to learn the difference between the downy woodpeckers and the hairy woodpeckers.  We appear to have both but it can be quite the challenge to tell them apart.

I love the way the woodpeckers use their tails as a form of support.

The suet was a popular feasting area but my husband had to move it because the raccoons would eat it all at night.  With all that fat I'm sure they may be experiencing loose bowels for a while!

I haven't been getting on too well with my crutches and fell yesterday for the third time.  It was a particularly bad fall and I came down hard on my bad foot, bending my toe in the process.  I blacked out for a while before coming to and realizing that my toe was bleeding.

 

My husband (my hero) ended up coming home from work and taking me to the docs.  Thankfully I hadn't broken anything but I had mangled one of the toes that had been operated.  Even though the stitches had held it was gaping quite a bit.

 

The plan is to keep out of trouble, try walking on my foot more and then in a weeks time I'll be back at the docs to have the stitches out. 

 

I can't wait to be fully mobile again and to get out and about with my camera.

Purple Rain

"Into each life some rain must fall".  Henry Wadsworth

Here I Go Again

Just for the record those are my husbands toes and my legs aren't that hairy!

Over the past several years it feels as though my body has been conspiring against me and that no sooner do I get one issue sorted out than another appears.  Tomorrow I will be going in for my fifth surgery in the last four years . . .  this time to remove a lose bone fragment and bone spur from my foot.
 

I've mentioned it before but hospitals freak me out as do needles in veins (IV's are a particularly stressful experience).  I don't know if this fear has always been there, whether it was the result of a particular experience or simply got worse as I got older.  I have to remind myself to get out of my head, to breathe, to take each minute at a time and to stop over thinking things but it's hard.

I'm going to be laid up for a while but I've got plenty of books, movies and of course my laptop at the ready.

Where Do You Belong?

Whenever I travel (especially to the UK) I find emotions bubbling up to the surface around belonging and a sense of home.

 

When I talk of home it can mean a number of different places for me; South Wales (where I was born), Wantage (where I grew up) or Ohio (where I currently live).  It can get a little confusing when I'm talking to people, especially as I visited all three during my recent trip.

 

After moving to Oxfordshire as a child I lost my Welsh accent so whenever I travel to South Wales I feel like an outsider.  When I visit the town where I grew up people laugh or roll their eyes at some of my 'americanisms' which also makes me feel as though I don't truly belong there either.  Then there's America where my British accent sets me apart and always will.

 

I feel extremely fortunate to have travelled and lived in two countries but it's a strange feeling and one hard to articulate, the sense of not truly belonging in any one place . . . . . but then I look at my family and at my husband and know that wherever they are will always be home.

Linking up with Texture Tuesday.

Feather At Forty

I'd been thinking about getting a tattoo for a long time.  Everyone thought it would never happen but finally during my trip to the UK I went and got one done. 

 

Apparently everyone bet that I would either bottle out or pass out (clearly my family has no faith in me) so I think I surprised them.  It didn't hurt as much as I thought it might but I believe a lot depends on what you have done and the location. 

 

I'm happy with the way it turned out and can't believe that I waited until I was forty to finally have my first tattoo.  I'm already thinking about my second one and hope that it doesn't take me another forty years to get it done.

 

What do you think of tattoos?  Love them or hate them?  Do you have any yourself?  Don't worry about offending me, I know people have opinions both ways.

Photo Heart Connection: May

I just had to chose this image for my photo heart connection.  It's a shot of my brother and sister on the beach in Bournemouth.  We spent a day together, just the three of us, during my trip home to the UK.  I can honestly say I haven't laughed so hard in ages.

 

Here are a few more shots from that day.  People must have been wondering what we were up to but I love when you're able to let go and stop worrying what others think.

 

 

Sun, sand and laughter are the perfect tonic for whatever ails you.

Linking up with Photo Heart Connection.

Discombobulated

Things have been crazy busy around here since my UK trip which was followed by a great visit from my brother and his wife.  

 

We've had fun this past week and created lots of wonderful new memories which involved a road trip to Makers Mark in Kentucky and the Jack Daniels Distillery in Tennessee, having dinner at a local with live country singing, watching Iron Man 3 at the movies, visiting the Cincinnati Zoo and playing around in the pool. 

 

Not so great was getting rear ended on our drive to Tennessee, getting a speeding ticket yesterday and then finding out that Ravyn (our black lab) almost got ran over this morning after breaking through the electric fence.

 

Now that they've left I'm finally playing catch up and my head is spinning with all the things I have to sort out before my foot surgery next week.

 

Guess there's no rest for the wicked. ;0)

 

Hope you are all doing great and have a wonderful weekend lined up.

Face Your Fears - Portrait Series

I finished a new piece of artwork just before leaving for the UK but have only now had the chance to take some photos.  It's titled 'Face Your Fears' and is a new addition to my self portrait series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find that snakes often appear in my dreams and seem to represent fear or a warning of some kind which I why I chose to incorporate one in this painting.

Memories

 

She'd been unable to sing 'Amazing Grace' during the wedding service for the words had formed hands that choked her while a heady mix of emotion ensured they remained lodged in her throat.

 

Just a day later as she walked towards the ocean they came freely now.  The wind ripping them from her lips the moment they formed, sprinkling them out at sea like confetti.  She sang for herself, for her family, for loved ones gone too soon, for the release of emotion that bubbled up and threatened to engulf her.

 

The ebb and flow of the waves grounded her emotional unsteadiness and its ability to do so always surprised her.  Memories formed a blanket around her shoulders.  Not the irritating, itchy kind but warm, soft and snugly.  She breathed deep and relaxed into them holding them tight. 

 

Tears threatened to form but she wasn't ready to let them go.  Now wasn't the time to dwell on loss, it was a time for celebration.

 

She wanted to stay but knew it was time to go.  Taking in the sounds and smells she found herself taking mental pictures as she sighed wistfully.  This place had a hold on her, interwoven with her soul.  No matter the distance she would always return.

Lots Of Frogs But Not A Gold Ball In Sight

We had a major leak in our pool while I was away so my husband had to turn off the pool pump. 

 

With the chemicals depleted and water levels low it would seem that it's the perfect breeding ground for frogs!   

You should hear the noise they make at night, it's so loud.  If only I spoke frog . . . seems like they have a lot to grrrribbbit about.

I've been trying to save as many as possible before the pool gets cleaned and returned to a condition fit for us humans.  Hopefully they'll find a new spot to dwell.