Lucky Me!

Recently, artist Lynne Perrella was a guest host on Art Propelled. Take a minute and check out her interesting post on Russian Icons over there. 

As part of her post she sponsored a generous giveaway....which I was over the moon to find out that I won! When the package arrived I tore into it right away.

Just like Lynne's art pieces, the contents of the box had to be dissected layer by layer.  First I pulled out two tissue paper hound's tooth wrapped gifts tied with black ribbon.





And a hand stamped manila envelope, which I immediately decided I had to frame because it was so beautiful.

There was a set of Lynne's limited edition icon inspired rubber stamps for me to use to make my own wonderful art pieces.....which I've been twitching to use!  Darn the necessity of first getting my Christmas shopping done.

Next I opened the package containing A History of Icon Painting  The book is packed with information about the topic and has lots of colored plates of artwork.

And last, but certainly not least, there was a matted piece of Lynne's own artwork. By the time I discovered it, I was jumping for joy! I could not have received a better Christmas gift.  

Thank you Lynne Perrella and thank you Robin Gordon of Art Propelled.  

Please check out both of their websites.

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Changing the topic....I've been meaning to show you this photo of Rachel and her two chickies.  Emma was two weeks at the time. Tuesday she'll be one month old.

 Happy Birthday little sister!

Freebies for Christmas

Check out this free 2011 downloadable calendar giveaway. You can chose a different owl image for each month of the year.

Get free paper tags and recipe card downloads for a cookie exchange here.

Before you run out and purchase gift tags for your presents this year check out these sweet freebies from Eat Drink Chic.

Just follow the directions to download to your own computer. Print out on cardstock. Punch a hole and add ribbon. You're good to go.

ps....be patient. The download time on this one is a little slow. (the Noel one is really stubborn...try the other two first)

Here are some more gift tags from A Fanciful Twist; a whimsical set and a set just for those of you who are busily making handmade presents.

And finally, please pop over to Inspire Co. and check out the December issue of Inspired Ideas. This is an online magazine that is packed full of crafty ideas and beautiful images that will be sure to get you into the holiday spirit if you aren't already.

More boring vacation photos......

It was great to get away from home,  if for no other reason than having new stuff to take pictures of.

So, let me show you a few more photos from my Tennessee trip and then I promise, I'll move on to other subject matter.....really, I will.

Cades Cove in the early morning fog.

We saw over 30 deer including 3 bucks, one of which had a 10 point rack. 

Beautiful reflections. 

The fog beginning to lift. 

 

 

Pixie with attitude. 

The posse. 

Headrick Chapel est. 1902  in Wears Valley, a site I returned to three times to try and get the perfect photo. 

The view from the front of the chapel was impossible to photograph. The church hugs the side of the road in a downhill turn. You can see the front of the church and the graveyard for a long way coming. It would make a 

wonderful picture...if there was just somewhere to pull off the road to take the shot.

click to enlarge

The tiny chapel, the sweeping branches of the tree, graves dotting the knoll...it spoke to me.

Thanks for looking!

Five Things I Hate...no Six/Seven

1. socks (because they make my feet hot and because you have to wear them in the winter or look like trailer trash....my apologies if you live in a trailer....I just can't think of a good analogy)
2. theft proof packaging (because I can't get my purchase out of it)
3. big box stores (because they make me sweat...winter and summer!)
4. my bum knee (because it hinders my life and because it hurts)
5. my neighbor's leaves that blow into my yard and fill my driveway (yeah...the ones you never rake, Jeff!)

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 I wrote this post a few days ago and left it for later/today....#6 is my current hate

6. the one strand of lights on my Christmas tree that won't work  (oh the frustration! I do not want to get dressed to go buy one string of lights)

wait, wait...I'm getting a phone call....

now I have a  #7....

7.  the UAB Dental Lab who can't seem to get the crown for my implant done!

Please people, I need a tooth!  My appointment was just re-set for the 3rd time to accommodate their SLOW speed of work. If it isn't in my dentist's hand by Friday I will have to wait until January when school is back in session after the holidays.

.......deep breaths....inhaling and exhaling slowly.......

Is it okay to act like I haven't noticed the black hole on my tree where there are NO shining lights? 

I think I'm going back to reading my library book and ignoring the way the house is falling down around me.

How Do You See, What Do You See

Do you see the world as a series of details or do you see the world as a series of grand themes?

One of the goals on my recent trip to the mountains was to find interesting bits and pieces of nature.  This goal lead me to ponder why I rarely spot these bits on my own. And this rumination lead me to realized that I overlook pretty pine cones and heart shaped rocks because I rarely look down, unless it's to make sure I don't trip over some obstacle.  I look up and out.  I notice the sky, the shape of clouds, the play of light and dark, the horizon.....but not the ground under my feet.

I'm a big picture person.  I like to see the whole and draw my conclusions from that.  Details are collected and used to understand the big picture more clearly. Detail for the sake of detail is just not part of my genetic make-up.

I realized all of this when I enlisted the help of my grandchildren to help me find tiny stuff.

 The kids and their other grandmother kept bringing me bits and pieces that I had completely missed.

But, I didn't miss seeing the incredible way the sunlight exposed the shape of this old cabin and the cedar tree growing beside it.  

I saw the way the sunlight backlit tree branches and made them look almost white against the eggplant of the dark mountain behind them.  I noticed the drifting mists rising up from the ground and off steamy wooden rooftops. I counted the colors of green-gray to blue to purple of the mountain tops as they faded into the horizon.

And occasionally I saw some details too.

Like the flecks of paint on this wagon wheel.

And I even found one of these!

Poems, Prayers, Promises

A Thanksgiving poem, written and performed by two clever, clever girls. 

And because I somehow didn't record the beginning, here are the words, just as they wrote them down:

A Chant About The Pilgrums

verse #1

The Pilgrums, the Pilgrums,

They had to leave, to worship

To worship God in their own way. 

But, oh, how the waves did heave

On the Mayflower one day.

verse #2

And when they finally hit the North American Bay

They shouted so loud you could hear them say, 

"Were here, were here in North America!

Were free!

Were free! Were, free!

verse #3

But that winter was a very bad one, 

And many into death they did dive.

But the next year, when winter came around, 

The Indians helped them survive. 

verse #4

Then that fall, 

They had a celabration.

They each thank God, one and all. 

They ate alot of food, 

And played alot of games. 

As you can see, all of them were in a happy mood. 

They ended thanking God for their wonderfull year, 

And we still keep Thanksgiving, and were having it right here. 

Happy Thanksgiving Every Body!

EG and those happy "Pilgrums" when they reach the shore.

MK and the diving dead....(dive cause something has to rhyme with survive!)

  

And because little sister felt bad because she wanted a part too, I helped her write a poem as well...so please forgive me. I'm not as talented as those two clever girls. 

LC with her turkey illustration. The caption says " Wares my eggs?"

I've got a lot to be thankful for don't I?

Beauty is Sometimes Bittersweet

One of the things that I was looking forward to doing in the mountains the most was taking the 11 mile loop drive through Cades Cove, which is one of my favorite places on earth. 

Here, you can see the low hanging clouds over the mountains that surround the cove.  This photo makes it easy to see where the name for the Smokies comes from. Clouds drift over and around the peaks all the time. On any given day, it is possible for one to drive through a thick cloud and then right back out again. 

 

Sorry that my photos are dark. It was overcast and about to rain. But, I wanted to show you some of the lovely valley views which are ringed by the mountains.  The 11 mile road though the cove follows many of the old wagon roads and grades made by those that settled the area after an Indian treaty transferred land to the state of Tennessee in 1819.  

Since the road follows some old wagon trails, it sometimes drops almost completely below the surrounding ground level in spots where the trail was deeply rutted out over time. 

I drove up a tiny one lane road to the Primitive Baptist Church, which was organized in 1827. The one room building overlooks grave sites out back. 

Mother died at 31. Father was 69.

 During the Civil War, this church shut its doors. The reason was given in some correspondence, "We the Primitive Baptist Church in Blount County in Cades Cove, do show the public why we have not kept up our church meeting. It was on account to the Rebellion and we was Union people and the Rebels was too strong here in Cades Cove. Out preacher was obliged to leave sometimes..."

On the way back down the tiny lane, I got caught up in a log-jam of tightly packed cars. My photo does nothing to show how many cars and how tight we were packed together. 

The reason?  A bear sighting.  I actually saw him run across the road quite a few car lengths ahead of me. The driver of the car in front of me stopped in the middle of the road and walked off taking pictures. I pulled up to his car as close as I could get to try and see more of Mr. Bear, but I only saw more cars, people, their 10 foot zoom lenses and the empty woods.

Nearing the end of my drive, I did see a rafter (flock) of wild turkeys. They meandered through a field very close to my car before they decided to cross the road.  

 I guess they weren't very worried about becoming anyone's Thanksgiving dinner.

It took me about 2 1/2 hours to make the loop and I was sad when it was over.  My son and all the children decided to come back with me the following day.  We saw over 35 deer and a few bucks as well. I'll post a few of those photos later. 

As thankful as I am that Cades Cove, and all the other wonderful spots like it in the park, have beenpreserved and taken care of so that visitors like me can enjoy it, it makes me sad to think about the families that lost their homesteads in order for the park to be established. Those not willing to move were given lifetime leases that allowed them to live in their houses, work their fields and cut dead timber. As they died their property became the part of the park service.

This poem by Louisa Walker sums up the bittersweetness of the inhabitants feelings.

There is an old weather bettion house

That stands near a wood

WIth an orchard near by it

For all most one hundred years it has stood

It was my home in infency

It sheltered me in youth

When I tell you I love it

I tell you the truth

For years it has sheltered 

By day and night

From the summer sun's heat

And the cold winter blight. 

But now the park Commesser

Comes all dressed up so gay

Saying this old house of yours

We must now take away

They coax they wheedle

They fret they bark

Saying we have to have this place

For a National park

For us poor mountain people 

They don't have a care

But must a home for

The wolf the lion and the bear

But many of us have a title 

That is sure and will hold 

To the City of peace

Where the streets are pure gold

There no lion in its fury 

Those pathes ever trod

It is the home of the soul

In the presence of God

When we reach the portles

Of glory so fair

The Wolf cannot enter

Neather the lion or bear

And no park Commissioner

Will ever dar

To desturbe or molest 

Or take our home from us there.

In 1941 the Walker sisters sold their 123 acres of land to the park service for  $4,750 and a lifetime lease. Louisa, the last living of five sisters, lived on the Walker land until she died in her eighties, in 1964.

#2, day and night

together again

family photo shoot

Me, EG, Brandon, LC, MK, MB, Beth, CA....CJ was sleeping

MB is my DIL's niece. I picked her up and she rode up to the mountains with me. Her grandparents came along later in the week.  The girls are 11, 10, 8, 6, 3 and the baby who was sleeping is 4 months. 

The cloud cover is rolling in over Clingman's Dome.  I stayed with the baby while the rest of the crew climbed to the highest point in the park. They said they were able to get a good view despite the clouds. 

At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is Great Smoky Mountains National Park's highest point. Located along the state-line ridge, it is half in North Carolina and half in Tennessee. The peak is accessible after driving Clingmans Dome Road from Newfound Gap, and then walking a steep half-mile trail. A paved trail leads to a 54-foot observation tower. The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point along its 2,144 mile journey.

ps  this is what it looked like the last time I walked up to the top of the dome.

Google images

More later.....

What about that Witzelsucht?

Witzelsucht, that's the name German scientists have given to a dysfunction that causes some people to compulsively tell bad jokes or corny puns, as well as indulging in just plain silly behavior.  Supposedly, it is caused by an injury to the right frontal lobe and could be caused by trauma, stroke, infection or tumor.  My question is, what about people who have always been that way...is that a result of an injury at birth?

My ex has no sense of what constitutes a good joke vs. a bad one or even when a joke should be told and when it shouldn't. Example: He is a huge Alabama football fan. Rachel's in-laws are huge Auburn fans.  While we were all in the hospital waiting room eagerly awaiting our first opportunity to meet Emma, the ex told numerous Cam Newton jokes to the in-laws.

(for those of you who do not live in Alabama and therefore may not have a clue as to what I'm talking about...Newton is Auburn's star quarterback. His name is being tossed around for the Heisman. There is also talk going around that his father campaigned improperly for cash incentives for his son to choose Auburn to play for..which would result in him being ineligible to play....so see not a great topic to joke about with an Auburn fan...which I also happen to be...)

Back to the topic of brain anomalies....I put my name on the waiting list at the library this morning to get the new Oliver Sacks book, The Mind's Eye and also to have his autobiography, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, sent over from another local library.  Sacks' neurological research has been a topic of fascination for me for a long time. I just hope my myelin sheath is in good enough condition and the synapses fire fast enough for me to understand more than every third word of what he writes.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the name Oliver Sacks, the 1990 movie Awakenings, staring Robin Williams, was based on Sacks 1973 memoir of the same name.  The story is of his discovery of the effects of the drug L-dopa on catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica.



The human brain is a remarkable thing....when it works correctly and even when it doesn't. But, fascinating or not....I will never think the ex's jokes are funny.  Thank goodness I don't have to listen to them very often anymore!

Rain, Leaves, Seeds

 View of downtown Birmingham from Rachel's hospital room on Sunday.

 The view Monday when it rained all day long.

The view out my window Tuesday morning.  Someone get started on the ark please!

The driveway when I left the house later that afternoon.

I came home that night to find that my neighbor had blown my driveway completely clear of leaves. 

Thanks Neighbor!

On a different note, I'm 56 and I've never tasted a pomegranate, so I bought one the other day. 

Interesting....crunchy....citrusy....think I'm going to add the seeds to my spinach salad for lunch.