Something beautiful......

This brand new, soon to be released (available September 8th), 2009 wall calendar is the companion to the book, "Seven Sacred Pauses-Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day" by Macrina Weiderkehr. The photos for this calendar are by Macrina. The wall calendar also features quotes from her beautiful book.*

Calendars may be ordered from the address below, and are only $10.00!

I am pasting the message I received from Macrina here too, along with the address.

----- Original Message -----
From: Macrina Wiederkehr
To: roste11@cox.net
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 12:37 PM
Subject: Fw: Macrina's 2009 calendar

Hello from Macrina
I wanted you to know about our 2009 calendar in case you would like to get some for Christmas gifts.
Use the person and the address below for ordering. I am very pleased with it.

Thanks also for the poem [ I had sent her a link to Youtube, where the late John O'Donohue was reading one of his blessings]...even though I knew and have heard him reading it, it's always new.
I could listen to him reading the telephone directory. I am at the lake writing...every now and then I pop over to Indigo Pears and am always startled with delight.

Macrina

Mayan Meyerriecks
Director of Communications
St. Scholastica Monastery
Benedictine Sisters
1301 South Albert Pike
Post Office Box 3489
Fort Smith, AR 72913-3489
(479) 783-4147 Ext. 34
maryanne@stscho.org
http://www.stscho..org/

* Macrina's book has been awarded "Best Spiritual Books of 2008" by "Spirituality and Practice".

A quick stroll this morning through the local botanical gardens.....

It is lush and peaceful....lots more plants than people!






Common plant varieties are in abundance as well as those more rare. Here (middle) were the largest lambs ears I had ever seen. Usually they are soft and velvety to the touch, but this morning they were still covered with dew!



A primitive clay vessel on its side, seems to be pouring out a stream of smooth river stones. Next is the lotus in bloom in the pond of the Japanese Garden.
After a walk in the sun, I was looking for a shady seat....but these chairs were not quite what I had in mind!

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It is Friday morning. I need to do a painting today.


Painting brings me great joy. It also brings me great fear.....of exposing myself, of failure (whatever that is), of not having $$$$$ (a recurrent theme these days!). So as I struggle with what to paint for this donation to a fund-raising charity event, I read today's Morning Reflection from Lowell Grisham, a local Episcopal priest (if we must use "labels"!).


"Fear is a terrible motivator. Maybe that is why the phrase "fear not / do not be afraid / be not afraid" occurs 365 times in the scripture, I'm told. One for every day of the week.


Jesus sought to motivate with a loving compassion that inspired hope grounded in a trust of God. His appeal was to our highest nature: Perfect love which casts out fear. The battle between fear and love is both an external and an internal struggle.


I'm reminded of the old Cherokee tale. A Cherokee elder is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil -- he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good -- he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you -- and inside every other person, too.."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
-- Lowell" [Note: You can find Lowell's writings in"Morning Reflections" under "spiritual" with other links, on the side of my blog.]


.....so I will try to paint more and worry less! Feeding the good wolf!





"C'est Moi"....whimsical self-portrait in acrylic and collage.


* watercolor of cat and iris by Elizabeth Blackadder, one of my favorites!


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A rare film produced by Pierce Brosnan...."The Nephew"

This is a beautiful movie, made by Pierce Brosnan's production company, Irish Dreamtime Inc. Filmed in Ireland. [And yes, Pierce is in it...feast your eyes!]
If you love all things Irish and Celtic music, this is one to seek out. Read more here.

My granddaughter likes to work with her hands....

Here she is styling someones hair. She can entertain herself at my studio art table for hours.....

This first crayon drawing was done 4 years ago, she had been helping me make quilts..so I think her art is symetrically designed, like a quilt block.

[note: see larger images by clicking on the art work]



These were done a few days ago, she was playing with my oil pastels, glitter glue, and rubber stamps. She chose to use the rubber stamp which says, "BEAUTY". [A true artist at heart here!]



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Note: I have just posted altered book pages here.

FAMILY WEEKEND......... daughter Laura with Baby Bindley....a creeper now!


Grandson, Bindley.
Grandma Lila and Bindley

Out for pizza with my mom and everyone!

Napping with a grandson
Son, Andrew with Mary his wife and our granddaughter, Lilia.

Mr. Pear with Grandson Bindley.
Bindley having a bangup good time!

Some of the children and me with my latest paintings, now hanging on the pale yellow bedroom wall.

[First photo from Barbara Batson...others from Mr. Pear's camera.]

Doors to better health and strength

These are the doors to the yoga studio where I take classes. The studio is a beautiful peaceful environment.....I am truly blessed to be able to drop in there!

Now how cool is this?...... Our local studio is featured in the August issue of VOGUE magazine! Six studios across the U S are mentioned for being especially "green". The others are all on the west or east coast....VOGUE was impressed with our local yoga teacher and her center!

Never a jock or athlete, I have come to love yoga. It is non-competitive, good for all ages and stages of life. Whatever amount of yoga you are able to find room for in your life will be a benefit.

After reading, "Eat, Pray, Love", the best selling book by Elizabeth Gilbert, I decided to seek more diversity and adventure in my own local area...rather than take off to far away worlds. It has been wonderful!

If you have no studio in your area, there is always this book or DVD. [no joke...it is good!]

This is a photo which reminds me of my granddaughter (who is athletic, LOL!)
She will be here (coming from the Atlanta area) within the hour now! We have a big family weekend ahead.
I will be posting more about it eventually!

"Quirky is Good"........

I've been tagged to do a MEME telling quirky things about myself....and am too lazy to think that through....so I do have some quirky recommendations for the moment.

The first is the New Zealand "fairy tale" movie, "The Price of Milk". It is very different. The scene above shows the bride to be being fitted for her wedding sari with the longest flowing scarf in film history....much longer than Donna's when she is singing, "The Winner
Takes it All" in the film "Mamma Mia".

The image of the orange silk flowing and undulating over the green hills stays in my mind. (This is not a movie for families or young teens...an adult fairy tale!) It also features a quilt in the story...

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Next is "Kinky Boots", a wonderful uplifting film about a drag queen (yes! the actor is fabulous!) who helps save a shoe factory.....the ending is so energetic and makes me want to sing and dance(which are not my gifts!).....rather in the same way that "Mamma Mia" did!

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Then we have the novel, "Garden Spells" which is quirky and charming. I just finished reading this one about a family of Southern women and a VERY QUIRKY apple tree in their garden!

More scenes from Arkadelphia.....

The historic courthouse which was damaged in a tornado and then restored.

Neighborhood children playing near an old salt kettle on the courthouse grounds.

Making salt was an early industry in Arkadelphia.

A eucalyptus tree in the yard of Cheryl's mother....our gas-saving Honda in the driveway...we pruned the eucalyptus and brought branches home.

A fig tree outside the house, my first time to notice a real "fig leaf"....Cheryl's mom and many local birds just love these figs!

Heirloom tomatoes, thin-skinned and delicious are becoming quite popular with gardeners like Cheryl.

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Now, back home in Northwest Arkansas, with my mother visiting....we are piecing quilt blocks for a wedding quilt. Nephew Ben and his fiancee, Natalie, love blue and green. Their wedding is set for Nov. 29th this year.



Back to the sewing machine ........BTW the name of this quilt block is "Arkansas Crossroads"!

Our class reunion day started out with a gathering at the old high school building (now used for administration offices only). It was amazing as more of us appeared on the parking lot, getting name tags to help us remember identities!

After most of us had arrived, we went inside into the old auditorium for an "assembly". This one was a memorial/reflection time to remember those in our class who had passed. It was good to honor them in this way....and even remembering some parents (this is a small town thing) to whom we were connected.

This made us all hungry, so it was off to get local "good" barbecue at the Pig Pit. Perfect!

One of our former teachers, now 99 years old, (so she was our age when we were in her class!!!), had an open house from 2:00-3:00 p.m. so that she could share the day with us! Her home was lovely, and she was as sharp as ever! She had been the "terror" of our high school, setting high standards, and expecting us to work hard!

This is a double hibiscus which her son-in-law picked for us from her garden.

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Our last event together was a dinner at the lodge at Lake Degray State Park. More classmates showed up and we were outside until sunset.....the weather had been mild, not too hot for August in the south!





One of our classmates, a law librarian from Denver, rode his BMW motorcycle over 1,000 miles to be with us. Many of the class are teachers, one is a butler, one a symphony conductor....but somewhere from deep inside our memories, we were able to recall the 17 and 18 year-olds we were back then!


Then inside for a buffet catfish or chicken dinner, more stories from 40 years ago....and a special treat that we were joined by a favorite teacher from those years, Mr. Bright and his wife. We were the first class to whom he taught biology, math and science...and in spite of us, he is still an educator!

(note: most photos by Lila...adding photos from classmates as I receive them...thanks, Tom