October...

My daughter rowing on the lake behind their house.....

A funny eggplant "face"!

Enjoying lunch outside at a Lebanese cafe!

Planning to sew a Halloween costume.....or Octoberfest????

Cooler weather and rain have encouraged flowers to finally bloom now that summer is over!

Looking better than they did in July, August and September! Too bad frost will soon put an end to this!

Brilliant yellow colors!

Finished flower wheel wall hanging is a Bohemian delight! Frost will not damage these brights!

 

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Lots of Libras in our family.....2 aunts, my mother, my grandmother....a wonderful time of year for a birthday. Mom (below) had her birthday last Saturday. My aunt Ruby (above), myself and friend Cheryl (from high school years!)'s mother are celebrating today.

Nothing too wild here. We closed on the sale of Mom's house yesterday. Then today took her for a visit with her doctor. We decided to try physical therapy to strengthen her legs and improve balance. At the moment she is reading on the back porch where I have been playing with my watercolors [though I am supposed to be getting the garage sale organized for tomorrow! Yikes!]

I'm painting birds and pomegranates....

AND just opened this delicate garnet necklace which is rather like a pomegranate seed....reminiscent of Persephone....I do love it!

Truly, a very wonderful, though quiet, birthday!

Good-bye dear Shadow!

Photo of Shadow last October. We had to have her put to sleep today. We will remember her very fondly! [Below, Shadow "helping" me quilt last spring!]

[Note: Blogger is reformating my text near the end....sorry about the "strung-out" words...!!!]

A perfect October morning.....leaving around 8:00, we reach the craft fair just as it is opening....





Mr. Pear with the morning sun behind him......

Chatting with friendly vendors..in this case, my friend Liz who has a booth!
We find some wonderful things which will be Christmas gifts for the family. Supporting artisans at the craft fair rather than factories in the third world feels good!



After touring 4 tents of vendors, we go back outside to enjoy the fabulous setting and weather.....oh, !!! and music too!







Finally, we go back through some tents once more and I see this...I'm sorry the image is blurry...our camera was not co-operating. But you can see it is a tree full of mermaids! These are needle felted and were in the booth of The Augres Sheep Factory all the way from Michigan!



These were truly the most unexpected thing I saw there...but they stayed on the tree, as we were already through with the urge to shop! [here is a better mermaid photo from the maker's webpage.]

Leaving my post about my birthday giveaway for a bit.... I want to spread some other information! First, don't miss the art contest based on this art print of the young girl dreaming by the fire. It is sponsored by Julie (Celtic Lady) and Mary (Back of the Moon)! Even if you don't do an art piece, we need you to vote after they are all posted on Oct. 10th...OK, I'll remind you again then!

My collage for this dreamer, has just been posted on my "Arty Collages and Dolls" blog (see link at the right--in my other creative blogs.)

[You can find their links in my blog roll and visit to find out more!]

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This movie opens this week! Many of us have read the book and eagerly await this film version.

So bee good and visit my October 1st post to enter my birthday art giveaway!

October is a bittersweet month


October’s child is born for woe,
And life’s vicissitudes must know
But lay an Opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.


Traditional English rhyme

This rhyme came from Pips' Almanac today, I was not overjoyed to read this. I am an October child. So I decided to read some defintitions.

woe n.
1. Deep distress or misery, as from grief; wretchedness. synonym: regret.
2. Misfortune; calamity: economic and political woes.
interj.

vicissitude n.
a : a favorable or unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance : a fluctuation of state or condition b : a difficulty or hardship attendant on a way of life, a career, or a course of action and usually beyond one's control c : alternating change


(one thing about the English, those rhymes stretch one's vocabulary!)
The "woe" would have described me as a teenager...I was pretty morose in those days...but I grew out of it!
Vicissitude is a new word for me, but I have come to recognize that things do change constantly, and this is not always bad!

Let's see about "hope"...(from Wikipedia)
Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of perseverance— i.e., believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.

After reading this and mulling it over a bit, I read Lowell Grisham's "Morning Reflections" to which I subscribe. After the bible readings were discussed, Lowell had added this quote:

Have low expectations and high hopes. Have low expectations of people so you don't force them directly or indirectly to meet certain anticipations you might have as to how they should or should not respond to you and your actions. But have high hopes for them based on a ruthless faith in God that something good, something dear and beautiful will come of it if you are looking and listening with an open heart.

Forgive yourself and other people for their defensiveness. Being cautious is natural for faithless and hopeless persons -- and we all fall into this category more or less.

Be as open as possible to being surprised by the encounter. In other words, we must not look for our god and reactions that we feel would be important and right. We must position ourselves instead to see whatever we will see amidst the joy, pain, apathy, anxiety, peace, depression, or tension we experience. When we are truly open, we will be surprised by something in the encounter. And that surprise -- that unique presence of God -- can be called by another name: holiness. (from Robert J. Wicks, "Living Simply in an Anxious World")



This is the perfect reading/reflection after that rather discouraging Traditional English Rhyme! I see hope mentioned again, and also the idea of being OPEN.

I remember the poem "Having Come This Far" with the line"my book is an open life" by James Broughton. Being open, having hope ( and faith and charity!) is how I hope to encounter life this October!

[ watercolor painting "Bittersweet for Julie" by Lila]