Golden Haze:
Back to Manitou for a couple of days. We have a long holiday weekend and are going to Saskatoon from Manitou on Wednesday.

These are just some images, background pages, from my retreat. I'm planning to do a little book.



I got a binding machine the last time I was in Saskatoon so want to make my own books.

Slowly, slowly things are starting to get back to place in the house. One of these days I will find room in my house and room in my heart for doing art again. I've also found some cool links. hopefully I can share them sometime soon.

Angels be with you through your summer.

reflections of Manitou:

At the cottage one of the rooms still has the original wooden walls.



Magazine photos were glued on for wallpaper. There are some fabulous vintage pictures.



This is one I played with a bit.



I will be anxious to use the numerous images I collected for my art.

I managed to capture some further reflections also.

Art Journal Book retrieved: I did a little dance this evening when I opened a box which Greg found in the stacks that came back yesterday. It was marked office. To my delight the journal was right at the top. Also in the box were my journal quilts which had been upstairs and a new little mini stapler with coloured staples which I had recently purchased. I don't think I had shown these pages which I'd done earlier in May. Actually I realize now that I had shown them. It's hard to keep track of things these days (:



All for now as my eyes are showing major signs of stress again and I need to take it easy for them a bit.

Angels be with you

my retreat: I had a wonderful time last week when I was by myself for my little retreat.



I was able to get some art started and some reading done also. I picked up a couple more vintage books and other pieces and found some more vintage at the cottage. Sigh.



A couple of images I love from the February/March 2008 issue of Canadian Home and Country. We actually have a claw foot tub in our garage but no place to put it - some day (:



Then came the tough part of returning home to this house filled as of this morning with more boxes. Everything that was away has now been returned. I have this huge challenge of sorting and organizing. I have decided to look at each box opened as an adventure. That will be easier to do with the basement things as I had been working with those areas over the past few years and know what to expect. Upstairs will be more of a challenge. I have to go through the teenager's mess. She also had her last day of school today. She has returned home as I write this and I can assure you that while the last days have been difficult because of lack of routine for her at school and general stress levels there, I am very uncertain about having her here while I try to do sorting and organizing. Fortunately, we do have things arranged for her for the summer.

I think that will be all for now. I have a number of projects I'm working on, as usual. Unfortunately I probably will not be able to do much actual art until our house is put back in some order. I haven't forgotten about the give away I had mentioned. I will try to announce some prizes and details soon.

Until then,
Angels be with you

"Be still and know that I am God"
Must remember these words which keep appearing to me when I most need them. Sometimes that feels like every moment of every day but i just must hold them in my heart.
I got a bit panicky as I was ripping tape off the boxes where I thought I'd find my journal and rummaged through to no avail. I'll be OK. We'll find it. Just not today.



Much commotion around here these days. I don't have time to share right now. I know you understand. I'm also getting ready to leave on my retreat next week. I can hardly wait. There is much to do before I go however. I'll share what I can in the next few days but may not be back much until June 22 or so.





Thanks for all your comments, thoughts, prayers
Angels be with you dear ones,
Wendy

Billy and Blue:

Of course these are not pictures of them. These are images from a couple of vintage school books I found.



We are going to the farm to bring back our pets. I have missed them so. As of today it's been exactly a month since they've been at the farm. I can hardly wait.



We are able to bring them home because we've been back in our house for a week. AND the painting is finally finished. Monday will be kind of like a circus here as we will be getting back everything that was removed from the house, main level. We have to wait for the flooring to be put in, week of June 16, before we get our basement possessions back. Even though most of my studio was left unharmed we've been using it as one of our living spaces for things like storage and laundry separating.

We still won't have our kitchen completed but we'll get back our microwave so we'll finally be able to make suppers here again. Both Kat. and I have been suffering from the junk (I mean processed wheat, additives, cow's milk) food we've been consuming.

The kitchen won't be complete for another maybe 6-8 weeks. I will plan a giveaway or two for that time. Keep in touch for announcements about that.

I also have plans to do a video with some writing I did shortly after the fire. I'm not certain when I'll get to that as we will be bombarded with so many boxes and boxes and boxes of all our belongings. I caved in a bit and asked Greg if he could please take some time off work. My brother may also be able to come up to try to help also. I'm kind of scared about feeling totally overwhelmed but I have had much courage so far. It can still keep me going.

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness,
and nothing is so gentle as true strength.”

Ralph Sockman
Inspiration Peak

I took a tiny bit of time for art last Thursday. I did these spoons and bottles with alcohol inks as taught by Kelli Perkins in the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. I also get their e-mails. I guess it was actually there I saw directions for the bottles. Neither is complete. I like these and will probably do more.





The last two are words I wrote sometime this past week. My main journal has been with the rest of the stuff - away. I anxiously await its return. In the meantime I decided to start in one of these little ecojot notebooks. I love them. I will also be using lots of the papers I have accumulated and still keep purchasing from the craft stores. maybe I'll capture a minute or two to share them with you next week when I need to take a break from the recreation of this house, this home.





Be well. Be gentle. be strong.
And finally angels be with you,
Wendy

recreating our house while remembering that home is in my heart:



You can see photos from our house which show some of the empty spaces there. I've also shared some of the things which have brought me comfort and the feeling of home while being displaced from our house. The painter has been working diligently. I believe that all of the items which had been at the dry cleaners will be arriving tomorrow or the next day. the painting is complete in the living room and hallway so many of the boxes from those areas will also be returning. it is hard to believe that it has been nearly a month since the fire. I've done very little creating in that time yet I have mostly been able to laugh. Of course there have been moments of total frustration but I cannot allow myself to be pulled down.



Some day I will return to the more artistic creating. I will be able to move away from the home creating.
Until then - may angels be with you,
Wendy

The more tranquil we become, the greater our success, our influence, our power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.


James Allen, 1864-1912
Inspiration Peak