Saratoga

This weekend was our "Saratoga weekend". We changed our routine this time and went to the town of "Ballston Spa" instead of Saratoga Springs. We (my sister Toni and sister-in-law Vicki) are trying desperately to hold on to the past. We can't. Nothing is the same. Over lunch we talked about starting fresh. It helped that we were in a new place but It just isn't the same. I don't know how to do it, how to start over. We are going through the motions but everything has changed. We've changed too. I'm not sure if we'll do Saratoga again. It hurts too much.



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The Girls

Last Friday afternoon I sat down for a little rest. It was hot and I was tired so I checked out what was on TV. Browsing the channels, I saw one of my movies listed. There it was, "Picnic at Hanging Rock", starting in 15 minutes. I've seen this movie many times and was excited to watch it again. But this time I felt like I was watching a new version of it because there were things that I didn't remember. Then there's the music! Haunting!! I can still hear it in my head. Fast forward to Saturday. My friend Deanne is back from Florida for a visit and we went out to some tag sales. It was at one of the sales that I found the picture. As soon as I saw it I thought of the girls at the Appleyard School. (If you're not familiar with the movie, the Appleyard School is in Australia and that's where the movie starts.) My imagination was running wild thinking about how I could use the picture for a card and somehow tie in the movie. But when I turned the picture over, I saw that the girls' names were listed on the back. Now there was a new meaning to the photo, something more personal, and I thought about them differently! This all happened because of the movie. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it.  It's kind of creepy.....but in a beautiful way.

The Lion with Flare

I just purchased a new App called Flare. It's for my Mac and gives me the opportunity to edit my photos with a Hipstamatic feel. The above photo is my first attempt. I love Hipstamatic and thrilled with the new program. Speaking of my Mac, I'm in the process of downloading the big cat "Lion". I've done my homework and read a lot of reviews. I also checked the compatiblity of my printers and photoshop. Last night we went to the Apple store and I played with it. I'm a little nervous but ready! Nervous because I'm not sure I want the magic trackpad, but ready to do what I have to do to make it work. I'll let you know.....

Update: I loaded the Lion and all went well except ..... my printer didn't work after the update. I did fix it! (it only took about 2 hours) I'm having fun exploring the new features.

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The Locket

I've had the locket for a long time. The pictures are of my brother and me. It was my mother's and supposedly she gave it to my father. This I find hard to believe. I can't imagine him wearing a locket. He just wasn't that kind of guy. I remember when the picture of my brother was taken. One summer we lived at Rockaway Beach. My mother had a hamburger stand near the boardwalk and we lived in an old Victorian rooming house. I don't know how long we stayed, but to a child it seemed like forever. Oh, and I have to mention that my father wasn't with us. The picture of my brother was taken on the beach. I recently started wearing the locket again. When I open it it makes me stop and remember a time in my life that was kind of crazy. That's how it was with my mother. Kind of crazy!






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Shoes, again

We have a Good Will superstore in town. I have to confess that I go there about once a week and that's when I saw these shoes. They are beautifully made with genuine leather soles and brand new to boot!!! No, to shoe!!! Anyway I tried them on and they were a little too big. Oh well I thought, I won't buy them. I was quite pleased with myself for resisting them. Of course later on I was mad at myself for not buying them. Did I mention that they cost $6??? When I went back a few days later they were still there!! Well you know that this time there was no hesitation. I've been thinking of them as art. When I see something that's made as beautifully as these shoes are, what else can they be? As for them being a little big - I'm going to wear them with socks. I can't wait!

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In My Room

I am transitioning to summer. I put away the bright pillows and most of the nicknacks. My curtains are white linen. Since they've been up all year, I'm thinking about washing them. Looking at my Uncle's painting, I feel that I should move it. The oranges that I love seem out of place now that I'm in summer mode. It's interesting how I'm affected by color. In the winter, in the midst of all the snow, I relished my shocking pink Christmas tree. It warmed me and made me feel happy. Now I need the white to cool me. As I sit at my desk, I can see my new fountain. It's right outside my window. This is my space, the place where I create, the place where I am home. I suppose it would be nice to have my own separate room, but I can't imagine anything that would be better than "my room".




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Weeding

My friend Jean told me that she had some flowers for my garden. Jean and I work together decorating our church. She was thinning out her perennials and wanted to give some to me. She came over at about 11:30 am on Saturday and we talked about where to put the flowers. We started weeding my flowerbed. She stayed all day! Weeding!
We shared a pizza and she told me stories about her childhood. Most of her stories were about the flowers that her father grew. I added a couple stories of my own. As a child I lived in Brooklyn, NY and there weren't that many flowers around. We did have snowball bushes in the back yard. Jean left at 6:30 and we had weeded most of the garden. I bought a couple of plants today to add to my newly rejunivated garden. I'm looking forward to sitting out on my deck and having a glass of iced tea and I'll definitely invite Jean to visit with me. Thanks, Jean!





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