He's Watching Me Like A Hawk

Oh, perhaps he's watching me like a Hawk because he is a hawk...and he's driving me nuts and impacting my life in a negative way...I have a little 6lb dog..Gracie and she has to be leashed at all times...my yard is completely fenced in, just for Gracie, but she can't enjoy her yard anymore...This hawk has been here for months now...someone told me that they go South in the Fall...well when the hell is the fall to this raptor...

Now when I say he's watching us...I'm not kidding...do you see that photo above...his head is twisted completely around to the back...My mom used to say she had eyes in the back of her head, and sometimes it felt like she did, but this terrorist really does...so he sits on this dead tree, with a great view of all that is happening in my yard...fortunately he is in the extra lot and we don't go in there...I asked Jim to have the dead part of the tree taken down but he says it would be to hard to get equipment into that area and to expensive..I know he's right but still it's maddening...stupid thing is double jointed...

So I'm stuck with him...and another thing my Mom used to say is..."if you can't beat em, join em." So that is where it's at...if he plans to take up residence in my yard then I'm going to take up arms and shoot the S.O.B.. So every morning Canon and I take a look, if he's there and the sun is shinning, I shoot..at least I'm getting good practice holding and capturing him with my 100-500 lens..and yes, all these shots are hand held...I think I told you before, I HATE my tripod...this shot is when he decided the hunting wasn't so good at my house today so he's getting ready to leave.....

One last shot before he took off so fast I couldn't keep up with him...but look in those eyes...freaky and evil...and check out the claws...when he wins, his pray has no chance of escape...quite the acrobat also, don't you think...anyways I know the laws of nature...sometimes your the bug and sometimes your the windshield...but I'm always for the down trodden, the helpless one...and so when I hear his screech as he swoops down...it makes me sad..but life is like that for all of us..really.   Sometimes we're up and feeling fulfilled in our lives and the work we are doing and sometimes we feel empty and depleted...so as much as Mr. Hawk is driving me nuts...I know he is just doing what comes natural to him and that he also has to be full...and I'm sure he has his good points but from where I sit, I don't know what they are and if I could have a say in it, whatever good he is doing...I would just ask him to please move the HELL AWAY FROM MY YARD..

There's too many sounds in the world! The sounds of the earth are terrible! The roots squeezing and jostling one another through the clefts, and the crashing of the acorn from the oak. The cry of the little birdeen in under the silence of the hawk!

Lady Gregory

“Perhaps there could be no joy on this planet without an equal weight of pain to balance it out on some unknown scale.” 
― Stephenie Meyer,

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/ladygregor540965.html#XBxvhj8KmoeXWYxs.99

Recalibrating

"We live in a state of constant change .  Whether or not we're paying attention, the process is always happening.  Life is about recalibrating. About continually asking yourself: what do I have to do to get where I want to be? How do I create the life I want."  Although those words were written by Oprah Winfrey, the say exactly what I've been thinking for a few months now...

I find myself in a constant rat race...trying to get all the lessons, writing, blogging, researching done..I also love knitting reading and my boys...but I find that even though I'm retired I don't have enough hours for everything I want to do.  Then just when I think I have it all figured out, bingo...lights out..I'm off track again...and I'm feeling unsatisfied...all of this and to say nothing of friends and shopping (for shoes of course) I have begun to feel frustrated and unrewarded.   So what I end up doing is checking in...on Facebook, Mail, Instagram and running around the house like I have a need to be busy..

So how to get organized and prioritized...the first thing that popped into my head was something that a special photographer friend told me a short time ago..she decided to get serious about her photography and she has noticed it has made a difference...that thought has been running through my head a lot lately...but where to start...then I read in a post of Kim's...when people asked her how  she accomplish all she does...and her answer, " I wake up in the morning and I just start.  So my friends, that's what I did this week...I just started..

First, I stopped notifications from Facebook to my mail...can't believe how clean my mail is now and no going back and worth...second I did something that I have been wanting to do for very long time...I hired a photographer to do a portrait of me for my blog page...my blog needs a tiny bit of work...so now that I have my photo's I'm going to work on it...I'm looking for a writing workshop in my area...a place that I can go to and be part of a group..I love writing and I love blogging but I want to do it right...I've signed up for lessons on my camera...I'm not a book learner but I am a "you show me how" girl..so excited for this piece.  Most importantly I'll get this LR business because I'm going to keep at it...one lesson at a time.

To be able to add the new postions in, I'll have to let go of some of the other things I love, like knitting.  I won't completely give it up but I won't go to classes every week..I don't need them...it was more social than anything although I love the feel of the wood and wool moving through my hands.  I still make things but not under pressure....and reading, I'm going to do more of that also...it fills my soul...and of course, I'm keeping my boys..for as long as I can...another thing that I'll be slowing down on is Facebook...I'm addicted and I need to be more aware of my time...I'll still show up because I love my peeps...maybe just not 20 times a day. I'm also going to be moving my post to my Facebook Photography page so I can take myself more seriously..so if you don't see me as much, don't worry...I'm right here in my office, at my desk...looking at your work..I hope I can stay true to my word...for myself. 

As I move forward and embrace the change, I'll be on a more stable path to peace of mind and well being...and I'll take myself more seriously..

I had a lovely week...with lots of Autumn finds and a few funny moments...I won't be giving up my Fridays with you that's for sure...well, unless I'm off wandering the world...which I hope to continue..may you all find it in your heart to recalibrate whenever you need to...Here's to loving what we do.....

We took the boys to Pumpkin Land..and they had so much fun...have to share a few...

Liam flying....

Jaxson taking Mommy for a ride around the race track..Seriously, whose having more fun here. 

Watch out Jaxson...Liam is coming up the rear...punch it Martha....

After leaving Pumpkin Land, I went for a drive, BY MYSELF, on the backroads of Maine...and this is what I found.

I love this property not to far down the road from me in Maine...You'd swear you were in Kentucky. I visit it most times when I'm in town...love the white fence, the horses, the laundry on the line...I've posted many photo's from here...most of all the love the woman who owns it....a lovely senior who inspires me with her energy, work ethic and neatness...and she loves to chat over the fence..my kind of girl

I wish you all a lovley, color filled weekend...thanks for stopping by...and helping me to finally get it out in the open...you can think it but once you write it on paper and share it...I feel you become more serious in your efforts...Happy Autumn.

“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Viktor Frankl

“Happiness is not a goal. It’s a by-product of a life well lived.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt 

Photo credit for my portrait...(gosh I hate getting my photo done) goes to Lisa Pelonzi.. Please check her out. She does the most amazing work...and she's a beautiful person...from one photographer to another...thank you Lisa...xoxo

Autumn...Magic Hour

Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter. 

~ Shauna Niequist

Linking up to Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday

I'm in Love

Yes, I'm in love and I have been for a very long time...I know, I'm not the only one but I've got it bad...I wonder if there is a support group for my love addiction...I might have to check that out. Notice, the lovely lady above...well, while I was in France she helped feed my addition.  Do you see any tell tale signs of why this might be...ah Sherry and Beverly, if you don't notice, than you do not share my passion. O.K. check out her "sneakers", stunning in person...colorful and unique..I loved them..I stand before you today and say it out loud..."I'm a shoeaholic...There,  It's Out In the Open.  That girl is Raphael, our tour guide while in France..I was totally in shoe envy of her and she knew it.  I think I counted 9 different pair of shoes on her during our tour.  So she set me on a path to having a pair of shoes from France...they are like no other..She did have one criteria for me though, and very sound advice...Comfort.  She is on her feet all day long and so they must be comfortable...but comfortable comes at a cost...so let's go do some French shoe shopping and also some Friday Finds.

Before we start though, I need to tell you that I spent the last week cleaning out my closet...I try to purge twice a year...after the cleaning I counted, just for you folks.  I have 83 pair of winter shoes..that does not include boots of any kind, nor sneakers..it is now up to 84 because I bought another pair today...I know, I know...

 

My first find for this Friday is my new/old ladder...I've been looking for one of these for a long time and finally found it at my antique shop in Maine, with all it's worn wood and splinters...just perfect, for today's project. Yes there are shoes on this ladder but I'm starting with the bag...The Colors of Provence, my favorite place in France.  It is handmade, and has a lovely zipper and leather straps...I found it at a lovely little shop in Provence and I use it. Before (I got older), I would have saved it because it was special.  Not anymore. Everyday is special now.

 O.K. this is the one that started it all..I was after Raphael all the time to tell me when we could go shoe shopping, like she had nothing else or no one else on her mind...but one day, when we came to Lyon, she called me aside and told me this is where I would find my shoes..expensive she said, but comfortable. So with street directions and the name of the store, Campers, Jim and I were off and running.  Well Jim wasn't actually running but being the kind of guy he is, he kept up with me...and we found campers..Oh my, be still my heart...comfort, comfort, comfort...and this is the pair that won...I did love another pair but then I made the mistake of asking Jim which of the two he liked and he picked the ones above..saying they matched my bag and they were so very French..so off I went with my very comfy, very expensive French shoes...and I did love them..I wore them to dinner and I could walk in them all day.  Do you see the little heel on them and the straps...oola-la.  I felt like a French dancer.

Now confession number 2, I have really bad feet.  I have corns, hammer toes (surgery done) and bunions, so comfortable and pretty don't usually go together for me, especially in a heel.  I'm a girly, girl though, well when I'm not a tom boy, (I did have 3 brothers..no sisters) so sometimes I did suffer for the pretty...but not anymore..those Camper shoes were delicious to my feet..like they were full of whipped cream cushions. One day at physical therapy I had them on and the therapist commented on how pretty they were and I told her my story...Miracle happens and she tells me about a Campers store right in Boston..my heart started beating so fast...I thought I needed more meds...and I called my daughter in a panic...She promised to bring me there..it felt like Christmas in the middle of July...and off we went one hot summer day with the pavement steaming and the sun buring...thirst biting at my throat...and then this.

 I fell like a ton of bricks...grey with a black elastic band...how cute...to young for me, to flat but I heard this little voice saying...Mom, Mom, those are so cute on you..how do they feel..and I knew that I would take these babies home..and I got a pair for Jenna also...they are my go to shoes now..like wearing slippers all day long.  Now here's the really good part...SO MUCH CHEAPER IN THE STATES...who knew.  I told Jim that night that I should have waited...his answer, but then you wouldn't have a pair of shoes from France...he's such a smart man.  So the love affair goes on....

While I was falling in love with my French shoes, I was also falling in love with French anything, which translates into French books...this small stack give you an idea...one missing from here, which I read, and loved, was The Paris Wife...if you haven't read it , treat yourself...it was wonderful...I think I lent it out and it hasn't come back yet...don't ask to borrow my shoes though...automatic NO...

So one more pair to talk about here...another sweet T-Strap with a heel...and this my friend was the one I really wanted while in Lyon...but did not get... I was over the moon when I saw this in Boston..not only in the color that I love but ON SALE...yes...out of stock...what the hell are you talking about...that's the one I wanted and I love it the most...Oh, you found it at another store...whew, it's meant to be mine then.

There she is, just like the Red Rider Air Rifle in the Christmas Story...I had waited and wanted and now she is mine..a navy blue, soft leather T-strap with a heel that I can wear on my broken feet all day long..and that lining... the color, so French and sexy..I added the rose for an extra special effect..  I call it Shoe Karma...I didn't get them in France but they found their way to me across the pond..I thank the Universe for my Physical Therapy...how else would I have know...

 So there you have it...my shoe story and a bit more..I did have one more pair for you but I forgot the photo was on my I-phone...I'll post it separately but when you see it, you know that it is from France...on my very last morning, as we got in the taxi, to head to the airport, she had one more pair that took my breath away...and I had to have them also..Mephisto..sandals...I have worn them all summer long...and will buy them (not the same ones) again..I ordered them on line...

So here's my theory about my Love of Shoes...when I was little..we didn't have much but one thing my Mother insisted upon with all 4 of us kids...and her Grandkids was, good leather shoes.  We each had two pair of shoes a year...one for play and one for best...both leather..cheap shoes didn't last and they were not good for your feet..I agree with the first..but I have bad feet...but I look back at what it must have cost my Mom in those days...to get us those good shoes...and some how I feel like she smiles down on me for making this choice but then I know she's frowning also because I have so many pairs...ah well...Mom, I'm addicted...

And as for my lovely French tour Guide...I'm hoping to do more shoe shopping with her in the future...either in the states or back in France...who knows...Karma is everywhere...

"Elegance and comfort are not incompatible, and whoever maintains the contrary simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about "- Salvatore Ferragamo

"I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes; I had one thousand and sixty "- Imelda Marcos

"Shoes are like friends, they can support you, or take you down."