Small Magic at the river

Last month I mentioned an ongoing series of posts I plan to do every month on the 13th, about where I find small magic. You can see the first post explaining what I mean here....
And my first monthly post here
I invited you all to join in too, and last month Nicolas joined in with this post....
This month I hope you will consider joining in as well and adding a comment with a link to a post about where you find small magic in life! you have all month to create one and link up.
(Blogger will not let me add a linky tool from my ipad so I am afraid I can't get that up and running till I buy a new computer)

One last link.....
Click here for the following song on you tube....

"Climbing under the barb wire fence by the railroad ties,

Climbing over the old stone wall, I'm bound for the riverside, 

Well I go to the river to soothe my mind,

Ponder over the crazy days of my life,

To sit and watch the river flow.

Find a place on the river bank, 

Where the green rushes grow.

See the wind in the willow tree,

Branches hanging low.

Yeah, I go to the river to soothe my mind.

Ponder over the crazy days of my life

Watch the river flow,

Ease my mind and so,

Where I go....

Well I go to the river from time to time

Ponder over the crazy days in my mind

Watch the river flow,

Where the willow branches blow,

By the cool moving water

Moving gracefully and slow

Oooooh, child it's love, it's lovely,

Let the river take it all away

My pace, the hurry, the hurry

Troubles, the worries, the worries just

Let the river take them all away,

Flow away, flow away"

        - Natalie Merchant

          'Where I go'

I feel like I could have written those words as I do go to the river on my lunch hour every chance I get. And it does soothe my mind, 

And i do love to watch the river flow....

It is slow and peaceful,

And it is always 10 degrees cooler when you get close to the water on a hot day.....

And for me, if work is hectic, the river is enough small magic to make a bad day better.

“The river and the garden have been the foundations of my economy here. Of the two I have liked the river best. It is wonderful to have the duty of being on the river the first and last thing every day. I have loved it even in the rain. Sometimes I have loved it most in the rain.”
― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

“A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself.”
― Laura Gilpin

“It is said that the Magic of Air or Fire or even Earth is the most powerful magic of all. But that is wrong. The Magic of Water surpasses all others, for water is both the lifegiver and the deathbringer.”
― Michael Scott, The Sorceress

"Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad

“He understood her affinity to the water, inspiring as it was beautiful, and soothing to the soul."

-D.A. Henneman 'Sea if Dreams'

"The Bee Queen's message"

I have been continuing with this story the crows had to tell.... 

I have the whole idea planned now,

I have written the story and named it,

i have done 5 and two halves paintings on my lunch hours in between trips to the river,

I have imagined all sorts of ideas about what i want to do with this,

like make it into a little pocket sized book,

with a bee queen doll to match and a  fabric crow and the queen's symbol necklace...

and usually...

this is about the time...

that I tend to get sidetracked with a new idea and quit....

 WIP...

Ideas like crows

are arriving in murders

yet quick to depart

I'll keep you posted if I make any more progress,,,

The real me....

Here's the latest rocks...
as always inspired by nature...
If they're not in my etsy shop they will be soon...

The plate above that the rock is on was made by my daughter in high school. And these white rocks were collected by a little guy I used to work with when I was a Family Educator in Early Head Start. He lived by the creek and on one of my visits we walked the creek. I started to pick up a few white rocks, hard to find in the river here, and his Mom noticed, and asked if I liked white rocks. So I said yes, of course. The next time I went there, a week later they had  handfuls of tiny white rocks for me!

 I am throwing in some more photos from a day I had an appointment and stopped on my way home in a park all by myself to walk. I felt so guilty at first for taking an hour to myself, why is that? I had been looking at Vivienne's blog where she  takes a lot of self portraits, she does it as a way to learn to accept her own body image, and she takes some beautiful photos, offers classes and such, so she inspired me to try to take some self portraits. I played with them in photoshop to darken the edges; the Lomo effect.

I didn't get the self portrait that I wanted ... this one was going to be a nice serene shot of me sitting on this rock looking at the waterfall... but unfortunately I am not very coordinated, and as I was scurrying to get onto the rock after setting the self timer, I slipped, totally most embarrassing video moment almost caught on film, but the camera clicked a second after I pulled myself back up off my hands and knees. I had to go to work with wet mossy knees. The hour was still worth it!

shooting for serene

but not turning out as planned

this is the real me

there, you have my week... minus all the messy bits...well with just one messy bit...

(It is called falling ladies after all)

Giveaway!

Hello all, here are some photos from my week, and just a bit about what I have been doing....
I am immersed in Downton Abbey, i am watching marathons of it to see all the 3 seasons and i love it!
NovaKodah is growing fast, up to 14 pounds, the vet thinks he's not all miniature husky, but maybe some chow too. Who knows, but it really doesn't matter... he's just soooo cute!

I am planning on putting these custom rocks on my etsy... once I get a little nest made of needlefelting or a pouch sewn up. These are my words of the year, for last year, this year and next year. They sit on my desk at work in this little hummingbird nest I found...

I am listening to Of monsters and men, love them too...
I have been playing with all my little bits and pieces of beach pottery, and scheming and planning....

Small bits and pieces

each a tiny dream maker

time machines or more

And..... I have been offered a giveaway by Craftsy... just click on this..... link .......to enter and then leave a comment here that you would like a chance for a free art class ...
I am also trying an art class through them and I will let you know all about it soon...

I am also going camping soon... I can't wait. We go the same place every year to make it easier for my son, but we all love it there too!

If you want to see my latest mandala click on this pic..

See you in a few weeks!

pendants

One of the things I have been working on I the last few months is pendants. I hand draw the abstract images and put them in a brass or silver base with a glass piece over the front. These were fun and sort of addicting... I wanted to make more but decided to stop after about 15. I only have a few photographed so far.....

Even though they're abstract, I still think they were inspired by nature....

I had missed my spot...

I returned to the river,

timed with the eagles.

I have a new camera with a good zoom,  but unfortunately I haven't been able to get a good shot of the eagles or the ospreys yet this year with it.... hopefully soon!

Happy Paint Party Friday and Haiku My Heart

(They are available in my etsy shop if anyone is interested.)

ps: you might have missed this post earlier for my latest mandala...click on image to see post