Good Bye For Now

Dearest friends,

I will be taking a short break from blogging due to writing for my masters thesis. I will continue to visit you all and I hope that when I come back, you will stop by for a chat!

In the mean time, I am sitting in front of my work station, thinking about how I will organize by thoughts about "Performance Assessment" in the foreign language classroom!



I will miss your comments and sweet company, but I will be back shortly, at least in time to continue to muse about summer fun and art projects!

A la prochaine mes amis, Anita

When Angels Wear Vintage Pink

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What is the color of angelic garb? I think it is the sweet color of pink! And there is no one better equipped to color in this favored tint other than the wonderful Karen Harvey Cox from Inspirational Scrapbook at http://karenharveycox.blogspot.com/. If you don't know Karen, you must visit her not only to witness her master Photoshop skills of her beloved New England, but to get a sense of her love of painting, friends and nature. If you already know Karen, join me in congratulating her for being the recipient of the Angel of the Month award for both June and July.

Kindness is surely something that can be practiced anytime, anywhere and in any medium. Though we may never meet face to face in this life, we can influence and recognize each other with colorful words from the heart. Though amateur in nature, I dedicate this Pink Saturday post poem a day early to a real lady and a true angel in every sense of the written word.

Roses fair and sunset bright
clothed in colors of The Light
vintage shades of glories past
oh! how sweet the memories last
from a time when friendships strong
built a bond both brief and long
now remembered in art and prose
the beauty of pink in the heart of a rose. Anita

Karen's blog archives store some of the most superb photos of her rose garden and other pink lovelies. Please pay her a visit, pick her a bouquet of special flowers and sip a cup of your favorite soothing beverage and sit and smell the roses; you just might feel the brush of angels' wings…

Dearest Karen, perhaps you would like a basketful of dew-kissed flowers from my garden


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or a bunch of vintage velvet buds.


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Whatever you may choose, know that it comes from a grateful heart!

Happy Pink Saturday everyone and stop on by NOCTURNE for a bit of fantasy and to say good-bye to the Tea Rat and his friends...

Anita

He's At It Again

Being that I jumped the gun last week without realizing that Fathers Day was this weekend, I decided to combine a tribute to the two men who have been the most influential in my life: my dad AND my husband. Not being a father, my beloved spouse is indeed a man who could have been a memorable role model of integrity, hard work and creativity in the life of a child. However, he has proven over 27 years of marriage that he would have been a super father. One of the many things that I admire about him and that he shares in common with my dad is his handyman skills. The photo above is a shot of what our living room looked like three days ago. The wall with the bookcase separates the living room from a small bedroom that we are currently using as a temporary office. Of course, I came up with the bright idea to open a door way and add French doors to give a sense of space to the living room. Well, the idea pleased my husband and he made the dream come true; please click on the pictures to see the details...



The "Dream Maker" took the first step of carefully drawing out the outline of the opening in order to start the demolition.







Once the mess was removed, he started building the frame



and after a very courageous attempt to reroute the existing electrical plug, this amazing handy man lifted up the doors; I then watched and stood ready as the Dream maker carefully measured, shimmed and drilled while I handed him the necessary tools to fix the doors.



After a long day, we both cleaned the house until supper time and then called it a night. While we admired our new living space, we decided that next weekend we would add the finishing touches such as the molding, drywall, stain and door knobs.







The office will hopefully be converted sometime next year into a music room for my harp and my husband's guitar. We do all of our own renovations and the journeys we often embark on are often arduous and frustrating, but the results far outweigh the difficulties. Patience and dedication to excellence is what both my dad and "The Dream Maker" have in common and I am grateful for what these two men have taught me. Thank you both for all the wonderful memories and making my dreams come true...Je vous aime bien vous deux de tout de mon coeur.

Also, if make-believe and miniatures is your cup of tea, then please go to my side bar and click on my other blog, NOCTURNE and follow Marie the Garden Faerie Queen to a quite unusual little tea party. Don't forget to take off your shoes upon entering!

My Heart Belongs to Daddy

"Daddy, please play Clair de Lune," whispers the young newlywed as she gently sweeps her hand across her newly acquired vintage piano. "Oh! I need to study the music, I haven't played that in years" says the old man comfortably sunken into the old wing back chair. The young bride leans over to her mother and chirps, "I love that song, it reminds me so much of my daddy." The alarming whistle of the tea kettle seizes the fastidious hostess's attention toward the kitchen by way of her father's stare; the white hot California sun sneaked in through the curtains and had captured the glistening image of streaming tears on the septuagenarian's rosy complexion that for a millisecond, juxtaposed the vulnerability of a little boy and the disappointments of an old man.




I knew from where the tears came. It wasn't the regret of not having chosen a different path in life, nor was it the pain of a missed calling in music. No, the reason for this rare outburst was because I had associated my melodious love for this hauntingly beautiful piece with "my daddy" and that I had said it with my own rebellious mouth that for years up to this point, had only uttered empty, selfish words.



Music is an unusual thing; in time, it burrows its movements into your heart, engraving particular moments of pleasure or pain that resurface repeatedly until the day you die. For the both of us, this song has held the faint but indelible mark of a life, two lives for that matter that often clashed but nonetheless touched and I hope, will remain a thing of unusual beauty.



My father left me a valuable heritage. Rich in artistic potential, his interest in languages, nature, handcrafts and music has shaped the path I have chosen to take. Thanks to him, I have set a goal on my own musical journey on the harp; I want to play Clair de Lune and knowing me, no matter how difficult it is, I will do it. I have no children to which I can connect this musical thread that binds our hearts, perhaps it was meant to be just between me and my daddy. Therefore I would like to say on this special celebration, "I love you daddy, my heart belongs to you."

May you all have something wonderful to say to your fathers this weekend, and if they are no longer with you, pass on a particular gift they left you to someone special.

A la prochaine, Anita

Paintings:

Harmony - Bessie Pease Gutmann
Girl at Piano - Francisco Torrescassana
Le Symphonie Du Clair de Lune - Heidi Azurylipte Darras

Music: Clair de Lune - Claude Debussy

Show Me Your Crown

It's all gone to my head; I was homecoming queen my senior year in high school and I got to wear my first crown. I have been intrigued ever since and now have a collection of diadems that I am excited to display today as part of the "Show Me Your Crown" event hosted by Andrea at vintagebellastudios.blogspot.com. Do make the rounds and see what other queens and ladies in waiting have to show; it all just might go to your head as well! Please click on all photos to enlarge.

I will start with a collection that I have obtained from some of my favorite shops



and from local friends as well as blogger pals.



As much as I love the burnished tone of gold and bronze, the glitter of tiaras is captivating in the evening with just the right amount of low light. Photos just don't do these sparklers justice.



I have large crowns destined for big projects



and smaller crowns dedicated to the miniature world and medium-sized crowns that I've made myself.



Some potential fairies are waiting for their crowns to be finished and attached



while others are being transformed from mere figurines to altered fairy queens. The framed vintage beauty is my maternal grandmother.



My favorite type of crown is one that I can embellish



and add baubles and trinkets to capture a moment of glitter.



And there you have it; this is just a portion of my collection of ornaments that glitter and shine. What I can't show in photos however, is the treasure of friendship that I value the most and outshines the brightest crown in my home. Thank you all for coming and sharing your love for beauty and your kindnesses; you are all queens in the kingdom whether you collect crowns or not!

Have fun and come back soon...Anita

Crown fest!

If you haven't already heard the news proclaimed throughout the kingdom, you are all invited to participate and visit the galleries of CROWNS hosted by Andrea at vintagebellastudios.blogspot.com on Wednesday, June 10!

If you are interested in participating, go on over to her lovely blog, read the details and sign up! Then on June 10th, she will post a list of all the queens and crown-makers who are participating and visitors will have a myriad of museums to go visit and mingle. It will be a fun event to see each others' creations and collections and to make connections with other queenly spirits! Thanks to the wonderful Amy from suchawondrousplacethisfaerytalespace.blogspot.com
for letting me know about this fun event. A la prochaine mes reines! Anita


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