FOR TODAY, May 31, 2016
Outside my window ...
Looks like its going to be another dry day up here in the NorthWest. If this keeps up they will be screaming drought. ;-) Loving it!
I am thinking ...
Was in a bit of a funk yesterday. Thinking that today will not be the same. Not giving the past power over my today agaian.
I am thankful for ...
Tender mercies and forgiveness . . . of self and others.
In the kitchen ...
Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad This is seriuosly tasty.
On My "To Cook" list ...
Low Carb Peanut Butter Molten Lava Cakes from All Day I Dream About Food. These look fabulous. I, love, Love, LOVE peanut butter.
I am creating ...
Mimi at the Beach. Its a sunny day and Mimi is at the beach. Beach huts, sand castles, sunshine and her very own life preserver toy. Pink hair too. Fun.
The Hills Are Alive. Something a bit different. Geometric. I had a lot of fun doing it.
I have come to the realisation that I am never really going to be a success with my artwork or with my foodblog. That at best, all they are ever going to be is hobbies which I enjoy. And that's okay. I am just not commercially viable, and not really good at either one. I like what I do. I put tons of work into both and yet I see others bypass my efforts all the time. I enjoy what I do, and that has to be enough. Todd said to me yesterday why do I keep painting these pictures . . . and I said because I can't not paint them. Doing this brings me great joy. That has to be enough. I am throwing away the promise of the gold ring. Chasing it only leaves me feeling discouraged, and takes away from the joy I feel with being creative.
This has to be one of the sweetest examples of needlefelting I have ever seen. I couldn't find a source.
A clothesline filled with colourful doll clothes (or rabbit!). Found on Flickr.
From BeedeeBabee, a totally adorable rabbit pin. I love it.
I am reading ...
The Red Leather Diary, by Lily Koppel
Rescued from a Dumpster on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a discarded diary brings to life the glamorous, forgotten world of an extraordinary young woman. For more than half a century, the red leather diary lay silent, languishing inside a steamer trunk, its worn cover crumbling into little flakes. When a cleaning sweep of a New York City apartment building brings this lost treasure to light, both the diary and its owner are given a second life.
Recovered by Lily Koppel, a young writer working at the New York Times, the journal paints a vivid picture of 1930s New York—horseback riding in Central Park, summer excursions to the Catskills, and an obsession with a famous avant-garde actress. From 1929 to 1934, not a single day's entry is skipped.
Opening the tarnished brass lock, Koppel embarks on a journey into the past, traveling to a New York in which women of privilege meet for tea at Schrafft's, dance at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and toast the night at El Morocco. As she turns the diary's brittle pages, Koppel is captivated by the headstrong young woman whose intimate thoughts and emotions fill the pale blue lines.
Who was this lovely ingénue who adored the works of Baudelaire and Jane Austen, who was sexually curious beyond her years, who traveled to Rome, Paris, and London? Compelled by the hopes and heartaches captured in the pages, Koppel sets out to find the diary's owner, her only clue the inscription on the frontispiece—"This book belongs to . . . Florence Wolfson." A chance phone call from a private investigator leads Koppel to Florence, a ninety-year-old woman living with her husband of sixty-seven years. Reunited with her diary, Florence ventures back to the girl she once was, rediscovering a lost self that burned with artistic fervor.
Joining intimate interviews with original diary entries, Koppel reveals the world of a New York teenager obsessed with the state of her soul and her appearance, and muses on the serendipitous chain of events that returned the lost journal to its owner. Evocative and entrancing, The Red Leather Diary re-creates the romance and glitter, sophistication and promise, of 1930s New York, bringing to life the true story of a precocious young woman who dared to follow her dreams.
I am looking forward to ...
We are going out to do visits today. I'm rather looking forward to them.
I am learning ...
It is a struggle, but, not to take everything personally. If someone is singing off key, that doesn't mean its me, and even if it is me, that's okay! Some of the most beautiful songs can be sung off-key.
Dreaming about ...
(source)
Flower pins . . .
(source)
Little Bee rings . . .
The land of Faerie . . .
Lace draped windows . . .
Pretty perfume bottles . . .
A favourite quote for the day ...
(¯`v´¯) `*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ¸.
•´¸.•~♥♥♥~•.~ ღϠ₡ღ¸.
✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ. ( ¸. ❀⁀ ⋱‿✿“`
* .¸.* ✻ღϠ₡ ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ..
I love the man who can smile in trouble, gather strength from distress
and grow brave from reflection . . .
~Thomas Paine
Makes me smile ...
Surprises hidden in the bottom of cups . . .
One of my favourite things ...
Sea glass . . .
Corners of my kingdom ...
Purple lobelia growing between the stones on a wall at Chirk Castle . . .
And that's my daybook for this week!
⋱ ⋮ ⋰
⋯ ◯ ⋯ Take time to enjoy the small *´¯`.¸¸.☆
⋰ ⋮ ⋱ blessings in life.*´¯`.¸¸.☆
✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿
╬♥═╬╬═♥=╬╬═♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥═╬
░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░
Wherever you go and whatever you do, I hope there's a great day ahead of you! Don't forget!
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
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And I do too!!
I love your cooking blog and have made countless delicious things from it. i have tried to accept that I will never be good at lots of things I enjoy - including horse riding. I would love to have just one talent. I always wished for that. You have so many - writing, painting, cooking - don't be discouraged xxx
ReplyDeleteGood morning Marie. If it helps I gather great joy from your work. I would buy so much more if I could. I really would. I will never be a top flight ice skater, in fact my doctor has banned me, but I loved the feeling. I can sing in tune and have been blessed with an okay voice. I have one huge problem I cannot carry harmony and I drift into places I shouldn't. Oh dear it makes me so cross as I love my music and my worsening deafness does not help. However they are some of the many things I enjoy for me. So now I trying to create more with my hands.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I truly disliked about modern Aussie parenting is the habit of one upmanship. Somebody will tell you their child is better, or worse, use your child to claw their child up above the pack etc. I hated that. My Will has worked so hard to be a chef. Harder than some work at the fancy degrees etc, Harder than his sister did for some of her stuff. My Beth was always being told she could be someone's nanny. That someone has not had a full time job since leaving school. No wonder so many of us feel belittled and not talented. There are many unhappy souls looking for happiness in a harmful way. So I try with all my might to take things at the level I see them. Everyone has their own special place and talent. We may not be earth shatteringly great but our gifts complete us to the level God wants.
I hope you don't feel criticised or hurt because I love your painting and sewing and crafting and cooking. At the present you are doing the Lord's work and that is the most important thing right now. So for today I hope God's light is seen to shine and fulfill you.
Love always.
Oh, Marie! I know exactly how you feel about your art... I feel exactly the same way, and have experienced the same crushing realizations that my art just ain't enough for the big world and selling, etc. :( But we are creative beings, to create is working in alignment with God, our Creator, so that is a big, beautiful thing! We make for love of Him. :) I LOVE your art work, and always have, and am glad you keep sharing it with us! And your cooking blog offers so much delicious inspiration all the time--it is a treasure... as are YOU, my friend! :))) ((LOVE & BIG HUGS))
ReplyDeleteI think ..that the right person has not seen your work.
ReplyDeleteLook at Mimi by the beach..I would love someone to publish a cookbook of all your fantastic recipes with your art throughout..
Mimi coul be be in Normandy...and a very French recipe could be there..
so many ideas!!
Funk days are funk days and there is no rhyme or reason why one is and one is not..it happens:(
Love the teacup and bee ring etc..so many pertties Marie.
And I wish you a reversal of funk.
Thanks CG, I am sure you have at least one talent. WE all have. Sometimes it is being a good listener, other times it is we are people who are able to uplift others and buoy them up. Oh there are so many talents and some are not obvious, but they are there all the same! I rather suspect you have a very kind heart. xoxo
ReplyDeleteNot hurt at all Suzan, or feeling criticized. You have many talents. You are a wonderfully supportive mother and daughter and I expect that one day when the time is right you will make a wonderfully supportive partner for some very lucky man. You are right, at present its the Lords work I am to be about! In the meantime I want you to know you are a wonderful friend. Love and hugs. xoxo
You are right Tracy, the creative heart just has a need to create, and that is it! YOU are a treasure my friend, and that is that! Love you to bits! xoxo
I had so much fun creating her Monique. I am itching to get back in my artroom and create some more, but duty calls today and I have not the time. You are a wonderfully supportive friend, and a real load and mood lightener. You truly are, and you are much more appreciated than you probably know. Love always. xoxo
Doing what you love is never a waste of time. It's what keeps us going every day. Take heart when you get discouraged because those things are what makes you happy.
ReplyDeleteYou are very right Pam! You always are! You're one very smart cookie! Love you! xoxo
ReplyDeleteWell I don't need to tell you how much a fan I am of a certain Marie Rayners work...all I need is money and a magic wand ..the money to buy everything I love,... the wand so that the whole wide world Would acknowledge her brilliance....but unfortunately I have neither!!....so...What can I do.....first is keep praying that someone WILL see and acknowledge Marie's brilliance....next pray again that my dear friend never gives up the hope that that someone WILL appear and I will be saying.....I told you so ...LOL......we both know that yesterday was a bad day for you and hope that today that horrid black cloud will have lifted and my usually smiley Marie will be back with us.....much love winging its way North....night night, God Bless xxx
ReplyDeletenice daybook
ReplyDeleteaww thanks Sybil. My mom always had a saying, if wishes were horses beggars would ride. lol Thank you so much for your love and your support. Always. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThanks Shortybear! xoxo