New Art

So a few weeks ago, I said that I was getting busy again with my art and that in short order I would have something to show for that busy-ness and while the project that I was working on turned out to be a complete wash-out, I finally have something else to show for my time spent. As you can see, my sculpture is not finished, a ways to go yet, but a good start. At this point, I'm not quite sure what direction it will take, she does need some clothes, but whether I will use fabric like some do or whether I will make clothing out of polymer I don't know. I'm kind of stalled but am also hoping that if I sit and stare at "her" long enough, something will pop into my head. The only other hurdle is that seeing what I'm doing is tough. I'm going to try a different lamp and maybe that will eliminate some of the glare. Oh age, how thou doest interfere and make mine life a tribulation!!! Oh well, it might just force me to loosen up in my style a bit. Just trying to be positive.

When the lion lays down with the lamb.....

As they wakened, they felt the warm air brushing against their bare skin, the tickle of grasses that made up their sheltering bed coaxing them to wakefulness. In the trees and underbrush around them, the sound of birds laying claim to their territories added a sense of music to the joyous beginnings of the new day. He stood and then reached for her hand, drawing her up to join him in the beginning of this first day of all the days to come. They were watched, without fear, by the other beings who lived in this beautiful place. At their feet a small furry rabbit pushed through those same grasses that had touched them as they stirred restlessly and on the edge of the small meadow wherein their soft grass bed was located, another being with grey-brown hair on its body and hard bone protruding from it's head stepped out from the shadows of the woods and into the sunshine. It's large brown eyes were peaceful and without fear as it walked up to them, reaching out to nuzzle their hands as it sought to taste the slight saltiness of their palms. They touched its soft fur, ran their hands over its horns, marvelling at the softness and the hardness of it. And the birds sang for them as they rejoiced, one and all, in the glory of this new world.

There is only one thing that can be counted on consistently and that is that everything changes. And so it was, that out of their own actions, the world changed and the first death came to that peaceful place and the other beings that once shared their joyfulness, became afraid and learned to hide. And the world became a place of misery and darkness, hunger and pain, sorrow and fear. The centuries pass, one by one, a day at a time. Each day filled with anguish as it's whole, but with tiny points of lightness to keep the flame of hope alive. Every point of light pointing to the next sign post, each one drawing the people along the hard road that had become their lot, with the hope and belief that one day, there will come that time of great renewal and the world will once again be filled with rejoicing. And in that day, death will become a memory, and the lion will lay down with the lamb and peace will again reign as the people and the creatures walk together again with no fear. And when the people remember the dark age that came before this new time of peace, they will ask themselves, if we knew what first was and looked forward to that coming again, and if we knew that it was our own actions that caused death to come into the world, why then did we spend all those generations indulging in and excusing and using, the evil that was the result of our own actions, all the while mourning for what was lost?

*Motive is everything. Objectives determine outcomes. Life proceeds out of your intention. Your true intention is revealed in your actions, and your actions are determined by your true intention. As with everything in life (and in life itself), it is a circle.*

So I ask you, what are the true objectives that are determining the current outcomes of suffering and torment that lays like a filthy rag across the surface of this planet? There is an ongoing weeping and crying out for "peace, peace, where is the love" but instead of the world finding these things, there is only continual sorrow for men, women, children and most creatures of this world. When the actions of man are considered with honesty, our true intentions are revealed and our objectives are laid bare in the light of day and going by what we see, there is no desire for a return to Paradise lost and the Kinship that went with it especially as the decision to match ones actions to ones desire for (a loving and safe and joyous world), might mean that we have to begin respecting the rights of everything to live without pain or torment, just as we would hope to live.


To live in this world, but to not be of it, is an objective. When we pray for Godliness in the hopes that we will be uplifted, and yet justify the pain and death that sin causes in this world, by pointing to tradition or habit, then how can we feel a true inner peace when we are practitioners of violence. That first death to cover nakedness was not permission to do more harm, but should have been taken as an example of what our selfishness and lack of thought had caused. Every sacrifice a picture of what those actions had wrought. Each of us must begin to live as though we individually do live in that world which first was, and as the numbers of gentle souls grows, so too will 'heaven' spread across the face of the globe. And by our examples, we will show the world the Creator as the source of love and life and one by one, more will be drawn to that joy.

*Taken from Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch*

Chocolate Bananas

Frozen bananas! What a concept! They can be the basis for an ice cream substitute that has no equal. No saturated fat, no excessive added sugar and filled with vitamins and minerals. Loaded with potassium, vitamin B6, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and fiber and complete with their own biodegradable packaging, how can you beat bananas? And when they are combined with an avocado which provides vitamins A,C,D,E,K, thiamine,riboflavin, niacin, B6 and folate as well as protein and fiber, you have an award winning mixture. Ice cream on the other hand provides you with an abundance of saturated fat, sodium, cholestrol, sugar, the difference is evident. I will grant you that ice cream also does provide you with some calcium and protein, but the fact is that the presence of the protein is going to limit how much of that calcium is actually absorbable by the human body. Weighed in the balance, I would say that the banana sorbet is actually a better choice if you are considering the health benefits.

Fortunately, you can also have taste as well and I'm happy to say that I've got my "chocolate ice cream" back! Wahoo. I've found that the important thing to remember is to pop the bananas into the freezer just at that optimum moment of ripeness, barely ripe but not overly, unless of course you are doing a fruit flavoured dessert and so don't mind the banana flavouring. But my heart belongs to chocolate so once I've frozen the bananas, I take them out of the freezer, remove the peels and pop the chunks into the food processor along with some peanut butter, cocoa, a wee bit of vanilla flavoring and a couple tablespoons of maple syrup and half an avocado. Whiz that up until it's all moving smoothly around the fod processor bowl. I did find that a bit of rice milk helps to move things along a bit in the event that the bananas are a bit bigger than usual. And when satisfied with the consistency, dish it up and enjoy. I think the idea of eating a vegan diet exclusively frightens most people. They think only of the tastes that they'll be giving up, not realizing that there are substitions for many of those as well as an amazing array of new tastes that they've never considered. So I've found a wonderful way to get my chocolate, without even a single pang of guilt, in fact to actually feel like I'm doing myself a favour.

Do give it a try and I'll include the ingredients list here for those who've got food processors. You could try making it in small amounts in a blender but I can't say for sure how well that would work because of the different dimensions.

Ingredients:

3 frozen bananas, peeled and cut into smaller chunks
1/2 avocado
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cocoa (or to taste)
1-2 tablespoons rice milk (as needed)

I hope that I haven't given you this recipe before because that would mean that I'm beginning to suffer from "repetitive story" syndrome! Will you tell me, or will you humor me and listen to the chocolate sorbet story one more time? Anyway my dears, enjoy being nice to your body....and I'll talk to you again.

Ripples and Eddies and Ebbing and Flowing.....

The setting sun is like a spotlight on the horizon, making shadows that lay long on the grass and the dwindling leaves on the maples and yellow birches seem to have a more brilliant glow than in an afternoon light. The purple and pink clouds are pale against a pale blue sky and they move slowly and almost imperceptably across the spreading twilight. Soon the light will be gone and then one by one, the glinting stars will be there, resting as though jewels against the jewellers black velvet cloth. The end of October, almost November, then ..... and another year passed through. There have been times when I felt as though I was stepping lightly and easily, and then other moments when it was tough going, a mental struggle more than anything but different enough from the former as to cause notice. And whether this imbalance was due to this or that, I feel blessed to say that the days of joy and peace were more, much more than the other.

Taking that into consideration, and then including into the mix that this year has been, the bugs and the weather,I notice that I've sort of laid aside for just a time, a few things that I had been occupying my mind with. Somehow I began to feel like I needed to rest myself, pace myself more. And so the blog was left behind. I guess that's the way it is for most things unless you are the really focused type who can limit themselves to a fewer numbers of interests whereas I admit to having an inability to say no to new things to do. Too many names on the dance card, if you know what I mean.... Another thing that I'd laid aside for a while was art. Busy-ness and a mental dry spell creatively speaking, and I haven't really done much in that regard for a few years. But I think that may be coming back and perhaps in a week or so I'll have something to show.

The point is this, I think that when it comes to our interest or things that we must do, there is an ebb and flow just like the seasons and the best thing to do is to just accept that never ending rhythm to our natural lives and our very being and float right along with it. Just as spring necessitates planting and nurturing little garden plants and fall brings lawn rakes and putting away and tidying up in preparation for the next spring, so to do we mentally, spiritually go through a constant state of flux, of reshaping and refinement, particularly when we have an actually awareness of our life, our being. That conscious appreciation of our existence in this moment, right now, when taken with you each step of every day can be the beginning of an ability to remember the joy that each and every one of us has come out of. We've have replaced that joy with a forgetfulness that has obscured the connection that exists between us all and indeed between the Universe and humanity and the races, the planet that we live on, the waters and all the creatures that walk this world with us....yes, we've forgotten. But I have faith that there is a change coming and I think the odds are 50/50, that things are heading in a direction that will bring a growing awareness of the necessity for compassion and love and acceptance amongst all of us human beings. And perhaps being human will begin to mean that we all realize that each moment is an opportunity to be the grandest version of our greatest vision about ourselves, and without thinking, we'll seize that moment. And our contribution to the world will be an island of harmony, because after all, we're moving with the ebb and flow, not against it. And if by some bizarre and unexpected miracle, all of humanity could be convinced of the need for this change and so follow through, then think in amazement of a world of harmony, not just a one man island here or there.

Silence

Today I'm alone. That sounds strange to say…."today I am alone". Those particular words don't enter into my vocabulary in that order very often. And I am a person who doesn't mind my own company, but since we retired, I am rarely "alone". Don had a doctor's appointment in Amherst (pronounced 'Amerst') so he went, and I stayed. I was out in the garden mowing the lawn and then moving some things around…preparing for winter you know. All very pleasant. And when I got bored with doing that and had finished putting things like my little hand rake and wheelbarrow and whatever else I might have gotten out, --when I had put away those things, I knocked the dirt off my boots and went in. I put my coat in the closet and then went to wash the garden from my hands, and as the water spilled out of the tap and rinsed the bubbles away, I caught myself thinking how quiet it was and perhaps I'd go and put some music on.

And as I caught myself thinking that, I realized in almost the same moment, the other side of the coin as it were, that the idea of letting the silence reign, seemed difficult and odd, and I must confess, for a moment it made me feel a teeny, tiny bit anxious. Now I know that sounds silly………..but if you try it yourself, you just might find that you too, experience some unusual sensations. And of course I think you might agree that the reason for that is that by and large, our whole society rarely looks for the meaning of their lives in the quiet of their own mind, but instead we surround ourselves with television, and movies, and Ipods and videos on our computers, telephones and singing cards, and by our identifying one version of this or that, we identify ourselves, who we are, what we like, what kind of personality type we have. Choose classical music, long walks in the countryside, good books from the Bestsellers List, and we become an intellectual or a more cerebral individual. Choose rap music and accessorize with baggy pants and backward hats, or too much jewellery and too short skirts and we assume the appropriate tag, and it is obvious to all, who we think we are.

Turning all of those noisy and distracting things off is the opportunity to begin to know yourself in a different way and understand not only why you are like you are, but how to pare away old you and find the new and improved you that can only wait for its opportunity to emerge.

So this past year has been a time of doing that, paring away. I'm a lot more peaceful in my spirit now. Just as when I was worried as a child that nobody loved me and afraid that I would find out that it was true or that the unforeseen and unthinkable would happen to me, and so avoided situations that might be 'dangerous', I think that I've done the same in my adult life. Don has been my protector and my encourager through all my dark years and moods and I'm so grateful to him for his love and kindness. And in spite of his care, so many of my years were wasted in the emotional landscape of doom and gloom.

Fifty-five years, and it has taken that long for the clouds to begin to break and thin, but my new way of looking at all that 'wasted' time is that they are a brilliant contrast for the brightening skies in the landscape of my mood. Breaking away from my worrying means turning away from the habit of seeing only the difficulties or trials of life, and so I appreciate the contrast and enjoy the lightness of spirit that fills me more often as the days pass in quiet succession.

So the house is filled with silence and I sit, motionless, listening to it.

Puppies on holiday.

I think it is my destiny to be the crazy old dog lady when I hit my really-senior years. Kim and Oliver decided that the time had come for them to take a mini-holiday and frankly, if you have to try and manage the needs of a toddler and two dogs, it pretty quickly becomes a non-holiday and sinks more to the level of a "chore away from home". Believe me, I know. This year was the first time that our dogs spent a week in a kennel, but I have to say that Don searched out a place that is more like a five star doggy hotel. Anyway, Kim asked me if I would mind having her two doggies for a few days and because I'm a mom, I said yes ( because isn't that what moms do?). When she asked, she mentioned them staying in our barn so that they wouldn't drive us crazy and part of the reason being that her little Boo has a reputation of being a bully and horribly cranky.

As you can see from the photo above, they are not in the barn, haven't been in there for a moment, and they are getting along famously although Max is quite disappointed that neither of the visitors is particularly playful. I have to thank Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, for the great relations going on here. After Kim and Oliver had left, very shortly after in fact, Boo tried to get a little snotty and she was treated to the "Milan bite" and a very stern "hey", and that was pretty much it. I've reinforced it a couple times, but always with a descelarating sternness. For those of you not familiar with Cesar Milan, he uses the tips of his fingers to give a badly behaving dog a poke just where the side of the neck and shoulders meet, and in a very firm way says no, or in his case, kind of hisses at them. Almost without exception, a couple times of this puts Fido in his place and the bad behaviour soon ends.

So as you can see Kim, your doggies are doing good (or did good depending on when you look at this) and I think it might even have been good for them to have a change of scenery. By the way, do you have any idea how difficult it is to spend time on the computer with buddies like this?

Purrever Ranch

I'm always touched by stories about people who love animals so much that they are willing to change their lives for them to some degree or another. Today I read about a lady who opened her home to senior and disabled and special needs kitties. While people who go to the shelters to adopt are hot for the cutest balls of fluffy kittenhood, the old girls and guys sit in their little steel cages, watching and waiting, as once again, they're passed by. Despite the fact that they have as much love to offer as the little guys, no one wants them. As I read the story of Rita in Tennessee saving the first cat that she named Special, I couldn't help but cry just a little bit. With so much that is so wrong in our world, this lady followed her heart and has been doing small acts of compassion ever since. How wonderful!

So I've included the link here in case you are interested in reading about her and her kitties as well as pictures of some of the residents of Purrever Ranch.
http://lovemeow.com/2010/06/purrever-ranch-cat-hospice/comment-page-1/#comment-8772