CLUTTER, CREATIVITY AND CHAOS

Photos are borrowed (can I legally do that ) from the book WHERE WOMEN CREATE. Surely the copyright nazi has something better to do then scout out blogs....

About a month ago , I mentioned to my friend Jana that I had been wanting the book WHERE WOMEN CREATE by Jo Packham. Lo and behold the next day I found it at my front door. A much appreciated surprise at the end of a long work day. She has graciously let me borrow it to get inspired.....and that I did!!!!! All you inspiring women out there if you haven't gotten a chance to read ( I mean look at the pictures ) do we really ever read books like these or go straight to the pictures,than it is a must....if your creativity is on a permanent vacation like mine has been lately, it will take you to your very own creative paradise.... so since Allen has a huge golf tournament this weekend and is working 12 hour days I have had a lot of alone time...so I decided to cleanout, de clutter and re vamp my guest bedroom into my very own inspirational creative space...starting with the closet....I think I have opened the door to this closet at least 20 times in the last month to get motivated only to quickly close it before I got attacked with what lurks inside....
lots of boxes went to the trash, need I say the dumpster is full to the brim..... some of the boxes are going to goodwill .....some of the boxes in the closet I think have been in there since we moved into this house 6 years ago...Oh my Oh my!!!!! It was kind of like Christmas opening boxes that I had no idea what was in them and hoping it was something I couldn't live without......but most I could definitely live without...
and then there's the dreaded sewing space....who could even begin to be inspired or creative with a mess of a table like this....so I am dreaming of a space like the one at the top of the page....if I knew how to put those pictures at the bottom of my post I would but.....I guess you just have to see the after before the before...is that possible? so girls , lets quit just sitting around and use our talents the way we are meant to....

when I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, " I used everything You gave me."

---erma bombeck

THE DAY MY WORLD CHANGED

Twenty seven years ago today I entered a hospital as a nieve, innocent young girl. The nurse came into my room and asked me to take off all my clothes and put this gown on and I thought "I dont think I want to do that", but being the compliant person I am, I did as I was told....and 6 hours later my world was forever changed...in came Quintan Luke, the new love of my life...he was much anticipated, a little slow in coming, two weeks overdue, but nevertheless he was all mine...a blessing that God intrusted in me to love and take care of forever and always...so I hope you have a wonderfully Happy Birthday and I dont know how you could be 27 when I am just 29 myself!!! I love you....

Again, eleven years ago today, I entered a hospital , this time with my husband Allen...after 30 years of diabetes destroying his body, he was given the gift of life.....the chance to live life to the fullest once again....and after about 6 hours of successful surgery he had a brand new kidney and pancreas that functioned as if they were his own.....no more insulin, no more daily shots, no more special diet, just a normal functioning body...of course he would disagree and say that there is nothing normal about him and I would say "who likes normal?" so with that said....

Let it be known that I have been twice blessed on this day, the first time with the birth of my baby boy, and the second time by God giving Allen the gift of new life... I will be forever indebted to God for allowing these two men to be a part of my life....without them I would not be who I am today...would not have had the ups and downs that have made me stronger...would not have the memories that make me grateful....and would not be the complete person I am today....so to both my men I hope you have the happiest day ever!!!

MY TREASURE CHEST

Your possessions express your personality. Few things, including clothes are more personal than your cherished ornaments. The pioneer women, who crossed a wild continent clutching their treasures to them, knew that a clock, a picture , a pair of candlesticks, meant HOME even in the wilderness.--Good Houskeeping, August 1952

I believe that our treasures can offer true insight into our personalities. I believe that when we surround ourselves with treasures that speak to our souls it lets other people understand who we are. Most of my treasures tell a story , whether it's the search, or the day I found it, or who I was with , or the vacation, or whether it was a gift from someone special....they are all memories that fill the treasure chest of my soul!!! Have a happy weekend....

SOUL THERAPY

last weekend my sister and I headed out for a little soul therapy....we hit an estate sale and a couple of garage sales and then decided we needed more flowers.....can you ever have too many flowers.....dont't think so!!!! so off we went .....we wanted to hit a few places around our area instead of the typical Abilene garden centers.... Our first stop was Reeds Farm Store in Clyde , Texas...where they have an abundance of fresh homegrown fruits and vegetables, a few flats of flowers and loads and loads of firewood.....dont need that right now but the vegetables and flowers were a big hit. Paula got a huge bag of already shelled black eye peas and snapped green beans and a few flowers....I was holding out for Hardwick nursery in Cross Plains , Texas so off we went......down the road the wildflowers still out.....
here we are at Hardwick nursery in Cross Plains, Texas. Their main location is in Rising Star, Texas which is another 15 miles down the road....but as you can see they have more than enough beauty for lots of soul therapy..
More goodies at Hardwick Nursery in Cross Plains and then across the street...
we found the Taste of Texas,another flower, herb , vegetable store (by the way I love the old scale)...we bought more flowers and lots of great smelling herbs....then we headed home to plant, plant , plant and to stare!!!!

plant a seed. Plan a garden. Poke a hole in the ground, stick a seed in , and watch it grow. It doesnt matter if you have a tiny pot or a big old fashioned garden, watching things grow is the best therapy for the soul. It reminds us that there are forces deeper and stronger than us...and for Him I am soulfully thankful....

hoping everyone a blessed weekend. Go plant a seed!!!!!

KNOWING WHEN TO LISTEN

This has been a strange 24 hours. I had a couple of days off and decided to head to Canton Texas to the flea market. ...so I left thursday afternoon and headed to my friend Gails' house. She has a great house near Flower Mound and opens it to me whenever I want to come and stay. She even cooks me breakfast in the toaster when we remember to turn the toaster on......anyway I got to dallas at about 7:30 last night and met her at Jasons deli for a salad and headed to her house. We stayed up late talking and decided I probably needed to get ahead of the traffic in the morning because traffic stresses me out...and even more , rain and traffic are double whammys. ....so off to bed we went....5 am came early with a bolt of lightning and a heavy downpour and I layed there in bed and thought great. ...so with the high tech computer world we live in I checked the computer and found it to be a small but strong line of storms heading east exactly where I was going.....oh great again!!!!so I got up got dressed and was packing my things up , reached into my purse to get my glasses and NO WALLET.!!!!another great....how could this be happening, traffic, rain, no wallet.....we searched high and low and no wallet.....so we drank more coffee and decided the last place I had it was at Jasons deli....so we called....not open yet.....called and finally got an answer...NO WALLETT!!!
OK maybe I forgot my listening ears, but was someone trying to tell me I shouldn't be going to Canton...surely not....so we drank more coffee....and visited and watched the news and weather....then we heard "tornado near Canton trade days" oh my, this couldnt be....I would have been smack dab in the middle!!!...so I sat and listened and decided I needed to come home...and that I did....with gas money from Gail I was on my way....do you know how strange it is to be on the road by yourself and NO WALLET , no money, no credit card , no drivers license...all the way home I made up stories what I was gonna tell the Highway patrolman when he pulled me over. .... what I was going to tell the bank when someone stole my identity......but thankfully that did not happen.....so do you ever think God is trying to tell you something and we are to distracted to even take the hint???...I THINK SO.... I got home safely one more time and am thankful for that....I cancelled all my credit cards....and when I got home I called Jasons deli one more time...the nightime manager was now on duty and said yes maam we DO HAVE YOUR WALLET....I tucked it in the safe so no one could find it....apparently so!!!!!