Moving Sale

Beautiful day on the Carmel Bay! I had the privilege of sharing some of my favorite spots with friends from New Zealand. The internet has blessed me with many friends but I never imagined that an ExpressionVillage member would end up at my door! What a delight!

More books posted for sale at:
http://tinyurl.com/gkzqt

Against My Will

The cactus to the right came with me when I moved from Big Sur to Pacific Grove over 20 years ago. Will it make another trek? It was a small plant that has since split a couple of times and now is large and heavy. It practically shouts, "Stay away," at anyone who gets near it and is only to happy to stick one with its prickly torns.

I'm knee deep in papers removed from a rusty metal filing cabinet; I can't figure out how to dispose of the cabinet! Tossing out papers is cathartic and depressing at the same time! I used to have an interesting life, at least I thought it was more interesting than the last decade has been. A life-long chronic illness decided to turn my world upside down against my will and insist that I carve out a quieter life; to stop kidding myself that my immune system was going to repair itself and suddenly allow me to live the life I envisoned.

I ran across an article that I had clipped out of the newspaper in 1998. Cecella George had written, "You feel like you have the flu all the time. If I listened to my body, I would never get out of bed." That's pretty much how I feel most of the time and that simple statement was the kick in the rear that helped me find a new direction for my life. Albeit a much quieter life, but one filled with online friends and days full of creativity.

My illness is often an inconvenience! And to that I say, "So what!"

Quote

"Be careful what you set your
heart upon--for it will surely
be yours."
James A. Baldwin

Second visit!

One lonely seagull came to visit today! I was trying to decide what plants to toss and which ones might survive in the desert when I heard the seagull fly overhead. I'm continuing to document the yard so I had my camera with me.

Seagulls

I've lived in this house nearly 21 years and not once in all of that time has a seagull ever landed on the roof! Are they saying goodbye to me?!

If I could have given them a little direction they would have been facing each other and the distance between them wouldn't have been so vast.

My life has suddenly changed!!

This little house in the CA desert near Palm Springs will soon be my new home!!! I never thought I'd be moving into a new house nor to the desert! But sometimes the solution to problems comes in a way that is so perfect that it's as if it were written in the stars! The two windows in the front are where Mom will reside in her own separate Casita/guest room that is attached to the house with a breezeway! Two bedrooms, two baths, laundry room, great room where the living space, dining nook and kitchen are! Over-sized garage with a sink in it where I will finally have space to dye fabric and make paper! A 12 foot covered patio with overhead fans and a fairly decent sized backyard. It's in a gated community and one must be over 55 to live there!

We discoverd that my aunt, mom's sister, and uncle are moving there in Feb. The sisters haven't lived near each other in 35 years!

The minuses! Leaving the Monterey Peninsula where I've lived for 30 years! A part of me will always remain here even though I may never return! The weather here is moderate; the temps in the desert are above 100 for at least 3-4 months a year!

The pluses! My daughter, two grandsons and fabulous SIL will be two hours away! The area is quiet and has more amenities than I'll probaby ever avail myself of! Mom won't be alone anymore and I feel a lot better knowing that she'll be only a few feet away and that we'll both still have some much needed privacy! It's hard to be in this situation of needing to take care of one's parent, be a care-giver for a 38 year-old daughter and have numerous health issues myself. The worry and stress was taking a huge toll on me! My SIL decided to locate a house and move us and once he makes a decision my daughter is only to happy to sit back and let him do "his thing." Did I mention how great he is!!!??

Escrow closes on Sept 26 and the GRAND EXIT from here is planned for the weekend of Sept 29th! Excitement, fright, gratefulness, relief, panic, grief, are all mixed together into a jumble that has a tight grip on me! La Quinta here we come!!

Maple Tree #2

A little black-and-white manipulation. Same photo as below. I seem to be running out of steam regarding the photo-a-day. A new challenge perhaps?

Maple tree

Another case of putting something behind the branch in order to isolate a portion of the tree.

New leaves on the Maple tree are pristine from about Jan. to April and by August they begin to look weathered and beaten down by life. Today, I'm feeling a little like these leaves.

Claws!

Another view of the cactus!

Tip: if you strategically place something black behind the object being photographed two things happen: you can create negative space plus a specific area of interest can be isolated. I used to have a piece of black cardboard in my camera bag; I no longer have a camera bag. Following the adage, "use what you have" I propped a piece of black cardstock behind an interesting section.

There are numerous things that can be done with negative space, or not.

Photo-a-day continues!

I forgot to post this yesterday even though I had it ready! There used to be 3 large specimans of this plant in the front yard, but High School kids couldn't resist carving their initials into them which was bad enough! Once graffiti started to appear it was time to pull the plants out! Around the bottoms of the 5 foot wide plants there were some babies and I now have 5 pretty good sized plants living on pots.

Sometimes the best abstracts are done in black-and-white; only then can one take in the shapes and textures.
"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for."
Georgia O'Keeffe

I feel the same way about black-and-white images.

Found Art?

It's not only foggy today but windy as well. A few branches blew off of the plum tree. I was on my to the trash can with some newspapers I had used while spray painting a lantern on and had an epiphany! Newspaper - branches!

No motivation!

First non-photo day! I just didn't feel motivated . . .

Paris - Bench near the Eiffel Tower.

This is fun!
http://www.blogthings.com/whateuropeancitydoyoubelonginquiz/


My city is Paris! At least it's a city that I've been to and love!
"You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris.You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe"

Garage Sale

Books, magazines, and zines for sale. If you're a reader of this blog feel free to make an offer for any of the items for sale!

http://tinyurl.com/gkzqt

email me at:
mizriley2003@yahoo.com
Note: I'll do my best to keep the list updated. Five books sold immediately, thank you!, and that's when I discovered that I need to manually delete them from the list. So, please check
with me to see if an item is available; that way we can avoid disappointments.

The Joy Of Flying!

Sometimes one needs to look up to find a perfect scene! I heard them coming; they aren't quiet birds, so I was ready when they flew over-head.