Oh Yes Jame tell me how to set my computer to remind me.
I did have the devil of a time getting into this again -it is hard to write a quickie when I keep forgetting my password.

But that is all behind us now.

My only comments at this time are about the gloriously beautiful snow we had today -couldn't even see the road at times it was sowhite and drifty this AM when Erin and I went out for a bagel at the food hole. And I have discovered the world's best new drink instead of coffee -for those who know me of course this means it will be my favorite fora couple of weeks until I am sick of it and never want to have it again -but, till then it is a cafix latte! Just Cafix and steamed milk.
In response to the cryptic S -I will out her and call her my dear cousin Sara -What I am usually supposed tobe doing when I am blogging is something else at the computer like my voluminous email. Today I took a break from installing SKYPE. I still don't know if I got it going -later.
There are so many distractions along the way -like do I want to skype from my cell phone from a foreign country? Of course. Well then "you figure out if you can really understand how much it costs "-did you know that the old cent sign is passe and I am not facile with my .o38 type of decimals -comment invited.
Anyway I am off to MEX at the end of the week, not before wrecking a good night's sleep for Jame (if she chooses) to take me to
the airport at 3:45 AM -thank goodness I still know how to tell time. By now all the world knows I am going to teach Cob building AND as importantly, visit dear Westtown colleagues Paula and Alan who are hanging out in an EcoVillage having invited me to join them in a work and learn sort of program. I will also introduce the Time Bank concept, taking along some of your wool Kathy Bowen, plus sticks to make some knitting needles and knit some lambs with folks there. And who knows what else will transpire in my limited Spanish.
I have done some packing and am musing over what I will take for my day's worth of travel food, remembering the times I have taken such items as made the inspectors revise their list of suspicious substances to include apple sauce and almond pudding. Not wishing to worry them or have to ditch my picnic I think I will go for the cream cheese, olive and walnut sandwich introduced to me by marriage. But for breakfast do I dare take french toast stuffed with cherry, banana cream cheese? -oh my a little heavy on the cream cheese. What about the produce aspect? Salad in a bag that clearly does not harbor a gun? -Once they said they couldn't be sure when it was in tupperware.
This may sound a little too fussy but please notice I have totally let go of the fact that what ever I take will be irradiated by the scanner, and only maintain a fragment of my own unique eating disorder.
It is time to check on Skype and stretch my legs.

I think we have found a solution to this dearth of blogging. Every time someone sends a comment and I allow it, I find myself on the page that asks me if I want to blog -otherwise I can't remember how to get there.

Another hindrance -concern for careful spelling and well crafted work -that's over. I don't hhave to do that every time.

OK then -what's a wonder today.

Got one.

Little children of 2 1/2 or 3 can be delighted by all they encounter in the world. A charming little tyke Josie came to the Cob Studio today with her dad. Dad was trimming pots and putting handles on mugs and Josie was in heaven using what she was hearing and seeing and making up simple non-invasive fun where ever she turned.

Another clay worker did just what I had to wrestle myself not to do. She engaged Josie and quickly became the object of Josie's polite but demanding attention.

Why do we grown ups think that we have to teach tiny people so vigilantly? Paradise reigned when we were all engaged by the object of our interest. Flow was smooth, energy was well balanced, each of us was at peace.

Keep the peace by trusting the wisdom of what you can see if you are not trying to do what you think is expected of you.

THX, S for commenting.
XO

What a clever girl my sister in law is. She sent me a congratulatory note about the one year anniversary of my last blog and somehow in allowing the comment to be published I find myself here in blogsville.

The bad news is that I am experiencing great anxiety as I know that this wasa not on my schedule and once again I am procrastinating re the pressing but perhaps less interesting stuff on my plate.

But just to keep up my personal handicap of being a pleaser i will add some substance.

We are having a beautiful snow today. Effie has adapted to the salty road conditions which hurt her feet last time we walked on the road in the snow -now she seeks out the side of the road where it is still white and nice on the paws, if she wantrs to be in the middle she doesn't go there until it is white.

Birds are leaving the most adorable tracks in the snow. I made a little clay wheel covered in that motif that I rolled onto the edges of the table cloth tops to my latest clay teapots.

Thanks to you SIL
XO

Prosperity

I promised my sister-in-law that if I put down my intent to resume blogging, on the calendar, that I would do it -it was scheduled for 4 days ago.

It took some doing to get back into the site for this adventure but now I think I'm set.
Ahhemm...throat clearing noises.

It takes some effort to decide what to write about. Complaining is out, political opinions are out. Oh I forgot this is about reporting the everyday wonders. Phew ! -a place to start.

I have a new dog. I am, in my friend Nancy's word a newpoodleowner.
I can call her my dog without fear that I am being neglectful of my partner's share in ownership because he was clear that he wanted no responsibility in this venture -in his defense he wants to simplify his life.

By-products (to use dog food lingo) of this recent acquisition have been at least threefold -nearly all of them unexpected -(can the dog food manufacturers say the same). First I had forgotten the unparalleled benefits of unconditonal pet love. Second, I find myself a living study of prosperity issues at the moment and trying to answer the question 'what is prosperity for me'? And third, (drum roll....) my husband is in love with the dog! The sidebar to that one is that I feel no compulsion to make him say it out loud. A full fledged 4th by-product is yet to come as I was just fiddling with the toolbar above this box -I will no doubt soon figure out how to insert a picture of Effie, my dog, into this blog before long.

The unconditional pet love began the day I went to Mt. Joy (the actual location of the breeder offering me a choice of desirable poodles) and saw a little (she's a mini) red dog that perfectly filled a wish I had repeated for years -"if only they would develop a dog who maintained puppy proportions in adulthood" -where had I been -they've been around for years? She bounded into the house at the invitation of the 80 year old man who with his 80 something wife were tossing in the poodle breeding towel in favor of a day when grooming and feeding etc. to an unknown but I'm sure reasonable number of man's curley best friends did not hang heavily in the air above their morning OJ. She readily submitted to being picked up into my lap and a half hour later curled up in the seat of her very first ride as if to say "what took you so long".

The prosperity part is in the same sack with the thrill of shopping the Good Will outlet's 75 cent bin, and a hang nail to the phrase 'ask and it is given'.

Prosperity is different for everybody. It isn't tied down to money but it tickles envy when money is showing off. To own a poodle , it turns out, revealed some old keys to my current questions. The family that I most wanted to belong to (as in shopping for who I wanted to eventually become myself) when I was growing up, had poodles who were ambassadors of a classy kind of trapping -I don't remember them as lovable -one was elderly and quickly referred to in the past tense, and the other was on her way to the urn in the coat closet herself.

To own one for free confirmed the distance that it is possible for money to have from the real feeling of comfort with what one has.

I set out to obtain a Poodle with three requirements: I wanted a dog, not a puppy who could be let out without being on a leash -I am not a dog walker; one who was smart and would get whatever she needed to know on the first or second try; and one who would adore me.

It has only been 3 weeks and this 4 year old former denizen of a kennel with a brief stint in the house as a new mom, has learned to walk on a leash (and quickly to skip the leash and just follow me everywhere); pee outside (instead of in a run); go up and down steps (still a little leary of the open risers); and respond to her name.

She sits by my side in the studio, at the desk or in the kitchen, curls up beside me on the couch in the evening and doesn't get out of her bed in the morning until I do (get out of mine).

As if to prove the boundless nature of Love (while she is adoring me in abundance) she has plenty more to offer as she leans up against her new best man friend's leg when he is sitting at the fire place or curls up with him while he is reading in the early morning or watching TV at night. In return he picks her up, speaking to her sweetly and goes ga ga in the supermarket for any dog food that sounds like it came off a swanky steak house menu.

...The Chance for Snow

I am glad that Erin and Jamie are still blogging away.
I have no real excuse for not keeping up with my intentions to redeem my youthful diary deficit, maybe it is because King is home and therefore I have someone to talk to, but that is silly, there's still a lot to say.
Let's see, hmmm...
The winter coldness has finally arrived in the middle of January. I am happy about this but in a somewhat depleted condition after 6 weeks of a head full of debris, I sighed as I lit the morning fire in the studio wood stove - to raise the temp from 45 degrees to a more welcoming clime - thinking well it was a late start to this chill so it won't be too much longer... I prefer my normal enthusiasm for the adventure of lighting the morning fire.
In an effort to reclaim my health I have taken to napping when I can. I set the timer for an hour and grab a hot water bottle and begin the therapy. Today I had an annoying dream towards wake up time. There was a little device of some kind that would beep when someone was at the door. Well it wouldn't stop beeping even after being reset, and finding there was noone at the door. In the dream I tried to figure out how to stop it and every time I thought I had it, a few seconds later it would sound again. I thought this was an interesting clue about how time is not the same in dreams... I finally got up (15 real minutes later) and ambled to the kitchen to turn off the timer.

The Actual Party

Well the party was a huge success. There were some sad folks whose email invites didn't reach them but my role was not to butt in or try to pick up any pieces so... As a result I have decided that we should have parties more often. Who needs a 60th birthday as the excuse? I hope I can keep that spark of an intention alive and really have a great new year of social energy.
Jamie turned out to be more than a consultant. She came over the night before and spent the day making chile and THE cake (black forest from scratch). She was well pleased with herself and rightly so. King had a job to finish by the 1st so he was busy with that in the morning. After lunch the two of them moved furniture, vacuumed, put out the dishes and silverware, and did a fabulous job of preparing. There was a moment when I had to absent myself so that I wouldn't interfere - I went to return the bag of moldy dog food and gather in a few more supplies on their list, and then take a nap. I was well satisfied with my "letting go" efforts.
At around 6:00 the perfect mix of people arrived with the perfect amount of salad, hors d'oeuvres and a generous oversupply of desserts. Everybody seemed to mingle well and enjoy each other. King was in charge of timing and food placement announcing the main meal, dessert, etc, while I got to circulate without the distractions of any party duties - the place I often hide. He was johnny on the spot with dish doing to the point where I had to beg him to come hang out with us towards the end. I promised to help when people left if he would give up his post in favor of a little conversation. People left by about midnight and as Jamie remarked, Justin my former student, friend and a divine human being, was the first to arrive and the last to leave. I told him he could rent himself out as the life of the party as he is so interesting and has something to contribute to every conversation. The evening had been a full one. There were self guided tours of the cob-studio-by-night and new admirers introduced to the wonders of natural building. We met my neice Katy's mystery man (none of us had met him and he's been in the picture for over a year). Relatives and friends alike were gathered and I felt celebrated with wonderful cards and the best food and conversation. I even felt the presence of relatives who live at a distance with emails, cards and phone calls. What a lucky girl I am! I asked and it was given! It's the deal that is always waiting for us when we know what we want - that last part is the trick.

The True Meaning of the Word Blog

I think the sound of the word "blog" is perfect onomatopoeia for chocolate-covered cornflake-over-indulgence.
I am pooped. I had the time of my life preparing Christmas dinner and home for the family but I am depleted and this morning after a lovely breakfast party, misguidedly turned to the aforementioned seasonal temptation as a substitute for a ton of water and a long walk followed by a restorative nap. All that takes time and frankly my inner child got the upper hand before I could whack her on the knuckles, God she is a whiner!
Now its dinner time and I am going to cash in on my last chance coupon. No matter that darkness is gathering and deer hunting season is in full swing and that my red jacket will not have the proper distinguishing qualities to clearly say "human-in-the-late-stages-of-blog". If I don't return is it suicide or just another misdirected effort to make a better choice?