my new penpal Micheline sent me vintage photo's
in my letters ~ she wrote her very own stories
to go with them!
Oh simple things in life...walkin' by miles
davis, the musical notes of my glass bangles
on my wrist, sitting on the porch in the first
quiet of a starry night, plumpish squirting
cherries i bought at the sunday market,
the poetry of Michael Donaghy
(especially Irena of Alexandria), a cup of
tea in a pink thermos taken along 'just in case'
in my car, coloring books (because i am NOT
too old) and yellow milk glass coffee cups
found for 25 cents in a thrift shop
...and paper airplanes too because they really are
loads of fun.
Oh! And handwritten letters ~ especially the one
I received today from the beautiful Micheline
which made me smile so wide and bright
for her wonderful chattiness and lovely scrolly
handwriting)~ honestly made my week just so
unexpectedly delightful when her envelope appeared
in my letterbox.
(and those lovely vintage photo's she included
with her very own stories invented to go with
them ~ completely curious and compellingly
charming) And a big shout out of thanks to
Miss Alice in Paris for setting up the penpals
club which brought Micheline and I together
because now I have a new friend to send
real REAL letters off to in the mail (i heart
snailmail) Seriously ~ I feel like a kid with
my new penpal and I bought a vintage tin at the
thrift shop just for these letters:)
So there you have it ~ simple things aplenty:)
have a wonderful week!
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photo by Tess Herzog, hand model Madelyn:)
just a quick little blurb~ the four have posted a bit late
this week but it is the summer after all and the livin'
is easy:)
pop by and visit us!
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The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life
and my childrens lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.
— Wendell Berry -
I am very very quiet this week ~ happiness
can be very quiet, and so can a curve. As
you take that arc with the silvered edge of
your skates on the ice there is poetry in
movement with barely the faintest wash of
cold spray tossed into the air for a whisper
of evidence that you not only endured
~ but triumphed.
I am immersed with.....Three Wishes (after
reading a wonderful review of it in
Brick magazine) which had me hushed and
reverent with the ordinary yet beautifully
revealing question posed to hundreds of jazz
musicians...
"If you were given three wishes to be
instantly granted, what would they be?"
John Coltrane answered...
1. To have an inexhaustible freshness in my
music. I'm stale right now.
2. Immunity from sickness or ill health.
3. Three times the sexual power I have now.
And something else too: more natural love
for people. You can add that on to the other."
(and I was choked....'more natural love for people'
...Yes ~ naturally)
I am moved with this weeks collaboration over
at Polaroid Girls....and still loving the
soundtrack from Wim Wenders 'Buena Vista Social
Club which has me meandering around looking
for more glorious hip swaying music:)
and i am curious....do you have three wishes of
your very own?
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'puddle of a moon hovering over Maddie's back porch 9 p.m.'
And so it was that I woke up on this rather delightful
Wednesday with a great deal of enthusiasm looking
forward to a playdate with my so beautiful and talented
friend Christina of Soul Aperture.
I am quite simply honored and thrilled to collaborate with
her on a very ordinary day in our lives ~ documenting
through images the moments captured at 7 a.m., 11 a.m.,
3 p.m.,6 p.m., and 9 p.m on this lovely Wednesday
(and Canada day actually as well!)
Please pop by and see my photo's here and Christina's
photo's here ~ it is nearly midnight (the time we agreed
to post our images )and I am so anxious to see what
she has captured with her intoxicating way of seeing
the world around her:)
a little chanchan for your listening pleasure
and I found this quite beautiful:)
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In case you didn't know today was utterly lovely. (and it
isn't even Sunday yet! go figure!) It was a day of juicy crimson
cherries, picking up my film from the lab, a cozy green couch
with a most lovely book, the endless cobalt sky dotted with
seagulls (and even the odd swooping cardinal), it was a day of
fine dark spicy chocolate, beautiful light and fresh washed
windows. Oh! and teeny tiny doll sized wooden clothespins
I used to hang my photo's up in my studio.
It was a day of shopping at the grocery store with my friend
Wendy and my daughter tess (organic walnuts, cherries,
chocolate hemp milk, fire~roasted tomatoes for homemade
salsa, blueberry juice and corn tortillas) and stopping by the
community garage sale at a local school on the way home.
Which had cotton candy made right there in the parking lot
where I snapped this most smile~worthy shot you see above.
Which made my day because it is....happiness, yes, without a
doubt.
This evening my back porch is bedecked with illuminated
paper lanterns and friends are popping by for a glass of
wine (or perhaps a guinness with lime) If I am lucky someone
will produce a guitar and songs will be sung drifting along the
evening summer breeze..and I may even take a picture or two:)
wishing you....a little summertime magic:)
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It is summertime and along with it the randomness
of spontaneity ~ the easy joy of being outside
and the youthful exuberance that comes with
climbing trees. (which is exactly what I did on the
last walk with my dog, feeling very pleased with
my skinned thighs:)
I am in the midst of preparing for a new move which
is so exciting...the fresh canvas of a new space to
create which mirrors today's 'madelyn' ...a space
filled with love, music, art, books, lots of light and
open windows and the delighted laughter of family,
friends, children...a dog and perhaps a rabbit too:)
This week I love the beautiful blue's of the four,
am ignited with Liz's fabulous retreat (register here)
and this happy~swinging song (which I stole from him
because he always finds the best music)
oh happy days!!!!
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The summersprung days find me delighting in the small things
of the centre of my hours amidst the larger demands...
a handful of fresh cherries, a field of buttercups...flower
crowns and homemade lemonade...summer porches, garden
parties with friends and children:)
Is this photo not absolutely sensory in the most startling way?
polaroids to peruse...and lovely listening streams
and plentiful splashes of color over at sea to sky
...oh! and a few lines from a lovely poem by pablo neruda
'I searched, but no none else had your rhythms,
your light, the shady day you brought from the forest;
nobody had your tiny ears....'
May your week be lazy, warm and ripe:)
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garden flowers in a vintage jam jar
the sound of rain while sleeping in a tent
morning coffee with him on the front porch
freckles
cuddling by the fire in the backyard and making wishes
on moons (while listening to billie holiday)
ten cent records from the thrift shop around the corner
going to a movie at a revue cinema and sharing popcorn
cuddling with the kids on the couch while the
dog insists on getting in on the love too
windows, sunlight, the scent of the sea
spontaneous peels of laughter
l o v e
opening to Y E S!!!
:)
inspired by most beautiful friend Christina:)
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This weekend David and I hosted a most bewitching summer
party in his garden. I can barely even begin to tell you how
magical it was. At the back of his garden is a gorgeous
tree and he strung it with purple and white twinkle
lights and set up a vintage table underneath with the record
player for dancing. Nearby a fire crackled beside haybales
draped in lovely textiles for seating, and stepping stones were
illuminated with tealights in vintage jam jars brought along
by our dear friend John ~ colorful old iron chairs were set up by
the pond and the path was sprinkled with rose petals. David is
a remarkably visionary and poetic artist and throughout the
garden were playful little surprises hidden around
flowers and a lovely old chandelier hung from the tree lit up
with flickering candles for the dancers.
Perfectly picturesque:)
Basking in the company of a warm group of friends with a very
potent Sangria I had made and various middle eastern dips and
salads, time truly seemed to stand still as David spun tunes
until three in the morning.
An almost~full moon beamed in pleasure with the joy of this
unearthly night. I have been spending the past two weeks
completing my book and this magical celebration seemed the
perfect marker of this passage in my life surrounded by a joyful
love of friends.
Recently my beautiful friend Susanna sent me her winged
messengers to set free ~ and I thought it would be
lovely to string one of them from the tree where everyone
danced the evening away. Ultimately I shall set this
irridescent art piece free someplace else quite soon, but
it just felt right to me to share it on this oddly transformational
evening. Everyone was quite spellbound with the messenger as
it swayed in the moonshot breeze and it made my heart feel
quite warm to have her luminous artistic presence there
celebrating with us. Pop on over to see her winged messengers
and their journey through the world here:)
Oh! and I must say that this week might be my very most
favorite ever for The four with quite the enchanting alchemy:)
a most delightful song for your listening pleasure:)
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