SHIPS

Over the weekend, Grayson had his friend, Bryce over to spend the night.

Years ago, they used to play a game with ships made from plastic cards....cool.

They decided to pull the ships out again and set them up in the living room to choose the ones to play with. I thought that the colors and ships looked soooo cool that I took photos.

Aren't they fantastic? I have no idea how to play the game, but they were up until 1:30 am playing it and having a blast. It seems to be all about strategy and "getting the gold"...

I just love that you can make such beautiful 3-D ships from a flat card......pop out the pieces and put them together and - voila!

....simple pleasures......

Bird Channel

This is the kitchen door.

At night, the door stays open so that the air comes in to cool off the room after the day.

The cats love this door.

We call it the "Bird Channel"....because they can sit right there and watch all the birds and other "goings on" in the comfort of their own home!

Yesterday, I was with my friend Greta, who has just moved back to Santa Fe.

I am so happy that she is back and hope to be able to spend lots of time with her - being creative and talking and (hopefully) writing!

Greta and I both love fantasy and fairytales and we adore Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

As I was leaving her place yesterday, she picked up something from the shelf by the door and said, "I found this and immediately thought of you"
Here, with one of my tiny houses, is the Magic Mushroom that Greta found and so generously gave to me, for inspiration......

Doesn't it look like it is dancing?

I think it is magnificent and am so happy that she found it and that she felt I needed to have it!!

Thank you, dear Greta, for this very magical gift...

Alexander Girard

I have been sitting at the kitchen table today, cutting out images from some wrapping paper designed by Alexander Girard back in the '60s. I have re-arranged some of these images and made some cards out of them.....what do you think?

I really like the subtle gray-blue-charcoal in this one....

...and then, some Christmas cards:

I get a little chill when I see how extraordinary his designs are.

They can be mix-matched over and over and still come out so "right"

I remember visiting the World's Fair in San Antonio, Texas in 1968.

it was Hemisfair and, for me, MAGICAL....

one of my favorite exhibits was a building that housed

an incredible collection by a man with named Girard.

......wow.....

Since San Antonio was only an hour away, my family visited often.

My mom and I loved the Girard Collection so much.

In 1973, I left on a jet plane to fly to Switzerland to live.

I will never forget the plane - a "pickle" green Braniff jet.

I could not have been happier.

-it was a good omen.

Alexander Girard designed the Braniff logo and all that went with it!

When I came to Santa Fe the very first time in 1985,

my friend Nora and I went to

the Museum of International Folk Art.

well, first of all - WHAT A MUSEUM!

But, the wing we fell in love with - was the Girard Wing.

Alexander Girard lived in Santa Fe, NM and donated his collection -

(the one I had seen so many years before at Hemisfair)

to this museum in the very place I had chosen to live as an adult.

When I worked at Doodlet's, a wonderful store in Santa Fe,

I delivered Mrs Girard's purchases to their home one Christmas.

It was definitely a highlight of my life.

They lived with some of the most incredible things that I

have ever seen, displayed in the same way as the museum.

(he had designed that, too, complete with lighting)

took my breath away..

And now, I get to work with people who make sure that

the Girard design

is out there in the world on beautiful products for all to enjoy.

hmmmmmmmm...

a few words to inspire.....

written on flags attached to sticks....

BOATS

I delivered 4 boats today........

these are the flags for the tops of the boats...for their voyages

the center boat is called "wishes and dreams"

"extraordinary" and "fascinating"

...and these flags would be cool to have ....for many reasons.......

as reminders to move forward.

insect charms

fronts and backs of some of the insect charms that are now at Curiosa

...thought they needed some little bees on the back...

tomorrow............... BOATS!

Lunch at Leslie's

What a nice time....

Around 1 pm, I went to my friend, Leslie's house for lunch.

Haven't seen her in ages!

Long ago, we had a Mom's Group when our kids were little. We met on Wednesdays and went to the zoo and out to lunch, or just sat around one of our houses and watched the kids play.

Since our friend, Marian is here from the Netherlands, Leslie had us over, along with our friend, Lynn. Leslie's beautiful daughter, Scarlet was there, too. She was one of Forrest's best buds when they were tiny kiddos.....

Here is Leslie - beautiful, intelligent and strong

....and photos of her lovely home:

living room

bobcat and raccoon...and ram, above

dining area

Mr Peanut items in the glass dental cabinet....

Oh Becky!

...just HAD to take a photo of this magnificent fellow!!

back yard, where we ate

Portia, who is now at least 30 years old!

Portia's feathers in a glass urn and a jar of wishes (bones)

Leslie has a unusual way of seeing things and I think she has a lot of magic going on around her.

She used to do taxidermy and has several animals around the house.

Her bird, Portia, has been around as long as I have known her and she has another named Pearl, whom I just met today.

We had such a wonderful time talking.

It has been way too long since we were all together.

There were a couple of the "moms" who were not around, so we must do it again soon.

Time flies....