Beginning with Bibitte

Bibitte Inspiration – Monday July 28, 2014

-blue jay feather, lavender sprig, duck bill lake drift wood and the vino du jour.

 

I have been away from regular blogging for such a long while now

that I feel like I don’t know where to jump back in.

I have decided to participate in Susannah Conway’s

August Break

“This is a community project that has no real rules –  the idea is to simply take a photograph every day for the whole of August. That’s it. Pause, look around you and shoot what you see. Live inside each moment. Pay attention to what’s there. If it’s the summer where you are it’s a lovely way to be present to the moments that will be gone before you know it. If it’s the winter, what better way to liven up your day than with a creative project to play with? :)”

 

I am not so great with sticking to things, but I really want to try and commit to this project.

I may or may not stick to the prompts that Susannah has provided.

I just want to see where inspiration guides me.

I have also decided to start early.

Monday.

A perfect day to begin.

Happy new beginnings, Beautiful Ones.

Life is magical...

I was in the first place I truly learned the meaning of natural beauty as a child,

spending time in my wooden tent  on the Lake,with some people I love dearly, and getting ready to spend a few days alone enjoying the pace of nature...

when I received a call from a dear friend in need. Suzanne was facing letting her 10 year old Old English sheepdog, Sam,  go, as his body was no longer able to contain his special spirit and he was in a lot of pain.

                                

Suzanne was blessed to find a veternarian who came to the house to help pet parents and the animals themselves through this part of life's journey.

So this amazing dog, who has attended kindergarten everyday with  teacher Suzanne and brought incredible joy and love to so many, was surrounded by love and friends as he took his last breaths here.

I feel so grateful that I was just 2 hours away and could make the drive to be here for my friend. Life sure works in magical ways...

So today, I head back up north for some more family time, a visit to Miss Katie and Thomas before their new school year starts, and back to the lake to soak in the last days of August 2013.

             

Feeling loved, blessed and grateful today.

I hope your week starts off with those kind of feelings too, Beautiful Ones ! 

Big Love !

Soul Treats

Taking a little blog break to enjoy the last bits of summer 2012.

This will include putting my feet in the sand and sea here at home today.

Tomorrow, I will be traveling to my cottage north of Montreal for a weekend with my sweet sisters and some swimming in the magical waters of Lac Bibitte.

The weekend will also include hugging and smooching a 3 month old baby Anderson, and some time with his mom and his dad.

And finally, a visit with my beautiful artist friend, e.b., which is an incredible Soul treat  that is sure to fill me up some more.

Be good to yourselves, Beautiful Ones !

Love and light !

“The joy lasted all day.”

The September 2011 Katie photo shoot was done :

Three and a half, cute as can be, extremely confident and hilarious.

The family came together in a rag tag kind of way, with each of us taking part, some definitely going above and beyond…

and the cottage at Lac Bibitte got a beautiful new roof…

(Huge thanks to my Uncle Charlie, cousins Matt and Simon, and to the awesome Bro-in-law, John, who made it all happen ! Big love to you amazing guys !)

With a drive home that put me in my own bed as of Sunday night at 11:00pm, the roof raising weekend was done.

Maybe it was the night time drive or the day in the cool fall air, but I had some really interesting dreams on Sunday night.

While the details are getting fuzzier and fuzzier, I remember being on a kind of reality show where you had to slide down a big hill, run up another and when you reached the top and touched the diamond rock face in front of you, you would be told what your challenge would be.

When I touched the rock, I learned that I was going to be “reborn”, whatever that meant.

What I do know is that I was completely overjoyed with that challenge, and I was sobbing “I am going to be reborn. I am going to be reborn!” with tears of joy running down my face…

Told you it was interesting…

That dream kind of lingered in my mind all day yesterday as I came in for a landing after my whirlwind weekend.

And it inspire this morning’s art journal page :

Not sure what the dream meant but I like the idea of being filled with joy that way.

I am going to go with it today as best I can, as I spend some time getting some things ready for my “Walking into Fire” adventure next weekend, and into creating some new things in the studio.

Like the last of the blooms on my annuals, I am going to take advantage of the day.

Happy Tuesday !

Share the Joy Thursday–Seek and You Shall Find

Some joys…

Kooky Cats on the computer desk…

Lingering memories and feelings from spending time with those I love so much

in a place that has brought me incredible joy over the years.

Really truly loving my art work.

Feeling like the Artist Soul in me is emerging into my pieces lately.

And finding ways to share it…

(look for some new stuff, including this card in the etsy shop soon)

I am well and truly blessed to realize that my life right now is full of sweet and quiet joy.

Everyday.

Even in the midst of this sometimes scary, sometimes painful,always speeding,

completely chaotic world

we have created.

If I put my own brakes on,

return my gaze, my focus and my heart to what is right in front of me,

the joy is there for me to revel in.

For that, my friends, I am grateful to the bottom of my Soul.

Go out and share some joy today, Beautiful Ones !

Our hostess with the mostest, Meri, and the rest of the gang is waiting for you.

Big Love !

Bye-bye, July !

When I lived in Montreal, I spent a lot of time at Lac Bibitte.

As a teacher, I had the summer off and usually spent about three or four weeks of the summer up there.

Now, being 7 or 8 hours away (depending on the crazy-ass Montreal traffic),

summer time spent up there is much rarer.

This weekend was short but oh so sweet at the Lake.

Precious cosmos in full bloom – planted this year by my sweet auntie Lise, in the same spot my dad used to plant them every summer.

The lake watcher on our lawn, again my Dad’s creation (see where I get my rock fairy genes ?).

He now sits hidden in long grass as cutting the lawn is prohibited in order to preserve the shore line. Things stay the same. Things change…

There are shadows of the past everywhere for me in this spot on the planet.

And yet, the present moment is so available when you focus there.

It was sweet to have my beautiful Mommy there with us this weekend, right where she belongs among some of my very favorite people on Earth.

And of course, this one…

She fills me ( and her Uncle Dave) bursting full of love, giggles and silly joy !

Family fills you up.

Even the loons know that !

(Mommy, Daddy and baby loon out for an afternoon fishing troll…)

As do hugs from this beautiful woman, my aunt/sister/mother/friend/cheerleader/role model of strength and womanhood, Lise. And her hubby of 40 years, my uncle Charlie.

Heck, we even had an abundance of puppy love at the Lake this weekend,

with Amber, Charlie and Lise’s dog at the top of the screen, Tonka, my cousin Matt’s ugly beautiful girl, and

my sweet Chica, angel dog who was in Yellow Lab heaven up there !

Ultimately, of course, it is all about the love..

love of place, love of family, love of this moment in time

that Love is the thing that keeps us filled up.

So I am saying good bye to July 2011.

It has been a treat of a month with so many wonderful moments.

And a very fine finale, indeed !

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Oh, and in the spirit of documenting the month of July, I wanted to share the pages I created in my sistah, Brandy’s Traveling Sketchbook this month.

I am really digging how these rocks of mine are coming to life…

And of course, my love for the ocean and the beach shines through…

I am a little late getting this one in the mail but Jennifer, the next sistah on the list, should have it in a day or two.

So bye, bye July.

Hello, August !

If you bring me even just a portion of the treats your predecessor did,

we should get along just fine !

Happy August, Beautiful Ones !

Haiku My Heart Friday–The Lake

Mother Nature’s Child

Returns to the land of lake,

Loon, tree, moss, hawk, air.

Have a great weekend, Beautiful Ones !

Share the Joy Thursday–Kisses with tongue !

Our soundtrack to today’s Share the Joy “

Introducing

Summer Puppy Love

starring Miss Chica-leeka-leeka-lu.

(and some special guest appearances by yours truly, the kooky Queen of Arts)

And ACTION !

“Hey there, Lady. You are my kind of human. Super mushy and quick with a cookie.”

“Wanna take some time to sniff the flowers with me ?”, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

“I wonder if she will really show up ?”

“Hark, I hear her now. Gotta play a little hard to get so she doesn’t think I am desperate.”

“Let her gaze into these big brown beauties for a bit…”

“I can tell by the look on her face she is ready.”

“Moving in with the stinky breath and big tongue on the cheek kisses!”

“She’s not moving away ! She likes me ! She really likes me !”

“I think she is a keeper !”

And SCENE !

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For more joy of all kinds, go and share at Meri’s Musings !

Chica and I will be taking our love on the road this weekend and heading here :

to the family cottage at Lac Bibitte.

More summer wonders for me. Loving it !!!

Hope your days are full of wonder too, Beautiful Ones.

Big Love !