Slippers for people who like pink and people who like brown...

One pair for me & one pair for Jenni. See them here.

Once there was this cute little guy in my neighborhood and he was wearing this beautiful bright bluebird-egg-blue shirt. He looked so cute and so I told him that he looked very handsome and that I liked the color of his shirt very much. He said, "No, you like pink." It's that obvious. :)

What did I say?

I think that I said this very day that the film The Five Pennies ought to have an audio CD. The music is wonderful. Sometimes wishes are REAl fishes.

The story of the photo & the rest of the quote...

Thanks for the kind comments about the picture. They are a difficulty for me. My sisters are fairly photogenic. One in particular, I have never seen a bad photo of her. I have a terrible time. I never look happy in pictures because I'm not. I hate having my picture taken except by little c who lights up my life and I forget, just a little, how much I hate being photographed and be just a bit happy for half a second while she snaps it, which is why I let you all see the above photo.

I also thought I would include the rest of the quote from above. Van Gogh is someone who was very wise when he wasn't being nuts, but I think that has to do with lead poisoning complicated by depression and heat stroke. That's my own personal theory anyway. At heart, he was very wise and he said some of the most lovely things. This is one of my faves.

Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and what is done in love is done well. Vincent Van Gogh

Mitford...

Sadly, I am coming to the end of this series. I will go into mourning when I have finished the last book.

Jan Karon said that she wrote these books so that her readers would have an extended family. Well, I have family out my ears, I'm from Utah... hello?!? However, I would adopt a few of these characters into my real family if it were possible. I am, ofcourse, reading these books on tape and John McDonough has done a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. He is brilliant! Father Timothy Cavanagh has become like a favorite friend that I look forward to hearing from everyday as I paint my little boxes. He is the kind of friend who will come when needed, who never pries, is seldom snippy and always forgiving. He loves Wordsworth, flowers, big slobbery dogs, and little children... a really great guy, just the kind of guy you would choose to befriend or befamily. And, there is something he often says that even as I think of it puts a tiny catch in my throat and that is ... "All things will be well and very well." May all things be well and very well with you.... Read these ... or listen... listening is better.

Daffodils...

Joy...

Break forth into Joy, sing together... for the Lord hath comforted his people... Mosiah 16:30

Granny Chic.. Movie of the Week...

The Five Pennies with Danny Kay and Louis Armstrong is an amazing film that doesn't miss a beat. The music is so bright, fun and beautiful, there really ought to be a cd to go along with it. The movie is loosely based on the life of Red Nichols a brilliant cornet player who left his home in Ogden, Utah to play his dixie-land jazz all over the country. Red actually dubbed the cornet in for this film himself. Danny Kaye is an entertainer like no other. It is difficult not to watch Danny Kaye and think that we have traded actual talent for just young, thin & pretty, because you just don't see anyone like him around anymore... one the greats!

The Gardens At Temple Square...

Little c and I packed up the cameras and went down to see all the pretty flowers today and all the brides... oh my... I must have seen 15 brides.. It was so much fun. I saw this dress that was so pretty. It was gathered up in the back and it looked like it could have been in Pride and Prejudice. We had a really great time and stopped for German Chocolate cookies at Parson's....Mmmmm. Sunshine, flowers, and cookies...an unbeatable combination!

Butchart Gardens...

When I went over to my parents home a few days ago, my dad gave me The Butchart Gardens 2007 Calendar. It is so beautiful and so dangerous to look at. Now I find myself dreaming of getting back to those beautiful gardens contantly. C and I went on our honeymoon trip to BC especially to visit these gardens and I have visited there on two other occasions, but now I want to visit again. Bristish Columbia is one of that most beautiful places I have ever traveled to and now I have this wonderful resource which is Lilli's blog that has so many fun ideas for places to shop and to visit. (The image above is from the Butchart Gardens site.) If you are looking for a wonderful place to visit... think of these gardens and you won't be sorry... the rose gardens are blooming in June....

Where else can you travel to visit an amazing garden?

Eastery Things...

I love Easter colors. I love eggs, chicks and bunnies.
I love spring flowers. I painted this box in 2004. I gave one like it to Alexandra Stoddard to celebrate what was then her new book, Things I Want My Daughters to Know, which is still a favorite. It has yellow daffodils on the cover.
I made these eggs last spring and Emily reminded me of them in this post.
Little c's candy from Nammy.
I like this cute bucket and bunny that I picked up yesterday at Sur La Table.

Island of the Blue Dolphins...

Cousin Blake recently recommended this book on his blog and C also mentioned that it had been one he liked as a kid, so I got it from the library on tape for little c to listen to.

Classics are usually classic for a reason and this book is no exception. I really enjoyed reading it because I just finished reading Robinson Crusoe several weeks ago and it was fun to compare the two. Little c loves historys and historical fiction and so it was a big hit. She insisted on listening to the entire book in one sitting.

My good friend Michelle first encouraged me to check out books on tape, a practice that has changed my life. I love to be able to paint, do laundry or whatever and still be reading. Some of the tapes that I have checked out from the library have had such excellent readers that it gives the book a whole new dimension. A Tale of Two Cities has long been a favorite book, but listening to it on tape last summer was an expansive experience almost like the difference between reading a Shakespeare play and seeing one performed on the stage. The actor did such an excellent job making each character a unique voice. However, the most impressive thing about listening to books on tape is the added amount of concentration and increased vocabulary that it gives to a child.

The Miraculous Journey...

I got this book at the library, but If we hadn't just finished it, and if I had known how good it would be, I would have picked one up for the Easter basket. This book is the story of Edward Tulane, a proud and spoiled, china rabbit who goes on a miraculous journey to find that love is the most important possession in life and that to learn to love others is what life is about. Kate DiCamillo's writing is very fine indeed and adults will enjoy The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane every bit as much as their children.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...

This is one of those books that I picked up at the library knowing it holds a place in the American literary canon and thinking it's one of those books one should read before they die. It is a classic for a reason.

The book details so much of what is a common American experience. Grandma comes to this country with nothing, her children work very hard to scrape things together, but with the opportunity of education the third generation rises to prosperity.

There are several other themes in the book that I enjoyed. I loved how Francie, the central character, feels about Brooklyn. She adores a place that is her own home town, but she feels that she'd rather not introduce the place to strangers because they would see the shabbiness of the place rather that the magic.

I loved how loyal the family was to each other including their alcoholic father who often made life more difficult rather than easy. The families kindness to each other along with their shared imagination and dreams for the future carry them through the tough times. I love how the mother constantly says, "Don't say shutup to each other," until at the end it becomes a family joke.

The happiness, hope and the imagination of this immigrant family begin in the mind of the old grandmother who in her broken English explains to her daughter that the key to rising above comes from education. She tells of two important books that will not only help to educate and inspire her children, but will teach them wisdom. She instructs her daughter to read to her children one page each day from The Holy Bible and one page from the works of Shakespeare.

If that isn't a recipe for success, I don't know what is.... This is a classic, if you haven't .... read it.

Bird's Nest Cookies...

Several years ago, Jenni gave me a cookbook that I love. I love it because it has so many classic recipes and a few that I just like because they are yummy & simple.
In that cookbook, is a recipe for no-bake cookies. At Easter time, we like to make those cookies into little bird's nests.
You can also make them a bit larger and put three little eggs in the nest.
We think everything is more fun tied up with a bow.
Hope everyone has a fun Easter week!

Alexandra's April Newsletter has posted...

See it here.

A Bargain...

I love the message in this book..."Do you want to be careful, or do you want to be friends?" It is such a good lesson for young girls to learn about friendships and the importance of having integrity and being trustworthy as a friend... not to mention... Who didn't want a real china teaset with flowers in blue?

Lovely Spring Flowers...

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning. ~Lydia M. Child

Bluebirds...

The last few bluebirds have flown so quickly... I put another one in the shop just in case someone needs him.

New Boxes in the Etsy Shop...

See them here.

The Ordinary Princess...

When the fairies descend on the the castle after the birth of the seventh little princess, one of them gives her the gift to be ordinary. Is being ordinary a curse, or is the fairy a wise fairy who has given the little princess something very precious?

I am just a little bit into this book, but I think it's so cute. It has darling illustrations every few pages and it is so imaginative and fun.