Designing a New Year …

Tags

, , , , ,

Lauren DiMarco - Happy New Year's

Design is love. Good design is love – it’s well-thought. Good design considers everybody. It considers your emotions, it considers the ecology. There’s beauty in it. Good design – there’s always some kind of elegance to it.
by Danielle LaPorte in an interview with Jonathan Fields

Designing a big, beauteous, beguiling, and bodacious New Year!

Model: Lauren DiMarco

Christmas in reflection…

Tags

, , ,

Lauren in Vancouver at Christmas

Lauren DiMarco in Vancouver © Joan Currie

One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now
and out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights
when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.
from A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (YouTube reading by the author)

I will have no trouble remembering this wonderful Christmas day!

A life worth living…

Tags

, , , , ,

Joan Currie Iris

African White Iris © Joan Currie

When Summer, lingering half-forlorn,
On Autumn loves to lean,
And fields of slowly yellowing corn
Are girt by woods still green;
When hazel-nuts wax brown and plump,
And apples rosy-red,
And the owlet hoots from hollow stump,
And the dormouse makes its bed;
from Is Life Worth Living? – by Alfred Austin

This poem brought me back to the delicious summers of my childhood…

RP-T-1948-88

A lasting fragrance…

Tags

, , , , , ,

Party dress by Joan Currie

Party dress @ Joan Currie

Maiden, that read’st this simple rhyme, Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay; Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime, For oh, it is not always May!

from It Is Not Always May by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sometimes it is hard not to lament the passing of time…

Getty image

Getty image

Beautiful Indomitable…

Tags

, , , , , ,

The Waiting Season

© Dennis Renaissance – Model Lauren DiMarco

I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave…
lyrics from the song Brave by Sara Bareilles

Sometimes it is hard to be the person you need me to be…

Beautiful Things I Taught My Daughters…

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Voss typewriter by James Currie

© James Currie

Sometimes I wonder if what I taught my daughters over the years will adequately prepare them for going out into the world on their own.

This last weekend I made a list of some of the things I taught them (it made me feel better):

1. How to draw a face, mix colors, carve soap, blow bubbles, make a wish, and chalk a hopscotch board on the sidewalk.

2. How to ride a bike, drive a car and motorboat, sail a Laser, paddle a canoe, ride a horse, skate, toboggan, throw a ball, and use a tennis racquet.

3. How to write a thank you note, compose a poem, keep a journal, make a speech, say hello in five languages, read a map, and wrap a gift.

4. How to snuggle up with blankets to watch movies on the sofa, sing Broadway songs, play the piano and guitar, tap dance and waltz around the living room.

5. How to bake and decorate a cake, make a French pie crust, mega chocolate chip cookies, maple fudge, and butter tarts.

6. How to needlepoint a pillow, knit a scarf, sew a quilt, and draft a pattern.

7. How to spot constellations and satellites in the night sky and look for the green flash just before the sun sets.

8. How to use a hammer, screwdriver, saw, drill, and car jack.

9. How to use a camera, computer, iron, glue gun, vacuum cleaner, mixer, coffee machine, and hair flattener.

10. How to apply sunscreen, foundation, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, and nail polish.

11. How to do CPR, dress a wound, and prepare for an emergency.

12. How to make a bed, clean a floor, paint a room, and refinish small pieces of furniture.

13. How to wash the car, use duct tape, cut grass, plant bulbs, and make a flower arrangement.

14. How to make a budget, use coupons, recycle and upcycle, and roll change.

15. How to keep their word, obey the law, vote, volunteer, continually learn and discover, work, and pray.

Try making a list yourself – your child or children could help!

Thinking of my father…

Tags

, , , ,

Wrought iron fence Niagara-on-the-lake James Currie

Niagara-on-the-Lake © James Currie

A tsunami of grief swept over me after my beloved Dad died this past February. In the months that followed I struggled to make sense of his passing and, although I still cannot, several activities helped me move toward a sense of acceptance and celebration of the time we did have together. I hope the following list helps someone who may be in a similar situation:

Ten things that helped me through the early grieving process: I…

1.  Comforted my daughters who were struggling with my father’s absence as much as I.

2.  Connected and reconnected with family members and friends who knew my Dad. They told me many wonderful stories that I had not heard before.

3.  Searched through my family photos for some father-daughter images to frame and put on my laptop and iphone screen savers.

4.  Read letters and postcards that I received from him when I was a child. I had forgotten he used to call me “Honey.”

5.  Edited my telephone messages. I found a message where he called me by name and realized that listening to it is the only way I will ever hear him say my name again!

6.  Engaged in repetitive activities such as walking (lots of walking), sudoku and solitaire games, and knitting.

7.  Created art – sketching, doodling, digital photography, painting, and sculpture.

8.  Listened to music – not soft, soulful songs but strong, energetic tunes by such artists as The Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

9.  Kept a journal – wrote about my Dad and how to make the time I have left on the planet more meaningful.

10. Baked his favorite desserts – apple pie and date squares.

 

You may like this past post about Ten Things My Father Taught Me.