Observation Medication 6/10/11-

This weeks observation medication was going to be all about birds again this week along with the great things we saw in the water.  While I was at the beach we visited the SunCoast Bird Sanctuary and I took a ton of pictures and I intended to share them with you, but they seem to have been erased from my camera.  I am so bummed because we saw some truly great birds up close.

All the birds at the sanctuary are rescues and if they are rehabilitated and able to be released they are.

So, even though they aren't my pictures which is pretty disappointing for me, I still want to share some of the highlights of what we saw.

There was a barred owl.

http://duncraft.atom5.com/barred-owls-3542.html

To see this bird was really great timing because I have been on the lookout in our woods to see one since the kids found a few barred owl feathers along side some blue jay feathers.  Now that I know we have one hanging about in our woods I have been looking for it in hopes of seeing it in the wild. 

I was reading that they hide their nesting spots during the day time very well and they only hunt at night, so maybe I need to look for it closer to dusk.

There was a great horned owl.

 

 

 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/id

 I don't know how I would feel about coming up on one of these in the wild.  I was reading they can be rather aggressive and intimidating.

I had never seen a peregrine falcon up close, but I was truly taken by the markings over their eyes... (I had a good picture of this, but alas... they are all gone...)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id#

 

These birds were on the brink of extinction, but they are now making a come back which is great news to us bird enthusiasts!

There was the most wonderful red bellied woodpecker.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/id

 

 

This little bird kept "modeling" for me while I was taking its picture making sure I got all of its angles.  Too bad those pictures are gone too, but I have the memory, right?

  Kalib and I found one of its feathers a couple of months ago and it jump started our study of birds, so it was nice to see one really close.  And it turned out when I was paying attention again, I saw them all over the grounds of the condos we stayed at.

There were great egrets galore along with the snowy egret.  I've never been so close to a great egret, but they were very docile and welcoming and equally as interested in us as we were them.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Egret/id

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret/id

AND the pelicans... All shapes and sizes... AND pelican babies...

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/id

 

 

 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/id

The kids actually found what we are pretty sure is a pelican skull.  We brought it home and are planning to take it to the Natural History Museum to find out.

Then in the water (not at the sanctuary) we saw all the following in a span of about 10 minutes.

A Manatee

http://www.savethemanatee.org/manfcts.htm

 

 

 

Holly actually touched it - I naturally got out of the water to get my camera to get a picture of it, but right behind it was this:

 

 

 

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/creefshark/creefshark.htm

There was just one and it was about 3 feet long.  Seeing it was enough to get most everyone out of the water until it swam back into deeper water.  Touching the manatee and swimming with suddenly became a little less appealing.

While watching the shark and manatee we saw stingrays as well as golden sting rays.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/stingray/

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kool-kini/3127576060/

 

 

 

All in one day.  All in about 10 minutes time.

I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of it all and it all happening so fast and the looks on my kids face I broke into tears of joy that we were having this moment together. And that they understood how lucky we were to get to see all this life before us.  It made me proud of our values and proud of our kids.

We ended the day with a fancy dinner near the bay and there we saw dolphins.  

What a way to end the day!!!

On Friday, our last day at the beach, there were two schools of sting rays swimming through the waters we were swimming in.  At first they scared the kids and they didn't want to be in the water, but after being told how docile stingrays are by a few different people, they ended up swimming with them for about 2 hours.  Now, I know there are plenty of you out there who will think me crazy for letting my kids swim with sting rays as they can sting and hurt, but it was a truly beautiful thing to watch. The sting rays were so curious about the kids and when they would swim through, the kids would stand perfectly still and let them pass through and then get back to their games.  

This one is a photo I took (I did have some photos left on the camera) while standing in the stingrays.

India says it was the best vacation ever - Take that! Disney World! (No offense mom)! There is nothing like experiencing life in its own habitat.

Jason and I are off to the NC mountains to visit Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest (some of the largest trees if not the largest in the Southeast).  We are celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary! 

I can't wait to see what I end up learning and observing there.  I've already downloaded a bird watching guide as well as a mammal reference to my nook!!!  Oh the things I will learn!!!

Until Monday!  Have a great weekend!

Sprinkled with Sunshine - Even in Rain

The last few days have been just crazy.  

Universally from what I hear.  

My heart strings are being pulled in a thousand different directions trying to do what I can for my friends and my family that are in need of support.  

I have two different sets of friends who lost loved ones the same day.  Both really hard loses - not that any loss isn't hard because they all are.  I'm just witnessing it first hand.  I'm walking around trying to figure out how to best support them as they are both families that are so dear to us.   

It's also been a hard work week.  Almost every machine at work has had a problem of some form or another with 3 of them quitting all together.  And oh, the chaos that causes... I've been so distracted I haven't been able to give it a lot of attention, but I am aware that it's there and that it is my job to make sure it all gets fixed and paid for.

Then, this morning my dad was in an accident.  He's just fine, but his truck is not - he thinks it will probably be totaled, but they haven't heard one way or another.  It wasn't a bad accident, just a fender bender. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt and it wasn't his fault. His truck is replaceable.  He is not.

So, there's a lot on my mind today.

I was thinking to myself driving the kids to their destinations today..."come on... can I get a breath? Please?" 

My heart is just so heavy for the world.  Not just my dearest friends who are hurting and my family, but for all that is going on everywhere.  I've been spending a lot of time praying for all the people in the world who are struggling with whatever they are struggling with that it will somehow become easier for them.  In my heart, the world is a heavy place right now.

This is where I am at.

Once we reached the last stop before work, I had this moment of sunshine.  

I was dropping Kalib off at his friend Braxton and my friend, Tommy Ty's home.  Tommy is a mentor in the Wild Intelligence Program Kalib participated in. 

I had not planned on staying and talking with Tommy today.  I was running late for work and I had planned to run past the quilt shop on the way home to get the backing fabric for Yab Yum.  

Instead, I spent an hour talking with Tommy about things that inspire me and things that inspire him to BE who he is and WHY he has the dreams he does.  And WHAT we want out of our lives.  It was a wonderful hour well spent and I didn't have to work too late to catch up.

I needed a reminder of why we live the way we live.  And why we chose the things we chose to have value in our lives. Why when my friends are hurting I want to be there for them. I mean I could leave them on their own and turn away to get on with my life, but to see them suffering or to know they are so sad makes me sad because that is how I love.  Through the good and the bad.

If you were a fly on the wall you may think the conversation was the same old stuff everyone talks about.  Bills, Money, Gas, Weather, Travel, Sickness, Allergies... but for me it was this glimmer of hope that tells me that even though life is a struggle people are truly wonderful to know and love. I am lucky to know so many people that I love and because I love them I also hurt with them.  They would do the same for me because together we have built a community.  

A tribe. 

A family.

So tonight, as I write this I'm still hurting for my friends and they are constantly in my thoughts, I'm still praying for the world, but I am also fully aware of how lucky I am to be in such a community full of love.  A community that is changing us, those whom it touches, and the world.

LOVE.  

This is the greatest gift we have to give.

An Iris by Any Other Name Is Love.

 I got a new tattoo on Valentine's Day done by my dear friend, Watson Atkinson.  He was traveling from Maine to Georgia on his Twine Street Rambler Tour.

It's beautiful.

It is in memory of my Grandma Rabun who unknowingly set me on my path for this lifetime and this post is very hard to write because I miss her so much.

When I was very young I would spend my summers with this awesome woman.  She is my hero.  She gave birth to 9 children.  Only 7 lived to adulthood and the lessons they learned from her are endless and the lessons I learned from her are many of the most important lessons I have ever learned.

On Saturdays, my whole family, grandchildren, great grands, friends of grands, aunts, uncles, everyone would gather at her house for the family dinner.  We only went once a month because we lived too far away, but it was my favorite weekend of the month.  The family was so exciting and there was nothing like a hug from my beloved grandmother Rabun.  

We would get up early on Saturday morning (REALLY early) and make the 2 1/2 hour drive.  I would sleep most of the way and then when we would reach a little lake off of I20 on the right hand side of the road my parents would wake me to change out of my pajamas to put on my clothes.  (You know, this is back when we didn't have to wear seat belts.)  

We would arrive at her house to fresh buttermilk biscuits and all the best breakfast yummies.  (Secretly, I think she loved this time and got excited for us to come and her have this small window with just us - well with me - or at least that is how I like to think of it. I am the youngest grand child and I lived the furtherest away from her.) She always kept a jar of sorghum syrup for me and would lather my biscuits in butter and syrup - it still makes my mouth water to think of them and there are no biscuits that will ever compare to hers.

We would enjoy our biscuits, I would hug her like crazy, then the cousins would begin to arrive.  Her smile would only get bigger throughout the day.  She spent the whole day cooking and she loved every moment of it and when the whole family would gather for the prayer to bless the food, I felt like I was home.  

There are really no words to express the immense love my Grandma Rabun had for everyone in her life.

In the summer, my parents would drive me up to stay with her for a few weeks.  It was ALWAYS the highlight of my summer - even over trips to the beach or anywhere else.  She would make me those yummy biscuits every morning and lunch would be left overs and often dinner would be too until they ran out, but I never minded.  While we ate she would tell me about her life as a little girl and I would tell her about mine.  I was always completely free to be me and I always felt like that was who she loved the most.  The me without any walls.  The true me.  

She would take me fishing in the lake behind her house and she let me gather my first tadpoles.  We would shuck the corn she picked at night while watching Dallas (one of her favorite soap opera's, but certainly not over Days of Our Lives.).  Our days would be filled with me running in and out of her screen door and it slamming and her just happy to have me around while she busied herself with her projects and her cooking and her gardening.  She was always willing to stop what she was doing for anything I needed or just for a hug or to answer a question.  She was never cross with me and she never made me feel like I was annoying her.
  

Then, would come my favorite time of the day.  BEDTIME.  She lived in a very small house with no air conditioning and she was a FAT woman.  We would sleep in the same bed and she would still snuggle me close.  I can remember sticking to her skin and not caring because the way she loved was worth it.  The rains would come with the thunder and lightening and the tree frogs singing over the lake and she would tell me stories of raising my aunts and uncle, or stories from her childhood, or stories of my grandfather who I don't really remember.  This was my favorite because it made her so happy.  She really loved him in spite of his problems and the fact they had so many children to raise up.

She died when I was 17 of breast cancer.  It was terrible for her.  She suffered and it still makes me so sad.  Her funeral was by far the hardest I have ever been to.  I still cry over losing this beloved woman (I'm crying while I type this).  This woman who taught me how to love no matter what.  This woman who taught me love is the greatest gift we have to offer.

So, why the iris?  When I was young she gave me some iris bulbs.  They were one of her favorite flowers and I have many memories of pulling into her yard and it being covered in iris blooms.  I still have these same bulbs and I have her irises all over my yard.  Every spring when they bloom, I feel my grandma Rabun with me, watching over me.  So, now, I have the joy of carrying her with me every where I go as a constant reminder of her love and the love she taught me to give.  

Thank you Grandma Rabun for teaching me the greatest gift of all and I'm still learning from you more every day.  I love you and miss you.

a new look

And a new name...

If you haven't already, or you follow my blog with google reader or Bloglines or something similar, come on over and take a look.  The blog has a new name AND a new look.

I have decided after 3 years of blogging, the time has come to put my process really out there for you all to see and witness.  My intention is to REALLY talk about my quilting.  What I'm doing. How I'm doing it. Why I am doing it.  What's going right with each project and even what's going wrong because like everyone this happens to me too.  I'm going to talk less about my kids and family and more about what's going through my head while I try to make sense of my world and how to move through it with grace when possible.

I'm going to share with you books I choose to read and the why's and how they help me in my life and in my creative process in hopes of it inspiring you and helping you maybe see things from a different perspective. (Not that I think my perspective is always right because it certainly isn't and I love watching it change and flow.)

It's a big and scary decision for me, but I feel like the time has come.

I LOVE quilting and I LOVE talking about it.  Well, I LOVE where my mind goes when I'm working on something and that is what I REALLY love talking about.  THIS is my goal for the future of this blog.

My hope is I will work harder and explore my process even more and maybe, just maybe what I'm learning about myself and why I do what I do will help you all learn something about yourselves. Maybe it will wake something up in you, and who knows, maybe a technique or two you haven't thought of using will show up from time to time.

Changes are going to keep coming with a new website in the works, and a few other ideas I have floating around in my mind.

I had thought 2011 was going to be the just sitting with it year and being where I am.  I have completely surrendered to that in the last few months and all of a sudden I have a big burst of clarity of my next step in life, so...

HERE it is!

A new me, a new story, a new look, and a new name!

If you want to keep in touch with me in a way other than through the comments there is a link on the right which will carry you to my FaceBook Fan Page and I LOVE to hear from folks.

For the family whom we love so much that keeps up with us here, don't feel left out. I promise to continue to put up pictures of the kids from time to time and keep you abreast of what's happening over here since they are a BIG part of my artistic process.  THEY are my greatest inspiration for even wanting a creative process.  It may just be a little less often than it has been in the past.

Let me know what you think!  I'm excited!  We are all excited over here and we will always be Nothing Short of Thankful!

it's so bright

I know you all need for me to give you yet another reason why Jason Hubbard rocks because I haven't already filled your head with all the great things he does for us, but this one is definitely at the top of my list of awesomeness.

What is it you ask?

It is a giant light box!!! For tracing quilting patterns and drawings. It is a life saver awaiting my use - not to mention the kids love it too! It's been up and running since Friday and Kalib has traced all kinds of slime creatures from dragon quest (his latest obsession) which have then lead to paintings by both he and India.

If you look closely at what Jason is bent over it's going to be my next critter stolen from his sketch book. I've already got a couple of projects ahead of it, but he didn't like the eyeball on it, so he TRACED what he did like and redrew it and in no time it was pinned to my design wall awaiting my attention. It's coming soon. The quilts and works are a flowing through me.

So, how big is this giant light box you ask? Well... it is 24 inches by 32 inches and he managed to build it for right around $60. I have been looking at these for years trying to justify the cost, but they are so expensive and really too small for what I need in quilting. And we have talked about building one before, but it wasn't until recently that I realized it is just absurd that I don't have one. So, while cursing the last of the piecing for the quilt I was working on (I've already started a whole new quilt and I should have the background finished hopefully today or tomorrow) that I turned to this awesome man and said, "I need a light box. This is ridiculous trying to hold this up to the light so that I can see to get the pieces to line up and they slip apart when I bring them back down from the light. Can we please really think about it and build one?" Now, I had recently read a blog post of someone who built one too and that had gotten my brain going again, but theirs was too over done and probably would have cost us a fortune. My loving husband, went to the computer and started looking at them and how to build them and then he realized we had florescent lights under our bed that would work and all we needed was the box and the plexiglass. The very next morning we headed to Lowe's for the 2 pieces of wood he needed and he set to work immediately. The words of my joy cannot be expressed through my typing. Then, the snow came, and I couldn't order the glass. The box, with the lights all wired sat there, taunting me. I was feeling impatient, so at the first sign of things being safe enough for me to get to the glass store and get that piece of plexiglass I ordered it. On Friday he attached it and now I have a giant light box that cost very little compared to the ones I had been looking at and I am just giddy! I'll take pictures of me using it when I get there soon!!! Now, the big question is where am I going to store it? Who cares?! It's going to be out more than put away!

Thank you Jason for being so awesome!

snow... again

Being a southerner it is supposed to be awesome when we get snow. For me, it is not. Now, I don't mean to be a total downer about it, I do like it - when it comes on the weekend, but for me I run a delivery company and it is hard on us financially and trying to figure out when the roads are safe enough to put people back on them and all the scheduling and all the stress that comes with it - along with the longer work hours (which take me away from my favorite place - home with my kids) is NO fun for me.

Last Sunday, I went to a lovely sauna with some dear friends and I got home just in time to miss the beginning of the snow. I took a bath to wash off all the sweat and yuck that comes along with sweating and when I got out of the bath I peeked outside and there was already 2 inches of snow on the ground. I knew we were in for it.

You will remember (if you know me that is) that 2 years ago, we had a big snow storm that left us without power for 5 days, so we try to plan for it. The key word there is TRY, but were we this time? Certainly not - all the weather forecasters said it was going to be a serious snow storm and they weren't kidding. I had gone to the grocery store on Wednesday before (not because of the impending snow storm though) so we were well stocked, but we didn't check out flash lights or make sure we had candles or fire wood, not that fire wood would actually keep us warm in our house - it certainly didn't last time. We had already set ourselves to leaving and going somewhere that had power rather than trying to tough it out this time - IF the power went out. THANKFULLY, we did not lose any power this time. It got cold enough to turn the snow into ice for the week, but the wind blew everything out of the trees, so no power outages this time. We stayed warm in the house, BUT our porch had 9 inches of snow on it. We almost couldn't open the door and I did have to shovel snow off the back porch in order for Tonka to get outside. I have never seen that much snow in the 35 years I have lived in Georgia. We spent a lot of time inside. I was able to get a lot of quilting done - I finished the piece I was working on (pictures of that later in the week). We were housebound pretty much for the week, which you would think would lead to lots of posts from me, but instead, I was busy cooking, keeping the house clean, working and exhausted from it, quilting, and hanging out with my 3 favorite people.

So, here are a few photos that India took. I really didn't get out much in the cold this time as I had a cold and was too tired from work and the stress that came with it, but the kids had a blast and for that, I am thankful. They wore out the sledding tubes, so I've got to order some new sleds that won't wear out. I heard that if there is snow on the ground for more than 3 days then we can expect more later, so we've got to get on that! I want to make sure the kids don't miss out on a bit of fun.

our ornaments... again...

So, we entered a contest on Prudent Baby to win a $50 gift card to a place called Bake It Pretty. My hope is that India will win it and get to buy some fun cake decorating stuff for herself since she has to share everything with my mom. They haven't announced the winner yet, so keep your fingers crossed it's us, but they did put together a slide show on Prudent Baby that you can check out here that has 3 of my ornament pictures! We were just thinking we needed to come up with a reason to make some more. Valentines day is coming up, I suppose we could make hearts? Anyhow, check out all the cool things other people did with the salt dough ornaments.

christmas

It' so hard to get here everyday with something insightful to say when we are busy and absorbed into hanging out. Jason has been off work this week (mom hasn't, but I've been happy with the small amount of time I get to be home with him in the mornings.) We also have company from out of town which I'm sure I will get around to posting about in a few days.

Christmas was so awesome this year. We always strive to not go overboard, well I do, I want to buy gifts our children will cherish and remember and I want their gifts to have staying power and not be just another fad or the latest gadget. I want them to look back on their Christmas's and always remember that their parents made the effort to buy them what they wanted but they always put their heart into whatever they were giving. I think this year, my wish came true. I'm usually trying to finish up Christmas giving on Christmas eve. I'm usually a big ball of stress about what we are going to give, how are we ever going to afford all the gifts we have to buy (which compared to a lot of people is very little), but let's face it, we live on a small fixed income and we don't have a lot of money to spend and honestly, I would rather buy for my kids than anyone - that's how I always feel. This year was totally different. Not that Jason and I had a ton of money to buy gifts, but we managed everything we wanted to do without putting ourselves into financial woes and I ended up having the best Christmas shopping season I have ever had. We were all done a week before Christmas and had plenty of time to simply enjoy the season with our families. It was wonderful and the cherry on top was our kids thanking us for the gifts we gave them. Each one, exactly what they wanted.

Last year, we instituted the same gift giving strategy as some of our friends with larger families. Each kid gets three gifts. We buy something to read, something to wear, and something they can do. We haven't set a limit on $$ yet, but I see that happening sometime in our future. I like to buy the BIG gifts for birthdays. They feel more special to me. So, this year, when we started contemplating what to get the kids, my parents stepped in and said they wanted to buy the something to do gift we were planning, so we handed that over to them and we were able to buy something smaller. (THANKS mom and dad!)

For Christmas, India received a new pair of boots,

some software for making movies that she's been looking at for a while. (can't wait to see what she does with that!)


And a magazine subscription which hasn't quite started yet.


Kalib received a top hat (he collects hats)


The Guardian's of Gahoole Book Series


And Lego's and a Wii game (which I failed to get photos of)

My parents bought the kids a Wii (I'm still having mixed emotions about this, but I'm working to embrace it and I have to admit, Just Dance 2 - which India also got is A LOT of fun)


And we got...
a 32" flat screen, high defintion tv and new dvd player.


Christmas morning, the kids wake up and get their stockings which are filled with all kinds of small goodies. India got some baking stuff and 2 more books along with a lot of gag type things and Kalib got more hats and a couple more books.




Then we headed over to J's grandmothers where I am unable to get very many pictures, but the kids received many of the other things on their lists.


It was a lovely Christmas filled with family and creativity. What more could I ask for? The kids didn't get so much that it made me feel icky and the house was pretty easy to get back to our normal, so that was nice too and now, we are ready to see what 2011 holds for us. I can't wait!

ornaments

The highlight of Christmas every year for me is the when we make our ornaments for our tree. Last year we took strips of pretty paper and wrote what we were grateful for and put them in glass ornament balls. They were awesome, but we couldn't do the same thing this year, so we painted salt dough ornaments that we made. I love this tradition above all other Christmas traditions we may have because we laugh at each other and we are together in a very sweet way and there is no focus on anything else having to do with the holidays except being in that moment together. It is such quality time with our beautiful children and I want to savor every moment as they grow up so fast something I am really realizing now that India is taller than me.

This year, we gathered together and I read a story about the winter solstice. I read the story about Amaterasu retold by StarHawk (it's in the book Circle Round), a personal favorite. Then the painting commences. Thankfully, a couple of months ago I picked up a large coffee table at the Goodwill, so we now have a large surface we can all 4 fit around that is not also where we eat, although we do eat there a lot too. The ornaments turned out great and we spent a good two hours, just genuinely making art together and hanging out. Best night of the holidays thus far. You should try it. Make it a tradition. You won't regret it! And getting your ornaments that you made out the next year to put on your tree is priceless.

So, on to the details of the ornaments. I have tried a couple of years before to make salt dough ornaments, but they always crack and become brittle and this year I am so glad I didn't give up. I came across this recipe with directions for baking them slowly and that was the key. SLOWLY - like 5 or 6 hours at 200 degrees. Our oven even stopped working while they were baking and had to have a new element. Thankfully, we were able to get it back up and running and still get our ornaments made in plenty of time. We had to have lots of new paint and paint brushes, glitter pens, and we painted like 20 or more ornaments between the 4 of us and there are still more to be painted that I'm hopefully going to get to today. I plan to make a garland out of what is left and Christmas Eve is not too late for me to get it done - that of course is AFTER I clean and finish my baking and do laundry although I can paint them while the laundry is happening (thinking while writing again).

So, on to the pictures...