weather forecast: mercurial...in the elemental way, not the ups and downs way...

the above statement is an editorial and IS necessarily the opinion of the author... our bohemian awoke to the sound of the rain pitter-pattering outside her bedroom window. she peered through the window and saw.... a landscape of mercurial silver. silvery crystal waterdrops lay like beads over everything; the leaves, the phone wires, the windowpanes. with a polonged sigh, our bohemian dressed and descended the stairs to find that there was no warm crackly fire in the woodstove. no hot coffee awaiting. no spring day. ."find the silver lining," whispered her window faerie. a much-needed reminder on such a day as this...! but everything was so grey as she drove to the home of her "scrabble/workout friend". grey clouds, grey fog, grey puddles, grey-black pavement glistening with its rain covering... and hours later, more of the same as she drove home again. her beloved mountain huddled behind a veil of mercurial silver and grey-blue. she felt a little blue, herself. but, of course, ART SAVED her! there in her daily pages were reminders... silver mirth!!! what a lovely thought! and yet... then she found a treasure of a lovely memory: this is a page her friend created in her beach round robin book. the background papers were specially made by the friends from pictures taken while at the beach. and the little insert sticking out to the right side was a little project the friend had done while there at the ocean. she had asked everyone to write a little note describing what the ocean meant to them, what they loved about being there. the bohemian had forgotten even writing these! there they were, tucked inside to be read and remembered with a smile... and the bohemian also found other pages she had created that made her smile. here are some to share with you... the bohemian sincerely hopes you are SMILING now! she wishes bright shiny silver linings to ALL your clouds today. prismy, crystally, tender wishes to you all.... don't forget to play!

she's a runner...

she ran away again to the bay where her sister lives. she and her mother and sister crafted the day away and as the sun was beginning to sink down she took this picture out her sister's front window of the fairytale castle across the bay. okay, it's actually a refinery but at night with all the lights twinkling... it DOES look like a fairy castle! it DOES! our bohemian has kinda sorta lost track of what day of christmas she was on... but one of the days was a MEMORY DAY. this is an angel she made for her sister long, long ago when she tole painted... on such a blue day, a strip of red signalled the sun sinking away into the ocean... they made merry and popped popcorn and played scrabble with a holiday twist... only christmas words. ah hem. yes, some of them were quite a stretch. but they had so much fun! then they went to a nearby garden where there was a festival of trees. oh my gosh!!! peoples' imaginations are simply wild! LOVED this lime green one, with colored birds nesting in its branches. and a palm tree with a crab pot on top, complete with resident (stuffed) crab. and darling little flip flop ornaments...oooooo! a blue tree... a rustic tree with accompanying rusty truck. oh and this one in luuscious colors and woolly stockings... and even an oz tree!!! upside down with a sparkly tornado about to take it flying... our bohemian kinda wanted those purple and black tights the wicked witch was obviously done using... and a yummy candy tree in dr. suess colors with its little table on top... whew, that was such a lot of fun! and that is only half of the bohemian's tree pictures!!! more later, maybe.... meanwhile, back in bohemia... another of the bohemian's nativities. mary and joseph with baby jesus headed for egypt to escape the evil king.... and a glue dough ornament our bohemian made YEARS ago. oh, our bohemian is sooooo in the christmas mood now!!! merry, merry christmas bliss to you all! i hope your day is full of wonderful holiday memories that fill your heart with smiles and warm fuzzies....

she ran away to the beach...

a little miniature escape, if you please... beside the sea. recipe for pleasure: * a friend's cottage by the bay *1 daughter *1 daughter-in-law *1 son's fiance + grand-dog *2 days and a night throw together and mix. chill for 1 walk on the beach. crawl under blankets after that and watch ELF and laugh at all the jokes you know are coming (NOOOOO! don't eat that ABC gum off the handrail!!!!). play a few games. laugh raucously. talk about the menfolk. drink LOTS of coffee and eat junk food. serves 4, with plenty of smiles left over. oh! quick! grab the camera! it's almost sunset!! oooooooooh! aaaahhhhhhh! rush back to the cabin...you're a frozen popsicle! girls just want to have fun! (daughter-in-law, daughter, son's fiance -yes it's as cold as it looks!) beach walk= beach treasures must-have items: 10 layers of clothes; muck boots; scarves and hats; mittens; pockets to contain treasures. even the grand-dog needs warm clothes!! don't fall, warns the over-protective mother... don't let the dog fall in!! oh, it was a lovely sea-side escape! just what was needed! hope there is a mini escape for each of you, just when you need it. you can always come to bohemia and stay awhile... i love your visits! gingersnappish wishes and nativity blessings for you all...

it's another gratitude list kind of day...

my beloved bohemian mountain with its new-fallen snow. winter is certainly encroaching... today is windy and rainy. the raindrops are beading up and rolling down my windows. the gusts of wind are blowing the last of the leaves from the trees surrounding my cottage. but i have my memories. and my pictures. to help me remember what a wonderful fall we have had. and the sunrises have been Unexpectedly Lovely (see brandi reynold's blog...she a Joy Rebel! click on the joy rebel button on the top right-hand corner of my blog page) *here i must apologize... the Unexpectedly Lovely is from Molly the Pirate's blog: A Bit O' Shine. sorry, molly! both blogs are worth visiting, if you haven't discovered them for yourself! no matter how tired i am when i roll out of my warm, cozy bed, when i glimpse these lovely sunrisings, i have to rejoice in being alive and having the eyes to see. my life has been so blessed! here is a short list of things i am so thankful for at this very minute: * my friendships with my mother and my sister * my ever so awesome Honey * things that make me laugh (that's a lot of things! i laugh easily. and i LOVE to laugh!!!) * finding new blog friends * having the time to create and craft * coffee! oh yeah! i guess if i want to keep this short list short, i need to stop SOMEWHERE... here. i'll stop here. there's just so much to be thankful for, big and small. hope you make your list today. and then ENJOY all the blessing of today! DO IT TODAY! coziness-in-the-midst-of-storms-wishes to you today...

this new day dawning...

when the bohmeian awoke, not ready for the day, she took one look out her window and her attitude was immediately adjusted! dawn rising over the bohemain mountain... spectacular!!! the bohemian sky was a jubilant song, a dance with wild abandon... gladness burst in her bohemian heart at the realization of what a gift it was just to be alive on such a day... lunch at a tiny cafe: homemade french toast with real maple syrup and a long conversation with her sister. lovely. the above picture is of an old advertising sign on the outside of this tiny cafe. dekalb was the married name of her great aunt. this brand name apparently belongs to a corn product but this sign always makes her smile... created: a halloween gift box... ooooh! spooky! created: pages in a friend's altered round robin book, themed "lighthouses". wish for you: that the dawning of each day brings glorious sunrises and lots of time for creating...

almost fall...

it's almost fall... leaves are turning, some are even falling! pumpkins are growing in the garden, corn is ripe, nuts are falling, squirrels are hoarding. today was gorgeous but only 65 degrees. checking on the pumpkins, i saw that the leaves are beginning to curl at the edges. it won't be long now till they die off, revealing lovely orange pumpkins... lovely miss vanessa over at A Fanciful Twist, has me getting excited for halloween coming. i think i have even seen a few ghosties... this is a time-traveling picture of my cottage. it's really a picture of a picture someone took many, many years ago in the fall, back when the willow trees in the far left corner where still small enough that you could see the house from the road. nowadays you can't. but i love the ghostly quality of this picture.

and this wonderful black cat crosses my path many times every day and i love him dearly. but let's pretend he's a spooky harbinger of halloween to come... and let's say you found a frilly, crazy quilt of a black lace skirt...wouldn't you just HAVE to HAVE it?!!

and what if a friend just happened to gift you with some black lacy tights...wouldn't you just WANT to wear them with a frilly crazy quilt of a black skirt?! i mean, WOULDN'T YOU?!

this is just too lovely to not wear to all the gala parties this season. black satin and lace... mmmmmmmmm..

so just be prepared to see some spectre flitting past just outside your peripheral vision someday soon as the long days of september edge down toward october... but relax. it'll only be just little ol' me... tee hee hee...

where did i put my broom? i need to sweep/dance to some gypsy music... wishing all the loveliness of fall to descend on you and bless your lacey socks off.

things that make me smile:

i love to smile. and if it leads to a laugh, why that's even better!! these are some of the things around me that prompt that sort of response from me... this little sweet thing is (was) a "giggle ball". it used to giggle the cutest little kid giggle i have ever heard! no one who heard it could keep from laughing. all you had to do was bump it to make it belly laugh. of course, to my deepest regret, we wore the poor thing out! i just couldn't bear to throw it out! so now it just sits and smiles sweetly. i can't help but smile back...

this is one of my little travel make-up bags. i love the black and white contrast and all the swirly-ness of the pattern.

this is my parasol!! my daughter bought a few of those white paper parasols you can decorate yourself. so this is my version...and it makes me smile so BIG! no one esle anywhere on earth has one like mine. it makes me so happy! and my oh my, you should see it twirl!!

yes, i still have a troll. an OLD troll. i hope you're not easily affended by nudity. i have no idea where her clothes are! of course she's a girl...she has pink hair!! look at this face...how can you NOT smile back...

my butterfly pillow. it just makes me want to pick it up and squeeze it every time i walk by it. what things have you surrounded yourself with that make you smile and, better yet, laugh out loud? i'd love to hear about them!

wishing you smiles, giggles, and belly laughs tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow after that...