Fiona and Twig

Friday, October 14, 2011

Yo Mama...

Everybody thinks that their mother is, or was, beautiful.

We're just hard wired that way,
to believe that our mom's are the fairest of the fair.

Now far be it from me to talk smack about anyone elses mama,

but I'm pretty sure that my mama ranks waaaay up there.

Not just your garden variety pretty,

but movie star beautiful.

And my goodness, her brothers, my uncles, confirm that she was
the hottest catch in all of Dallas back in the day.

I came upon this priceless stash of photos this past month,

as I was sorting through her belongings...what a find!

My mom and her mop-top,
tow-headed little brother.

What a darling pair!

Sweet, smiling eyes.

She had those until the very end.

It's been a month since she passed,

and the stages of grief still sneak up on me in random order,

at often inopportune times.

Still, I know she is with me.

My beautiful, beautiful mama is right here...

...forever in my heart.

linking with

at the picket fence

and

feathered nest friday

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Inside Story ( Revisited )

** originally posted a year ago this month. resonating with me quite a bit again lately **

I have dimpled thighs.

And some gray hairs.

My teeth would be a whole lot whiter

if I drank less Diet Coke.

And you know what else?

I have a pooch.

No, not a dog, although I do have two of those.

No, I have a tummy pooch.

No washboard abs on this girl.

Not anymore, anyway.

I am imperfect.

Flawed.

Less than ideal.

But you know what else?

I am more than the sum of my parts.

My imperfect parts, that is.

I may be imperfect, but I am perfectly so.

Perfectly Imperfect.

Just like my well-loved French pitcher, there is a beauty to my scars.

My blemishes.

My signs of age.

A nobility to those wiry gray hairs,

and those crinkles now appearing
to frame my eyes and mouth.

As a woman, I struggle as to whether to

embrace or erase

these changes.

The culture as well as the cult of youth encourages us to wish away

that which has been hard earned.

"How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth..."

{John Milton}

And yet, I know.

Oh yes, I most certainly do know...

That the measure of my worth

as a woman

and as a child of God

lies not in what the eye can see

but rather in what is hidden away from view.

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.

{Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}

Love yourselves, imperfections and all.

Just as God does.

"So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."

{2 Corinthians 4:16}

P.S.

Unapologetically, occasionally re-posting gems from the archives...because

I've been doing some spiritual and emotional house cleaning.

Blog breaks are good. Essential, even.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Twice a Year...

Every Spring, Every Fall,

I have the absolute pleasure of visiting with

and photographing my gorgeous friend

Christie Connelly's space at

Sommerfeld Place in Warrenton.

My beautiful, talented friend shies away

from fanfare and self-promotion,

so I am always thrilled to sing her praises.

Shoot, I landed in the issue before last of

Romantic Country Magazine

with two photos I snapped from her space...

This past month, I was fortunate enough

to pay sweet Christie a visit,

so here are the fruits of our labor...my photography,

and Christie's amazing vision.

Enjoy!

Just beautiful,

love you Christie!

Wishing everyone a blessed week!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Sunday Psalm

"So we, Your people

and sheep of Your pasture,

will give You thanks forever;

We will show forth Your praise

to all generations."

Psalm 79:13

Giving thanks for

hidden blessings.

{ photos taken here at Zapp Hall }

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Pull up a chair...

Or rather, just sit yourself down.

There's certainly enough chairs for a

small confab of sorts.

I don't wanna talk about grief

or worry or anything heavy today.

I want mindless and brain numbing.

Let's talk Dancing With the Stars!

I have never, ever felt the Derek Hough love,

so I'm pretty meh about Ricki Lake.

I think if J.R. Martinez doesn't win the whole thing,

it'll be a crime.

Although Carson Kressley certainly does bring the fun factor!

Who are your faves?

For those of you going "who?" and "whaaaaa?",

just pop on over to the next blog. I won't be offended.

Let's talk pet therapy.

The past couple of weeks, I've signed on

to volunteer some time each week to pop by

the local SPCA to give the fur babies some TLC.

It's my way of working through the gr....that word I wasn't going to say.

The Mr. tagged along with me on one of these trips,

so I thought you'd enjoy seeing the avowed cat hater in action.

Yeah, this last pic just screams anti- feline hostility.

Cat hater, my butt.

And just one more thing.

I'm keeping the lid on a happy secret I have to share soon.

It's just a little something, nothing earth shattering,

but something nice I'll be able to

share in a couple or three weeks.

More Warrenton photos coming soon,

wishing you the happiest of weeks!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Speaking From the Heart

There's a bit of irony in the title of this post...

in that the words are not coming easily of late,

and I'm finding it difficult to wax rhapsodically

about design and decor and all that jazz that I normally

love to gab about.

It all feels shallow and silly
and of small consequence. It isn't shallow and silly,
that's just the grief talking.
Art and beauty and creativity still matter,
perhaps now much more so than ever.

But for me?
I'm feeling quiet and contemplative,

and even a bit lost.
It's okay, it's normal, I get that....
it's a process, one I must go through.
No circumventing the stages of grief,
no going around it.
Through it.

So, in the spirit of being true to myself and to you as well,

I'm letting my photos speak for me instead.

Another small handful
from the fields of Warrenton last week...