Soap & Water

For Suzanne's challenge today, I decided to fess up to one of my little obsessions. I love soap. I seem to have soap radar when I visit any sort of gift shop. I especially love artisan and hand made soaps. Maybe I love soap so much because my hands always seem to be in water. Cooking hands, cleaning hands, painting hands, gardening hands, crafting hands, Corgi slobber hands...yep, lots of soap and water. For me, part of making my house a home is to try and make those spots we all use quite frequently, a little more special. Special doesn't have to mean expensive. Keeping the bathroom sink sparkling with a fresh fluffy hand towel or two and a pretty soap in a lovely little dish doesn't take much effort, really. Even a plain old bar of Ivory becomes special in a vintage rosy tea saucer with a soft bristled wooden nail brush. It is always fun to put out special soaps and finger towels for holidays; but why not put a teensy bit more 'special' into the 'common' days? Every day with those we love is a gift. Little touches here and there let our family and friends know we think they are special every single day. How nice it is when your loved ones come home from a long work day to find a little refreshing retreat waiting for them to freshen up. If you live alone, all the more reason to do it for yourself! You deserve a little 'special' every day, too.

I just can't bring myself to actually use this last Crabtree & Evelyn Corgi Soap. Years ago I bought a few. I used a couple, gave one to Mary Elizabeth, donated one in a Mayflower silent auction goodie basket, dropped one and broke an ear off (so used that one too.) If you haven't guessed, the box is a Tasha Tudor illustration. Cute as can be, right?

I think I will let the Corgis out, have a quick shower and actually try and get a good night's sleep. Hmmm.....now what soap to use? -CS ^..^

baby birdies...

For those of you who may be wondering who won the battle of the fuschia plant, wonder no more. It is birdies-1, Cathy-0. When I hung my lovely lush new plant, I didn't expect it to be taken over by these little industrious feathered friends. I apologize for the fuzzy photos which were taken through the window glass as I didn't want to disturb the new parents who keep giving me 'what for' every time I enter or exit. I find it amusing that the plant marker-tag describing the type of fuschia says "Dark Eyes" and the only dark eyes I've seen are the ones peeping at me from the nest. There are two birds that keep flying back and forth to the nest with bugs and things to feed the little babes. This is one of the busy duo. Happy Monday everyone! -CS ^..^

Farewell, Tasha Tudor 1915-2008

It is with a sad heart that we must bid farewell to our beloved Tasha Tudor who passed away today at the age of 92. She has been such an influence and inspiration to me as an artist. I feel very fortunate to have been lucky enough to have met her, watch her sketch (effortlessly!) and to walk in her beautiful gardens. I am blessed by friendships I've made because of Tasha. Our deepest condolences to her family. All of the Corgis here at Reinwood have their little heads bowed in her honor and are sending up 'Arooooooooooos' to accompany her on her journey where I'm sure all of her Corgis will be running to greet her as she crosses the rainbow bridge. I envision Tasha in heaven having tea with Beatrix Potter and making preparations for her 1830's wedding to a Connecticut sea captain. Naturally, all invitations will be delivered via Sparrow Post. What fun she will have actually serving her Dundee cake to St. Nicholas himself! I can see Advent wreaths hanging from frothy white clouds and Tasha's garden where angels will dance. And Corgis. Lots of Corgis.

(photos by Richard Brown)

I will say goodnight leaving you with a portion of one of Tasha's favorite quotes:

Fra Giovanni's Salutation (1513 AD)
I salute you.
There is nothing I can give you which you have not,
but there is much that while I cannot give,
you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.
Take joy.

Farewell, Tasha. Godspeed. -CS ^..^

p.s. Tasha's family has established a memorial book if you would like to sign it. www.tashatudor.legacy.com

Taking Time For Tea & Love

So, after being away for a few days, one does have to come home and get things back in order. There is laundry to be done, things to be put away, Corgis to be bathed again. Yes, there is bathing even after a show to get any chalk that was blown around the grooming area out of their coats! My 'Make your house a home' challenge today was to actually stop in the midst of a cleaning spree and take time to have tea with my daughter. Sometimes, making your house a home is just as much about what you don't do, as it is about what you do. For me, if the house is basically clean, dinner is planned and everyone has clean clothes, it is OK (really, it is) for everything on my list not to be perfectly accomplished. It is OK to let some things go until tomorrow, or the next day. I find it is extremely important to keep priorities in mind and make my day reflect those priorities. There is something sacred about setting out pretty tea cups and pulling up a chair to carve out a pause from schoolwork, housework, artwork, etc. and being truly present for those we love. If I find things start to get too hectic around me, I try and pull back and ask myself that if I were to be called up to heaven today, what would I want my last day to be like? What would I be leaving behind for my loved ones? Would I regret not having spent time that day with them? It always helps me to find that balance between keeping the house organized and spending time with those I love. When I don't feel much like doing housework, I try and remember that every act of cleaning and organizing frees up the entire household to be with each other. Who wants to spend time in a mess when a fresh and clean house is so much more relaxing and inviting? I'd much rather spend 30 minutes having tea with my daughter than spend 30 minutes looking for a missing shoe or a clean towel or an important paper. Balance and priorities. Two things that I hope I will always remember to remember.-CS ^..^

Corgi Divas Puttin' On The Ritz

Greetings to all of my Corgi-licious friends! I'm back from the fantastic Mayflower Corgi Specialty Show. What a great time we had. What could be more fun than spending time with loads of Corgis and old friends and making new friends? Annie Baker's "Tina" was the well-deserved BOB. The baby puppy match was a success and fun to do, but I must say I'm happy to have reclaimed the space in my house where all of the match paraphernalia once was. I was so happy to have my cell phone ring on the way there on Wednesday to find Suzanne calling to say she and her daughter would be meeting me there. I haven't seen her since the garden tour at Tasha Tudor's last summer. After setting up everything for the match, I had a little time to jump in the shower in my hotel room. Just about to dry my hair and Suzanne arrived. After a minute of hello-hugs, she offered to take Bridget and Stella for a walk while I finished getting ready. Talk about being pampered! I even actually had time to put on some lipstick :) Suzanne was going to be a guest blogger here, but had a bit of trouble logging in. However, you can read Tasha Corgi's post of Suzanne's visit on her blog!

Anyhoooo....I along with a few other artists from our club (Ellen Childs and Susan & Linda Jacob) had been asked to decorate these terracotta Corgis for the Friday evening banquet. They would be auctioned at the silent auction. Susan took mine with theirs and had them kiln fired. I haven't worked with ceramics glazes in years so I was holding my breath until they were safely out of the kiln. It is hard to see them properly in these photos I took in the hotel room, but you can get the idea of how they turned out. The one on the left "Starry Night" has a sort of black glitter glaze which turns a midnight blue. She is holding a string of star beads and shimmery genuine Swarovski crystals were applied all over her. The center one entitled "I'll Be All In Clover,"I painted with an opaque white to which another soft translucent white was added for a special sheen, and then I painted her with shamrocks. Peridot and emerald green colored crystals were added in between the shamrocks and then her green feather boa finished her off. The one on the far right was my personal favorite. She is a self-portrait entitled "Self Portrait" (!) Me as a Corgi :) She has glasses (as do I) and paint splattered all over her paws. I used a 'chunky' glaze on her back which created a cool effect in the kiln. I gave her a beaded glass bracelet and Cindy Read crocheted her rainbow colored scarf/boa. I added fantastic red and aurora borealis crystals all over her. What can I say, I'm a sucker for glitzy. This little bohemian mini-me came with her own genuine micro-painting of her own self-portrait. The three did sell for an obscene amount of money which I am happy to report will benefit the Mayflower Welsh Corgi Club. Clicking the photos will enlarge them. Again, I apologize for the hotel room photos! Well, off to straighten up the house a bit. Hmmm.....what shall I do for Suzanne's challenge today? Must think about that one. Have a happy day! -CS ^..^

Dads are g-r-e-a-t!!!

A Splash Of Color...

And lest Suzanne think we'd let the day pass without remembering a little touch for her Make Your House A Home challenge, I give you my petunias. I bought these a couple of weeks ago when I got the fuschia plant (a.k.a. birdie nursery, looking more pathetic every day and fiercely guarded by the resident egg sitter...) and my has it grown. I had originally intended for it to hang in one of the usual places around the house. It is such a riot of color that I just decided to give it a place where it can really be seen and hopefully continue to grow. Sooooooo.....I bought this pretty scrolled bracket at the nursery down the road and hung it outside of this railing so you see it when you pull up into the driveway. It is such a pretty sight and a lovely 'welcome home.' Late yesterday we had quite a windy rainy thunder-and-lightening storm and Miss Petunia stayed securely hooked to her new bracket. I think she likes her spiffy new spot. Grow baby, grow! -CS ^..^

Temptation

We've been busy getting everything ready for the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club Baby Puppy Match which is this week. One of the things we need to do is to get all of the prizes ready, wrapped, sorted and labeled to make it easy for the stewards to hand them to the judge to give to the winning puppies. Part of the prizes for each class are plush dog toys.




You can probably imagine the wild de-stuffing frenzy that would occur should all of the Corgis be nearby when opening this very large box of dog toys. We thought it best to put the Corgis behind closed doors while beginning the task of sorting and wrapping the adorable soon-to-be prizes. Bridget was just laying on the settee and didn't seem too interested in the box so we figured it would be fine to let her hang out. Ha! As soon as the box was cracked open, she hopped down to see what was inside.


Alas, the thought of sinking her teeth into a soft, plush, brand new squeaky toy proved too much for this Corgi to endure and she succumbed to the temptation that surrounded her.



Luckily, I bought a few extras!
Happy Monday, everyone! -CS ^..^

A little night grooming....

Bridget was the first to try out the spiffy new shampoo I found on Etsy. Here she is waiting for her blow dry...

After we were done, Her Majesty decided she would catch 40 winks on the grooming table rather than help me put away the dryer and towels and clean out the tub.

"Cookie? Did someone say cookie?"

No sooner did Bridget come down from the table and I put the dryer away when Weebles decided the grooming table was a good place to chill out. Maybe she secretly wants to be a Corgi?

Have a lovely evening everyone! -CS ^..^

Cleaning Up The Studio

We could have chosen to stay snug as a bug-in-a-rug in bed like Bailey this morning:

Or, we could hop to it and join in Suzanne's Make Your House A Home Challenge and do something about this messy studio shelf:

I decided to tackle the shelf; without the help of any mice or bunnies or Corgis, I might add.

Soooo...
What is on this shelf, anyway? Well, besides the obvious mish-mash of paintbrushes, there are plastic cups filled with pens and Lord knows what. Old dog show ribbons (oh yeah, 1999 I'm looking at here? Geez...) that I will do something with 'someday,' books that belong elsewhere, an empty box that was too pretty to throw out which contained Sugar Plums at Christmas from a friend (OK, stop laughing, I'm baring my soul here. ) wooden eggs to paint, a few micro canvases and little easels, some paint, you get the picture, right? Well, time to move it all and sort. Everything was taken off of the shelf and the shelf was cleaned with some Caldrea Lavender and Pine scented cleaner. I remember hearing once that a good place to start when you need to do a task is to tackle what makes you craziest first. I don't know why there are dead pens and markers in here. Throwing out a dried up marker when you go to use it would be the logical thing to do. Why do I put them back into the cup and try another? Put that on my list of things NOT to do anymore. All of the pens and markers were taken out of the plastic cups, tested, tossing the dead ones and putting the keepers on the desk where they belong, in a ceramic cup. The old ribbons I put with the dog stuff. Still need to figure out what to do with those. I sorted the paintbrushes into rounds, flats and 'other' which includes fan brushes, rakes, sculpting tools, stuff like that. A little mannequin from across the room and a little forget-me-not plant in progress added a clean looking 'something' to the shelf. The little Claude Monet doll my mom brought back for me from the J.Paul Getty Museum. Isn't he cute? Now he's got his own corner, standing watch over an easel and a gilded frame.

Ta-da! Better!

MUCH better!

Happy Monday, everyone! -CS ^..^

Where are my sewing mice and sweeping bunnies?

Last night we watched Disney's 'Enchanted.' Even John liked it. I won't spoil it for you if you have yet to see it, but I will tell you there is a Princess. Of course if there is a Disney Princess, you just know there will be enchanted woodland creatures. Giselle (the Princess-to-be played by Amy Adams) summons the woodland....er...um.....sewer critters of NYC to help her tidy up the apartment for new lawyer friend (played by McDreamy Patrick Dempsey.) Suddenly, it hit me! Why must I spend so much time cleaning when I am out-numbered by animals right here? Surely if a little singing summoned the mice and birds and bunnies for Giselle and Cinderella and Snow White, what could I accomplish with a posse of Corgis, cats and chickens? Inspired by Suzanne's cleaning blitz post, I put on my fancy red vintage apron given to me by LaVonne, and stood in the middle of the kitchen and started to sing. 'Ah ah ah ah ah.....ah ah ah ah ah!' Nothing. No rabbits. No birds. Not even one little mouse. The Corgis put their heads up for a minute. Indy cocked his head with that quizzical Corgi look (I know you know that look.) Again I tried, 'Ah ah ah ah ah.' Bridget let out a loud Corgi 'aroooooooooo!' And some of the neighborhood dogs began to howl. Stella and Amy covered their ears. Bailey yawned. The cats ran. And yet, not one of them picked up a rag or a sewing needle. Sigh. Oh well. So much for teaching old dogs new tricks. -CS ^..^
























(Disney copyright images. Sewing mice animation cell by Tony Bluth. Snow White on Balcony by Jim Salvati)

Suzanne's "Make Your House A Home" Challenge

Do pop over to my kindred spirit friend Suzanne's blog! She's hosting a fun challenge. Who couldn't use a little inspiration to make their house a wonderful place to be? You can click her challenge photo on the left side of this blog to read all about her lovely idea. If you have little ones in the house, she is offering some really cute playtime crowns in her shop. I'll be having another blog giveaway in the days to come, so watch for that post as well!-CS ^..^

Aqua this and aqua that....

Saturday I had tea with Steph and Ro at our favorite little tea shop before it closes its doors. (sniff, sob) Do pop over to Susan's blog as she is having a fab little giveaway. Steph gave me this cool Hallmark card which she said reminded her of me. I love the colors in it. Ro surprised me with one of my favorite sparkling wines; Nando Fragolino. It has a hint of strawberry. Yummy. Just look at how she wrapped it. Have you ever seen a bottle of wine wrapped so beautifully? I'm being drawn to aqua lately. Purple always catches my eye, in fact when I got married, my bridal party wore a lovely shade of purple. Then I was in a bright red phase for a while. I even had a room that was painted the most gorgeous shade of red which I had hand stenciled sheaves of wheat across the top in a linen white. It was so pretty. Then we moved and my red room was left behind. Last summer I was drawn to a particular shade of green, like a kiwi or granny smith apple green; which accounts for why most of my micro Corgi paintings were photographed near granny smith apples for size! For some reason, lately I am drawn to these oceany shades of blue-green-turquoise-aqua . They say that most artists experiment with color then go back to a 'clean palate' before experimenting again. We'll see!-CS ^..^

Remember

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day; is a national holiday here in the United States when we remember those who have died in service to our country. To those brave patriots who watch over us from above, THANK YOU. We love you with all of our hearts. It is because of you that we can live freely in this great nation. We are forever grateful. -CS ^..^

Squatters' Rights

On my little porch there hangs a new fuschia plant. I normally check any potted or container plants for watering every few days when the weather is cool, more in the hot summer. I've noticed over the past couple of days that as I've come in or out, there are little birds that seem to fly over my head. It was getting a little Hitchcock-esque; but I figured that maybe there was a nest nearby. Little did I know that the nest was being created in my fuschia plant! I took the plant down to pull the dead bits off and to water it. Of course the birds flew out of the porch and gave me 'what for' while the plant was being tended to. As soon as I put my hand in to start cleaning it up I saw this nest! I don't know how well my fuschia plant will fare after this, but I hope the little birds will hatch. Look closely and you will see all of the Corgi fur they have picked up to fluff their nest. Smart birds came to the right house, eh? -CS ^..^

Rorschach Test Pancakes

Look into my griddle....what do YOU see? Oh my, the giggles around here for this breakfast-for-dinner. For as many years as I've been making pancakes, for some reason or other, the first pancake is always the weird one and becomes a sacrifce to the pancake gods (a.k.a. drooling Corgis.) As soon as I ladled this one onto the hot griddle, it became completely clear to me that it was the profile of George Washington. Yes! Truly, George Washington I tell you! By the time someone answered my pleas of 'someone get the camera!' poor George had morphed and spread as he cooked. Of course Laura was laughing so hard that she could hardly hold the camera steady, hence the blurry image. Use your imagination....start at the handle..the left side of the pancake. See? His chin, lip, nose, brow, all of it going right around to his hair and neck? I know you can see it. Let me tell you about this griddle...it belonged to my grandfather and it is one of my prized possessions. We don't seem to have diamonds and jewels to hand down in our family...cast iron griddles, yeah, we're all about those. There are so many memories attached to this griddle. My Grandpa made the best pancakes. Always at 5:30 AM, always as big as a plate, always while wearing a short sleeved button down, pressed sleeve shirt with casual pants and black tie shoes. It was the only thing he ever cooked. My Grandmother usually did all of the cooking. He even had a 'notch' he made on the stove to know where to turn the gas knob to the perfect setting. When I would sleep over there, he would wake me up by opening up the wide slat Venetian blinds and squeezing my big toe and singing something like, 'Does your mother know you're out Cecilia' or 'MaryLou, I love you' or 'If you drool just like pasta fazool, that's amore' or a Jimmy Durante imitation of 'Ink-a-dink-a-doo.' It meant breakfast was on the table. How I miss them both; but I'm so grateful for the memories I hold in my heart and that have been created by this old pancake griddle. -CS ^..^

What's black and white and loved all over?

Last night (I just KNEW it would be last night....why do they wait until the wee hours to have these babes? Yawn!) Mary Elizabeth's Border Collie, Feisty, had her puppies. They look like they could be little Corgi puppies, don't they? Well, except for all the white... We knew Feisty would be a good mother because she just loves all of the Corgi puppies. Mary Elizabeth looks so perky and awake, doesn't she? That photo was taken when only one or two of the bunch were born and the night was still young. Later she had a brilliant idea and invented a delicious hot coffee/chocolate/mocha drink for us about midnight or so because at that point we were desperate for caffeine! I think I got back home about 3:00 AM after mother and babies (5 girls, 1 boy) were all snuggled in and nursing quietly. I no sooner put my head down then the alarm went off, or so it seemed. I was signed up for a Myra Savant Harris canine reproduction seminar early in the morning and did not want to miss it. Such good, solid information! I already had her books so I've been familiar with the info in them, but today she shared new information that was not in the books and that will be in a new (soon!) future book which I'm looking forward to already. At the end of the seminar, she closed with a little story about puppy breath which brought tears to my eyes. You can just tell how much of a dog lover she is. Well, time to take the Corgis out and get a good nights sleep! Hurrah! -CS ^..^

Friendship

I am blessed. So blessed. To have a friend go on a well-deserved mini break to an enchanting Bed & Breakfast and have her think of you while she is there...so very blessed indeed. This lovely little Victorian dolly was given to me last evening; along with this most excellent piece of dark chocolate she discovered in her travels. I wish you could see how pretty it was (yes, it only exists as a delicious memory now...) The little specks you see were actually tiny flecks of gold on this little fan of chocolate. Thanks, Steph! xo xo **mwah!!** -CS ^..^

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all moms everywhere a Happy Mother's Day! -CS ^..^

Chickens...

Yes, my dears, we now have two chickens. They are Abigail and Josephine. What have I gotten myself into? -CS ^..^