camping in the giant forest

what I love about summer.....
the freedom of being able to decide at the last minute that maybe you NEED to spend sometime outdoors..... (really, really outdoors... no tv's, no computers, no cell phone service....... just lots of fresh air.....
here's what we did in the giant forest.....

packed up the jeep and hit the road.......

drove thru a tunnel log!

was awe inspired by the beauty of Nature!

found a few pine-cones almost at tall as us :)

look up ..... always look up...... I had to take this shot!
Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven. RABINDRANATH TAGORE

took in the amazing view - GIANT sequoia trees, lots of granite rocks and most importantly lots of FRESH mountain air.....

a close encounter of the brown kind! (yikes)

he loves me :)

the shadow knows!

a new perspective .......

can you taste the SMORE's ??

gotta love a 6 yr olds perspective.... he found a happy tree! The boys termed it the AFLAC tree..... check out it's bill..... (they crack me up)

This tree fell... and it was hollow..... back in the 1800's it was part camp hideout part saloon! (how cool!)

view on the ride home.... it's breath taking isn't? We are so blessed to be a few hours south of Sequoia National Park.

so blessed to be a few hours from loving family..... that's where we are headed next.. up north for Nana time.....

crafty nester......

Before kids.... I used to be a quilter...... cross stitcher and embroidery queen.... but then came the fear of my kids touching my beloved bernina/scissors and needles.... and well - It has taken a bit of the back burner these days. Although recently, some very mischievous friends of mine.... Linda and Nathalie re-ignited the spark so to speak..... and well I had so much fun stitching .... I think I'm going to try some more stitching projects..... I have not done anything with these - I was going to make a mini quilt but well..... I had a little talk with myself and decided - I really don't have time right now for all that..... small projects anna... listen to what you can handle at the present moment..... listen- listen- listen.....

below is a beautiful needle case from Linda for Hearts day......... I LOVE how she printed words on the muslin and stitched it to the heart.... and love the word she choose "grace" - my first thought was "His grace covers all" ........

Below is a monochromatic layout for my "bookclub"..... pic is my brother - who is obviously a COOL CAT! I had a super hard time deciding where to put the words.... which is why they are not attached....

Alas, My altered book..... about love.... I was so completely inspired by a somerset issue called "IN LOVE" that I had to have a try with it..... I have convinced three friends to be guest artist in this book, and I am just soooo excited about it, I can't decide who to send it to first ?? help!




That's all for today, I'm off for a walk with the dogs...... It's sunny and clear - I'm gonna go soak it up .....
xoxo,
Anna

My word for 2009

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
Native American


Beginning with last year, instead of making resolutions I can't keep, I decided (with the suggestion of ali edwards....) to choose a word to focus on. A word to live my year by........ in 2008 my word was INSPIRE. I feel like the word did it's duty - served it's purpose.... i was completely inspired to be creative. I looked for inspiration everywhere and found it in the oddest of places........ so that brings my to 2009


In December, I really had to reflect on what my word should be..... ??
I tried to take in account, my life, my surroundings, what needs improvement.... yada yada yada...
So this year, it seemed appropriate that I really needed to step back and LISTEN.

Listen to what my family needs..... both kids and my husband

Listen to what I need - time to rejuvenate

Listen to what people are telling me.... sometimes I don't always want to hear it....

Listen to the what's going on in the world.... instead of just at my house......

Listen to life stories, learn from them, document them.

Listen to the birds - find beauty in new places....

Listen to the laughter - may it be infectious.......

Listen to the silence - and find peace in it.

Listen to my body.... i desperately need to get in shape!

Listen to god's plan for me.... (the most important one of all. as i am a spiritual person)

Listen - just - LISTEN!
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Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force...When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life...When we listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other...and it is this little creative fountain inside us that begins to spring and cast up new thoughts and unexpected laughter and wisdom. ...Well, it is when people really listen to us, with quiet facinated attention, that the little fountain begins to work again, to accelerate in the most surprising way.
Brenda Ueland
The first duty of love is to listen.
Paul Tillich
Doubt yourself and you doubt everything you see. Judge yourself and you see judges everywhere. But if you listen to the sound of your own voice, you can rise above doubt and judgment. And you can see forever.
Nancy Kerrigan
If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.
A. A. Milne
Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening ... when you'd have preferred to talk.
D.J. Kaufman
An essential part of true listening is the discipline of bracketing, the temporary giving up or setting aside of one's own prejudices, frames of reference and desires so as to experience as far as possible the speaker's world from the inside, step in inside his or her shoes. This unification of speaker and listener is actually and extension and enlargement of ourselves, and new knowledge is always gained from this. Moreover, since true listening involves bracketing, a setting aside of the self, it also temporarily involves a total acceptance of the other. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will fell less and less vulnerable and more and more inclined to open up the inner recesses of his or her mind to the listener. As this happens, speaker and listener begin to appreciate each other more and more, and the duet dance of love is begun again.
M. Scott Peck, MD