IT ALL STARTED OUT QUITE INNOCENTLY ENOUGH...

...when we were at the home of Rose and Ken Nielsen (President of Woodbury Univ.) for a Christmas brunch for Woodbury supporters.

To digress, amazing Rose is senior director of development for the School of Architecture and she has been the driving force behind its new Julius Shulman Institute cataloging some 70,000 slides!

While in their beautiful backyard, Charles was entranced by the hummingbird's darting to the Nielsen's feeders. Well, we have hummingbirds in our yard and they flit around like mad but somehow this was different. ASAP, CLP went on line and ordered a feeder. Who knew?

By coincidence/serendipity, I sat next to a 'birder' at Hildegard Lindsay's Christmas luncheon and we got to exchanging info. I for one told how delighted I was by the book kept at the front of the 'Boathouse Restaurant' in N.Y.C.'s Central Park where visitors come to record their observations of birds and other Park wildlife in the "Bird Register". Entrancing!

For this information I was traded the fact that you have to wash out the hummingbird feeder at least once a week. When ours arrived, we had a major discussion on how much 'syrup' to make, how long to 'boil' it and my input that hanging a hummingbird feeder means assuming a certain amount of responsibility for the well being of a fragile and trusting creature.

So, here it is, up and not quite full (my suggestion). The hummingbirds are feasting on all of the flowers in our little garden so I suspect they are saving our feeder for reserve.

All this to say we wish 2009 will be filled with ABUNDANT SWEETNESS for you.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For more information:
http://www.woodbury.edu/
http://www.taschen.com/ for books on Julius Shulman's oeuvre
http://www.thecentralparkboathouse.com/
http://www.bestnest.com/

SEVEN SWANS A-SWIMMING...

...will cost you $1,400 more this year but please don't let that stop you from sending out your tokens of love. I was thinking about that this morning ... not about the swans, but about all of us, each in our own way, bustling about buying gifts. It seemed to me that it's easy at this special time to show how much we care about people in our lives and I was wishing that these same feelings could be spread about during the year. Why not greet each day with ... It's Christmas and I love you...silly but could work!

In the meantime, hope you take some time to smell the roses or the ocean for that matter. Nothing says PEACE like a day at the beach.

And, may we remember to share.

IT'S A LONG STORY, BUT.........

The short of it is that yesterday I had a studio visit from a fellow artist who went to the SAME GRAMMAR SCHOOL! How amazing is that!!!

Victor Fisher is a sculptor of renown and his wife Phyllis creates some amazing silver jewelry. While they live in the Newport area, they had stopped by after a trip to Victor's foundry which is located in Burbank.

Of course, we got to the 'artist talk' and Victor said that in placing a tool into the flame to use on the wax pieces he does not go thru an analytical process but will rely on instinct. If he stops to think about it, the temperature of the tool is incorrect.

Now how amazing is that ... I had to tell the Chinese saying ... "From heart to arm to hand to brush to paper! Paint with your heart and not your head for the most splendiferous results!

HAPPY PAINTING!



Here's art patron Dr. Allan Stark, Nan, Victor and Phyllis






For more information on this talented artist go to:
http://www.victorfisher.com/

IT TOOK ALL DAY BUT....

as they say, "at the end of the day" ...

Stacey had accomplished the impossible ... assembling and decorating the Christmas tree in the downstairs entry.

Now before you say, 'bah humbug' permit me to give you a little background on this task. Just getting the tree and all the ornament boxes out is a major task.

The tree (plastic/pre-lighted) is kept in a very big, very heavy box and fitting the pieces together so all the lights work is no small task. Patience is the #1 requirement.

Now for the creative part....who better than Stacey to do a magnificent, artistic job ....flourishes that I could only dream of. She even made beautiful bows from assorted holiday ribbons to fill in the 'empty'(where?) spots.

Since this was her second tree trimming experience after major advice from hubby Joe, she could now be in the...don't try this, I'm a professional class.

All we have to do now is keep Yuki from thinking this is one big doggie toy!

CHARLES, DO YOU SMELL SMOKE?

It was most strange, something like burning paper, just in the living room. Did I burn some pre-Thanksgiving dish? We searched and searched ... nothing but this strong smell of burning paper. O.K., call the fire department!

The sirens were coming closer, would the massive engines make it up the hill, would they be able to park, would they discover the source of our anxiety? We were told to get everyone out of the house ... at the time the nose count was seven for lunch plus one 95 pound fluff named Yuki! Charles grabbed the dog, I grabbed the guests and out we went.

What heros our firemen are. Have you seen up close all the garb they have to wear? And the hatchets, the odds and ends they have strapped to their belts ... don't forget the handy portable fire extinguisher.

I couldn't miss anything so back into the house I went, followed by everyone including the dog and round and round we all paced, sniffing. Even Yuki was sniffing!

Nothing ... out came the strange device with which they can point to ANYTHING to see if it registers HEAT! ... NOTHING.

Up to the studio they trudged ... nothing. Downstairs ... nothing. O.K. we're all relieved but as they were exiting, one very, very smart fireman lifted a cocktail napkin off a glass table next to the window...waved it about and said, "I always carry one of these about when we can't find anything." We all laughed and sighed with relief...the napkin had been burned on one side!

How could this be? Well, for all you Boy Scouts out there, when you're in the wilderness you know how to start a campfire. Two sticks rubbed together or by pointing the sunbeam through a glass sphere into something flammable. Who knew?