no doubt

pieces of a sunny, blue, blue sky, cold and perfectly still Sunday afternoon walk

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother

Love and doubt have never been on speaking terms

Kahlil Gilbran

Oh Kahlil you break my heart with your oh so wise words

on the menu

the No. 1 (with a bullet) favourite dinner here at 29 Black Street -

Some couples have a song to call their own, we have a Vietnamese noodle bowl. It's our dish.

Vermicelli & spring rolls* accompanied by the world's best very hot, hot sauce - the January issue of Bon Appétite magazine (a fill in subscription for the remainder of my now defunct Gourmet subscription - sad face) has an article on this cheap and most excellent condiment which is readily available in the Asian section of most grocery stores.

Now all of you know how much I love to cook and always have. But cooking for someone is even better and if that someone happens to be a someone who spends his days fussing & tinkering, toiling and sawing cast iron boilers into small pieces down in the basement of this old brick house. Making this home, our home hum and sing and purr like a well oiled and tres comfy machine ... well ... that kind of cooking is the ultimate in satisfaction. My desire to keep my Prince (oATG)** not only very well nourished but as happy as a clam has become a primary focus of each day. Hhhhmmmm What will we have for dinner ?

This morning I have a spiced rubbed roast of pork in a slow oven. This roast will cook all day long at 250 until it's fall apart tender then I'll pile it on our favourite baguette in a pinch (found in the freezer section of our local grocery store) top it with a homemade barbeque sauce and serve this BBQ pulled pork sandwich with a side of coleslaw. Recipe here.

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach ... well if that's the case ...
Hey there handsome and tres handy cowboy ! Watch out !

*this wonderful recipe arrived here at 29 Black Street along with the handsome cowboy.

**of All Things Good

archeology

layers of plaster, paint and bits of tres groovy vintage wallpaper we've (he's) been uncovering

While the cowboy studies and ponders, tinkers and toils with, the history of this old house from the beautiful solid stone foundation to all of her systems, mechanics and engineering I marvel at him, his drive and enthusiasm and his seemingly bottomless well of knowledge, skill and abilities. Sigh ... and I marvel also at the little bits of former style & decor that he's been unearthing.

yikes !

early morning crow

I've been catching myself lately ... beginning to worry
Worrying about the fact that I've virtually stopped worrying

yikes !

good things

love you collage No.2 - paper, ink & gouache - soon to show up dans la etsy shop

and oh my ! such a handsome new YOU that I have in my life - sighing

milder temperatures - ahhh! a welcome break in our recent cold snap
the sisters
feeling safer than I've ever felt before
actually ... feeling safe and saved (from my nasty self mostly)
chocolate mousse
walks around this little village with Miss D & PB early, under the stars & moon
morning coffee with the cowboy
a fire blazing
quilts
power walks, and lots of chatting, with Sue (postmistress) at lunchtimes
feeling productive
bedtime reading
CBC radio 1
soft boiled eggs and a toasted English muffin
navel oranges, juicy and tres sweet
finding comments left here each early morning
bubbles and scent - this morning Blue Skies
MLou (and the Lauchness her longtime partner in crime)
Oliver - who's become the obvious spokescat for the feral boys on the 2nd floor
a beautiful, clean & dry basement
the handiest man
a tall moustache
not thinking too much about any thing

* bird identification - red Nova Scotia white winged bower birds

thoughts on thoughts

pink + gold snippets from yesterdays sunrise walk around the village with the terrier mix sisters

Begin challenging your own assumptions.
Your assumptions are your window on the world.
Scrub them off every once in awhile,
or the light won't come in.

Alan Alda

Uh Huh ! very wise words

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind
than not having any opinion at all.

G. C. Lichtenberg

Hey ! You Rock ! G. C.

venerate-ing

and who's the most handsome cat ... ever ?? uh huh you guessed it - Oliver

The feral boys, Bleet and Gussie Gus declined a photo op at this time.

CB: I'm just going down into the basement to check on something
Moi: Certainly, and take your time my Prince (oATG)*

The cowboy has another woman in his life - her name - the basement.

His basement, our basement. He must be with her several times each day. He checks on her regularly, he fusses about her and I catch him standing down there often, in a corner, venerating the beautiful drain and/or the constant petite stream of clear water running toward it and watching it finally seep through the silt filtering, attractive, grey gravel that now fills the square drainage depression in the floor. Oliver hangs out with the cowboy, dans la beautiful basement - helping, encouraging and tres grateful for this newly opened exploration and spider hunting opportunity - for he too is in love with this subterranean world (as are the feral boys). The cowboy flirts with the boiler, he tinkers and toils, he's in love with the old stone foundation and he adores the smooth, level and solid (mostly dry and clean) concrete floor. And oh ! how he relishes the spaciousness of the near empty lower level of this old brick house.

I love her too and I am nothing but delighted to share my cowboy with her.

How can it be that I now have a beautiful basement ? Dreams ... they really do come true.

* of All Things Good

dinner and a movie

pre dinner music and the most excellent company as I prepare dinner at the kitchen island

When the cowboy and I first discussed combining our households we talked about having a movie night each week. Well, turns out every night has become movie night at 29 Black Street. The cowboy has an extensive collection of both video and DVD movies, peppered of course with historic themes and plots. I order more movies from our library and occasionally I'll tape something from a commercial free movie channel that is part of my cable TV package or I'll tape a much anticipated PBS documentary or Masterpiece Theatre (also commercial free. Phew).

He and the beautiful brown hound arrive at Black Street just before 5. He has a beer while he starts a fire and then he joins me in the kitchen (if I'm cooking) and keeps me company during final dinner prep. The sisters all hang out by the fire with their every evening, one each raw hide chew - a pre gnashing event occurrence and Oliver goes through his repertoire of feline wiles to see if he can't convince the cowboy to dole out a few Whiska's Temptations. We enjoy our lovely dinner and then the whole family (three dogs, two people and Oliver too - of course) snuggles in together on my extra large and tres comfy sofa for the evenings feature presentation. Friday night - Capote (from the library), Saturday night - The Graduate (from the cowboy's collection) and last night - 28 Days Later (from the 2 for $10 bin at Walmart). Last night's dinner recipe (avec photos) as promised.

Rosemary Feta Chicken in Phyllo Packets (makes 4 packets)

2 large boneless chicken breasts cut in half
phyllo pastry
fresh rosemary
the zest of 1 lemon
8 tbsp of feta cheese
1/2 c. melted butter

Each packet uses two sheets of phyllo pastry. Butter well with a pastry brush the first sheet and fold into thirds to make a large rectangle. Place chicken in the centre of this rectangle and top with 2 generous sprigs of rosemary, 1/4 of the lemon zest and 2 tbsp. of Feta cheese. Wrap up like a Christmas parcel, buttering well (butter works like a glue to help hold the parcel together).
Generously brush melted butter on the second sheet of phyllo pastry and place packet at one end of the large rectangle. Roll and fold packet down the end of the rectangle and you'll have a well wrapped chicken packet with ends of pastry on either side. Brush with butter and fold these two ends in and under the packet and bake with this side down. Bake for 30 mins in a 350 oven. Serve immediately while pastry is still crisp from the oven.

I served these chicken parcels with a Greek salad and roasted potatoe wedges (tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and dried oregano). Delicious.

a good cover

HOW magazine cover illustration sketch No.1

a good cover
subtitled - and/or the fine art (& craft) of knowing when to stop.

Oh my, I've been doing a bit of stewin' and you know how I love to stew.

The current issue of HOW magazine not only has me featured in an article on hand lettering but it's also the issue of my failed, potential big deal, cover assignment (more info here). The big double issue, the 25th anniversary ... and an opportunity presented to the 29 Black Street CE* like none other (to date).

In my home office I have a large bulletin board and said failed cover collage illustration has been pinned to this bulletin board since the failure occurred (early November). In other words I am looking at this failed assignment daily and many, many times daily and like those V-8 commercials I have recently thunked my own self on the noggin', the big geezly light bulb has gone off in my head and I've just today come to terms with the fact that what I produced might have been a beautiful collage of texture and pattern but was ultimately, not at all - a good cover.

I've been a designer for nearly 25 years and I should have known better. The top image was my original sketch/mock up to which the art director requested that I make sure that my final was tres rich with pattern & texture. Can you say Go Wild Girlfriend !?! an out of control, speeding collage train. I took it too far, way too far. I did not know when to stop. There are some simple basic rules when designing covers (of any variety - album, CD, book) like miniature posters they must grab for attention. Clarity and hierarchy are two essential qualities that leap insistently to mind.

The message intended to be communicated must be clear - easy to read and to understand and also the hierarchy of information must be well communicated. In this case HOW (the magazine's masthead/logo) should jump out at you first , then the 25th issue tag line and then finally a few equally weighted bits of info. Plus this message should be able to be communicated as someone is hurrying by the new stand. Oh hey look ! it's HOW's 25th issue, the design annual. Thunk !!

Thunk ! Thunk !

Pas de clarity, pas de hierarchy = failed magazine cover assignment. In other words I blew it !

I don't think that I'm trying to beat myself up about this one but I am very glad that I'm finally getting around to a proper critique (or post mortem) of this CE* flop. It is all part of the process of moving forward and becoming better ... and better. And just like some other things in my life that cause me to get a stewin' it helps tremendously to talk about those things here, on my blog.

Inset photo is of the final published cover design.


Ah yes, tres rich in texture and pattern but pas de clarity or hierarchy

*CE - Creative Empire

my comfort

self portrait with geranium

Oh, the comfort,
the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,

having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together,
certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping,
and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

George Elliot

and how I feel about my blog and all of you who visit here each day, with love - thank you

Firewood stacking, a little home reno project, walks with the sisters, a delicious dinner of rosemary feta chicken in filo pastry* (I'm cooking tonight), a movie - all shared with comfort.
Oh, the comfort ... my comfort - my history lovin' Prince (of All Things Good).

Happy Sunday to all.

*recipe to follow tomorrow with photos

sordid

ice in the harbour

Yesterday afternoon I ran into a woman who I consider to be a fairly good friend. I ran into her in the parking lot of the hardware store which is beside our one and only bustling seasonal cafe and all round meeting place. She was telling me all about the cafe's open house Christmas party ... the social event of the season, the one the cowboy and I had intended to make our social debut at ... but we didn't. I changed my mind at the last minute. Psychic perhaps. He, of course, was easy either way, he let it be my call whether we attended or not and for some reason at the very last moment I decided I didn't want to go.

This friend yesterday told me all about the conversations that were had that night about me and all about the cowboy. Incredibly personal tidbits spoken that night all gleaned from gossip and innuendo. You know that friend of a friend told me information that people gather. Authentic or not - it's always worth repeating, it's small town (or in this case village) gossip. As she proceeded to give me intimate details of what what said that night about me, about him and ultimately about us I felt sick to my stomach and I felt like I wanted to cry ... and told her so.

I thought about this casual chat in the parking lot all night last night attempting to figure out what exactly about it made me feel so terrible. I dissected my feelings (as I so love to do), I peered at the little bits of information she had revealed to me, and the cowboy and I discussed the whole thing, after dinner, at great length. This morning as I sit here at dawn I realize that what I feel is overwhelmingly disappointed - in people. My expectations are way too lofty I realize and the reality of it all has left me feeling sad ... that and my ears feel burning and hot.

a pm ps - when things like this show up in your life perhaps it's just the Universe shooting spit balls at us (through an empty Bic pen of course) and reminding us of the ways we do not want to be in the world. So for that little gift ... I'll say Merci M. Universe

shot in the arm

a tiny life No.5 - collage and gouache

I just bought your tiny home artwork.
We are in the process of downsizing to a very small house and your work is so beautiful.

Barbara - her blog here

I sold this piece yesterday from my shop in the lands of etsy - the original - Yipee ! the lovely comment that accompanied the etsy transaction really got my ol' Creative Empire Building juices a flowin'. The etsy side, or the my own stuff side of my CE building I'll admit has fallen a bit by the wayside since hooking up with the Prince of All Things Good (the handsome cowboy) in late autumn. But ... I knew in my heart that it would all come back to me (when a little more of this love & restoration dust had settled) and I have never stopped stewin' and thinkin' and ponderin' that side of my creative life and lookin' and hopin' for an opportunity to get all that CE stuff back on track and cooking once again.

Thinking about stuff is my expertise. Doing the stuff - well ... that's another matter.
So ... a big merci to Barbara who has given me just the shot in the arm I'd been looking for.

My etsy shops here & here. Stay tuned for some spring time rockin' new stuff.

duct tape

ahhhhhhhh ! les spare, dry, efficient and tres spacious basement vignettes - sigh

A few more of my Christmas gifts from the cowboy (aside from my gifts of more Love & Care than I could have ever imagined all beautifully wrapped in Hope & Happiness) 2 rolls of (50 metre each) silver duct tape and a 50 ft vintage, green, real rubber hose with a beautiful brass nozzle. A hose we will use to power wash the solid, smooth and level concrete floor. Any remaining (or new) dust or dirt will be whooshed away toward the drain in the corner - the drain with the new grate and the thick layer of pale grey, smooth silt filtering gravel. Sigh.

One of my basement jobs was to wrap and secure, with duct tape, the insulation that is padded around all of the water pipes in our beautiful new basement. No freezing pipes ever again at 29 Black Street. Uh Huh ! The basement - the newly opened 3rd level of this old brick house. Now accessible to les Chats for exploration, hunting and general cat activities avec complete toilet facilities and kitchenette. Oliver, of course, was the first one down into the new space. Turns out he is the most excellent duct tape wrapping assistant/supervisor in between playing Catch me if you can as I hide behind the boiler racing around games.

Happy as can be.

somewhere

palest blues and chocolate brown

Ache & Sadness, Worry & Fret, Anxiety & Fear, near constant companions of mine for as long as I can remember, seem to all be on an extended hiatus. I see glimpses of them every now and then, as if their number keeps showing up on my call display. I know that they still exist but they're not at all playing havoc with my life at present. Where did they go I wonder ? How long will they be gone and will they come back ... ever ? I pondered these big questions as I walked with the sisters under the stars and a half moon this early morning. Winnie & Piper walked and sniffed and stopped and sniffed while I thought about life. My life. This morning it occurred to me that after so many years of yearning for somewhere. Finally, I have somewhere ... somewhere big and important for all of my love to go.

The pressure of so much accumulated love, backed up and overflowing, had me feeling a kind of stress - many negative emotions were wreaking havoc. Now that dam has been wonderfully breached. Love flows easily and freely from me - it's all around me, keeping me afloat. It feels Perfect and Right ...and it makes me feel almost nothing but Happy & Safe.

This mornings early morning coffee chatter - Sadness - a Tragic Sense of Life ? or the existence of a Pain Body. ? Shut Up !! Y'all know how much this girl sure does love a deep, humdinger of a conversation ... especially over morning coffee. Sighing.

snowy

thick snowy frosting on our old red brick gingerbread house

I'm on the fly this early morning - I'm off to walk the sisters in darkness and then back to the TTD to meet a 10 am deadline while that handsome cowboy does final improvements dans la beautiful dry, spare and tres efficient new basement. More happy sighing.

big & bold

the view from my second floor office/studio window yesterday afternoon

Love in it's essence is spiritual fire

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) Swedish Naturalist

Oh, I have been savin' up all of my love, my loving, for a very long time and just as wonderful as it is to be the recipient of this big, authentic, all encompassing kind of love ... even better still is to have the chance to love back - to love big and bold and fearlessly. It's the dream I have always hoped for.

Snowy and white and mild here this early morning. There's a bright moon high up in the sky above the harbour and the air is forecast to be warmer for a few days. Hooray ! Lots of dripping and melting sounds. I'm off now to plan my day and week with my coffee, curled up in the nest of down and flannel. Then we'll bundle up in fleece and we (Miss D, Piper Belle and I) will stroll the early morning streets of this very wintry little village.





grey and snowing and many seals in the harbour - yesterday afternoon's snow walk


and ... my new favourite song

Somebody said they saw me,
swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud,
killing the blues.

nesting

les uniform of fleece and wool and some springtime tulips

From the 2009 photo archives. If you stopped by 29 Black Street (at any time) the chances that I would be wearing this favourite and oh so chic number of tres oversized, cosy fleece in a dull nothing shade of green (with a fleck) avec my faux turtleneck (fav black & white Nordic scarf) are almost 100 to 1. The uniform of the self employed designer gal who lives in an 130+ year old, very drafty and chilly big ol' brick house.

Final touches on the basement cleaning-out project will happen this morning and then my Prince (OATG) * will begin project No.2 removing the acoustic tiled ceilings currently in the large living room/dining room and kitchen and replacing these ugly ceilings with smooth beautiful gyp rock. After that, project No. 3 - the building of les giant, along one wall - built in cabinets, book shelves, media/entertainment centre will begin, in our lovely loft like living/dining area - the room that faces the harbour, the room with 9 beautiful windows and chocolate brown floors. Sighing. And Oh !! Wait 'til you hear our plans for the giant yard and garden. My heart sings.

My handsome history lovin' bower bird is building his nest.

I'm thinking of creating another blog to document this incredible reno project - a new blog that will replace (obviously) the 29blackstreet4sale blog. Stay tuned.

*Of All Things Good

rescued

the handsome prince avec miniature coyote (PB) and the beautiful brown hound (Bess)

Miss D, of course, is hangin' back with Mama. She's the on-location photography assistant when my No. 1 (Oliver) is not available.

Some girls would like a shiny diamond ring, maybe even a band of gold but I've been given the ultimate - a clean, dry, spare and tres efficient brand new basement. He, the Prince of All Things Good, has tackled (with my loving assistance) my ultimate nemesis - the symbol of all & everything that seemed wrong with 29 Black Street - the ultimate in overwhelm, my tres scary basement. We're nearly finished. 6 black steeds (truckloads) filled with junk - old and previously essential workings (hot water heaters, a boiler, water pumps, tools, packaging and at last count 7 faulty pressure release valves) along with lots of old wood, rusty pipes and just plain junk (even an old car axle) all packed up lovingly and taken to the lands of waste and recycling.

And now a near empty, efficient dry space - be still my beating heart. While I dug around the basement's perimeter unclogging the weeping drainage ditch with a small garden trowel yesterday morning - I caught the cowboy looking at my initiative with love and admiration. Later we both stood and watched as clear water flowed around the basement's edge and finally down and out through the large drainage hole in the corner. The hole that he has plans to make a grate for and then fill with two sizes of gravel. He does nothing halfway - be still my heart ... be still. He looked at me and said the sight of that draining water makes my heart soar like an eagle. I looked back at him and said You ! Mr. Mr. - make my heart soar like an eagle.

I have been rescued ... and in so many ways I can't keep track.

One very important lesson I have learned during this first, large shared project - do not presume to know how to properly load a pick up truck - especially one bound for the transfer station. It is always best to enthusiastically help to schlep things up and out of the basement and to place them beside the truck but never, ever in the truck for there is always a much practiced and relied on method to this crazy, wonderful madness. Oh yeah ... and best to limit, or better still, cease all attempts at conversation when said black steed is being packed up. I, fortunately, am a very quick study. More chocolate mousse my love ?


it may look a bit Silence of the Lamb to some ... but to me it looks like Heaven

yes & no

Bess - the beautiful and crazy brown hound

Hope is the dream of a soul awake

French Proverb

Yesterday Mmmm left me a comment wondering if I over these past sad and difficult years of mine Did I ever really believe that anything & everything could or might happen ? and the answer is probably both Yes & No. Most definitely a general No - and definitely not a day-to-day Yes but there was always a glimmer of Yes, always a fresh new day (week or month) before me, another new chance. Some amazing things have happened in my life completely out of the blue and I did try to keep those memories close to my heart. Very good things had come before so maybe they would come again. I think I always had a glimmer of Hope and with that Hope came Hope's sidekick - a clearer and clearer vision of what was missing in my life - after all these years of solitary, self reliant independence and contentment what I needed and wanted with all of my heart was a person - a person to love and a person who would love me back.

Did I believe that I would actually ever find that person ? I don't think so Did I believe that I would find that person a 5 minute drive away, just across the bridge from 29 Black Street - Absolutely Not ! It is a freakin' miracle and one that was absolutely meant to be. As if by magic I did find him and he found me and now I most definitely do believe anything & everything is possible. I believe that the clearer you can be in deciding what you want in your life the easier it will be for that life to find you. And Hope is the very best navigator.

I can't write about these last few years without mentioning MLou (my best friend) because without her I would never have made it to this new place. Just yesterday she and I had one of our frequent phone chats and one tiny little thing she said stayed with me throughout the day. A little nugget of truth we each had gleaned from our first 2 person book club selection Eckhart Tolle's - A New Earth (a book I'm reading again at her suggestion avec high liter in hand) and a gem of a nugget that I had forgotten. Something about showing up in the world, wherever you are, whatever the situation - giving out only what you would like to receive back. The course of my day yesterday was completely changed by her reminding me, again, of that little gem.

A few of the books that I've found very helpful along the way

A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
Broken Open - Elizabeth Lesser (how I love the idea that at times we are -broken open)
Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes - William Bridges

Hey ! I just realized I haven't given any thought to making any darn resolutions - oh well !



hey there handsome