Our Mindful Eye

“Isn’t it amazing
the way beautiful
things find us

climb into our laps
without warning

intimidate the worst
parts of our day

and only ask that we
notice them”

— rudy francisco

You may think there is nothing very spectacular about this image. It does seem pretty ordinary but my favorite things are usually ordinary. The things that we may take for granted like the wood fruit bowl that sits in the center of the table. Sunday morning I woke up earlier than I usually do on a weekend day. I was the second person up. The first already gone for work for the day. When I walked down the stairs from our room I immediately was taken by the light shining on the dining room table. It was a gift to wake up to. My eyes saw it far better than this image can portray. This is just a snapshot and idea of what my eyes saw Sunday morning. I notice from the memories that Facebook will pop up that it’s this time of year exactly that most my images are shadows and light. It’s the fall golden light. Southern California doesn’t quite get a true colorful fall, but we do get a beautiful golden light that is noticeably different than that of summer and spring. As I’m becoming older I notice I have definite patterns in the course of a year.

I hope I never stop appreciating the gifts that surround me. The faithful creaky wood floors, the light that moves through a room in the morning sunrise and also in the evening sunset. I hope I never stop noticing the sweetness of a crisp apple, the hot cup of coffee that feels especially right in my hands. I find such comfort in the walls of this home we have had for the past 20 years. I think about moving to a place that has less traffic and more nature but for now I find the beauty in this place, the place I am now.

I started this project because Christina invited me to pick up my camera and find the beautiful things that surround me and remind me to be mindful in the things that I do, the images I share. I’m really grateful she invited me to do this project. It makes me happy to know that she is appreciating her moments so very much that she has not had a chance to share them lately. Her last image made me laugh because it was simply a wide eyed owl that read, “do you ever feel like this?” Yes. Yes I do.

mindful eye

“We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of your hand”

— Isaiah 64:8

For many years now I’ve been interested in those who shape clay into unique and especially beautiful and useful pieces. While I was pregnant with my first baby just over 23 years ago I took a pottery class at the Adult School with my mom. I remember wearing my overalls and having a cute little belly with my first son growing inside of me. We had such fun in that class my mom and I. I made the most awful things. I made this hand shaped coffee mug for motorcycle man and we still have this oddly shaped mug to this very day. I think they let us on the wheel just one time I can remember and it was so much more difficult than I had imagined it would be and the clay felt abrasive when I had imagined it would feel soft. After I had Austin I was extremely busy raising a baby while working full time and 3-1/2 years later I had his little brother Dylan and felt even more busy, raising two boys and working full time and also deciding to purchase our first home that was quite a large undertaking. It was 3-1/2 years after second born son arrived and we were trying to make our little fixer upper house a home that our littlest and only girl came into the world. Needless to say I’ve been busy the past 23 years. I’ve managed to pick up my camera and keep a blog and do some of the creative things that matter to me but I’ve always wanted to return to the clay creations. I even recently checked out a book at the library about an interesting, lively and creative woman who made her life in pottery, her name was Beatrice Wood. I pin pottery in Pinterst, I admire other women I know on social media who dabble in pottery as well. I try and support those artists with encouraging words or buying things they might have for sale. The cup in the photograph above is a recent purchase, I bought a pair actually and I couldn’t wait for them to arrive. They landed on my doorstep on Saturday late afternoon just in time for afternoon coffee and then later that night I poured a cup of red wine in the same cup. It felt so perfect in my hands and it felt special to know this was a handmade one of a kind. When I picked up the cup to wash it today I noticed the wine drips and I found it to be pretty and real so this is what I decided on for my mindful eye to see. If you might want to take a peek at the selection of pottery Camille has you can click HERE.

Fall is finally here and I’m excited to use this pair of handmade cups for hot cozy drinks and night caps and maybe even a darling bundle of flowers to display. I find the pair of cups/vases to be multi purpose and I love that. It’s important to build others up and support them when we can. Speaking of creative friends, I always wonder what Christina will share in her blog space. I really love that she invited me to be a part of the mindful eye project because it keeps me at the very least posting once a week.

the mindful eye

“It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day. ”

— Mary Oliver

We made it to the beach Saturday evening and I’m so happy we did. We love to just sit in the sand and take it all in. Watching the sun as it quickly slides away and gives us the most tremendous show as it waves goodbye, it says to us “It’s been a lovely day, completely amazing however I need to visit the other side now and let my moon friend shine for you tonight, I’ll be back tomorrow. Promise.” It’s always a privilege to send our sun friend off to the other side, the sun has done such good things for us today. It’s provided a beautiful light for us to see, it gives us some much needed Vitamin D, it helps our plants and trees grow, it warms our earth and provides life to so many things. We are thankful. God knew how important it was and created it first, the very first thing:)

I also planted the poppy seeds in the front garden. I can’t wait for them to grow and bloom. I hope it’s as simple and turning up the soil and just sprinkling them in sort of like I salt my food. Just sprinkle a little here or there and let nature do the rest.

Last week Christina talked about working on her creative self and she shared a prayer that included little old me and I feel so honored and I want to pray the same prayer. Christina’s prayer for us so completely authentic and heartfelt and I really appreciate that she prays for us and I know the words to be true. I began my creativity this weekend by not being creative at all but rather admiring God’s creativity and being inspired by His handy work. He has inspiration all around me and I realized that lately I have not been noticing as much as I sometimes do. It was really important that I sit still this weekend for a little bit to just take some of His wonders in. Sometimes I think that’s all we need to do. Just stop for a little bit in our otherwise busy days and just sit still under His sky and on His earth and just listen and see.

our mindful eye

Remember Francesca? She grew from seeds my mom brought back from Italy.  She took a long time to show promise.  It took even longer to grow 2 small tomatoes that stayed green for the longest time I almost thought they were supposed to be green.  They finally after a very long time turned red and it was a happy day.  Such a happy day.  They tasted really good and my hope was she would produce at least just a few more but we went away on a long road trip and it was really really hot and I think it took its toll on Francesca.  I'm pretty sure she is at the end of her days.  Do you see the brown land behind her?  That's our "grass"  yes, it's been a hot summer and the grass seed motorcycle man threw out on our dirt backyard only lasted a short time and that was even with moderate watering.  I'm praying this winter we get some rain. The wall was built STRONG, it can handle a flood I'm pretty sure, so bring on the rain.  Please send us some rain. 

I hope Christina has a great weekend with her family.  I'm wondering what she might share? She did inspire me to get my water color pencils out and I did do more doodling than normal this week.  I love good friends who inspire me to follow my heart. She has been a very supportive friend.  I'm thankful for that.  I hope you will visit her blog to see what her mindful eye has found this week.  

life and water

“What a chance, what a surprise! My will has chosen life”

— Holly Hunter's character (Ada McGrath) in the Piano

This film came out in 1993, the year I got married.  I was 23 years old.  I remember specifically the theater I saw this movie at. I went to a  matinee with a friend of mine. I remember being deeply touched by this movie and in the 25 years since the movie came out I will play back one of the last scenes over in my head from time to time.  The part where Ada deliberately puts her foot inside the rope that is going overboard with her piano. In that instant she is choosing death as she deliberately places her foot in the middle of the coiled rope that is quickly running out as the piano plunges deeper into the ocean.  She believes she would rather be in the depths of the quiet ocean with only her piano than to live. However she surprises herself when she slips off her shoe to rise to the surface for breath, for life!

 How many times have I also fantasized about plunging into the depths of the quiet beautiful under water world?  Where  in the water I can do things I can’t do on land, in the water that is a peaceful meditation to this otherwise noisy, crowded sometimes crazy world.  How many times have I placed my head under the water of the bathtub just to listen the underwater noises, my heart beat, the blood rushing through my veins? How many times have I walked to the back yard and fell into the pool just so I could float on top of the water and again listen to the world in an entirely different way?  It’s peaceful. It’s quiet.  It’s liberating.  WATER. 

WATER.  We need it to live.   Half our bodies are water.  A baby is surrounded by fluid while developing in the mothers womb. 71% of the Earth’s surface is water.  I was made for water. I feel at total peace while in water or being near  water.  This is why this particular scene of this movie touched me and has never left my memory after all these years. To sink into the depths if only for a moment. I would like to think my will would also choose life if given the choice. 

our mindful eye

Christina gave me courage to try water color on my snail mail.  I was behind in our posts because of the holiday. Today feels like Monday.  I'm excited it's actually Tuesday.  It's still wet and a little crinkly but I gave it a try.  Christina's illustrated journal she shares today in her blog at 22 LIMES is truly inspiring.    I will add words around the light orb and I will address this to someone, not even sure who yet but someone who might appreciate a moth.

I could relate to Christina's words today big time.  I'm my own worst critic, I think it's common to be hard on ourselves.  Today Sharon (my tell it like it is therapist) said these words to me "why do you work so hard to make others like you when you don't even like yourself?" Talk about speaking truth.  That was a solid, no beat around the bush statement.  I had been sitting there telling her what a pleaser I am and how the center of that pleasing is because I want everyone to like me.  She laughed out loud at that.  She laughed because it's a fantasy.   There  will always be those people who have a preconceived notion about you. It will not matter what you do, they simply don't want to like you and they don't have to and that's that.  I've made my own list of rules.  If I stay late and help clean up after the party they will value me more, if I bring them a meal when they are sick, they will know I'm a "good person"   I recently said yes to something I clearly should have passed up on.  I didn't want to let a friend down and by saying yes I placed pressure on myself however I ended up learning a valuable lesson.  I can say no in a kind way.  I can say no and she will still love me.  I can speak my truth and the people who matter most,  my ride or die's will get it.  If they love me for exactly who I am, they will love me in my NO's.  I have to work first on liking myself.  If I truly like myself for who I am then it will not matter if I'm accepted by all.   This has been my journey and I'm suspecting that I'm not alone in this journey.  I'm going to keep working at it.  I'm not going to give up.  The more I practice my No's and speak truth in love then I believe I will become a more secure human being who doesn't need to almost quite literally pick myself to death. 

 I have thought of a way to close this and tie it back to the moth drawing.    "like moth to a flame"  strange self destructive behavior.   I'm living sort of like a moth and I think that needs to end soon. Bless the moths sweet little soul.   

Los Angeles Museum of Illusions

One of the Summer fun things we did in August was stop by the Los Angeles Museum of Illusions.  I had forgot to share about this fun night.  I have a friend who has all these amazing ideas and I'm the friend who will respond to her amazing ideas with a simple phrase.  "I'M IN"  Most always she will text me with her idea which will be on a regular week night after work none the less and I will respond within moments with "I'm in" This was one of her ideas.  She has the best ideas ever and she is a pretty good planner, my kind of gal!  We have our girls who are the same age and met in the 6th grade. The four of us have become really great friends.    This particular night we drove to Hollywood Blvd. to check this place out. I'm just going to share a few pictures from the night.  If I were to review this particular hot spot I might say things like, it was really expensive!  It cost 25.00 a person to get inside.  It's smaller than you might imagine and it's a little warm inside.  The girls got a few bucks knocked off for being students, they cost 20.00 dollars I believe.  I think because it cost a pretty penny to get inside this means, there are not a ton of people to deal with:)  I loved that part.  It felt almost as if we had the place to ourselves.  I'm not sure if this is always the case but it was the case on a Thursday evening after work!  We clearly had FUN.  I love when we can find the free things to do but we find plenty of that so this was like a splurge.  

Our Mindful Eye

I'm thinking this post may just confirm that I'm getting "old"  I like to watch birds.  Yes, you heard me, I like to watch the birds in our yard.  At the start of July Abbie and I went on a road trip and we were gone about 10 days.  Motorcycle man was missing his girls and the boys are so busy living their busy lives he found himself often alone in a quiet house.  He decided to go out and purchase a finch feeder so he could have some company but the sad part about that was, the finches take about 2 weeks to find the feeder once it's put out.  We were gone nearly as long as it took for our first batch of finches to visit and eat.  I was sitting on the patio with motorcycle man having our coffee and very excited to see he had hung a finch feeder and low and behold here they came flying in!  He laughed and said "this is the first time I've actually seen a finch eat from the feeder"  He thought is was pretty ironic that he got the feeder so the birds could keep him company and they didn't come to visit until we were back home.  Sort of defeated the entire purpose.  However it was great for me because I came home to sweet little yellow bellied birds.  

The photo above was taken this past Saturday morning as we sat in our backyard and enjoyed our morning coffee.  Rich actually modified the feeder too, adding more holes and sticking little yellow juice pouch straws through the holes he drilled for them to stand on.  When they began to eat us out house and home he decided to plug up some of those holes. They were practically eating an entire tube in one day.  I love this particular image because it's a bright yellow bird and a not so colorful bird.  I don't know a darn thing about birds.  If anyone knows, tell me is that a different bird?  Or is it just a female finch because I was taught in school that the female species of animals is usually less decorated than a male species.  Can anyone enlighten me about the sweet not so colorful bird?  I think she is very cute and that's why this image was my favorite.  Watching birds is a very mindful thing to do  I feel very at peace when I watch them.  I like to take in the finches, our little bunny who also likes to come out and visit in the morning, the Japanese beetles, the yellow butterflies, the humming birds and occasional dragon fly who might pop into our yard here or there.  It just feels so relaxing to watch all the critters come and go.  Oh to fly!  Can you imagine? I'll share one more image (below) because I want you to see just how many will dine all at once at the West chateau! Just let me pretend about the chateau part.  LOL!! As always I'm so curious about my friend CHRISTINA and what she may have caught with her mindful eye this past week.  I got to see that she got a new hair style and it suits that sassy girl to a perfect T.  She wears short hair well, goes with her dynamic personality. 

Our Mindful Eye

This is my "test shot"  turns out I liked it better than the one I was trying so hard to capture.  I got a little behind over the weekend and things came up that were unexpected and that leads to this teeny tiny feather.  I let Christina know this morning that my post would be later today.  What I didn't know was all I would accomplish before I would have time to take a photograph and blog about it.  Yes, I accomplished much more than I thought was possible of myself today.  Knowing what was ahead of me I said a few prayers.  I prayed I would make not just the right decision but the best decision and that can be a true challenge.  How do I make the best decision and know that it's the best?  I can ask friends for their support in prayer.  I did that.  I can pray myself.  I did that.  Then I can go on with what I "think" is right.   

I got in my car when my work day was done to find this teeny tiny feather float into my car and land at my feet.  Maybe someone else might not even see it, maybe someone else would even be annoyed by it.  Maybe someone else would toss it right back out.  Not me.  For me this feather was a confirmation and sign.  Not confirming the choice I was making but rather just to remind me that He cares about us, He cares about the big things and He cares about the little things. That's what it was for me, just the reminder I needed at the exact right time.  I snapped a shot of it sitting on my leg, inside my car and shared it on social media but then I realized I had not taken a single image all week with my Canon and that's the point of our Mindful blog.  I decided I would photograph the gift I had received.  I felt it very worthy of this mindful spot.  

I still  don't know the BEST choice but I've moved towards what I think it the right choice and I'm patiently waiting now for the doors to open.  Or close.  That's what I'm waiting on, but I've done my part and that's all I can do for now.  Patience is also a lesson I think I need.  I will wait.

I visited my friend's blog post about her mindful moment last week and I giggled when she explained how she didn't take a mindful photograph, and she didn't take any group family shots and she didn't even take photograph's of her two darling grand girls however this clearly spoke to me.  It spoke that she was mindful. She was enjoying her time so much even if part of it was cooking the meal, she enjoyed it so much she didn't have time to take mindful photographs for she was living them.  That made me smile.  I hope you go visit HER because her words always have me smiling. 

our mindful eye

Why?  Would this be my Mindful image this week?  For one, it's the only other picture I took with my camera besides all the produce I thought to be photo worthy this week...LOL. 

However that being said, I think it's important to share that this was a morning image taken before work while most likely running behind but not late, just behind.  It spoke so loudly to me that I felt lead to pick up the camera before work to snap 2 images, this one is my favorite. It surprises me because the second image was more close up and I tend to enjoy a good close crop.  You can see a lot of me in this image though because you can see a little of my surroundings. 

I'll talk a little bit about what you can see here in this image.  The colorful blanket is a favorite of mine.  I'm a colorful gal.  We picked this up in New Mexico  a couple years ago on one of our epic road trips.  Feathers.  If you know me.  You know how I feel about feathers, gifts and signs.  This is what they are for me.  Special books, tractors from when the boys were little.  My creative partner might just spy something special...a rock she brought to our retreat in Oregon.  It cracked me up because she loaded her luggage with rocks from her hometown to gift to all the women there.  I love her heart and I cherish my rock.  There is a bottle that sits here on this table. This table was a gift from my parents.  I've had this table since before Austin was born, it's made it rounds here or there but mostly it's lived in our home.  The bottle, back to the bottle.  It holds a letter from our first born's love.  She had dinner with us before she left for college and wrote us a letter in a bottle topped with feathers and yes I cried when I read it after our farewell dinner.  She has since graduated from the University of San Francisco this past May with honors and a nice handful of awards.  She works so very hard, so hard.   I have no idea where she gets all her energy to do all the things she does and I do admire her greatly for her tenacity and commitment to what she believes in . She has not stopped, she left in August to live in St. Louis Missouri for her next important part of her life.  This means another long distance relationship but so far the pair of them have made it work no mater how close or far they are from one another.  The basket in the far distance is full of paper cranes I folded for a dear friend and neighbor who found her cancer had returned and she endured a critical procedure this past spring to conquer this horrible disease.  It was such a small thing to do for a friend but a way for me to remember to pray for her each day she was away from home.  I'm someone who needs physical reminders or else I simply might just forget a day or two.  This simple morning light image holds a lot for me.  A lot of memories and a lot of love.  This is why I share this image today for our mindful eye project.  I was so excited to read last week that Christina shared about ADVENTURE.  She lives it she really does.  I'm always excited to see what SHE has to share each week, click HERE to visit her adventurous life!

home delivery

I remember when I was growing up my mom got a milk man to deliver our milk because she couldn't keep up with the large amounts of milk my big brother drank.  I was intrigued then and still just as excited to have gifts left on my front porch.  Although we pay for those gifts it feels like a gift and there is an element of excitement around knowing you will have a package placed right on your front door step.  I was for a time using a produce company called Farm Fresh to You and I loved it and while I could have signed up with them again after taking my long break I decided to try something new and different and also as I blogged a few blogs back, two people in one week shared with me about this company called Imperfect Produce.  I loved the idea that this company was doing something really amazing by not wasting the imperfect produce that large grocery stores consider not worthy to sell. This is our 3rd box and it looks gorgeous to me and not very imperfect at all.  I'm actually waiting to get that heart shaped potato or gnarly carrot.  I wanted to open my box and share what was  delivered yesterday.  I customized this order and treated ourselves to artichokes because for us they are a treat.  This box weighted just over 21 pounds and cost around 20.00 and change. If you might want to give this a try and they deliver in your area which I believe they mostly cover the West Coast and Chicago area and I just recently read they are expanding to San Antonio TX:) click this link HERE

If you like onions everyone can always use onions.  I ordered a red one too but they didn't have any available, that's one thing about being imperfect, they sometimes don't have what you put on your list but don't worry, they don't charge you for it and I can swear they put in an extra onion in my box for free because normally things come in sets of 2 and 4 I've noticed. I ordered lots of limes because we love limes on our taco's and in our drinks.  Last week I was traveling and forgot to customize our box and they sent a beautiful large bundle of cilantro.  I made a batch of homemade salsa with it that included some fresh lime juice, red onions, garlic, a hearty portion of the cilantro and tomatoes from our garden.  It tasted yummy.  I love avocados, I think I could eat them on just about everything. They taste good all by themselves too.   I got the zucchini and cucumbers with zoodles in mind but when I opened the fridge this morning "someone" had eaten one just plain and left a little quarter of it which I had to take out bite out of.  It didn't disappoint. 

Upper left hand corner is our treat for the week!  It will taste so yummy to enjoy in the back yard this weekend while we hang out and listen to our water fountains flow.  A beautiful head of cauliflower, I mean, hello does it look imperfect? I don't think so, not even any little yellow or brown spots like I often see in the market.  The large head of lettuce to make a big beautiful organic salad with, I may just add those sweet cherry tomatoes and that other quarter of the cucumber that was left in the fridge.  

In this box I didn't order a lot of fruit.  My first box had lots of fruit because we were headed on a road trip and I thought grabbing pieces of fruit would be easier on the go than chomping on veggies.  The plums are so sweet and yummy.  I had one the day it was delivered and so did mancub when he brought our box inside the house for me.  He told me how good it tasted while he watched me do the produce photo session.  I'm hoping the cantaloupe will not disappoint as well.  This was our box this week.  I decided that I will order weekly and this my friends is the small organic box.  It seems to be enough each week for what we use.  In fact I still have a couple carrots and some celery left from last weeks box.  This also gets me super excited to think of things to create with this produce.  Today I plan to sit with one of my new favorite cookbooks and see what ideas might pop up.  In case you might be wondering about the cookbook, it's called The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson.  This book was also introduced to me by one of the same gals who introduced me to Imperfect Produce.  What would I do without Miss Moonspinner!

How did I almost forget the brussel sprouts?  We love to eat these simply roasted with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper.  A little crunchy of course.  I would recommend Imperfect Produce, their prices are good and they have an easy to navigate site.  It's very simple without a lot of frills but  I have noticed they offer coffee, chocolate and olive oil but the list of things to purchase is pretty straight forward.  Unlike Farm Fresh to You which offers lots of extras and even meal kits.  I actually love both home delivery companies.  The only thing I like more about Farm Fresh is that they take my boxes from the week before and recycle them.  They don't re-use them for food deliveries but they gladly recycle them for me.  Which I think is nice.  Imperfect Produce doesn't take my old boxes for recycle they leave that up to me, which is fine too.  Plus if you know someone moving, they could come in handy as they are very sturdy. 

mindful eye

I choose YOU sunrise!  I choose YOU.  There were many mindful and meaningful moments along the way on our road trip but this is the image I decided to share.  There were the gigantic breathtaking redwoods, the lush green forest that made me feel like I was traveling through a fairytale, the unique moody coastal travels and the long stretches of highway, all worthy but this one is special because it was the very first image I shot out of the 167 I took.  I love that the sun was on my right rising up and the full moon was to my left fading out.  I loved the headlights of the car driving towards me and the dust that was kicked off it's tires, the wires, the high wires I've loved since I was a girl in the backseat of the car, daydreaming.  I tried to click the shutter at the right exact moment when the sun was lined up with the tall wire structure.  To watch the sunrise was a gift our first day.  Mornings are peaceful and hold a sacred quality that no other time of the day can compare with.  I'm not even a morning person but I can really appreciate what it has to offer.  

We of course had people moments too.  Those moments are priceless but they will be featured in our road trip video that I will be working on soon.  I really loved the Northern part of our state and into Oregon coast.  I can see why there are so many coffee huts up that way.  I wanted to have coffee in my hands many of the days moments.  I got to wear my handmade beanies and warmer layers in the middle of summer.  I felt like I could fit right in with the Northern folk.  If I could just get motorcycle man to agree to the mild gray weather they seem to have more of and the fact that the big big stores are not so near by.  I feel like I could do it but vacations maybe always have one feeling that way.  

I wonder what Christina was up to this past week while I was on the road.  I'm so very curious to see.  I hope you will go see too:)  Just click HERE AT 22 LIMES and you will see what her mindful eye captured. 

our mindful eye

You will not believe this but I'm writing today on Thursday July 26th and setting this up to post for Monday July 30th.  I'm setting this to post while I will be away on another road trip.  Just call me road trip queen! There is so much to see here in our beautiful United States of America.  I was recently blessed with a passport by a lovely, giving sweet soul.  One of her many mottos is "every girl needs a passport"  I think she is right about that.  I know I have adventures in my future that might be abroad but for now, I'm enjoying my homeland.  We  are so blessed to live very near the ocean, the mountains and the desert.  We joke about how one day we should try and hit all the things around us in one day because truth be told, it's completely possible to cover all those different climates and terrains from where we call our home.  

We seem to visit the ocean and beach more than the desert and mountains, it's also the closest of the 3.  We grew up here in Southern California and I wasn't familiar with Seal Beach until our next door neighbor took us there one evening.  We quickly realized it's the quickest beach to get to from our house and it's a sleepy beach  compared to Huntington which is crazy insane populated filled with hip kids. I would rather go to the quiet windy beach that has sting ray warnings and lots of ship activity because it neighbors with Long Beach.  We go to watch the sunset.  We have watched such beautiful sunsets sitting on the sands of Seal Beach.  

I think it has a mindful quality because when we go we often sit quietly and just listen to the surf and watch the sun softly drift away from us while it's on it's way to the other side or our planet. The image I share is of one of those days. This is Abbie's friend and she was so excited when the wave crashed against the jetty that she threw her hands in the air and kicked up her foot!  I didn't get her other hand in the frame because this image was snapped so quickly as the moment was quick but I still LOVE the authentic good feeling this image portrays.  I wonder what my friend Christina is up to?  You can see at 22 LIMES, I'm so curious too! I'm excited to take my camera on another road trip adventure. See ya next Monday. 

our mindful eye

This is NYLA  she is a confident and curious girl.   She stands up to big dogs and believes in herself.   She belongs to our littlest and only girl.  I think she and her cat are a lot alike.  I love that. I tend to take most of my photographs for Monday posts on Sundays.  Yesterday afternoon I noticed NYLA chillin in our old wicker chair.  All one needs to do is start talking to her and she peps right up and starts trying to get a little chin tickle or nice rub down.  She isn't fearful of people and she is a pretty social gal.  I laid on my belly on the cement below her just clicking away on manual.  I was pleasantly surprised that I captured her yawns and cute little teeth on manual and they came out clear!  (below)  But back to above.  I mean look at that confident stare.  She means business.  I want to channel NYLA and ABBIE confidence.  Those two are fierce together.  

Are you a cat person, a dog person or neither?  It's a difficult call.  We have both.  Max is such a loyal, regal and well behaved dog and little Pablo R.I.P. was such a steadfast little guy.  Always at my side.  But there is something really special about cats.  If I just had to choose, a cat would win.  I've had cats since before I was old enough to walk.  Cats have always been there in my life.  I love how they are survivors, how they do things on their own terms. I love the detail my camera was able to capture Sunday with NYLA her little crazy teeth, her long whiskers, her rough little tongue, her green cat eyes!  I think she is like a cat princess.  Garfunkel is gorgeous too but he wasn't around Sunday afternoon for the feline photo shoot.  I'm 100% certain Christina didn't capture kitties.   Maybe precious babies or epic hikes, I'm so curious to see!  Visit her mindful eye at 22 LIMES. 

talk about imperfect produce!?!?

Look at these silly carrots! I knew they would be a disaster because I put a pinch full of seeds in those little mesh pods and then planted the pods in the soil.  I never took the time to spread out the seeds and well, see what happened?  That's perfectly o.k. though because the two bunnies that live here won't mind at all!  They can even eat the tops of the carrots and they will be so happy and grateful that I planted these especially for their enjoyment.

Speaking of imperfect produce, twice this week two different friends of mine told me about a little organization that delivers boxes of imperfect organic produce right to my front door and it's awesome because the produce would otherwise be tossed out as waste and that's not cool.  Imperfect Produce is committed to reducing food waste and that sounds like something I can stand behind.  I'll gladly sign up for some imperfect produce as you can see from above and below, I'm no stranger to imperfection. 

I signed up today and my first delivery will be next Friday the 27th.  I'm excited to see what will be in that box.  I heard it's also very easy to customize the box.  If I don't like something scheduled to be delivered I can swap it for something different...even coffee if I want!

I'm sure I'll keep you posted as to how it all works out.  I used to use Farm Fresh to YOU and I loved that too but I took a break from that during our farmers market season last spring and never signed back up.  I'll try this for a change of pace. 

our mindful eye

We had the chance Sunday to walk around Old Orange and this of all things caught my mindful eye.  Someone lives there behind that brick wall and one little window with adorable succulents sitting on the sill for light.  I wonder sometimes what other peoples lives are like.  Who lives there and looks out that window and waters those plants?  I know I'm not very exciting.  This is what my mindful eye spied on Sunday.  I wonder what Christina is up to?  I hope you stop by and see her too at 22 LIMES. 

Our Mindful Eye

I just got back from a 9 day road trip.  We began in Yorba Linda California, we traveled through Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Idaho again, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and back to California.  It was myself, littlest and only girl, a childhood girlfriend and her two boys.  We saw some spectacular landscape.  We visited with amazing human beings who fed us and gave us a place to sleep at night.  It made our road trip very economic and reasonable.   The cost for gas in other states is far less than good old California and my friends car got really great gas milage.  It was an epic trip and we created some lasting memories.  This blog project is about being mindful and my most mindful day on the road trip was when my friend scheduled an hour and a half massage and I took the kids and toured the small town of Sandpoint Idaho.  

I love to visit with people but because I'm an introvert I love my alone time.  Although I had a small handful of teenagers with me for parts of the time it was a very fulfilling thing I did to feed my soul.  My friend needed the massage and I NEEDED the wandering around time plus I have a big heart for teen kids. 

I wandered the small town and took pictures of store fronts, adorable houses, walls, coffee spots and signs and I felt completely fulfilled and my spirit was lifted.  I could have spent far more time than 90 minutes just wondering the sidewalks by foot but it was my little piece of time to be mindful and quiet and walk the town with intention.  In fact I will probably share a post just on the unique homes in Sandpoint Idaho this week if I have some time.  I will also be sharing some of our road trip here or there and the sights we took in.  This was my favorite though, stumbling on art alley and being near things that I can relate with.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Christina has to share for Monday and what her mindful eye saw. You can see her post HERE AT 22 LIMES. 

UNTIL NEXT TME:)  peace. 

Our Mindful Eye

We planted a few carrots this season, just a few!  I wish sometimes I had a piece of land to have a small farm.  I would love to grow rows and rows of carrots, rows and rows of tomatoes, rows and rows of lettuce.  All the things we grow are in very small amounts, almost for the fun of watching the seeds turn into veggies and fruits.  I picked this sweet little carrot.  I washed it off and ate it!  I gave the last little carrot nub and green leafy top to Sarah bunny bunny, she lives in our house and that's the beauty of no veggie waste when you co-exist with herbivores.  It truly does feel very mindful to be patient and wait for the food to fully develop into something we can actually eat and it feels so gratifying to me to pull it out of the earth.  I love earth on my hands and under my feet.  

I'm off this week for a mini road trip with an old friend of mine and our kids.  We are headed to Idaho.  I can only imagine we will find some really epic photo moments, things I  have not seen before.  I've never been to Idaho. Can't wait! I will miss motorcycle man and the boyz but sometimes it just makes for a nice homecoming and a renewal of relationships.  Do you know what I mean? I almost can't wait to come home again and I've not even left, coming home is as exciting as leaving.  The big embrace and smiles are irreplaceable!  

Check out to see what my creative partner Christina is up to, did you see her epic hike last week?  She inspires!  I just read her emotional story of how she made it up a 14'er in Colorado last week despite the fact her body literally didn't want to take another step.  AMAZING!  The views were stunning and I'm so proud of her.  You can see what mindful moment she wants to share this week HERE AT 22 LIMES.   

Our mindful eye

This week FLEW.  I wasn't sure if I would make our Monday deadline.  We just got back from a beautiful reception in which we were able to see many family members we had not seen in years. It was wonderful.  I didn't even make it home in time for golden hour and so these images may not be my favorite but they are of my favorite newly acquired clawfoot tub...minus the feet;)  Our Aunt and Uncle are moving up north and they decided not to take their clawfoot planter box with them.  I offered to take it and they accepted!  I have dreamed of having a clawfoot tub since we bought our home 19 years ago.  I had a few dream requirements.  Hardwood floors (check) fireplace (added) front porch (check) and a clawfoot tub! I can now check off clawfoot tub and while it's not traditionally in our bathroom, it checks off my other dream....bathing under the moon!  This weekend we painted her yellow and placed her where I can eventually take a bath under the moon and stars.  I have yet to bathe in her but motorcycle man has plans to run a hose from the hot water heater into the tub.  I can hardly wait.  I know bathing this way will be a lot of work so I don't plan to make a habit of it, however once a month sounds doable and like a lovely treat.   It's far from perfect, I scrubbed and scrubbed and it still has some stains but it's clean, good and clean.  It has rust spots and the cast iron outside was rusty but the yellow paint gave it new life.  I'm really happy with how it came out and I can't wait to soak in it.  Below are a few details of this well made, super heavy cast iron addition.  I crack myself up because the last really big piece of furniture Aunt Lynn gave us I painted yellow as well!  I must love YELLOW.  It was the double sided bookcase from her school library.  The pretty heart made of twigs also used to belong to Aunt Lynn and Uncle Don.  They did a lot of simplifying in their big move and as you can see, we benefited from that. I just want to wrap up by saying, never give up on your dreams no mater how big or small!  Next...dutch door! I'm always excited to see what my friend and creative partner Christina is up to:) Go take a peek!

BOKEH BATH!!

Our Mindful Eye

I totally forgot to post on Wednesday like Christina suggested.  She was out on a weekend trip so she knew Monday would be a challenge and asked if we could post on Wednesday.  Who forgot?  Me. I have been having a really fun week after work hours.  Monday we drove to Huntington Beach to pick up a clawfoot tub that Aunt Lynn and Uncle Don gave us and I'm so excited about this tub.  I have big plans for it.  I'll just leave you with bathing under the moon. That's my big hint;)  Tuesday Abbie and I took a trip to old Orange and split a sandwich at Watsons Soda Fountain & Cafe. We strolled around for a little bit, popped in and out of the shops.  Wednesday Amelie promoted into high school and we celebrated her accomplishments! This brings me to today! TODAY we met the old moon gang for what will be the last meet up for a very long time.  Our Moon Mama is moving out of Southern California and we gathered at one of my favorite restaurants in my home town of Fullerton,  Good old Rutabagorz it's as old as I AM, established in 1970 and I've been enjoying their food since I was in high school.  

Here we are!  The moon gang.  It was a good day.  Even though the library didn't have the BOOK I've been wanting to read.  Abbie and I walked through the farmers market before we headed home for the day.  The market I've been going to for at least the past 20 plus years.  All our babies played in the water fountain there and grew up on the live music.  It's family tradition for sure.  I thought pictures of the produce would be a nice mindful thing to share.  Mindful because it means a whole lot to me and I love buying the fresh produce, although I didn't buy any today.  The curly carrot roots are really darling and I'm drawn to a more saturated photo these days, looks more dramatic and detailed.  It was sweet because Abbie filmed me taking pictures of the carrots and I hadn't even realized she did that until after the fact when she told me about it.  It was interesting to see me doing something I love.  I took only a total of 4 pictures walking down the street.  I'm trying really hard to take in the moments these days, keep my phone put away more and just take it all in you know?  I took a break from Facebook for the summer so I can focus on our summer list, I'm still on Instagram hash tagging our summer.  I have not given up on social media entirely, nor capturing moments. I'm just trying not to capture as many moments as I normally do. 

Christina shared her thoughts on the longest day of the year TODAY!  The first day of summer and shares a beautiful sunset photograph, take a peek 22 LIMES.