Why I made another "altered" book

I finally decided to make another altered book. This book was an small book that my mom bought when she was a teenager in Napa, California. The library was having a sale and she was working there so she bought it. I remember reading it when I was very young and then my sister got it when she was old enough to be read to. I've had it for years.I wanted to do something for my sister on Mother's Day , so I started looking around for a gift I could make. I found this book in a closet and it had my sisters name in it.
There are two stories in this book. The first one is the Three Billy Goats Gruff . The other story is about a wolf and a mother goat with babies; who get eaten, one by one, by the wolf. It's really kind of scary for a children's story but , as a lot of old fairy tales were a long time ago, they were fearful and scary to keep children in line. My mother's grandmother told her that there was an orangutan under a bridge near where they lived when she was a little girl so she and her brother and sister wouldn't play there. It seems there were gypsys living under the bridge and my great grandmother didn't have the time to monitor what her grandchildren were doing so she "put the fear in them." It must have worked because Mom tells that story to this day and she said they were afraid to go anywhere near the bridge. Well, ...., as I opened the book I noticed that the second story (about the wolf eating the goats) was all taped together. I decided that if I was going to give it to my sister , as an altered book, I should keep the pages of the "wolf" story glued together. My sister was always afraid of the "boogyman", so I thought it was only right to glue or cut out the scary story. I glued the pages together and glued an little old frame over the title, with a picture of sis and I on a horse. I was very happy with it and she loved it. Neither Mom or sis remembered how the pages got taped together.
This altered book was so much fun. Maybe it was because I made it for someone. Maybe it was because I had a good idea what I wanted to do with it, unlike the "altered" William Blake poetry book. Remember how I said I would never do another altered book? That one still weighs heavily on me. Loving poetry so much and pulling pages from that book was painful. But I can now say that I will make another altered book. This process called ART is very interesting. I learn something every time I create. Writing was always so imaginary and in my head. I don't feel the same obligation to my short stories and poems as I do with art work. The responsibility is there with both, just different. Writing comes easier. Art work is a new adventure with a new learning curve. Like my photos: It's a physical, visual , "seeing it as you create" thing. I like that. It's a physical translation of how I see the world. I'm getting better at the "Let it go and see what happens" part: This book for my sister was a process that was enjoyable because I 'm learning to let that "part" of me.....go.

My second altered book; this one was fun.

Sunday: Wasn't this fun? Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Love, your two daughters.

My sister's Dogs: "Fozzie", the Lab-poodle puppy(a true water dog); "Lucky", the lab; and "Lily",the shorthair.

Dog meets Goat: Moke is doing fine but Maggie is not so sure.

Mother's Day with Mom

I will be in the Bay Area for the weekend. Sis and I are going to spend Sunday with Mom; maybe lunch ,out, if she feels well enough. I'll be back Monday.

Thought I would post a few gratuitous photos of .... what else, the goat babies; interacting with the dogs and getting to know their new world.

How Lovely is This?

A Gift in my Mailbox

I wasn't going to create a post today, but I have to tell you what I found in my mailbox this afternoon. I had my gourd group meeting all morning and then meet some friends in Sutter Creek for lunch. I hadn't seen two of the ladies for a long time so we had a lot to catch up on. By late afternoon I drove back home, stopping at our mailbox, on the highway, to pick up our mail. When I opened it there was a package inside from Jan Ely of Little Pink Houses (pinkhousepages.blogspot.com). While reading each others blogs we found out that we were raised in the same town and had lots of memories of being little kids there. We had emailed each other with questions and "..Do you remember?" this and "What street did you live on?", etc. So when I was down at my mom's last month. I went to her store in Walnut Creek called Room With a Past and surprised her. We talked and had a good mini moment together because , after all, she was busy with lots of customers and needed to be paying attention to "business". I gave her a gourd pin I made for her and then bought some goodies from her store. It was so good to see her.
Well, today I get this package. She sent me a wonderful vintage cup that she embellished with a bird nest, flowers and her lovely tag attached with a bow. I had seen them in her store. They were so sweet and creative. I spent my money on other things ,like an old antique hand trowel and an old Spreckles sugar bag (that I made into a pillow) and a few more embellishments for my art work. Then one of Jan's recent blogs reminded me of those charming little bird nests and how I had passed up the opportunity to buy one in her shop and how I might be able to buy one from her again....., and then she sends me one. I have it on my guest bedroom nightstand for my visitors to enjoy and I can see it from my computer desk too. It's such a dear thing. Keep being creative Jan, and thank you so much. See you next month.

Happy 40th Birthday, Matt. Where did the years go? We send you all our love.

Crazy Goat Lady???

I have always wanted a Nubian goat: now I have 4 of them. We may have gotten carried away, but the goat farm had all these babies and it was hard to choose just one. Also, we read that they like to be together and they will clear more land in groups. We want them for weed control only. No milk, cheese or ( heaven forbid ) meat.

We spent all weekend transforming the old dog run into a goat haven. This afternoon we brought them home. They are so cute. They eat all the time and they eat everything. For a few more weeks we will be bottle feeding, then we can start weaning them . Nubians are a dairy goat suited to warm climates. We will not be breeding, so these 4 babies are males that are in the process of being castrated. They will be called wethers. A wether makes a better pet than a buck and it won't smell or do all the nasty things buck do. Well, that's about the extent of my knowledge. I have a really good book and the lady who sold us the goats will be our constant source of information. We are doing this!! Next we will need a "guard" donkey.From the opera to goats. What a life. I love it!

Oh my, One of the babies is calling out. I hear him through the open window. Must go now!


P.S. The dogs are being surprisingly good about all of this. Mokie is just curious, but we are keeping an eye on him. The first meeting went well, but then, there was a fence between them. That's all Mokie gets for a while. Just a "nose to nose", through the fence, with supervision. I don't think Maggie even knows they're here yet. Mokie found them right away but Maggie just came back in the house. She's getting so old.

May I introduce.....: the new babies on our farm.

Sunday "Afternoon delight" in Sacramento: Excellent performance of Tosca.

Happy 35th Birthday, Jess. We love you with all our hearts.

Looking for Lambs

Last weekend my husband and I took a drive into the Shenandoah Valley , north-east of Plymouth, CA. It was a beautiful spring day; lots of green vinyards and wildflowers. I wanted to find a certain farm where a friend and I had seen baby lambs the year before: so I could take some pictures of them, of course.

Shenandoah Valley is the "new" Napa Valley. I'm not sure that this is a good thing. I remember Napa before all the fuss and it was , in my memories, a beautiful small town where everyone knew everyone and life was farming and everyone made their own wine for dinner. Now, I see the Shenandoah Valley going the same way. More and more vinyards and wineries are appearing every year; small wineries with big homes and fancy names. But there are still some families who have lived there for generations and maybe they have turned some of their acres into grapes for more money, but they still have old barns and farm animals. This is where I took the photo below.

There was a fence, as there had been last year, but this year there were "no tresspassing" signs everywhere. The old barn on the road was sagging a bit more than I remembered and there were no baby lambs. I got out of the truck and walked over to the fence and saw no animals at all. What a dissapointment! As I walked along the fence I peeked into the open side of the barn and I'll bet more than 30 sheep came running out into the pasture. I did not expect this. They really surprised me and I shouted something like "Oh my"(only a lot worse). The prospector looked up and shouted "There they are!", like I hadn't seen them. Gee's. I was so close to the fence and the sheep were so close to me, that it kind of took my breath away for a moment. There was a man across the pasture doing something with a hoe and I swear I saw him laugh. When I regained my composure I ran back to the other side of the barn and there they were, standing perfectly still, looking at me. So, I started talking to them.

Sheep are kind of like cows. They will stare you down, until they perceive you as a threat, and then they bolt. I was careful not to make any fast moves as I lifted my camera up. I tried not to have eye contact with any one animal but it was hard. I kept telling them how lovely they were and saying things like "Hello beautiful sheep." and "How are you today?. You do wonder what they must think of this crazy human making all these strange sounds. Probably something like "If she comes over the fence we'll head for the pond." or "We had the element of surprize and we didn't use it to our advantage." or more likely, "...another silly human ...". Who knows. I took some good shots but this one below was the one that touch me the most. This sheep was very deformed, by birth or accident I have no idea, but she was so damaged. The others seemed to stand around her as if they might be protecting her. There was this bond and maybe the ones that were closest to her where her offspring . I don't know. They did stay while I took a few pictures and then, for no reason that I could tell, they bolted across the pasture and left.

When my husband doesn't get out of the truck I always know my time is limited before he starts getting antsy. It was time to go and find some lunch. If there had been any lambs he would have waited a lot longer. With lambs, he might have gotten out of the truck. The salvage farm (that he had come out there to look at) was closed so, to his way of thinking , the trip was over. Men! With them it's always the destination, rarely the journey.

"The Dew of Compassion is a Tear"- lord byron

Bantam Recovery

Finding the small chicken

with a smile on her face'

was all I needed.

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Little bantam hen

finding sunlight in lupin

peace in her heart.

<<<^>>>

For a week now Squeeky has been outside with the other hens. She only goes into the chicken house at night and seems a lot more perky. No more sitting on other hens eggs. Napoleon (our banty rooster) follows her around as if he is protecting her from the big hens. They have pecked at her before and she always squeeks loudly and runs,( thus her name). I appreciated the comments and advise I got on the post I wrote when she went broody. I used it all and everything worked. She's doing great!!

<<<^>>>

Squeeky update: she's not broody anymore! She is out and about.

Wordless Wednesday: after the grandkids left.

"A garden is a lovesome thing" T.E. Brown ...., grandsons and flowers; planting joy.

"Speak to us of children"

This weekend our two boys came up to celebrate their birthdays. They are five years apart, but their birthdays are only 3 days from each another. Since we couldn't get together in a couple of weeks, on their birthdays, we decided to celebrate early. One will be 40 yrs. old and the other 35 yrs. So... that means that their Dad and I are...., um.... old. How does this happen? It seems like just yesterday that we watched them graduate from College. Where did all those years go? Those little boy years of not quite knowing what you're doing, but acting like you do. The years of sickness in the middle of the night, the tooth farie and little league. At some point you stop washing their little bodies in the bath tub and they start taking showers. That happens about the same time that they stop talking in complete sentences: Just yes/no answers and "Oh Mom." Could it have been so long ago that our youngest came home, in tears, because someone told him there wasn't any Santa Claus?...., and the reality, on his sad little face, that this also meant there must be no Easter Bunny either. That's when I started wondering about the wisdom of adults.

Now they're the adults. The oldest is head of the computer support for a large university in the bay area and the youngest is a manager for a health insurance company near Sacramento. We're so proud of them.

Now I have two grandchildren to love and play with. It's almost like "going back", only not as much work. It's way more fun to be "Noni and Papa", and we get to babysit any time we want to

and then......., take a nap.



I'm reminded of THE PROPHET by Kahlil Gibran



Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, and

yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the

house of tomarrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children, as living arrows are sent forth.



....there is more, but this will do.