kt40

cleaning house

Yesterday I began the cleaning of the house, throwing out the the items that will not accompany us to our next location. Towards the evening I walked into the kitchen and noticed just the toaster on the counter. If you could see my kitchen before you would know this was different. Now that we are staying in Italy this move has become easy for me and I am excited for a new house to decorate getting inspired here and here. Part of me is of course disappointed that I will not experience Japan or be able to visit one of my favorite families there (some good friends from when we lived in Portugal are moving there this year) but for us and where we are right now as a family, Italy suits us, we are so fortunate. I have been looking at my folder with all my garden photos and house photos that I have clipped from magazines over the years, my one requirement for our new house, is that the landlords allow us paint colors on the wall, my one requirement for myself is to not hold back this time when decorating, to show my true colors.

I feel like finding the time to sitting down to post on my blog is like finding the time to sit down and write a long letter, it means I have time to spare which lately these days finding a moment is getting harder and harder. I have been out all morning trimming ivy and if you could see the ivy that surrounds our house you would feel my pain and hear my occasional cursing. Trying to give the house curb appeal before the landlords come to inspect it, can't believe that we are moving out so soon. Which brings me to my blog, not sure what is going to happen if I will be able to continue posting when we move out or if it is just going to be months before I have a computer I can use. I will let you know before the power goes out in this house. "Happy Fourth!" if you are in the States "Happy Friday!" if you are elsewhere. katy

Today I looked at this woman's blog loved her heart photos she is trying to get accepted to a journalism workshop and ask for good wishes to be sent her way, I can do that.

jasmine's b-day

I love this card Iris made for Jasmine's birthday yesterday. She didn't know how to spell universe but that didn't stop her from writing it. It made Jasmine happy on her special day. It is wonderful when someone recognizes you as the best in the universe, that is top honor. I would agree with Iris's card, she is the best sister for Iris and Wyatt she does make their world larger and special. "Imagine.. the stars are sparkling Mom" Iris told me when she showed the card. "That is easy" I thought, easy because of who my kids are growing up to be.

You might have notice that this blog is taking a back seat right now. We have been going out each day, since this summer began, "taking care of things" The kids want to see the beach, I do too. Hoping by the end of this week 1. we will know where we are going (yes we still don't know), 2. start to get some answers on our children's health issues, 3. make some progress on cleaning out the house, 4. get up early enough to be able to walk the dog before the beating sun takes over the bike path, 5. see the beach and sit at a table watching the waves while having an espresso, then when the espresso is finished, just breathing in the fresh air.

Miss./Mrs. Rainbow pants

When I was ten or so I got some rainbow pants. I remember being in the department store and being told I could pick out a new pair of jeans. Of course I picked the jeans with rainbows stitched on the back pockets. A great place to stick my yellow goody comb, even though I never used it, but hey, my two older sister's had them in their back pockets who was I to go against the fashion trends. Oh how those rainbow pants lifted my spirits. 

This week has been long or maybe this new year has been long, we are still seeing where we go, if our pets can come along. I took Wyatt to  get some more blood tests yesterday because something is definitely up, "what?!!" is just the question that I wanted answered yesterday.  My mom called just wanting to check-in on how I was doing, telling me to remember that I don't always have to be strong, to make sure I am taking care of myself. Did she know that I had been crying in the car the other day when coming back from the vet just because I felt so tired of all the uncertainty even though that is what life is.

I was making lunch today and I thought of "Miss Rainbow pants" strutting around the neighborhood, doing somersault after somersault at the park just so her friends would notice the rainbows on her pockets and this made me smile, the I know a good secret kind of smile. As I stirred the pasta I thought  "Thank you Miss Rainbow pants, your friends might have not noticed your rainbow pants that day and you were to shy to bring it up (verbally that is) but I did notice them and I thought they were a great choice....I mean who doesn't love rainbows, and just thinking about your rainbow pants today, well, it really lifted my spirits."

Quiet sunday in the house(or more appropriately titled "Before the kids get up")

humm......

I'm not really sure why I am posting this photo, not really sure why I even took it in the first place for that matter. This is my state right now, going through the motions just to get through the motions. Wyatt and Jazz were sick this weekend and Iris started feeling bad yesterday.  Today she is home with me. There we were driving to appointments together. I kept looking in the rear-view mirror asking "How are you feeling now?" her response never changing "Not so good" but I had to keep the appointments.  I already missed them last week because Wyatt was sick and well, we do need to sell one car and we do have to have people come and move our stuff and we do need to know if the airline will accommodated three guinea pigs and a dog. Wish I could just lollygag around on a bike instead of being the guilty feeling Mom in the front seat driving her sick kid all over the place, where her kid then has to sit around while her Mom fills out paperwork while looking over at   her pale kid sitting in the lobby and flashing her kid her crooked smile as if each smile was a dose of medcine......I guess there was a reason I chose this photo after all.

All over the place

This post is all over the place a bit like my mind lately so it is fitting to say the least. First off I wanted to share a photo of some drop dead gorgeous roses my friend Bridget brought over. They are from her garden, she read my post about my goal of having fresh flowers on my table. If you are reading this Bridget, Thanks again!!!

Secondly I have not been looking at my "To do list" Important stuff that needs to be taken care of now list. Instead I have been varnishing rocks that I collected in Corsica, we all know how imperative it is that I get on this now, I mean really now, the rocks must be varnished before we move to Japan this summer, getting the children's school records is just going to have to wait.

I have been making muffins.
Then sitting down and leisurely eating them and placing my "To do list" across the table so that I have to strain and squint my eyes, but alas, it is to hard to read....ho hum.........
(I highly recommend this recipe, so easy and good and pretty.)

I have been beading wire necklaces. That I shall wear when I get around to tackling my "To do list"

I have been outside taking a break from thinking about how I am avoiding my "To do list". Outside I can admire Iris's bouquets that she has been putting together and trying to sell to people that pass by our house.

I love that she even fills up the the little vanilla bottles with flowers.

Have a great weekend!
katy

getting the hitch out

Have you ever held a bird? If you have, you know that if you do, you really have to clasped them tightly because they want to fly away not be held. I tripped today when I didn't see a step that was right in front of me. Now I have a hitch in my getup. I pulled my right shoulder muscle yesterday doing a weird maneuver to pick something up that as soon as I started I knew it was a bad idea. I am off right now, we found out that we are moving to Japan in 4 months, and it has thrown me off literately and figuratively.

So I figuratively let the bird go, the one that I was carrying around since this weekend, the one I thought could sort-out all the unknowns for me, doesn't work that way, I have to let it go because the unknowns are called that for a reason aren't they. It really did work I literately feel much lighter.

Japan is just as good as a destination as the next, how strange yet wonderful my life is.

A monday off

Today it is a holiday here, Easter Monday, so for the kids and I that means sleeping in, watching a movie together(it is raining outside) and continuing working on a craft project we started yesterday, place-mats, which I will post when we finish because so far they are looking very sweet.

I have mentioned before that we do not practice a certain faith but that doesn't stop me from seeing and admiring the beauty in all the religious icons around here. I feel like I have to explain this because I do post quite a bit of photos that would make people think "Wow she is one religious fanatic." I am, as far as the art is concerned, yes you could call me a "Religious art nut." and you would be right. This is photo I took a while back at a flea market I loved the way this person grouped their wares and the blues and golds. I have wanted to share this photo and well with today being a religious holiday here(Italy) made it seem like the right time to post it.

ghost post

Yesterday on my post still life in kitchen(down below) I wrote about a teasing incident between my kids, well I took if off this morning because it just didn't feel right to have it on here. Let's face it our kids do things that we wish they hadn't but that is how it goes. I still do things I wish I hadn't, like writing the post yesterday then blogging it. It is not that the incident I wrote about was horrendous quite the contrary but I thought afterwards if someone had a blog of all the teasing and mean things I had said to my siblings as a kid, well frankly I would be horrified, it isn't how I conduct myself now but that normal phase of my childhood had a part in making me who I am today. It is the stage where my kids are at now, not all of the time but some of the time but the bottom line is that they are still great little humans and like me they should be able to share their not so shining moments(learning moments if you will) if they want to, not have someone else do it, like their mom, me, who is still just learning too.

Still life in kitchen

Just another week here folks a little longer than others. So taking photos of kitchen still life seems to quiet my thoughts these days and trust me when I tell you these are just a few of many. Have a good weekend. katy

apple on tray

my glass of red wine

perfect blood oranges

peppermint and lemon zinger tea

Early evening light

I was cleaning up the kitchen getting it ready for dinner or maybe I was just thinking of cleaning up the kitchen and noticed the light in the corner. A corner that is home to the kid's chore calendar. A calendar that my dad made that I reuse every year so it is stuck at December and where I clip Iris's drawings....... I just notice it is a corner caught in December because the shadows are paper-chains that I didn't want to take down and Iris's Christmas tree story....well that is okay it is usually all blocked by an open door, so in case any guests come over in the early evening they won't notice the weird corner dedicated to December. Then I noticed the shadows above the stove, you might have guessed it, the fork and spoon are being held there by me just for their shadows.

Wandered into Iris's room and had to capture her lights, next stop the dining room.... oh my Portugal curtains how I love you....then before I knew it Jason was in the kitchen making dinner.

 

Note to self: sometimes just pick up the camera and completely loose track of time when the thought of cleaning and making dinner crosses your mind because you are lucky and have a great understanding husband.

Baking the cake

I have made two upside down pineapple cakes this week.

Wyatt helped on the first one and of course as I was mixing I said "Hold this please, I need to grab the camera." Everything since I was first introduced to blogging has become a photo. I look at all these other bloggers out there taking a shot, capturing a moment, and all of it seems important and maybe sometimes not so important but that doesn't really matter. It is not the beaters I will remember, it is Wyatt holding the mixer patiently so his obsessed Mother could take a photo for her blog among millions of blogs, and then asking her if she wanted to see her photos on his portable DVD player.

It isn't just a photo of a slice of cake to me but the slice from the second cake this week that the kids begged me to make, that Iris helped place all the pineapple carefully in the bottom of the skillet in an artistic pattern and I had the patience to not hurry her along (trust me this is rare). The one that Jasmine offered to her friend, telling her friend in beautiful perfect Italian, how it was "A very good cake that her mother had made that morning."

This is the same cake that my Mom always made for us when I was a kid, so it simply isn't possible to not think of her when I make it, which is all the more reason for me to bake it again and again.

* Recipe is from the Joy of cooking.

Cubana , coobsters, cooby....(Love Thursday, shutter sisters)

Originally uploaded by kt40

This week at shutter sisters they asked for a photo that one of your children might hang-up in their house when they are older, a photo of them with someone they loved from their childhood.

The story of Cubana is as follows; I had managed to talk Jason into letting me adopt a dog from a shelter near our house. A shelter that has 400 abandon dogs and really only room for 250, run by volunteers(I was told that here, in this region of Italy, animal shelters are run solely by volunteers)
I went to the shelter by myself, the kids had no idea we had decided to get a dog. Jason's only request was a dog that seemed easy going.
When I arrived a woman took me straight to Cubana, "This is the dog for you, her name is Cubana" she said. There lying on wet cement, fresh from surgery, laid a very skinny dog that was too "Out-of-it" to stand up. "No, this isn't the dog." I said adamantly. So she took me to look at about 100 other dogs and then brought me back to Cubana, "Are you sure this isn't the dog? She is a very sweet dog." and there was Cubana still laying there looking miserable while the two dogs who shared the kennel with her kept stepping on her. "I can't take this dog" I thought, feeling somewhat irked that the woman had taken me back to see her again. "No this is not the dog." I said yet again. I continued to looked at about 100 more dogs and then had to sit down to rest. As I sat on a bench surrounded by dogs I could only think of Cubana, "Could I bring home a dog who looked like she wasn't going to make it until the end of the week.....what would Jason say.....and what kind of name is "Cubana" anyways?" The woman came up to me and said "Do you want to come back another time?" "No, I want Cubana." I said, which probably surprised me as much as her.

When I pulled up to the house Jason was sitting on the porch I had to carry Cubana from the car up to the porch, which now is comical to think back on, I can only imagine what was going through Jason's mind. "Oh great, out of 400 dogs she had to pick the dog that can't walk."

Cubana is the true family dog but at night she becomes Wyatt's dog, it is his bed she sleeps on and she only deviates from this if one of the other kids are sick then it is their bed that she curls up on until they are better.

I don't think Wyatt realizes that about three to four times a week he will say to me "I can't imagine life without Cubana."
"Me too" I always reply

*side note: The woman at the shelter asked us to bring back Cubana in one year so she could see her. We did all return one Saturday, a year later and the woman bent down to pet Cubana and said to her "You are loved." then she looked up at me and smiled and left out the "I told you so."

that love

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. Fourteen years in marriage but it has been twenty-eight years since I first kissed my husband. I laid in bed the other morning, a Sunday, while the house was quiet, and looked over at him sleeping, his gray hair mixed with just a tiny bit of lingering brown and a white soft blanket resting up against it. "My one hope...." I thought "is that each one of my children get to experience this.....laying across from someone that they love....truly deeply love....and when that person wakes up they will know that the feeling is mutual.....and will remain that way.....even with the ups and downs that can go with love.....they will know that love that dives slowly below the surface like a sinking ship and it's heavy anchor, eventually settling somewhere deep, like the ocean floor, together it is there that their love remains because like the ship and anchor, they are attached. This type of love doesn't have to be said out-loud as much anymore because it has become a fact, just like the sun is the sun and the moon is the moon, both of those people lying across from each other are connected by love, that is the simple fact..... and like the sun whose appearance and powerful effect is always noticed...... along with the moon who is awed because of its beauty and mystery so is that love that they give and then there it is, given back to them freely......yes I want them to be able to experience that love that is to big to fathom that floats from that tiny room in that house, pass it walls, out into the air, and up into the clouds".....then while I'm at it......."Yes, it even passes the stars because it can't be measured or contained"........and as I was having all these somewhat random thoughts about my children sharing their love with someone special in their lifetime, Jason opened his eyes and silently looked across at me.

"Just your zucchini muffins"(green week, day 5)

Well if you have checked out this blog this winter you will know that I have three kids and they have been passing virus's back and forth non-stop. Yesterday I asked Wyatt and Iris if they wanted anything to eat yet, they haven't felt hungry for quite sometime now. Wyatt whispered(he has laryngitis now) "Just your zucchini muffins, Mom" Iris looked over from the couch where she has been laying down for the last week, with her pale complexion, "Yes just your zucchini muffins, Mom." Well of course I got right on it. As I was grating the zucchini I kept hearing "Just your muffins, Mom" love was going into those muffins I tell you. Well, we ended up having to take Iris to the doctors she has stomach issues on top of everything else, something the doctors are trying to get to the bottom of. As we left the house I remembered that the muffins were still in the oven, Jason had to turn the car around and I ran back in and turned off the oven. "Oh the muffins!!!" my kids sighed as I got back into the car. "I can make them again" I replied. It is funny, my muffins are not really sweet, and they definitely are not "The best muffins ever!" but my secret ingredient is love and maybe that has something to do with why the recipe is so popular with my kids. There are two happy endings to this story, 1) Iris was okay and 2) when we returned home I opened the oven and there were the muffins, perfectly cooked.

For more green week go to shining egg it is where it all started.

Moss on sidewalk (green week, day 2)

I walked Jazz to school today, after being sick for a week and half she is going back. She isn't really a hundred percent but she was stressing-out about missing so much school. Stress.... an issue I am trying to work on with her, one I'm not so good at myself. Trying to put things in perspective for her "This is sixth grade, one day you will look back and wonder why you were so stressed about it, or you may never even think about it for that matter." Her response "Mom, shouldn't you head back now? My friends are going to see you with me and think it is weird that you are walking me to school." Yes we are in different worlds right now. I have to rethink my strategy on how I can help her relax, stop offering "insane adult advice" maybe? Or not put her in potentially embarrassing situations, "The doting mother" need I say more. Anyways on my way home I saw this moss on the sidewalk surrounding the 'Public Illumination'....wish I had access to what was underneath, my light bulb when comes to relating to my children has been a little dimmed lately.

For more green week go to shining egg

Hello my friend

Originally uploaded by kt40

Well my kids are all sick again! Feeling like a burned out mom/nurse, one who would probably be fired at this point if there was anyone around to fire her. Jason left with a "Good luck today." instead of his usual "See ya!" and just as I was feeling like "I can't do this today!" I went to the little basement bathroom to brush my teeth. I always have a little stash of new toothbrushes so I decide to open a new one, a little "Pep Present" to myself, and then noticed the secret message from Iris. I have no idea when she wrote this but it really made me sport my lopsided grin.  There are perks with this job of mine and my kids constantly remind me of this fact when I least expect it.

Light

looking up into our plum tree

I feel much lighter now. It was nice to leave the blog for a while, extra nice to receive the lovely comment from Melynn. This last week has been filled and I found myself meandering through it. My sweet Jazz was sick again and instead of resting she could only think of homework which prompted little notes and gifts from her sister Iris.

"Sorry you are sick."

"Sorry you have homework." all neatly wrapped in toilet paper and stuffed in recycled valentine boxes.

Yesterday, I went to the post office and had three packages arrive and five letters. Jason said "Well look at you and all your friends." in an ooh la la voice which of course made me laugh.

Wyatt has been tuned into his ipod listening to 60 minutes podcasts, asking me questions I don't know the answers too.

This morning Jason made a pot of tea and I was sitting on the couch drinking some and he came over and sat down next to me "What are you looking up on the internet?" I asked him.

"I just keep typing in "Katy Rocks!"(in google) and your blog keeps coming up." he replied.

This little family of mine......

A path

I haven't really had a lot of energy lately to put into this blog. My kids were all sick I ended up being sick too. Our move, to which now the location has been changed again, "Where to?" your guess is as good as mine as to where we will end up. I can't really bring myself to call people and tell them anymore or even talk about it. It all seems very wishy-washy to me and nonsensical and tiring but that is how it is right now. Next fall we will be situated somewhere and all this wondering and even fretting at points will seem like wasted time. I chose this photo today because I do love paths.... how they look..... what is at the end?.......wandering slowly down them......I do love exploring someplace I know nothing about.....right now I just need to keep reminding myself of that.... "Cheer up mate" "It is all good" "You'll get your energy back and be able to run down a path like this, you may have to lean-up against a tree half way down to take a breather, but you will make it to the end." and as my friend Liz wrote to me the other day "You're a tough little scrapper." which made me laugh and laugh.

hearts in my coffee (love thursday, feb 14th 2008)

Originally uploaded by kt40

I was writing out a shopping list for Iris's Valentine party this morning at my favorite bar down the street, only my favorite because they put hearts in your coffee. Who doesn't like to start the day off like this? Well "Happy Valentines Day!" I have cupcakes to make and a house to picked up before eight, eight year olds, storm the place.

Bird hanging

Originally uploaded by kt40

This is the size of a jam lid. It will hang in my studio to help inspire me. Thanks for all the homemade goodness Madeline, I love everything!
P.S. I know the pillow isn't shown here but it does have a special place in the front-room.

Taking on change

Written on Wednesday but I decided to wait until today to post

Jason was offered a job in Italy yesterday, we had until today to decide yes or no. It was the one place in Italy that we were hoping wouldn't be offered to us. When Jason got home we kept going over the pros and cons, while the kids wandered around the house muttering that they didn't want to move there. Pro: we could drive all our blasted love-able pets there, Con: It would present us with quite a bit of challenges. Pro: We will still be in Italy. This went on while I made dinner, slowly the pros started to outweigh the cons. We all sat down for dinner and still this was the subject, kids with pros and kids with cons. We (Jason and I) went into long winded speeches about challenges, not judging things that we actually know nothing about, being afraid of the unknown etc..etc...the kids finally said "We get it, we get it!" mostly I think Jason and I had to hear ourselves say those things out-loud. This morning we should have woken up wearing team jerseys and met in the hallway and formed a circle and put all our hands in the middle and yelled out "Go team", because that was the energy that was in the air. We had all decided that we were on board that we could take on this new place and maybe there were be moments that we would regret this choice but we were willing to face those too. Jason called me from work and said "Well, should I take the job?" "Yes, we are all behind you." I said, feeling great pride and confidence towards the members on my team.

Love Thursday (shuttersisters)

Originally uploaded by kt40

This photo is for 'Love Thursday', a prompt put on by Shutter Sisters.

I find myself in a love/dislike relationship with graffiti. I love the messages that are left sometimes, I don't like it when they are negative. I relate to someone wanting to write something that means a great deal to them, so much so they want everyone and anyone to see it, I don't agree with marking someone's property though. Our neighbor across the street, a 10 year old boy, was outside with our kids when they were playing with sidewalk chalk he drew a male body part ( I think you can guess which part) on an outside wall of our house which shocked and at the same time made my kids giggle a little. I scolded him for drawing on the house and needless to say, he went home embarrassed. When I went to wash it off it ended up making a permanent outline because the wall of the house was dirty to begin with. Truth be told it doesn't tick me off, I think it is humorous in a way, a little karma if you will, for all the graffiti that I have stopped and admired and taken photos of.