The Naked Truth

A fresh coat of paint. A clean start. When it's on the ceiling and walls it brings atmosphere and warmth. It will preserve and protect the outside of your house. When it's on a piece of furniture it adds charm and personality. On canvas it becomes a masterpiece. It gives a punch of color where needed. No matter what colors are on your palette a fresh coat of paint does wonders.

I absolutely love painted furniture. I don't have any trouble changing an already been painted piece to suit my taste. My favorite style is folk painting or peasant style. I like old world, old fashioned....old! Pennsylvania Dutch is sweet. I just love any piece by the artisit Peter Hunt .

So, if I like paint so much then will somebody please tell me why I feel so guilty painting the grain of wood? There's this feeling of remorse that succumbs me when I get the urge to paint wood. First, I think about what color I would choose "IF" I painted it, and that makes me happy thinking of the possiblities. Next comes the guilt of perhaps ruining antiquity or disturbing it's history, or just plain hiding the grain. It's as if I'm not really the owner but merely a custodian or curator of a rare artifact. Soon... I dismiss the urge. It's silly because the fact is, that the things I'm wanting to save from paint would never be aired on the Antique Roadshow.
I look around and see various shades of brown. Some of these things are begging for a splash of color. Things I've always wanted to paint but never had the nerve to. For example, an antique wooden medecine cabinet missing it's glass from the door. It hangs in my kitchen and holds spices. Thank-goodness somebody had the courage to paint the inside of it a pretty robin's egg blue. I love it. I haven't replaced the glass because it's more convenient (read lazy) to reach in and grab my seasonings. But if I can muster up the gumption... it will be painted. The glass door will be repaired. Inside the door a sheer curtain will hang tight. It might be nice to actually use the door with it's little brass hardware. It hangs right over an old jelly cabinet that has lost it's door. Again...unpainted. I keep my pots and pans there.

In fact instead of painting things I've gone to the other extreme and I've stripped paint off of some furniture. This takes time ... a lot of time, and to tell ya the truth, I can't say all this restraint and preservation is worth it. So I will make some changes soon and paint those 2 pieces as a start. Will I share the before and after pictures with you then? Of course I will. Bbye for now. ~Elaine

Madonna of the Kitchen

There's a little shelf in my kitchen that I keep a candle on ...just in case we lose electricity.

Or

Just in case I need to illuminate my blog space.

The Lord's Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Because this is MY blog space and I can be me here.

But YOU are always welcome.

SEE!

Xavier has a surprise to show you.

SEE?
It's exciting to be almost 7 years old,
and your tooth wiggles out all by itself!

The tooth fairy used to bring me a shiny quarter for each lost tooth.

Xavier is hoping for a dollar.

The Party is over Santa

I've been so preoccupied grieving all the loved ones I've missed and having the "holiday is over" blues that I didn't even remember the very first day of January was when I started my blog last year. So---Sorry that I don't have a "give -away" to offer. The Christmas tree is outside, the snow babies are tucked in their drawer, each and every Santa is packed away until next December. The pixies and nutcrackers, angels and my favorite of all... the Nativity are all packed up. I feel like the Grinch as I undecorate Christmas.
I will leave you with some faces from my collection that are now back into hiding again.

Yo - Ho - Ho!

Happy New Year

It's the year 2009 and you and I are still alive! I know that's a weird thing to say but I do think about these things. Alright so I'm a weirdo. Maybe I think about dying more than what is probably healthy but if it weren't for death I wouldn't be so thankful to be alive. I look at life the way an artist paints a picture, with life being light and darkness death. The darkness is very important, because without darkness we wouldn't even see the light. So maybe death isn't a topic you want to read about as you skip merrily about from blog to blog. But the truth be told ..it's always haunting me. Not a day goes by that I don't miss the ones I've lost to death. Now a new year rings in and it's so full of promises and hope and renewal but I can't help but think that it will also bring it's share of heartaches, disasters, darkness and death. One thing that always keeps me plugging along is hope. If I were to lose everything I own, I hope that I would not lose hope. If I lost everybody I love, I hope I would not lose hope. If I were down as low as a worm ...I just hope that I would not lose hope. Even if it seems as if the only thing that changed today were the hands on the clock or the page on the calendar or that day turned into night... I still hope. I hope against hope. That means that even if I don't really believe that anything good will happen to me today...I still hope something will.

I'm not here to talk politics because that causes arguments and I sure don't want to push my religious beliefs on anyone, I don't want to divide. I would be the first to admit I don't have any prophetic answers about life and I spend ridiculously many hours pondering my own destiny and wondering if I even have one.

But thank-you for visiting me because I put myself out there and it's good to know that somebody cares enough to read what I write. Happy New Year...I hope.