That time of year~

Because I have been blessed with my Mother's genes,(yeah, I haven't always felt that way)
I have always been creative.
Now, don't get me wrong, that is not conceit. Trust me, coming from a french womans point of view, sometimes this can be very upsetting.
This is the time of year when anything and everything creative in my brain gives birth to a whirlwind of ideas.
And it doesn't stop until December 31st. Sometimes.
What the heck am I rambling about?
I make. I paint. I design. I cook. I get annoying. ( "get" you say?)
I see table napkins and immediately KNOW they would make great valances on the point over a curtain rod.
I see shapes of bottles and KNOW that , emptied, would be great filled with something other than the original purpose.
I see blank canvases and KNOW I can whip up a painting in about 45 minutes.
I see cool branches and KNOW I can hang them in my foyer from the ceiling with tiny white lights lit up in them.
I see some charms and buttons and KNOW it would make a great ring.
Getting the picture? Those who know me also know that this is the onset of such a season.
Right now.

Which is why I have booked a boutique booth at a holiday fair thing in Puyallup this November.
I have made necklaces ( not your normal, boring, blase' grandma stuff) and mass rings to sell.
I also have made cakeplates and cupcake plates galore. (THAT is a whole other story!)I see tacky plates and glorify them into a new existence as a cake plate.
I am sure they are eternally grateful when that cake sits on them.
I will post a reminder to those for you who want to come in October!
Initially, I was planning on putting it all on Etsy but as soon as I make them, I have sold them!
Time to get busy making some jewelry...and maybe some cake plates!

It's a Red Pepper Jelly day!

Ok, so life has been hectic for me the last month or so....uhm, maybe for longer than that.
I can just hear some of you saying to yourselves :" the last month? sheesh she's always busy".
I am not. Maybe I am. Just a little.
Maybe.
Is it so bad to want life to slow down just a little so I can soak in the days?
Wouldn't it be great if we had the ability to "slo-mo" certain moments down so we could step back, analyze, bask and go to sleep with a big fat smile from that video?
Like a Hogwarts picture! Take the picture to remember the occasion, then play it back so as to see what the occasion was all about! Yeah, that's it! I want that!
What's that you say? T'aint possible Colleen"?
Sigh....maybe one day....

I started out this week with an agenda every day. Today had another. But, it opened up for me and because I just can't sit and do nothing ( with the exception of a beach, of course), I decided it was and IS a red pepper jelly day.
That's right. You read correctly.
I am making my famous red pepper jelly.
Famous? Well, I think it is. So that makes it so.
(I gave some to a very picky french woman who went nuts for it, THAT was my affirmation)
If you've never had it, I beg for an open mind.
It has a sweet heat flavor that goes perfect with soft cheeses and crackers, as a marinade for chicken wings and the list goes on.
The pot is on the stove now, the red peppers are boiling down to nothing and the sweet smell is delicious. And for those of you who are faint at heart about "canning"...there is something on the market just for you!
I buy these Bell plastic jelly jars with the screw on lids..no boiling,no water seal, just pour and screw the lid on. Presto. Done. Fabulous.
One of my friends told me she just canned 70 jars of peaches and it made my back ache just thinking about it!
This is easy stuff folks. And so goood.
And so one of my "do nothing" days turned out to "do something."
But that's a good thing.
(I'm pretty sure Martha Stewart stole that line from me.)

Friendships....

This topic has the tendency to be a little deep, a little shallow and pass a lot of water under the bridge.
I am talking about friendships.
They can be based on personal~ childhood friends, neighbors, schoolmates ( does anyone even say that anymore?)
They can be based on professional~ work community, someone who knows you from 9-5.
Then they can be intellectual~ banter solely based on what your passion is~or isnt.
The tricky part is, as we grow, these constantly change.

A very wise friend once told me " who you are when you're twenty is not who you are when you're thirty, is not who you are when you're forty, " and so on and so on.
And how very wise she is.

I used to find myself morphing with whomever I was with.....school, church, work and home.
And once upon a very immature time, it used to bother me when friends would not respond to me as I wished. Friendship doesn't own another person. I took the long way around learning that one. I blame it on my french mother. Just saying.
You'll be pleased to know I left that phase behind about 20 years ago.
I can only imagine how I came off to my friends....I am apologizing now to those I tended to want to possess..and not in a creepy way, just in a school girl "you can only do things with me" kind of way.
Friendship is maleable. Did I spell that right? It constantly changes shape and flows with whatever you've got going on in your life.
I have friends I speak to about 4 times a year and yet, when it comes down to it, they know I have their back and I know they have mine. I don't need to be assured that I am in their thoughts. Pfft. The last thing I want to do is clutter someone else's mind, lol.

Then I have the friends who I want to be around me in the moment I am living in. These people can come from my past ( see above) or from the present. But these people are those who are naturally comfortable to be around, no effort required to entertain or amuse me. And vice versa.
I am not into people whom I have to work at finding what makes them happy.
Talk to me. Don't make me pull it out of you because if I have to do this, more than likely, you'll be gone.

I cherish all my friends but do I have a particular BFF, as they say now? I have a couple of go to's I always, well, go to, but my best friend is honestly, probably several people.
As I get older ( what?!) I find I tolerate less. But you know, I find this can be a good meter as well for the friendship gauge.
Don't play games with me, don't add to or tell me you don't like drama while your on the dang stage, don't play on my emotions and we will be friends for life.

To want a friend, you have to BE a friend.
If your important to someone, you will know it. If your not, don't sweat it. There are a million more people out there to get to know!

I thank all of my wonderful friends, some from the past, some right now in my present and those in the future that I am just getting to know for sharing yourselves with me.
Because, that is how I have come to understand friendships now.....
it is a privilege...
earned not owned.

I don't think it's just me that loves the ocean/sea/waves so much, is it?
What is it about all of the above that allows me to breathe? I could have every problem in the world ( just an analogy God, not a hint) and when I put my feet in the sand....I can breathe again.
I just spent 4 and a half days at a rental home in Seaside, Oregon for Labor day weekend and celebrated out 30th wedding anniversary.
I was with people I love to be with and in a place I love to be at. What more could I ask for?
Yeah, well, curb your comments because you all know me so well, I will not disappoint.
I admit it, I looked at homes for sale in that area. Just for kicks.
What a kick I got.
A three bedroom, two bath home with a seaview was a minimum of 890 thousand. The bad boys ON the beach were a hefty 1 1/2 million to 4 million.
Alright folks, if I HAD that kind of money,( insert hysterical laughing here)
why on earth would I buy a home in Seaside?!?!?
I mean, get real. I could buy a home on the water in the Caribbean for a scant 500 thousand! And save the remaining money for airfare twice a year! I watch House Hunters International, I am not vacation house ignorant!
No offense to anyone currently living in the Seaside/Gearhardt area, but I hope you inherited those homes or bought them 20 some odd years ago. There are some beautiful homes on the water there, but, alas, it looks as if I will merely be renting them in my future.
But that's ok too.....cause all it takes is for me to sink these toes into the sand, and all is good.