Lovely Lovely card from a friend :-)

Had to share this beautiful card I received from dear Tammie over at Beauty flows.  If you haven't had a chance to visit, do head over and enjoy her lovely artistic creations,

ethereal and magical each and every one!

For an additional treat, be sure to stop by her photography blog Spirit Helpers ~  Tammie is

an amazing nature photographer!!!

I love to send and receive actual hand-written letters ~ I would put that near the top of my list for things that make my life wonderfully sweet.  They are even more dear in this age of instant communication, where letter writing has become a lost art.  And an unexpected letter in the mail is the very best kind, a treat you did not know was coming!  So thank you Tammie for such a beautiful card and lovely letter.  I truly savored it!

Smiles my dear friends

Julia

...and dances with the daffodils

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

Yes I am still working on this piece...! :-)

I think the title of this post says it all...Yes! I am still working on this massive piece! :-)

The amount of detail is staggering, (even for me!) and it is such a large piece that it's just taking me forever.

I am well over the couple hundred hour mark and there is still quite a bit to do.  I've set quite the bar for myself this time for sure.  Not sure if I will do a piece this size again but I know I will have a lot of satisfaction when I can finally say it's done!

Oh the details! :-)

And...

yes I've been sewing again ~ These cute little outfits are for the two little girls of a friend of mine.  I Love how they turned out ~ I got to see them on the girls yesterday and they were soooo sweet!  It is really fun to sew for girls as I don't get to very often in my house full of little men. 

Big news!  I sold a canvas the other day!!!  I was so excited to actually have someone enjoy my work so much they wanted to buy it!  Fun and just really made my week!   I also donated a couple of prints and some bookmark cards to my sons school for a fundraising auction they are having.  It felt good to support that worthy cause and it will be fun to see how those pieces are received.

Life continues to be a whirlwind, busy always, but always I start my days realizing how fortunate I am and what a privilege it is to get to be home with my boys, working on my art,

sharing tea, giggles, cookies and gardening.

I was just thinking this morning as I was cleaning the huge wood floor on the main floor of the house, cleaning out the fridge, washing sticky little finger marks off the counters and furniture (for the bajillionth time!) how much I dislike cleaning.  And then I remembered how quickly this huge house will be quiet, how soon they will have all moved on to their own lives, and what a treasure it is to just enjoy each day as it comes, celebrating them and our life, crazy as it is at times. 

I hope you are all enjoying the first day of March and that this Spring brings lots of Joy to you!  I'm off to see what you have all been up to...

Life is good, so...

S m i l e s

Julia