Tales From The Labyrinth

The Ice Queen & The Bloglandia Polar Festival

Once...
there was an Ice Queen...

Long, long ago
in the silver of the night moon,
she lost her heart
and a sliver of ice nested into the empty space...

and hardened
and grew...

and became colder and colder,
as all the world
went to sleep
beneath a blanket of snow and ice...

Long was her reign
of loneliness...

No sleep,
no waking,
no laughing nor dreaming,
for she had forgotten
all things green,
soft,
and lovely...

Then,
one day,
not so long ago...
The ice queen noticed
that the sky was a different shade of blue,
no longer just indigo,
but shades of cerulean, azure,
and a deepening periwinkle...

And in that moment...
The Ice Queen heard a sound
that she had long forgotten...
The giggles and laughter of a baby,
And she turned towards
this music and the ice in her heart melted

as did her crown of ice...

as she raised her arms in delight...

of all things radiant...
found only in shadows...

And the heavens reached down to the earth
and clothed her in rich fabrics and furs,
for her skin could finally feel the cold of winter...

and for the first time,
in ever so long,
this woman of oh so many experiences,
stepped back into life...

Leaving footprints of spring flowers
in her every step she took...

Photos: Doll, original, vintage Barbie from my childhood collection~ Clothing, hand-made by my maternal grandmother over forty years ago~ Violets and Narcissus from our garden.

Bloglandia Polar Festival Hosted by our beloved Elizabeth Bunsen/eb ~ Be~Dream~Play. Please visit her site for more links to other Snow Queens, Party Animals, Polar Parade and blogs of wonder!!!

Christmas Eve...

...when all were a stirring including a Christmas Peep!

The elves had arrived...

bringing great cheer...

knowing that St. Nick soon would be near!

Slippers were donned while toes sighed with relief...

giggles released in an all knowing belief...
for scurrying and flurrying had found the couch at long last

and all could settle in for an enormous repast...

and sing joy and laughter into the night
with friends of the heart held ever so bright!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Photos: Our Peep by sweet friend and artist Trish of Sweet Nellie, our dear friends and neighbors that warm our hearts so,  and our home awaiting the feast of friendship to share on Christmas Eve Night 2007...

Winter Solstice Planting

What seeds
are you planting
this shortest day
of the year?

When all life
sleeps deep
beneath the
Winter night blanket
of dark velvet,
where a tiny spark,
like stars in the vast sky,
ignites,
cradled tight
within the earth
and dreams of reaching
the light of day,
finding
the path back
into world...
Singing the joys
of Spring, Summer,
Fall, and of the blessings of Winter...

Photos: The Buddha watching over light seeds that will only thrive and grow in fertile darkness, Winter Solstice labyrinth walk in our Santa Rosa Labyrinth, and Christmas Caroling with friends and neighbors, organized by Ulla and husband.

To view the Winter Solstice at Newgrange Ireland, click the link below and download the archive. It is long, but well worth being included in this five-thousand-two-hundred-year-old event.

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/Solstice2007

Gingerbread Houses

One of my favorite holiday traditions
is to make gingerbread houses...

Owner-Chef Duskie   Estes, of Zazu and Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County, along with her two girls, puts on three consecutive Sundays of wonderful gingerbread making afternoons at the Bovolo restaurant in Healdsburg, CA. We went yesterday and there are two more Sundays (Dec 9 & 16) of house making coming up if you want to make a reservation!

I took my two faerie-god-daughters and their mom and my friend Lynnette (who changed out of her garden designing duds) to spend the afternoon in frosting, every candy imaginable, all shapes and sizes of cereal and cookies, cinnamon sticks, and hot cider (mochas for us "older-kids") and hot-delicious, slices of Bovolo's famous pizza...

At the end of our time together...
we had four houses to bring home to our homes,
bringing cheer to the long nights ahead!!!

Here is a link I found on line with instructions for making your own gingerbread house!
But one of the great things about joining Duskie and her girls is that she has everything all ready for you!!! And... it is a time of coming together as a community of kids and grownups and sharing inspiration and ideas and a whole lot of fun...

Gingerbread House Recipe

Bloglandia Ball!!! ~ September Full Moon

Today...
this Full September moon,
is the Bloglandia Ball...
hosted by beloved
eb, Elizabeth Bunsen, of Be...Dream...Play...

Even if you have no dress,
or pants,
to swirl in paper, ribbon, glitter, or lace,
in word, or story...
use your imagination
and come dance and feast with us
at the Cyberspace Palace!!!!

I might wear for a little while...

some blue, green, and pink...

or for part of the evening,
my mermaid dress,
that you've seen before,
with little mermaids
swimming and sunning in gown and on crown...

or maybe this light frock,
all iridescent air and fire and ice...

or my favorite of all,
my true Bloglandia Ball Gown...

This is the one that I'll remember years from now...

for it was created when eb first announced with glee
her idea coming to fruition,
of a Bloglandia Ball,
where our creativity can be shared and danced
and celebrated...

This dress
comes from the divas in our yard...

and wears the memory
of Summer turning into Fall...

and the joy that comes when we dance
with our muses and each other...

Please visit eb, at Be...Dream...Play... for links in post and comments to more wonder~filled delights to be found this Full Moon at the Bloglandia Ball!!!

August Full Moon... A Shelley Flow Blue Day

I have a friend...

she lives in flow blue...

and her name Shelley resides in my heart,
and in the place she calls home...

Beauty resides there with her...

reflected everywhere you turn...

courage is the lion

who laps up sunshine
in the nooks and cranny's of Shelley's home...

Where treasures peek from every corner...

and line the shelves with pure delight...

and flow, flow blue...

while friends dear...
gather to tell flow blue stories...

sharing in friendship and conversation
and the love of Shelley's husband and children...
and the heart of Shelley,
so big, so there, so beautiful...

Oh Shelley,
that I could sprout wings
and fly as often as possible...
to the home you and your husband have made...

for Shelley...

you hold the keys to our hearts...

and the world is the all the more precious,
knowing friendship
and connection with you...

Thank you, oh thank you, for the gift
and beauty of you Shelley!!!

All my love to you dear Shelley
on this Full Moon and forever... Lea~

For more views of our August visits with Shelley, please visit, Corey, Annie, Ulla, Nicol & AnnieElf on this August Harvest Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse!!!!

When The Muse Beckons...

You are ALL invited to the Bloglandia Ball
on September 26th, 2007
at the Cyberspace Palace
Please visit eb at Be...Dream...Play... for details
and to RSVP!!!!

Yesterday morning...

The Muse waltzed past my open door...

You see...
I was glued to my computer
sighing over the creative whirl
a-happening with eb at Be...Dream...Play...
watching her 100 dresses
and upcoming art show pieces
flow from her hands like honey...

Waiting...

and waiting...

and waiting for the...

INVITATION!!!!!!!

The invitation has arrived!!!!!

We are ALL invited to the Bloglandia Ball!!!!!

I was so excited that the Muse...
she grabbed my hands and whirled me into my labyrinth... were I found all the materials necessary to make my very own ball gown!!!!

Will you, oh will you, come a...

"...dancing under the stars
in the moonlight...
holding hands...
spinning, swirling, swishing, sashaying, laughing...
TOGETHER...

...in YOUR SPECIAL ball gown...
with all of us..."

Please RSVP to:

eb of Be...Dream...Play...

Oh... I am soooooo excited!!!!!!

A Sunday Through The Looking Glass

What an amazing, magical Sunday...

Ulla and her daughter Rowan picked me up and whisked me away to a place that was indeed... way beyond the Looking Glass...

A group of blogging women, artists extroidinaire, all gathered at the beautiful home of Lauren...

and pure delight ensued... conversations, laughter, sharing of ideas and creativity and a gifting of gifts and heart that was moving and precious...

So many topics were discussed in all directions... new friendships made... older connections renewed, and new connections made of those not even physically there... like Shelly who will hopefully read this and discover how loved you are, finding that there is a group of us who consider you a kindred spirit!!!!

 

It was quite profound to have all these "urls of cyberspace" all in one place, real, tangible, three-dimensional... able to respond to you in the exact moment...

I searched for a poem to capture this essence, this feeling, and these were the words that came to me in a quiet moment when I slipped down the hall to write...

A Sunday...
where magic
comes
to rest in lace and antiques,
in color and grace...
where laughter
dances and bubbles
through rooms
and halls
of beauty...
where friendships
feast on
a love of sharing
passion
found in the solitude
of creating,
where a simple pulse
of current
takes form...
spirit into matter,
this gift of word and image...

Thank you Lauren and Callen, Corey, Mary, Nicol, Donna, Sharon, and my dear Ulla (who is so always full of surprises...) and Rowan for such an amazing and magical day through the looking glass... and thank you each, for the beauty, joy, and laughter that you bring into form, and into the world...

A Little More Magic...

Just one more picture from our Harry Potter Night of the littlest witch with her magic friend, Nikki the fox dog...

Schipperkes On Parade!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

This was the sixth year that the Schipperkes have strolled en mass in the Kenwood 4th of July Parade!!! It was Nikki's first time, thanks to the persistence of my dear friends and neighbors, Joan and Osito!!!

Schipperkes are almost impossible to photograph,
as they are all black, but here is Osito and his shadow...

And, here is Nikki with a new friend!

There were eleven Schipperkes!!!
as well as a black Chihuahua and Pomeranian Schipperke wannabees!!!

Herding Schipperkes is a lot like herding cats...
but... they are so cute, like little shadows of each other!

Here is Sage with the oldest dog of our group, she's 15 years!

and the youngest, just 7-months old,
helping to push the Schipperke wagon!

Here's the entire crew...
Nikki is on the bottom right...

And what a perfect picture
to capture the essence of the day...
Two beautiful princesses,
smiling for the camera and for the joy of the day...

A big thank you to Susan for hosting this every year and gathering all the Schipperkes she can find!!!