Doors and more...

Milwaukee, WI

Asheville, NC

Racine, WI

I adore doors.
I've had doors shut in my face.
I lean in doorways (as I am tall.)
I wonder...what door(s) will open [for me (for us) now?]
There is often more to a door...than meets the eye.
I am aging, so now a few of my craggy doors creak.
I have shut some doors. [Some gently and some (at times) not so nicely.]
Jesus said "Behold, I stand at the door and knock..."
I've (almost) never met a doorway that wasn't my friend.
Most (if not all) doorways stand by you.
It's good to know your point of egress (which, most often, is said door.)
One can make a grand entrance, through a door(way) or simply just 'slide' on through...
(As I said) j'adore doors.
I have spent (considerable) time adorning doors.

I like a no nonsense door.
I like frilly doors.
I even like doors in the floor.

Yes, I'm still

learning.

Things I’ve Learned: 

I’ve learned to leave people alone and stand back in the shadows.

Wait.

(And wait some more.)

Still waiting.

Ada Blenkhorn said it right (in 1899?!) 

Her nephew always wanted his wheelchair pushed down "the sunny side" of the street. So she wrote this... 

There's a dark and a troubled side of life;

There's a bright and a sunny side, too;

Tho' we meet with the darkness and strife,

The sunny side we also may view.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life;

It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,

If we keep on the sunny side of life.

Tho' the storm in its fury break today,

Crushing hopes that we cherished so dear,

Storm and cloud will in time pass away,

The sun again will shine bright and clear.

(Let us greet with a song of hope each day,

Tho' the moments be cloudy or fair;

Let us trust in our Savior always,

Who keepeth everyone in His care.)

[There’s something to be said, about that. (Keep it right.)]

 (Please, if you will…) add what you have learned to the list. 

                                             

I'm still learning.

Garden of the One Thousand (a Tribute)

Garden of the One Thousand

There are one thousand little voices...in the water they fall

and within those one thousand children's voices there is an echo that rings out as they call...

Quicksilver runs fast in the waterfall--along with it some liquid gold

and there is life-giving joy in the water that brings a comfort to one’s very own soul

There is sunlight streaming in the waterfall; much like one thousand glittering gems

and there are twigs and leaves in the waterfall, adorning one thousand twinkling hems

of children’s garments who play in the waterfall, 
as they jump and they dive and they sing

Their hearts beat out wildly in the waterfall--and get me to wondering...

Above, there are one thousand windswept glories, across an ageless and pink summer sky--

and one thousand pulsating stars out at night that shimmer on their course as they pass on by 

And up above it all there is a hollow, with one thousand bubbling streams

that join together to make the waterfall, impractical as it may seem

At the top--there is a tree with one thousand roots that travel on down and then down...

with every twist and turn that they make, they make this--much hallowed ground.

And the dreams of most all are stored up there, and now and again, down they fall--

right from the heavenly altar of the tree through the little waterfall.

© KAnniePowell

Why people collect and restore....

vintage Barbie.

Click here to see: Niel Taylor's Vintage Barbie Collection

I couldn't have said it better myself.   :)

(Above video compliments of youtube; doll photo mine.)

All time favorite...

(works of art from the Art Institute of Chicago.)

Top: "Two Sisters (On the Terrace)" by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881

Middle: "Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando"  by Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1879

Bottom: "The Song of the Lark" by Jules Breton, 1884

(and more...)

Top: "Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat, 1884

("A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte")

Middle: "At the Moulin Rouge" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1895

Bottom: Londonderry Vase, 1813.

Middle: "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper, 1942 

Bottom: "Littler Dancer Aged Fourteen" by Degas 

(executed in wax 1878-1881; cast in bronze after 1922.)

(Pieces of art) THAT MAKE ME SO (DANG) HAPPY! :)

Wisdom for today.

“These are the few ways we can practice humility:

To speak as little as possible of one's self.

To mind one's own business.

Not to want to manage other people's affairs.

To avoid curiosity.

To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.

To pass over the mistakes of others.

To accept insults and injuries.

To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.

To be kind and gentle even under provocation.

Never to stand on one's dignity.

To choose always the hardest.”

***

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."

***

― Mother Teresa

Peach Flame

Number 4 Barbie.

(1961)

"Peach Flame."

Ridiculously good

food.

Voila! Stuffed green peppers.

:)

For the love of dolls.

Find me here: Futzing with dollies today.

Summertime Beauty

Front yard hollyhocks have bees in a tizzy. 

Dusted with pollen, they go back for more.

Look out! Don't get in their way!

:)

Lakhi is ready.

"The cows will all lay down."

:)

OMG

too good...

w-a-a-a-y too good.

:) 

Summertime Blues

Refinishing projects completed. 

Summer is a great time to complete that which you have been thinking...of doing!

:-)

Here's mine...!

Judy Garland - The Man That Got Away (A Star Is Born, 1954)

Heaven.

(live link above)  :-)

Late for the 4th but for our nation....

Journeying Well    

  

Mountain beyond mountain-

all places we must go

Mountain beyond the one I'm climbing

preparing me, you know…

Mountain after mountain

each journey worth the climb

Mountain peak and mountain view

each one special, each one new

Horizon after horizon-

all calling me to push

venturing beyond what is safe

with limit after limit breached

and all upon this dusty foot…

Sunset after sunset

with color that never pales

Until I reach my resting place

pressing, I will prevail.

Mountain after mountain peak

and singing all the way

What I see from the valley fair

is calling out to me.

Mountains, limitless mountains

all standing in a row

Like soldiers they remind me of

places I have yet to go.

Glory upon glory

and wonders all around

I stand and gaze on mountain peaks

for this is hallowed ground.

Mountain after mountain peak

and pressing all the way

with story upon story to tell

I must be leaving-on my way.

Fair mountain you are a friend to me

I tuck you near my heart

Calling out to travelers everywhere

to up and run, to leave...depart!

Shake off the dust of yesteryear

And breath in something new

Fair mountain with one hid behind

is calling out to you...

So pack then, lightly friend-

brave travelers alike

And we will feast on mountain airs

on this, our lofty hike.

Soldier on, yes soldier on

and we will greet the day

Standing where our ancestry stood

stalwart, come what may.

Mountain fair, O Mountain friend

to you we rise and sing

all gathered 'round

as children clad

receive this-our offering.

Mountain looming, mountain next

to you we must away

and stand where our tomorrow shines

brighter than our yesterday.

Fair mountain on horizon, towering

you beckon to me and call...

I will conquer and upon you stand

for you are fairest of them all!

Arise, O slumbering nations!

and enter into rest...

Banishing strife and your warring cease

to receive this-our Maker's very best...

For we each are gentle warriors

on this, our Earthly home;

each precious day a gift on display

to unwrap, to discover and to humbly hold.

And treat this one time journey

just like a loving child...

held so sweetly to your breast

never left soiled, tired--undressed

And with a lightness in your step

run free, run brave, and run wild. 

© K. Annie Powell