If I had to choose
a color
to describe
Bliss,
I believe it would be
the color of maple leaves
in the Autumn sunshine
dancing in the breeze.
They delight my senses
with their bright
and joyful display.
Until Spring…
when the color of Bliss
is again the color
of the maple leaves
even though that color has changed.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Focusing on peace.
Loose Purple Floral 8×10 Watercolor
Purple and Loose and Free.
Is there any better way to be?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Looking up
past the bare
tangled
web
that tries to
block our view…
Looking beyond
what is
closest
and darkest
and right before
our line of sight…
Is beauty
and brightness
and color
and possibilities
and hopefulness
and mystery.
Look up…
Look beyond…
See the beauty.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Happy October Watercolor – Coffee Table Pumpkin Centerpiece – 6×9
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Autumn Glow September Sunset, Mars, PA 9/26/16
Thick, heavy clouds part briefly
revealing glimpses of glimmering gold
and twinkling sapphire skies
above the emerald carpeted lawn
sprinkled with the first fallen leaves
that will soon crunch beneath our feet
as we walk the familiar lane…
on a sweet September sunset.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
First Fall Leaves – The Old Dogwood Tree – Mars, PA – September, 2016
Leaves
Leave time for the people you love and the things you love to do.
Leave your mind free of doubt to welcome new ideas and the opportunity to grow.
Leave disagreements to maintain peace and harmony.
Leave people better than you found them – hug the hurt, kiss the broken, love the lonely.
Leave your past in the past and live for what today has to offer.
Leave a mark – not a scar.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I consider myself a pretty good pie baker.
But we all have “those days” – eh?
This past Sunday, I decided to bake a cherry pie. It’s been quite a while since I got my hands on tart red cherries, so when I found some in the frozen food section at our local supermarket recently, I swooped them up with all good intentions of baking a surprise cherry pie for my guys. Sunday, especially with Fall approaching, is always a good time to have dessert as a special treat.
The simple recipe I found online in a quick search called for using cornstarch as the “thickener.” I typically use flour, but found a box of cornstarch in the back of my spice cabinet and decided to follow the recipe and use it.
I prepared the pie and baked it (10 minutes longer than the recipe called for because the filling was not bubbling out of the slits on top yet – and Grandma always told me a pie is never done until it bubbles over). I decided it had to be done, so removed it from the oven, cooled it, and looked forward to serving it to my guys who had been working hard chopping and splitting and stacking wood in preparation for Fall and winter fires.
Well – the pie filling just didn’t thicken. My guys ate their whole slices like champs, even though they were more like cherry soup topped with crust and vanilla ice cream.
I had a major cherry pie FLOP!
I’m glad I also followed Grandma’s guidance and made cinnamon pie crust treats with the leftover dough that wasn’t needed on the pie. Grandma typically just cut the leftover dough into strips, brushed with milk, sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar, and baked until brown. I had fun cutting mine out into maple and oak leaves with cookie cutters to make them a little fancier.
The cinnamon pie crust leaves didn’t make it to the next day. Glad something turned out right!
Does cornstarch go bad? Does it loose its “thickening” ability? I must admit it wasn’t sealed very airtight, and what I used was at the very end of the box. Or did I just not bake the pie long enough? I actually put it back in the oven for 15 more minutes after serving the two pieces to my guys wondering if it might thicken up. No luck.
I guess we all have “those days” right?!
Cherry Hugs,
Jodi
Practicing painting trees….
while waiting for leaves
to fill the bare branches
and brighten the landscape.
Spring is beckoning.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Dancing in the Autumn sunlight
amidst coffee-colored trunks and wispy branches
with marshmallow fluff and smoky gray clouds floating
in an azure blue sky
above a carpet of fading green grass…
A few bright leaves hang on to life
in bold and brilliant bursts
of crimson and honey and marmalade.
Autumn’s Final Act.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Photo taken 11/21/15 from my front porch (my blog cover photo) of the weeping cherry tree that has the only leaves left in the front yard.
Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?
A random song you haven’t thought about in a long time?
For days, I have had this one in my head – a classic I never tire of – and that withstands the test of time and ages: The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind (written by Bob Dylan 1962 – sung by Peter, Paul and Mary).
“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?”
My thoughts today:
Let’s not turn our heads.
Let’s look up and really SEE the sky.
Let’s truly listen to and respond to people’s cries.
Let’s listen.
Let us realize that we can make a difference…
One person at a time
by turning towards instead of away,
by looking at head on.
Let us be present.
Let us not turn our heads and pretend we just don’t see.
The answer lies within each of us.
We can make a difference – one person – one act – at a time.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 