About Maggie C

Stained glass artist, writer, respecter of life.

Just Because I Can

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Maggie C

Three Things Thursday is hosted at NerdintheBrain.com. Simple: List three things that make your life awesome.

Easy one today: Pets, Birthdays and Three-year-olds.

Today is my dog Chules’ third birthday. I don’t have time to write a lengthy post today extolling all his many charms, so I’ll just post a couple of photos. I’ve already posted them on my Facebook page, on the American Eskimo Dog Lovers FB page, and now — just because I can — I’ll share them here as well.

We’ll just count this as Chules’ fifteen minutes of fame.

And speaking of three-year-olds, here’s my favorite one:

Wish No More

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Maggie C

it's a puzzle how
the picture comes together
one piece at a time

I used to have a lot of wishes.

I wished to be independently wealthy, to be a published author or a renowned artist (or both!). I wished for perfect health, for spiritual enlightenment. I wished for a simple life, free from stressors and from having to compromise my values for the sake of “getting along” or being a “team player.”

And a lot of my wishes have come true, maybe not in the ways I imagined, but in ways that have left me pretty satisfied with how my life looks today. And those wishes that didn’t come true… the funny thing is, I don’t really wish for them anymore.

My life falls into place one piece at a time. Like a puzzle. I don’t know where the next piece will come from, or what it will look like, or where it will fit. Often I don’t even recognize that some experience is a part of the puzzle. I try to trust the process. I don’t always succeed, but I try.

Beyond myself, I have fears for the future of humanity and of the Earth. But no amount of wishing will help that. Determination, action, self-discipline, clarity of values, patience, education, hope, selflessness… perhaps my wish is that we all develop those traits which will help us piece together a saner, sustainable future.

Let’s piece together peace. Together.

Peace.

The Daily Post photo challenge: Wish

pastorale

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Maggie C

calm rumination
perfect day to chew the cud
bovine reverie

The Daily Post one-word prompt: Ruminate

Weekend Coffee Share 3.4.17

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Maggie C

If we were having coffee, I would invite you in and advise you — as usual — to mind the obstacle course of clutter on our way to the couch. The clutter has rearranged a bit. The long cardboard box holding my new bifold door is gone from where it has lain on the floor in front of the living room window for longer than I care to admit, and the door is now bifolding where I installed it in the kitchen closet doorway.

The two large bags of Goodwill donations that sat on the flat box of wood veneer at the front door entrance have finally been duly donated. The box of veneer panels is still there, but is thinning as the veneer gets cut to size and used to line the newly painted kitchen cabinets.

The saw horse bench in the dining room has been dismantled, mostly because I needed to use the “bench” part to make new shelving for the aforementioned kitchen closet with the aforementioned new bifold door.

The kitchen linoleum sports even more paint splatters, although there is less linoleum to splatter as I have begun ripping it out in anticipation of new flooring.

As you may have guessed by now, the kitchen remodel is still in progress, albeit a very slow progression. The wheels of remodeling turn slowly in my house. But that’s okay. If I weren’t puttering around with the kitchen, I would likely be sitting around getting bummed by the dreary gray skies and rain that have comprised this winter. I am soooo ready for spring.

I’m also eager for warmer weather so I can attempt the concrete counter top construction. Once poured into the melamine mold I built, the concrete will have to hang out in the (unheated) garage for a week or so to set and cure before I move it into the kitchen. I have no clue as to what I am doing with this, so the whole process will be yet another adventure in my DIY home impairment saga.

My dog Chules doesn’t mind the weather, but he is soooo ready for the kitchen remodel to be over. He doesn’t like the noise of the circular saw and the shop vac, although I think he secretly loves brushing up against the fresh paint and coming away with colorful stripes to adorn his fur.

The coffee has run out, so I guess it’s time to get on with the day. On today’s agenda: moving the cabinet doors into the glass studio and setting up space so I can begin painting them. Chules will be so disappointed that the doors are going to be white. No chance for stripes on his white fur.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any pointers on making concrete countertops, feel free to comment. Maybe sharing ideas will help cement our friendship. (See what I did there?)

Have a great week!

#WeekendCoffeeShare is graciously hosted by Emily at NerdintheBrain.com.