rhubarb and roses and hand lust

 Alright friends.  I know what you're thinking. 'My goodness, that Madelyn sure takes a lots of photo's of hands. Especially hands holding coffee cups.'  

I do. I know. And I am completely unapologetic. I have hand lust and any opportunity that floats my way for a hand shot, it's a slam dunk. Especially if they are my hands holding a cup of chai on my favorite day of the week. (Sunday, just in case you didn't know.)


Lucky for me on this particular Sunday I chanced upon a magnificent yard sale down by the beach after yoga, after walking my dog, after nearly running over a seagull to turn onto a street when I spotted the yard sale sign at the very last minute.  And at this very same yard sale I found three (THREE!) vintage Japanese cups of undeniable beauty. Yard sales are the pinnacle of fun.  So, you see, I HAD to take a photo of at least one of them after I made a chai latte to share with you.

:)

It's been a lovely weekend.  The other evening I was at a gathering for a client (wine and cheese tasting) and fell in love with a garnet hued wine which tasted like rhubarb and roses from a small Italian, earth friendly vineyard.   Oh, and the pinot noir from Blasted Church really delighted me because it tasted like sexy summer plums and was low on the tannin count.  (not so fond of tannins) It was such a lovely evening with vintage Ray Charles spinning away and twinkle lights on the rooftop garden and the scent of sea more intoxicating that the wine. 


Anyway. Did I mention the weather has been completely perfect this weekend? The kissing season has arrived and I have been barefoot in the garden eating lemon cake with my chai for breakfast.  I also made a surprisingly tasty supper of linguini with goats cheese and fennel and garden tomatoes given I sort of tossed together whatever caught my eye in the fridge. 


JOY.


Speaking of summer I plan to do a lot of camping ~ Orcas Island is on my radar as some of those campgrounds have  views of the lake I have been told and I just can't wait to wake up and make coffee over the campfire and swim in the lake.  There is also an epic road trip in the works to a retreat near San Fran with a group of highly inspirational women. 


I LOVE roadtrips and camping. Carefree adventures, peels of laughter, lots of lovely, swoony night stars.  The way to my heart. Just sayin'.


Oh! Here.  One more hand shot. I just can't resist.





Seaweed bracelets!

'Fireflies' is getting ready for another whole month of juicy photography mails right in your inbox each and every day beginning June 01. 

Have a beautiful week happy plums

xo

Maddie

pst ~ Eliza and Madelyn is FAB this week and the 'four' offer blessings

Tappin-In! with Susan Tuttle

 I am here today at my dear friend Susan Tuttle's 'home' ~ pondering creativity.

Please visit!

xo

Maddie 

notes from the weekend

'Since the celts are a nature people, the world of nature is both a presence and a companion.'

~ John O'Donohue~

from my journal ~ 20~05~12 ~

I have been preparing to shoot some work for a Spanish Winery and a bit stuck in my head for ideas for one of their wines ~ circling round and round and not quite landing on anything 'sparkling'. Until I read the reviews and realized it contained floral notes along with honey, almond, green apple and dried pear. So I shot a few test ideas and this one really delighted me as it is feels like a lovely beginning to the mood I am hoping to capture. It has a romantic Celtic reverence for nature as well and reminded me of the way John O'Donohue writes about nature as a presence~ 'Since the Celts are a nature people, the world of nature is both a presence and a companion.'  So true, wildly true.

This morning I made a thermos of chai with a tin of homemade granola bars and cycled across the city to my friend Cath's house to drop off some gifts in her mailbox(notebook, Penhaligon's perfume sample, sage and new moon dark chocolate) as she has been a bit under the weather. The air smelled of lilacs and fresh bread from a nearby organic bakery as I pedaled onwards down the lane, and over the little bridge towards the river which floats alongside the sea and my heart felt swollen with joy.  Lighthearted, peaceful.


Later there was catching up with emails, cleaning out the shed, making dinner (yam curry)and gathering an armful of pale wisteria from my garden to bring along with homemade jars of sugar scrub to an evening of wine and music making with my friends. And then suddenly it was almost midnight and I fell asleep listening to a mix cd of Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Erik Satie.  I have to say I love a beautiful Sunday almost more than anything.

xox

Maddie

pst! ~ Fireflies registration is now open for June. 

pst! I shot a sweet image of teacups in the rain which was used as the cover for Sarah Rayner's bestselling novel, 'One Moment, One Morning' and you simply must see this beautiful film made inspired by the book! So magically created, I was completely delighted when Sarah sent it my way.  So looking forward to meeting her in person in September when I teach Persisting Soul in Somerset.

blessings abundant

 This morning a beautiful package arrived in my mailbox from Amy Woodruff who is the magical energy behind 'Daughter of the Sun.'  A few weeks ago I was so blessed to win Amy's generous draw for her stunning, potent, ethereal crystal grounding necklace. This morning when I opened the package not only did she gift me the necklace truly humming with heart centered energy, but she also sent along other offerings such as 

~ sage from her family's land in California
~ ceremonial earth offerings (lavender from Bulgaria, roses from California, copal from Guatemala, purple corn from Peru, quartz crystal from New Zealand champa from India and calendula from Kauai aaaaaand 
~ a sacred 'Mapacho' which is a ceremonial tobacco used by the Shipito Indians in the Amazon.  

In her blessings card in the package she wrote...

'I made this little package sent with so much love and light especially for you.  Crystal has been cleared and re programmed with only the highest vibrations and esp a deep remembrance of the heartspace.  May this earth's treasure help you to find beauty in all directions.  The sage I gathered from my families land in California.  So grateful to connect with ou in this here and now ~ I look forward to squeezing you one day in the physical.

bountiful blessings,

~ Amy ~

The moment I slipped Amy's crystal necklace over my neck I could feel the humming energy whirring away close to my heart.  Although I pictured the necklace here on the outside of my shirt to share with you it's beauty, I am wearing it under the shirt now and close to my heart.  Thrumming away ~ grounding energies and soaring heartspace.

You can visit Amy's site here as well as her etsy shop which is just brimming with beauty.

*****

I want to share something that happened with you and I have been turning it over and over in my heart for a while to truly absorb the experience. 

For the past few weeks in my new home every week I put out the blue box (recycling) at the front of the house on pick up day.  And every week I see a very old car drive by with an elderly couple who get out and collect bottles from all the blue boxes which can be returned for money along my street.  Every time that I see this couple I hide behind the curtains of my windows so they won't see me watching them and I have been feeling sad as my recycling doesn't have any 'money' bottles since my son returns them himself to the recycling depot.

This week when this couple drove past again I was suddenly moved to go out and introduce myself as I knew my son had a large bag of recycling in the garden ready to go to the depot and I wanted to give it to them. It was an impulse and I moved, I responded. 

I invited the woman into my home and we began to chat and soon she was sharing her life story with me ( I had given her the bag of recycling in my yard while we chatted) over tea.  (her husband stayed in the car, a bit shy) 

I don't wish to share her story here as it is terribly tragic and filled with devastating loss and of course her story ultimately, but I wanted to humbly consider this.  

So often I drive by or see situations where I can offer something..a drive, a hand, a sandwich ...a friendship ~ and I don't.  Every day as a matter of fact there are many opportunities to make a difference in just little ways and I let them pass by.  I am in a hurry, I am distracted, I feel shy or unsure how I will be received if I open up and the moment is gone as quickly as it came.  


The times that I do follow my deeper urge, I am always the one in the end who receives the gifts.  With the lift in my car  I offered Hilda I received one of the most dear frienships in my life, a woman who makes me laugh loud and free and wild and makes me shake my head in glee.


With Paulina (above) I received a connection so intimate in the sharing of our life stories and a few days later a loaf of cranberry honey bread which she left on my doorstep.


My thoughts about sharing this were not to say 'oh how kind' I am ~ but to illuminate my experience so perhaps others will be inspired to look for jewels of connection just waiting to be birthed and to remind myself to be present to the world moving all around me. This 'getting of wisdom' is a pearl waiting to reveal itself to me when I open my heart.



Here is what I feel when I attend and meditate on my experience ~ there is this perfect harmonious gust of pure joyful desire to connect and reach out for one another which is our birthright ~ a gift nestled in our soul like a pearl.  We all have it naturally as our true nature which cries out for us to extend our presence.  But often our minds step in with words of worry and nonsense and daily dismissals.  Brushing aside our deep intuitive knowings where the magic resude, we brush aside our opportunity to expand our hearts and souls to the fullest.


Simply taking a quiet breath and leaning into this murmur or gust we are charged and awakened to act ~ to connect and grow love in this world with one another.  And I love that I am open to self correct, change course ...and grow.

I have been so incredibly humbled with this experience and can't wait to see Paulina again to ask her for her recipe!


Today ~ the sun is shining, my heart is full and blessings are abundant in my life.  


Wishing you much love ~ and this...ohhhhhh sooooo beautiful sent to me by the lovely Viebke.

xo

Maddie


pst ~ Sharanya's instagram is gorgeous!

leaping green Irish zing

Oh Mother's day was glorious I must exalt ~ mostly hanging out in the garden with the teenagers and their wonderful father who planted trees for me in the front yard.  My son Noah and I found a magnificent gothic clamshell birdbath for FREE! (I love that word) by the side of the road. It was so massive we needed three men to lift it and we placed it by the front door.  I am going to fill it with Irish moss and creeping groundcovers and all things sprouting orchidaceous color.  


My daughter Tess gifted me a box of Parisienne macaroons and I drank several glasses of red wine and so today (glistening gold sky morning, two red roebuck by the silver stream) I am zinging some fresh energy into my cells with a green cocktail.


'leaping green Irish zing juicy cocktail'


kale
spinach
green apples
limes
cucumber
celery
and a handful of fresh mint from my kitchen garden 


and there you have it ~ my 'craic' for the day:)


Do you 'juice' ~ and if so, what are your favorite blends?  


Happiest of Monday's to you sweet peonies!


x&o


Maddie


(and a lovely soul brings her spirit home, 'reclaiming her place as a moment')~ and there is a butterfly in my hair!

soul to soul

I cleaned up my studio yesterday afternoon after a morning of writing and yes, I insist on calling it a studio even though it is a desk in my bedroom because, really, it is so perfect with the garden light streaming in and those pale sea glass blue walls.  Lately I have been' imagining' a tiny shed built in the garden by the side of the house with a 'found' window and salvaged door to write in while the teenagers bang their drums and make happy noise in the kitchen:)

The particular basket you see in this photo has a small handful of collected sea glass and feathers and shells, washi tape, a letter from a darling friend and a stack of handwritten cards with notes on them for my book.  I love paying reverent attention with notes of magic to how I care for things and the feathers symbolize flight for my book as it is almost ready to soar from the nest.

This morning I wrote in my journal while listening to Gaucho's 'Pearl' about the essence of my presence and how my individuality is expressed by my presence when I meet other people.  The molecular energy is so immediate I feel when you meet someone before they even speak a word and is the very soul texture of their inner being.  I want to strive to create a presence that is caring, kind, loving, present and inspiring as a gift of love to myself and the consciousness of the world.  I want to align myself with the true nature of my soul in every way possible in my presence.

While writing about this I considered my presence and tried to imagine how it  comes across to greet others ~ and it occurred to me that my exuberant energy might come across as so potent that it might not allow others to shine their own unique light ~ and I am committed to reminding myself that a beautiful energy is shared and flows back and forth soul to soul.  Does this make any sense?  Just because I am so enthused with my path doesn't mean it is the answer or way for others and I feel perhaps I emote this.



I want my presence to feel a bit like this ~ open and alive and fresh and pure and compassionate.

From presence a loving expression can flow into our thoughts, words, deeds.  Imagine!  When we are attentive to the true nature inside and manifest it in our presence, the invisible within us finds beautiful form and comes to fullest expression.

I love that.

This weekend I am booking tickets for the Wild Soul retreat I am teaching at in England in September.  I am so excited!  There is nothing I love more than teaching live and I am so looking forward to learning from all the artists who have signed up for this beautiful gathering.


It's Mother's day this weekend ~ my daughter who cannot keep a secret said she bought me the complete set of Anne of Green Gables movies as a gift for me which made me cry ~ my mother bought me the book when I was 9 and now my daughter gifts me the films in her teenaged years. When I was little I used pretend I was Anne and walk around declaring I was mortified at everything and writing poetry on little scraps of paper I would bury in the back garden.  When my daughter Tess was born I couldn't wait to read her the books. 

L O V e abounds in that book.

I am also (not so secretly) hoping the family will take me to see 'the avengers'  for mother's day before our garden barbeque.

Yes, I love a great action film now and then:)

Happy weekend starlings!

x&o

Maddie

kava kava happy

 

 Sunday revelations ( seven of them!)

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed in scarlet. ~ Proverbs 31:21 ~

 

~I am under the spell of my garden ~ exhaling such pigments!  Red gold, carmine, blue violet, cadmium yellow, lacustrine blue, apple green, and deep mysterious ambers.  Friendly Giant tulips, intoxicating  chocolate vines, waltzing bees and scarlet tailed birds swooping all around in the opalesque light about to say something have me in thrall.

~On Sunday I spent most of the afternoon on a blanket in the garden alternating between working on my book and staring up into the sky, blending raw nourishments in the kitchen ( a spectacular smoothie of mango, chia seeds, coconut water, coconut oil, honey, vitagreens, pineapple and banana)and creating bracelets for my Maitri Lotus designs.  Then I made veggie/cheese tortillas and salad for dinner which the family devoured in the garden.  Happiness!.

'I used to wonder why the sea was blue at a distance and green close up and colorless for that matter in your hands.  A lot of life is like that.  A lot of life is just a matter of learning to like blue.' ~ (The Listening God) ~

~ I have come to the magnificent revelation that I must trust that I am exactly where I am meant to be.  It seems to me the only possible answers to the questions that are on my mind. What do I know? What is my place in this vast universe?  Am I making a difference? How can I heal loved ones in pain? Is my offering unique and true to my very soul's quickening alpenglow?  Am I growing, am I learning,  am I enough? (sometimes I wonder)


~ the full pearly moon shining down on my face filled with me awe and wonder and grace the other evening on my drive home past fields of blueberries and wine vineyards and I felt such brilliant gratitude

~ the other morning walking out into the tidepools on the beach I gathered beautiful treasures for my sketchbook~seakelp and crab shells, sand grains and purple sea lichen (a most magnificent date with my thoughts and my dog honeycombed in light) I am a goddess of water and here I can speak my dreams aloud.


~Oh! this weekend I also made a beautiful Green tea, honey loaf.  Yummmmm!


~ this summer I want to learn fly fishing. And this....oh my, oh my.

Exhalation of joy

❤

~ Maddie ~ 

ps ~ Persisting Soul is sold OUT!  Thank you thank you!  It is still available in open classroom format if you so desire however dear soulshines.