Reign drops keep falling from my head...

"precipitation"

one drop was all this took

drizzle then showers

all the sky a blue fighting low grey clouds

quenching an arid plot of long lost life before rainbows

me with colorful high hopes

falling

tears, rivers streaming through gutters, winds blowing

and without an umbrella relishing the wetness of my cheeks

my hair disheveled, my heart on straight

liberated

saturated

cultivated & sprouting

drenched to my bones & singing in my reign

Despite a monsoon season, I miss the rainy days of Michigan when clouds overcast all, the world's silent save for the drip drops of delight that sing to me all the day. I adore these days & will tell you that a walk in the rain is my favorite way to relax. I'm also the one you'll never see running from the car to wherever. I get wet, cause I do dry. My favorite drenched memory was 3 years back. Hailey was 4 Grant 7 & while in Target it was sunny. So as I pushed a cart of kids & dids & the rainy began gentle...yup they protested. Off came my raincoat & over the cart it went.... 10 steps out the door & it went torrential!!! Crazy heavy straight rain, children laughing as I get soaked & me....doing Gene Kelly imitation with a cart!! Yup they were safe, dry & I squished in my seat the whole way home but the giggling...thats what now keeps me quenched.
Please forgive the naughty blogger I am. I'm working up a storm to make up for the 5 months off recuping & the 2 weeks vacation to be with my little rain buddies...which occurs in 2 weeks. I haven't been with them since January. Once I return I'll be back to my 2 plus a week, but for now enjoy the rain I'm praying you get to cool & nurture you. Allow a few to hit your tongue for me.

I'll leave you with the 2 best reasons to be a bad blogger......

My tropicool bedaway

Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!

Between the heat & working crazy I'm ready for another getaway.... in my imagination.
I hope everyone gets the chance to chill in this Sunday.

This is my read for the weekend...how appropriate!!!

Add in this cool man... & my getaway in bed is complete.
Dinner is mango mojitos & two great recipes from the New York Times Recipe for Health series...Grilled Pacific Halibut with Mango Salsa & Cucumber Salsa salad. They have some great recipes. Check them out.

Finally fresh pineapple sorbet. Love to everyone & thank you for the lovely compliments...you really made my week.

Images courtesy of NYT & Amazon

You burn, scorch & scar but you will flower again...

So many woes, so little time to soothe.

You see I'm a soother, a mother to anyone in pain. I have had great pain in my life & through this my empathy is off the charts. Not my words, my friend's. She always know when she calls me she'll cry because I encourage her to release if only a trace of the pain that weighs her down.

With all the economic, health, family & other woes I've heard lately a friend told me Monday that she feels like her life has jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Today I tucked this in a pretty card on her chair at lunch.

fire lily

from above an explosion, a racing fury that penetrated

creating a human charred

scarred & seemingly disfigured

I released my woman from beneath it all

within acres of black burnished flaking crusts of

hideousness & nonsense

disaster to the masses

came a warmth steaming & behold myself expressed

arising in a manner only tragedy can impress your core

crumbling

the pain of erosion & winds discerning

I heard a scream across my skin

but despite the ache great, nature, my creature

we insisted upon the self

somehow through the relics of such combustion

I had the graceful nature to break through

phoenix towards heaven

willowing

billowing

my species coming into her own

my reign, concocted tears, convoluted years

aggressing to floods of emotion

rinsing away the filth, my debris

my strength dormant now a tendril growing

deeper a shade of green

than the blackest nasty ashy days of but a flick of ignition ago

encrusted once with withering this & dirty clung on that

now I flourish

burning bright

delightfully trusting

thanking the fire that raced across what I once was to create the fire I am

Hang in there my loves.... you shall flower again.

The rush to blush, my cheeks & everywhere else!!!

Loving what you do for me is truly enough so this past week when Julie at Being Ruby & Pink Martini & Pearls presented me with lovely blog awards, I was honored, giddy & girly giggly. Tee hee, tee hee, so sweet, a treat, I blush at the praise. Blush pink ever so sweet & innocent: the best of all colors because its genuine, in my soul the most sincere of colors. Don't think, feel, blush.
No wonder I adore the delicacy of this hue of pink. Baby soft, gentle, a whisper of pink I've seen it described so many ways but all are a lullaby. It morphs into so much pleasure.

Marshmallows, confections & even a glass of champagne or rose. Oh please forget the pink zinfandel swill, PLEASE!!! (Snoqualmie Chenin Blanc: fruity, light far superior.) I also like a pink bonnet: gin, creme de framboise, simple syrup & egg white... voila!!!..inhibition releasing libation.

From my tongue to my skin well of course blush & balms but creams, soaps oh the most fun in a pink bubble bath & yes my Perfumeria Gal currant gloss is never far away.

Clothes, shoes, baubles, cashmere, especially my cashmere, all somehow feel softer, bubbly & even at my most wise ass moment, I feel like Princess Grace in blush. My greatest moment of blush...my Vera Wang bridesmaid dress for Katie & Brad's wedding, worn more by my petite Hailey & then donated to the Glass Slipper Project to pass along the love of blush & self.

Home...one woman. Phoebe Howard. Her pink rooms are legendary in the blogosphere, shown time after time for the very obvious reason that her design is timeless. There are others that have me at their beckon call: notions, potions & other bewitching spells they whisper come hither & of in a zither I fly to lay at their feet & idolize.

Katherine Houston's genius will make its way into my home. The hints of the palest pink just make this even more visionary.
When I do invite you to partake you'll likely receive an invite via Sarah LeClere or William Arthur. If the butterfly gave anymore delight I likely will take flight from sheer giddiness. A garden without such subtle shades is nothing. Blossoms anew in spring, heady roses of summer, even the aptly named Blushing Girl all lends to blowing bubbles, rings around the rosies & care free days.

In these vinegar days of economic greys, I'm so grateful for a little blush from nature, nurture & gestures of sweet compliments. As the week draws to a close I hope your weekend is filled with cotton candy moments: sweet, airy & a whisper of pink.

Images courtesy of Country Living, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart

No more Munchkins I'm going Indonesian!!!!

Another week caught in the whirlwinds of life & when my feet once again grabbed terra firma, clearly I was not in Kansas anymore. My Oz contains the cowardly, the heartless & yup even the brainless That I must skip to lou with daily but alas there's no Wizard in sight to redeem their lack ofs. So instead I sigh & declare this Dorothy dejected, disgusted & to hell with these damn ruby slippers my feet are killing me, not to mention hello I'm not 5: the gingham dress needs to go. Yup its sandals & saris...the farm girl's heading to Bali's Ubud Hanging Gardens.

This lush haven on former & surrounding rice terraces consists of 38 villas each bejewelled with a infinity pool that overlooks the surrounding tropical mountains & Ayung River. Whisper this gem over & over, mantra of heaven in an enclave of tranquility. My own pool awash in breezes by day & candles by night: serenity.

Yes, yes I ramble but this time in Oz has not been easy, in fact its been a pebble in my shoe trotting along that brick road, but in the Ayung Spa, that's all a memory. I leave their description to tantalize you as it massaged me...

"Clinging to the riverbank, where the rocks make the water sing and consumed by tropical foliage kissed by morning mists, the Ayung Spa rekindles distant memories of Paradise Lost. Awaken your senses with the heady scents of flowers and spices, and abandon your body to the secular secrets of Balinese well-being. In pure Balinese style, the Ayung Spa offers three luxurious pavilions dedicated to relaxation and well-being. Each pavilion comprises two large spaces; one with two massage beds and a Balinese sofa, the other with a dressing area and bathroom with a bath that is surrounded by water and looks out onto the river. The interior and exterior are intimately married to nature, thanks to the use of local materials and the manner in which the pavilions open out onto the majesty of the views whilst retaining their privacy. The pavilions are linked to each other by Japanese steps surrounded by water and climbing plants clinging to the neighbouring wall, promoting a sensation of fertility. Pure luxury in a tropical paradise." Hanging Garden Indulgence: earthly delights... I'm on my way...

So off I jet across the waters. I'm lucky its a quick flight. Mind travel always is but when I return in a month a.k.a tomorrow, I'll be refreshed & renewed. Hopefully by then the Wicked Witch of Reality will have moved onto someone else.

Images courtesy of Orient Express & flickr