Hillcrest Cottage Calligraphy

Late-Night Calligraphy Session.

These days, Hillcrest Cottage has beautiful wedding invitations lined up across the art table with black ink drying. My right hand has a permanent black stain with black ink under my index finger's nail.

I made a quick trip to my favorite art store last week to purchase more ink. The owner asked how I was doing, and I held up my right hand exposing the black on my fingers. She smiled and gave me a knowing calligrapher's look.

Calligraphy is art... yes, but this kind of calligraphy is work... yes.

Back-breaking, hand-numbing, labor-intensive work.

But, I really love it and am looking forward to many more jobs this wedding season.

The following are examples of the styles from which clients may currently choose:

Spencerian Style

Italics Style

The 2012 Changes are Arriving

All those changes I have been anticipating during this year upon which I have labeled 'finish'...

are arriving and happening.

Middle college guy turned 21 on Saturday, so we drove up to his college to celebrate. We spent an incredible day together at Crystal Bridges art museum.

Three Awesome Guys

We got to meet up with Stuart's roommates and buddies to enjoy some cake and fire pit time.

I am thankful for these guys. They are smart, studious, creative, witty, intelligent men. I can't wait to see how they will change the world.

Next... on the wedding front... it was shower time

The world would be a happy place if everyone had friends as loyal as these women.

And... so... the 2012 march toward change and finish begins.

View From the Pit

It seems I never find myself far from Psalm 40...

I waited patiently for the Lord;

And He inclined to me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay;

And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.

And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;

Many will see and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

First of all, being in a pit is not a bad place to be. Why? It causes me to look up. It causes me to wait patiently for the Lord. It causes me to acknowledge my dependence upon God. It makes me realize that He is my only hope and my only salvation.

When you are in a pit, your vision is limited and narrow and focused...

and expectant.

When you are in a pit, you hope for your deliverance to be imminent. When you are in a pit, your emotions swing wildly from believing help will appear at any given second to wondering if your last breath has just been inhaled. There's really no in between emotions in pit-living.

No one can climb out of a pit in their own strength, in their own craftiness. Down in the pit, there are no materials with which to build a ladder of escape.

Not gonna find or build a ladder like this.

The nights are really dark and cold and lonely. The days are only slightly different. The food is lousy or non-existent. The silence is deafening.

And if it rains, the pit only gets worse... because the clay becomes miry.

People in pits spend a lot of time crying out for help. Patiently seems to be a bad word choice. No one waits patiently in a pit. No one passes the time in a pit by knitting, doing a crossword or sudoku puzzle.

Intently is a better description of the waiting. In a pit the waiting is completely, intently focused upon help arriving. This is a picture of complete, utter dependence upon the outside source which will come.

And the only possible place from where the help could arrive, is from above.

So, being in a pit is a good place to be...

I guess.

To say that "Pit-Living is a good thing" seems foolish, so contrary to all I can see and touch and even feel. Which reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:18:

For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

Waiting for my new song today. How about you?

Texas-Style Zombie Killers

Whirlwind trip to Texas Hill Country produced some fun i-Phone pictures

I love how both the clouds and tree branches mirror the circular wind mill shape.

Mosaic cowboy greets San Antonio airport guests.

Tagged along with husband the Paperback Writer, as he shared a Zombie Killers Weekend with the awesome Bulverde Baptist Student Ministry. Thanks so much for your Texas-style hospitality!

Looking through the screen door of our very fun guest cabin.

Afternoon walk-about on the ranch where we stayed.

This "Y"-shaped tree will be a focal point in a poster I have been inspired to design. Looking forward to some art time this week; hoping to share the studio results very soon.

Follow Your Dream

While de-cluttering the studio... contents of a drawer fell randomly upon my art desk.

Reminding me to always... Follow My Dream... and to never be satisfied with Second Place.

In the Moment

Sitting at: The computer bar that used to be a wall.

Listening to: The rhythmic breathing of high school guy who slept on the couch last night.

Drinking: Community Coffee Dark Roast from my big, red LOVE mug.

Wearing: My fave 'Clayton High Yellow Jackets' sweatshirt purchased at a random truck stop in New Mexico... and my Uggs... and my red floral flannel pajama bottoms... lovely, I know.

Waiting for: My guys to get with it, so we can begin the Hillcrest Cottage Project of the Day... a new floor which will begin at the front door, come through the kitchen, and end in the laundry porch.

Patchwork Madness

Hillcrest Cottage is currently experiencing patchwork madness.

While at an estate sale last weekend, I stumbled upon this ugly duckling- 70's- grandma- polyester- quilt. The patches of magenta and lime green wooed me. The 2012 "it" color of tangerine was also present.

Suddenly, a flash of creative genius came upon me!

For $3.00 I could transform my ottoman into something fun and awesome.

I am noticing a very cool trend of bright, outrageous patchwork combined with antiques and think it is the funnest thing to happen in a long time!

This is my creative contribution.

I love how it looks with the granny square afghan... another estate sale find.

Runners to Your Marks

I do not do transitions well. A day like this last day of 2011 finds me melancholy.

Looking ahead to the horizon I see nothing but changes in this unknown 2012.

There will be goals achieved. There will be celebrations of huge importance.

Our oldest son will toss his hat into the air with a meaning which only a West Point cadet can understand



and have bird seed tossed at him with a zeal which only wedding guests can perform.

My youngest son will finish high school and begin college. I will finish 23 years of parenting. I will begin the days when Hillcrest Cottage's walls will quietly whisper the stories of boyhood sword fights, marathon video game parties, late night kitchen raids, and the loud laughter of family gatherings.

Yes, the walls will talk. They will talk a lot.

They will speak of the love we do here, of forgiveness, of grace, of a thousand 'I love you' moments, of acceptance and belonging. The yucky stuff, sifted through grace, will be trampled underfoot and swept aside as rubbish. The good stuff will rise as a sweet aroma full of goodness,

like the smell of bacon on a snowy morning.

In this new 2012, I will write about transitions... a lot. I will talk about finishing... a lot.

If you care to join my 2012 roller coaster ride, you may understand what it means to accomplish a worthy goal. I imagine the lows will be very low and the highs will be very high.

And... as life goes... I am certain there will be a sprinkling of unexpected sorrows and joys.

My motto for 2012 of "Finish Strong" finds its roots in Hebrews 12;1,2:

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Runners to your mark... get set... GO.

The Lettered Cottage is hosting a "Word for the Year" link party. She is encouraging us to periodically post blogs relating to our chosen word.

Fa La La La La is Here!

Hillcrest Cottage is now in full holiday mode.

A sorority holiday tea with three generations of Chi Omegas: Me with my niece and my mom.

Hillcrest Cottage's kitchen has turned out several batches of fudge...

and gingerbread awaiting its icing.

The cousins have arrived home from college and afar.

Jeff has given Santa his holiday requests.

We have gathered with friends for holiday cheer.

We have attended the annual All-Academies Banquet with our West Point cadet.

And #51 has joined my Santa mug collection (Thanks Stu!)

Look Kids, A REAL Christmas Tree!

And... my tree shall always... be real.

Dear Children of Christmas,

Once upon a time Christmas trees were... well... trees. Trees with sap and dead needles falling on the floor and the need to be watered. Christmas trees were not green plastic things manufactured from recycled tires. Christmas trees were not pulled out of a box at Thanksgiving to gather dust and become a semi-permanent part of the house's decor for a month and a half.

I rather like the Victorian image of the tree decorated on Christmas Eve with candles being lit for one glorious moment.

It seems incredulous to me that an entire generation of Christmas children have no concept of a real live Christmas tree!

No so at Hillcrest Cottage! This is where 'real' resides. Like it is 'real' that half of the plaster ceiling in my entryway hall nearly killed someone when it decided to crash to the floor last summer. And we are still debating the solution to this problem.

It is 'real' that Beautiful Lucy the Doodle-less leaves her furry calling cards everywhere... on the sofa... on the floor... on our clothes. Thank goodness for lint rollers!

It is 'real' that I have about 4 or 5 unfinished remodeling projects.

In contrast to Hillcrest Cottage's 'real' flaws... it is my constant prayer that everyone who walks through my rickety garden gate will feel the 'real' love and acceptance that this family who lives here has to offer.

So, for all the pre-fab Christmas tree children, this is how a real tree comes to be.

Won't you join us on our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm? It is afternoon, and the sun is lowering in the late Autumn sky. The temperature is dropping and the free hot chocolate that comes with our tree will be looking good when we are finally done.

What about this one?

Added fun on the tree farm are the live animals.

This little guy wanted a snack.

And so did he...

What a sweetie.

It was a beautiful December afternoon for Christmas tree shopping. In the midst of the hunt,we had some fun posing for farm-inspired photos.

Better than the 1970's cheap- photographer fake wagon wheel shots. This one is real.

Ha Ha! Reminds me of the Robert Louis Stevenson poem... "I have a little shadow".

My faithful helpers.

Enough fun... time to work...

Davis saws down the chosen tree... I even got a smile!

This year's tree is so different. I love it; it smells as great as it looks.

Hoping a wagon comes by to help him carry this tree.

Davis loads the tree on the hay wagon.

And... the hay wagon takes us back to the car.

To Davis' car, that is, which is covered with mud, just how he sometimes likes it.

Ta-Da!

The tree is in its stand and ready for the decorating! The real tree's aroma fills our cottage like a scented Christmas candle. You see, children, 'the scent of the tree' candle derives from the scent of a real tree.

Soon our real tree will have strings of sparkling lights and will be ready to welcome friends, and especially our college children, to Hillcrest Cottage!

It is exactly 14 days until Christmas, and Hillcrest Cottage is right on schedule.

Christmas has arrived!