My Trixie....

I had to say good bye to  my sweet 17 year old cat Trixie today.

She had kidney failure.

My heart is broken..

Trixie made me laugh everyday, warmed my heart with her constant purring.

Trixie and her best friend Tess were mostly inseparable.

She loved being on the farm, always checking out new places to nap or watch birds.

Trixie loved to be where I worked.  Always on the work table, sitting right on what ever I was working on.  Knocking off beads, coming dangerously close to the soldering iron, even lying on a piece of stain glass in progress.  My dad had a hard time keeping her off the piece he was working on, just had to give her a pat on the head and let her be.

Trixie loved being outside.

She would walk around the property with me on my nightly walks.  Running ahead with her tail stuck straight up the air, stopping and taking a nice roll in the dirt before joining me again.    Her favorite thing was to hide and jump out at Tess.  

Thank you Trixie, for giving me unconditional love and affection.

Listening to me when I didn't think I had a friend in the world.

Letting me dance around with you when I was on top of the world.

I will miss your sweet purring and tiny meows while you sat in my lap at night.

I am very blessed and grateful that you and I had time together on this earth.

I know we will reunite again someday.

Good night Trixie... I will miss you.

Spring

Alas!

Spring is almost here!

My favorite time of the year.

My spirit and faith is renewed

Tiny flowers are popping up

sending their blooms towards the sun.

Making us smile when we see the first spring flower..

Nature can not be duplicated, but can lend us inspiration

Sometimes, blooming once isn't enough.

(My Christmas cactus decided it wanted to

bloom again for Easter!)

Spring is just around the corner

and for that, I am grateful!

xoxo

Cindy

Old Grey Mare is having a giveaway!

Book of Organization GIVEAWAY

Z from the Old Grey Mare Blog is have a wonderful giveaway!

She was a guest artist in Where Women Create magazine and her mad organizational  skills gained her a section in

Book of Organization.

She is generously giving away a copy of this wonderful book!

Run over to her page for more information.

If you don't follow this lovely lady, you are missing out on one of the best blogs ever!  She is so talented, funny, loving and very inspirational!



Walking the fence line

There are chores that I love to do, like walking the fence line.

We walk the fence line looking for broken fences, fallen trees that may have snapped the wires,  posts that have been pushed over...just general upkeep.

But there is so much more to find than broken fences, it is a time to slow down a little bit and just walk the perimeter of the place.  Get reacquainted with the boundaries.

Walking the fence line can be associated with everyday life. 

We all have our boundaries, sometimes they need to be taken down,  sometimes they need to be reinforced.  Maybe just a little adjusting will do.

If we put up too many boundaries we miss the beauty that lies outside our perimeter.  We might miss an extraordinary event or place that we only dream of.

We might miss meeting new friends, neighbors and others with similar interests and loves.

If we don't tend to our boundaries and let them all fall to the ground, we run the risk of letting in things and people that can ruin our well tended intentions.  One that might turn our lives upside down and give us angst.

I have found while walking the fence line, that if a little patching is done to give our boundaries strength, yet can yield, it can stop the unwanted intruder, but give a right-a-way to beautiful creatures that may want to stop by.

It is always a good idea to check the fence line, to keep it in good repair.  Strengthen where needed, patch if necessary and even put in a gate that opens both ways.

So, I like to walk the fence line.  It gives me a good lesson on my own boundaries.

Hopefully my boundaries are strong enough to weather the storms and yielding enough to let the beautiful in.....

Have a lovely day!

xoxo

Cindy

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's day kind of came upon me quickly this year!

I haven't sent a card, ordered any flowers, purchased candy..nothing!

But I did want you all to know that I love you all from the bottom of my heart!

I wish you all a lovely Valentine's Day!

xoxo

Cindy

being of grace...

from the book of awakening...

We begin so aware and grateful.  The sun somehow hangs there in the sky.  The little bird sings.  The miracle of life just happens. 

Then we get a splinter in our foot and all we can think about is the painful splinter.  

Our vigilance becomes:    Which defines our day-

The pain we feel when walking on the splinter in our foot or

the miracles that are still happening around us.

It is giving over to smallness that opens us to misery, our focus narrows..

We forget the beauty, the comfort and dreams that we have in our daily lives.

When we are hurt, nature has a way of shutting us down for a while and all we can think about is the splinter in our foot.  

Hurt is a moment of suffering allowed to become everything.  When hurting, we must look wider than what hurts.

Once the splinter is removed, we can heal and move on.  There may be remnants of the splinter still embedded in our foot, but it will soon be covered with new skin and fade away.  

"If peace comes from seeing the whole,

then misery stems from a loss of perspective"

Mark Nepo

Sometimes things just seem to be out of balance for awhile,  I find that if I just breathe, pray and be of grace, things right themselves.

I wish you all a very happy week!

xo  Cindy

Organized and ready to go

I hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday season. It was fun seeing everyone's Christmas decorations, you are all so very creative!  I finally got all my Christmas put away and semi cleaned my house.  I usually find one or two little decorations that I forgot, so it goes in the closet with the forgotten fall, halloween and spring decorations.    Pretty soon, I will have more in my closet than my attic.

I spent a lot of time in the shop the past few weeks.  First I completely rearranged all my shelves, moved tables, organized and cleaned it from top to bottom. It felt good to get some new  energy stirring in there.  (Thanks Z from Old Grey Mare Primitives for lighting a fire under me!)

Then I got started on some necklaces with some great vintage jewelry, keys and "stuff" I have collected the last couple of months.

As I create each piece, I think of a word and what it represents to me or how it may made someone else feel.

BELIEVE.

BEE HAPPY

BLOOM

COURAGE

EMBRACE

LIFE

FLY

and my favorite word of all

HOPE

Even though I Love the word HOPE, I picked the word COURAGE for my word this year.
To be brave, to face my own fears, to be strong, stand up straight...To take that step without wavering...
What is your word for the year?

My necklaces are listed in my Etsy Shop..
Fat Cow Studio

or visit my facebook page
facebook-fat cow studio

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

xoxo  Cindy

p.s.
It finally rained here!  about 3 1/2"!! Whoo hoo!  Our stock tanks are getting full