snug spooks

snug spooks, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

happy halloweenie!
...so scarey it made my teeth sweet.

hello workshop saturday

hello folks,
i am teaching a workshop at nathalie-roze and company this saturday. i do believe a few spots are a waiting to be filled.
please click on nathalie-roze, in my links to find out more.



thanks and enjoy the day.

downstairs now

purse puppy love detail, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

today it is rainy
canadian geese flew by the window and honked
owen barked

in the puddle at the school big white sea gulls played stand on one foot

i see snips of the outside here
writing this
a patch of green
sounds of cars streaming by
a brick wall
windows of the neighbour next door

i see patches of light and dark
in the living room
shadows of sofa
and pillow
sounds of owen
licking his lips

tea sits waiting
in its basket
the earl of grey himself
with milk

how rich life seems
on this day

i woke very early today
and had a good chance to meet the day
walking in pouring rain with my dear dog
in the dark
illumintation from street lamps
scattered maple leaves on cement
frankenstein ready for halloween

syllabic chants in my mind
the rhythm of rain
not just the light but the soft sound
of everything moving

The Continuing Adventures of Mama Small

April's Outfit, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Chapter 3459
Mama Small Goes to the Fun Fair

In which Mama brings her magic button making machine to her daughter's fun fair, in a booth entitled 'design your own button'.
Mama Small's journey brings her to the magic well, mysterious children with many buttons and the adventure of not really caring what day of the week it is.

Be sure to check out this mamoth old story, available now by cosmic conection, mind reading or filling in the blanks.

Have a rok-us good weekend folks.

Russian Doll style

Russian Doll style, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

new post, wise old words, ancient Chinese secrets to share

i am reading a delightful book by jon kabat-zinn oddly enough
titled with my very favorite quote, which i thought was from the
1980's film buckeroo bonzai, the book is called:
wherever you go there you are
(mindful meditation in everyday life)

i have found it a beautiful read, and very true,
wherever you go there you are!

here are words from Chuang Tzu
a very wise guy from third century China

Prince Wen Hui's cook,
Was cutting up an ox.
Out went a hand,
Down went a shoulder,
He planted a foot,
He pressed with a knee,
The ox fell apart
With a whisper,
The bright cleaver murmured
Like a gentle wind.
Rhythm! Timing!
Like a sacred dance,
Like " The Mulberry Grove,"
Like ancient harmonies!

"Good work!" the Prince exclaimed,
"Your method is faultless!"
"Method?" said the cook
Laying aside his cleaver,
"What I follow is Tao
Beyond all methods!

"When I first began
To cut up oxen
I would see before me
The whole ox
All in one mass.
I no longer saw this mass.
I saw distinctions.

"But now I see nothing
With the eye. My whole being
Apprehends.
My senses are idle. The spirit
Free to work without plan
Follows its own instinct
Guided by natural line,

By the secret opening, the hidden space,
My cleaver finds its own way.
I cut through no joints, chop no bone.

. . .

"There are spaces in the joints:
The blade is thin and keen:
When this thinness
Finds that space
There is all the room you need!
It goes like a breeze!
Hence I have this cleaver nineteen years
As if newly sharpened!

"True, there are sometimes
Tough joints. I feel them coming,
I slow down, I watch closely,
Hold back, barely move the blade,
And whump! the part falls away
Landing like a clod of earth.

"Then I withdraw the blade,
I stand still
And let the joy of work
Sink in.
I clean the blade
And put it away."

Prince Wen Hui said,
"This is it! My cook has shown me
How I ought to live
My own life!'

-CHUANG TZU


( I did also read this advice from a book called something like "Crazy Dog" about being joyful and involved in your life
simply put this fellow, a Brian someone, sorry I seemed to have mislaid this book and can't recall the authors name said "Let God open the holes")


also I love this from John Kabit-Zinn's book
a passage by our old friend Lao-Tsu, author of
the Tao-te- Ching

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

purse rhonda, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

i do love you mr. doctor suess!

found this posted on the wall at my wee daughter's public school
might have the words turned around a wee bit, cause i am like that.

"be who you are. say what you feel. those that mind don't matter.
those that matter don't mind."

-Dr. Suess

red sky delight

red sky delight, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

autumn sky

autumn sky, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

behind the tree

i am sitting on a log
looking to the tree in front of me
two small boys peek out, as if getting out the front door of the tree home
and then noticing an audience of one, peek back in

out runs one,
sits on the other log
and says
'would you like to sit with me'
i move logs introduce myself
kim
kale is he.
he tells me the other boy is a good and nice boy named kai
the boy with blue shoes
kale came at me growling and i told him i was a little scared,
he said no i am kale

kale says i am not his boy
which i tell him i know
and i tell him that it looked as if he disappeared into the tree,
as if it where a house
big tree, smallboys
kai comes over with little to say as kale introduces him
becones him to come over and 'meet this girl' that's me.

so much behind a tree
when ask where my ideas come from
from behind a tree is as good an answer as any
from lint in pockets and magical raindrops
and complicated medical equipment
and mostly just letting them come
being quiet enough to hear
which sometimes because they are so soft and gentle
takes alot of silence

i wonder if kai and kale are in there tree house or
have gone to nursery school, or maybe growling
practicing intense scare tactics that drop away at a moments concern

it was so very nice meeting these little boys from behind the tree.

cashmere rain cloud delight

cashmere rain cloud delight, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

wooly bears

wooly bears, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

available at Red Pegasus here in Toronto.
please see my links for details.

yellow bangles

yellow bangles, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

are a day off.

thank you, workshop news, blue gloves

thank you to all those that visited during the word on the street festival it was a wonderful wirlwind day, with lots of people and plenty of sunshine. as i closed up my case for the day, i scrambled to buy hungs 1 2 3 by shannon gerrard, number 3 has me still in it's power, she does very beautiful work shannongerrard.org.

workshop news:
i will be teaching a couple of creative card making workshops at www.nathalie-roze.com
we sew on paper, use interesting ephemera and nathalie-roze provides delicious tea and scones, needless to say i enjoy these workshops very much, sharing skills, incouraging creative acts and ingesting tea and scone.
the dates of the workshops are saturday october 6th, this saturday and saturday october 27th, please sign up at nathalie roze's website.

blue gloves
today while walking owen
a woman bounded down the sidewalk
and owen a little stunned balked
as she went to say hello
"do you love me"
she asked
i thought maybe it was her blue gloves,
"ah yes nylon"
as owen resummed his love
"we a so smart"
she said
i giggled
yep we a so smart!

well chores to do errands to run or perhaps walk
a place to sit, calm to enter, and resuming making
stuff for the biggy one of a kind this november
shoulder tightens at that prospect, excited and
a little fearful...my mount kilamanjaro

so for today
thank you,
workshop news
blue gloves

xo