non- reactive

necklace, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

do you like my new necklace?
it is made of a non-reactive metal called titanium, the same metal for plates in the head.

i like the idea of 'non-reactive'
because much of my meditation practice is teaching me this concept....and good golly it is a big one.

very light is this necklace and i feel it is quite beautiful.

the necklace is made by a young jeweller named Aurora Simmons
of Lorica Designs www.loricadesigns.ca

workshop

Just a note to let you know there is still space available in the workshop I am teaching on Saturday morning at Nathalie-Roze and Company, in Toronto's Leslieville. Come on down and then check out the tree festival in the same area!
The workshop is in creative card making featuring sewing on paper, and using bits and bobs, interesting ephemera and such.
For more information please check out the workshop page on Nathalie-Roze's website (I have a link to her site at the bottom of my blog)

burnt toast

burnt toast spring cover, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Always a pleasure to illustrate anything for my favorite foodie magazine. Quirky and fun, informative too. Check out the site.
www.burnt-toast.ca

Here are my wee sacrificial lambs...
and there are a few more inside.

so much

buttons mostly fabric, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

i have been enjoying my button press
taking scraps of fabric
images
bits and bobs
and ordering them into neat little events
button moments

the trees and the grass are so out
the sky blue blue

nagging heart about trash the dog ate
learning to meditate and train a puppy
so much a like
occasionally creating great angst

button press is safe
mechanical
magical
using muscel

so much
with a net too big
the thoughts just fly through
but i though
it might be good
to sit
and type
words
and
see

what is what
for now

dictionary buttons

dictionary buttons, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

flimsy
bust
cat's-paw
fling
flicker
flight
bushy
busy
bus


i got my button maker.
i got it from www.babbleweb.ca
located in toronto, shopping local is good

button making is fun!

teeter

button teeter green, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

totter

five o'clock five minutes

five o'clock
five minutes
to tell you a story

this is the story of a moment from yesterday.
the cast:
me
dog
daughter
big tree
police cruiser
the setting:
park

action.
i look up into the big bare tree right into the vein branches and up into blue sky
i look down, into textured bark, marks and ripples and history
i hug tree, arms wrapped only half way round because tree is so old and wise and wide
i say"
I love you!
actually i shout
I love you


unbeknowst to me
a police crusier pulls up
it isn't enough that Bea is rolling her eyes, (just a little)
police officer says'
okay i've got to ask
i reply
just loving this tree
police officer,
a nature lover eh ( thinks nature nut...i am presumming)
just loving this tree
i repeat

x
five minutes are up

tea in a tree pouch

pouch tea in a tree, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

featuring zig-zag from my new old Kenmore/Janome circa 1970 and running sweet as a dream

now back to sewing cards and perhaps later a little spot of tea in a tree.

jean couple pouch

jean couple pouch, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

...saying sayonara to an old pair of blue jeans never felt so good

box of pencils

box of pencils, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

friday morning begins with a box of pencil crayons belonging to someone else once...
i think friedrich took a flight to holland from hamburg
and liked green and photo brown
occasion had it he played golf and the lottery
and did quite a few drawings
who is friedrich c. jenson?
and was this his box of pencil?
smelling of must
and mildew
and rescued
from the goodwill
i continue
maybe
veillicht
where friedrich left off

Bea's Pirate Adventure

Bea's Pirate Adventure, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Bea did this. I particularly like the crocodile.

i sew love you

i sew love you, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

one of my new designs for a button.
soon a real live button press will be mine,

ideas swamp my mind
in a good way

happy sunday

wind, points, return,

wind blows on open field
leaves of brown clink to chain link fence

for today's magic trick
i return to a place i once was
this time as a healthy volunteer
and this time the option is mine to come or go.

no i wasn't in prison,
exactly...

i will learn to be mindful
i will learn to meditate
and my fear of inclosed spaces
will vanish in a puff of smoke
actually that is the worry,
the cable of the elevator breaking
into a puff of smoke

any way
i will learn to sit
and lean into points
and the next time i have to fill out a rather tideous application form
i will not eat a bag of hard candy

but put my fingers on the coffee table like the lady in the video
and contemplate...
contemporary building materials such as plywood..
no no
i will be mindful and conscious
and only have a couple of hard candies
that i taste and suck rather than crunch.

today it was windy
and cold
and owen's tail curled just right
and wearing the chocolate brown parka
zipped up to the top
felt snug
and i worry about being smug

and i worry sometimes
but not as often as i used to
cause leaning into points is prickly
but isn't half as bad as being scared of the big bad wolf of the self.

want a candy
chewy?
or hard?

do you feel like a train ride?

do you feel like a train ride?, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

click on this and see the other days of our lives in dawbis's paper quilt project.

You can't Judge a Dog by it's Cover

Owen and George, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

today owen meet george.
115lbs of rottweiller male.
george is afraid of small dogs
and cats.

and takes his food delicately.

he approached owen carefully,
slight tail wag, small huff

owen responded in his puppy on a string dance
bobbing and swaying.

george got to run off leash,
owen whimpered...

before owen,
george scared me
i braced and held tight to child

thank you owen
thank you george

i know now, you can't judge a dog
by it's cover

Kitchen Folk going to the park to let off steam

Kitchen Folk going to the park to let off steam, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

wandering wondering

wandering wondering, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

http://www.nathalie-roze.com/newsframe.html

I will be teaching a workshop at Nathalie-Roze and Co. Creative card making, featuring sewing on paper. Fun hunh? I hope it will be.
Lots of other fun workshops to explore there as well. Please check out the link.

please note, an odd thing my pics are getting cut off on one side, wondering why that is happening?

wandering around little India today, searching for peeling paint, wish I could post smells because the "smell track" as my sister calls it, is spicey and delicious, it just hangs in the air like a appetizing cloud.

tea house

tea house, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Happy Birthday Beatrix!!

Today Bea is 8!

and i am gonna bake a cake

yep

and channel all the help
i can get from my dad
who was a baker

yep

and maybe get a kit
or a box mix
or something

and does it matter if i don't know batter
or have a mixer
or a matoser


Happy Birthday Beatrix!
I Love You!!!

xo

formaldehyde prevents smut pin

formaldehyde prevents smut pin, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

thats what it says on the bottle...really
language is a virus says laurie anderson
it changes that is for sure

spring insomnia
had a happy run in with sheets of vinyl
thats the word not plastic..

so excited to have a run in with vinyl sheeting
that i bought a metre and have made some mini
wearable collages

it is good to play

cats and dogs in the rain

cats and dogs in the rain, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

clear sky...nice clouds ahead

gee it would be great if i knew how to make live links in the body of words....

until then please check out Camilla's blog (listed live in my links list)
many good clouds...

the other day the nicest morning words I heard Jay speak to Bea were

"Bea, your cloud in a cup is ready and on the table"
(it is a drink with frozen banana and milk)


blue skies ahead, Toronto enjoys clear spring crocus filled days ahead...Yeah!

rainy

rainy, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

bachelorette

she lives not in a bachelor
because she is a girl
she lives in a bachelorette,
i wonder if it is smaller than a bachelor

she wears heavy eye make up
think elizabeth taylor in cleopatra,
but aged
and a bob of black hair
think same actress and film

my puppy knows that
she feeds dog biscuits to the puppy downstairs
before she tells me

she wishes she had something good to give him
my puppy that is

her bachelorette is full of books
she says
especially cook books
and she says
thank god i haven't found any i want

i will have to get an apartment

my rude puppy persists
knows that she is his kind
the kind that is generous
with words and dogs
and carries milk bone dog
biscuits for cute dogs she meets
and likes to cook and read
and loves elizabeth taylor
and cleopatra
and being a girl
in a bachelorette
even though she must be 70

rude puppy persists
and tugs at her jacket
and she says
not to worry i wear nothing
that i am concerned about ruining
cause she feeds strange dogs
and i bet talks to cats in the street
that she meets
like i do...

we meet at the goodwill
looking for books we don't need

she lives in a bachelorette

pins for cloudy days

pins for cloudy days, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

pins for spring three more

pins for spring three more, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

i am all about the thaw
the coming of spring
the change of temperature
the start of that earth smell
the beginning of spring again
and shoots
and buds
and green brown grass
and rubber boots
and a light coat
and a scarf of cotton for the cool breezes
and the colour of the sky

Bouganvillia

this is the word of today:
boo' gan' vee' leah'

boo
gan
vee
lee
ahh

do not be frightened little children i come in peace bearing green thumbs and two left feet..
be not frightened small and weak, big and strong, i am not here to harm only to plant my feet in the bouganveliah
darlings one and all how many times must i commit the crime of repeating myself...

water, we need water,
the plants could hardly get out the words..
for she had told an awful false hood
here thumbs were indeed not green but shade of black..

boo
gan
vee
li
ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

was heard into the night...
darling it is alright
just a night mare,
those nightshades pulled tight and consumed before bed it is no wonder you are spooked
look darling do not despair i have the watering can just over there

my thumbs are not green nor black nor any unearthly hue
surely darling you can see

clearly
that the
boo gan velia

loves you...
good nite
sleep tight
mind

the bed bugs don't

nite nite.

crafty little flower for crafty little show

fabric flower pin, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

another little fabulous craft show at the good catch in parkdale is planned for tomorrow, hope to see you there!http://goodcatch.ca/potogold.html

comic book spines

comic book spines, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

happy birthday to me

happy birthday to me, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

hey they say it's my birthday
well happy birthday to me...

it is such a grey day today, cold and dull the kind of day that supports travel to such sunny destinations as fiji and florida and good ol' california..

i love grey, one of my favorite non colours especially when it rains,
strange huh for such a lover of colour such as me, but colours can be loud and quiet is so nice for the eyes, lavender eye fields bathing the eyes in soft, this is good

today so far has been sweet
a cookie, and genmai tea at a cafe with a friend i popped in on, and made an escape route for, so nice

i found a doggie daycare, funny something i never knew i would ever wish to investigate. thoughts on this day.
hey happy to of been born, making use of my days to notice sometimes coment on the daily, mundane, the special stuff, the greys that sometimes go unnoticed tea gulped by instead of sipped..

my mama, a wee stature and a strong woman taught me to take my time, held up the dignity of not rushing, did things slowly, like eating and walking and speaking...born in a different time, middle aged by the time i rolled around, no frolicking but lots of fun, singing in the grocery store and making a game out of the vacuum that frightened me saying it was her doggie...which also frightened me...

loud noises i didn't like from the first car ride home from the hospital a howl is what i did when papa bear slammed the car door...

here i am an older person, perhaps depending on where you are looking at it from aged 41 not yet the age my mum had me at!

once scared of dogs, now in love with them...
never knew i wouldn't be living the hermit dream of mountain dwelling
meet a man so sweet and kind and love love loveable
and have a daughter sweeter than sweet potato pie

still can't spell nor memorize the times tables...

in the garbage today a chair,
little and broken and mine
piles of peeling paint
and a seat no longer
seatable


hi it's my birthday
happy birthday to me

two generations of baby shoes

two generations of baby shoes, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

snowy visitor

snowy visitor, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

she came to visit my morning pages,
while i sat in the kitchen, snow falling,
drinking green tea

a little visitor,
a warmly dressed muse

planets

planets, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

the pulsing heart planet
can be seen when the moon of venus is in the seventh house

mr. orson wells once told my while drinking fine wine together that he was actually from a planet other than earth, he was quite well into the vino at the time so i dismissed it...now i wonder

promise

promise that you will take care

the lady that knocks on my door asking to use the phone
is begging for spare change

her teeth are furry,
and her stomach large lurching forward

in the pizza parlour the little asian woman makes pizza
pepperoni, hawaian, vegetarian, deluxe..

her crust is doughy and soft and unchallenging
i think of the pillsbury dough boy and keep on eating

we stop at the store that sells socks, locks and porn
to buy notebooks to write down the names

round the corner we go
the whole family pack

owen the dinasour sweater dog
and i at the back

the straight backed man in the felt hat
holding the little girl's hand in the front

the weather promise is spring time
but i am not fooled the weather has many moods

round corners we go until we reach the cemetary
and collect up names for future fictions

bea deciedes to write a story about meeting a butler
a mystery she says
jay collects names for his purposes
and because we have walked a way
the little puppy naps in my coat
for a while

a lady in a car asks about him
the lady in the purple pants warned me
of dog abduction,
the man with a maniquein arm walks by
dirtied by the melting snow

cars rush past,
on the other side of the fence
stones ingraved with people of the past
and words found fitting by loved ones

the pizza mediocre
the sun and light nice
bea's foot starts to hurt and she sobs
all the way home

perhaps the new boots or just fatigue
or the promise of cartoon television shows
not yet available

i walk and look down, avoiding patches of salted
sidewalk and glass shards..

one foot then the next doing an untangling dance
with the leash

promise for us yet...

productivity

have i been productive.
yep.
nope.

depends who you ask i guess.

i have been reading a very inspiring book,
a radical notion really
it is entitled

'how to be idle'
by tom hodgkinson

not that i really need a guide,
being that my two favorite activities are
wandering
and puttering

which brings me to productivity
and the concept of skiving
without guilt...

guilt, how could i have guilt
when i freely eat all dressed potato chips

it is the middle near end of february,
and i have done a few things for money
and more for love

i have done piles of dishes this week
and have also left piles of dishes undone
just for balance

i have got up at strange hours
due to the new puppy
and experienced new weather
that was always there but went unnoticed
i have seen the stages of the moon,
and have been surprised that in the city
i could see some stars,
i have seen the different conditions of snow,
really so many, hard, crunchy, packing, powder

i have loved looking at the shadows cast by the trees
and early light and orange glowing up from the white ground

i have heard the birds
i have examined all types of puppy poo, why not if indeed you
must pick it up anyway..
carrot is hard to digest, and coloured foil passes right through

i have taken naps and asked for flora the cats forgivness,
which see gave willingly after a bite and a scratch..
i have notice she has odd scabs, that i enjoy picking
but she doesn't

i have watched my daughter grow bigger
and my husband shrink a little
and i have asked his apolgy for upsetting the harmony
with our new puppy son, brother, friend

i have meet dogs with names like jerry, after seinfeld, and
hubble after the telescope

i have experience cold wind and a muddy coat

i have missed classes and stayed in sleepy
i have postponed working for dazing

watching the puppy try to eat sunshine
and laying in a sunbeam myself

i have been on time, to pick up my daughter from school each day
and each morning i have arrived a little early,
i have meet numerous strangers and have had more doggie
conversations than i can count, and seen more smiles than
i new where possible in below below 0 weather

i made a few doodles
wrote words,
cut up magazines,
made valentines,
washed a few clothes

made a few mediocre meals.
found a new restaurant
enjoyed the smell of little india
participated in the puppet club for kids
in which i have been the narrator

watched a little tv.
re-love malcolm in the middle
watched the hilarious larry david
(who knows how to idle) in a set
of dvds from a show i can't recall the name of

discoved a new store that i like
did a couple of illustrations
early in the month

endured my jays bad back,
it was sore

recieved a nasty note from my neighbours
who are dog haters...thats a whole species
Yessh!

disabled my answering service
and disabled my answering machine

changed my address for the ocad magazine
thought about love, peace, family,

had extraordinary dreams starring matt damon
a pool and oprah

watched my pants grow snug

thought about the coming of spring
had nice passing words with the crossing guard

ate more salads
and more pizzas
and more chocolate
drank less black tea
and more green tea
watched my hair become longer and unruly

sat at the kitchen table
enjoyed tv satellite jazz
and cbc radio one

realised my daughter is often listening carefully
and happened to surmise after a snow warning on the
radio followed by a story about abduction
that the snow could cause you to disappear...
straightened that out

talked
and
listened
watched
and
heard

visited goodwill often
bought pants, plaid
books, novels, and the one about idleness
and a few on dogs

cancelled life drawing with rhonda
went to see the beatrix potter movie with rhonda
ran into merill
bought another book on b. potter

tried to remain calm
tried to remain attentive
tried to remain awake
tried to sleep.

productivity.
i am still not sure.
but i do know,
it doesn't really matter.

key tags

key tags, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

little felt sketches...some may still be available at Nathalie-Roze and Company,

with thankful nods to the inspiring and talented Kari
www.karibombari.com

three cars

three cars, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

ten cats

ten cats, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

meow, meow,meow,meow,meow,meow,meow,meow,meow,meow,

thirty five pink fish

thirty five pink fish, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

stitched doodle

stitched doodle
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

happy valentines...
love rules

Owen sideways

Owen sideways
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

7 pink flowers

7 pink flowers
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

portrait of the artist...

portrait of the artist...
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

dressed for sub zero weather.
something warming about chocolate brown clothing, perhaps my association with hot chocolate, the only part of ice skating i can do!

every sunday afternoon my mum would say
"why don't you go skating at the arena"
which was next door practically..
"okay"
in my mind i thought this was the only way to get better
the arena was packed with loud music and everybody
swiftly skating

i hugged the boards
creeping along terrified of falling down
i hated the feeling of not being able to securely stand
(for goodness sake it took me until I was 16 months to be able to walk when I was a baby, same problem fear of falling down ..i am sure)

this was after painstakingly doing up ones skates tight enough..it was totally awful, sorry to be down on the romance of ice skating...but it was..

but in the arena, there was a machine that for just coins would give you very unique tasting chicken soup and hot chocolate, inevitably i would circle around the rink clinging to the boards once, seeing people i knew, trying not to be too embarrased when the younger kids whizzed by me, wiped out and laughed. cringe

i sat in the seats watching the fun, outside, sidelined and sipped my beverage until skating was over, sometimes walking around the perifery, enjoying watching the zamboni clear the ice and the kiosk that sharpened skates...

no sunday shopping back then, no ability to leave the neighbourhood

it was good to finally discover i rode the public transit system really well, i found other urban non ice skaters

we would sit in kensington market
listening to reggae music, keeping the beat with ginger beer
summer and winter...
but that is another story...

love knot

love knot
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

the day is cold
i sew around paper hearts
thing of green things
fresh twigs
and rays of sun

you are in a cocophany of noise
mr. arrington, mr. arrington
and i send you psychic love notes
that the puppy hasn't yet chewed

just when you attain a good stretch
i notice the need for a further stretch occurs

i have hot chocolate in the cupboard
and a daughter in the school up the road

i have a brother,
a sister
a mother

this is my family

and my husband jay of course

to day is monday
and i am left to my own devices

playing with a box of watercolour crayons
and sewing thread, and love hearts

i turn on the television while eatting the orange sun
and hear bits of words and images of famous people
and then i turn them all off

and see that the walls talk
if you listen closely
and the paint that is peeling in the bathroom
is really a portal to another world
these are thoughts i think
when left to my own devices
with balls of string
and a kitty in her basement apartment named flora

sweet
full
underneath the cracks in the sidewalk
the icy bits and pieces of outside
the red checks that leave their mark
under ground
inside
warmth
hearts
veins
pus
and stuff that makes me stop
and
go

bookmarks

bookmarks
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

bookmark this:
February the 10th at Good Catch in Parkdale is a Sweet little craft show. Please come!!

To find out more please log onto www.goodcatch.ca

Cheerio,
Kim

pouch tweet

pouch tweet
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

i have pouch making fever. a marathon of making pouches. did you know the zipper was a canadian invention? as a child i had a drawer full of purses, whenever i needed money i dug through the drawer and came up with some...magical don't ya think? now i am making purses in hopes of selling them and making money isn't that kind of funny? i am loving making these petite collage fabric studies that are pretty (thinks i) and practical too.

eye love

eye love
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Very Sleepy Flora

Very Sleepy Flora
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

puppy love

puppy love
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

puppy poo happens

the weekend
passes
like gas let out a hot air balloon
i am kept afloat
and busy
taking dog owen out to do his business
he is currently employed in the elimination business

the weekend
bookends
a period
at the end of Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

along comes Saturday
and i release
jay to roam
free
my very wonderful husband

Bea my daughter and i tackle
homework
in which i do the math
backwards
and then reconfigure
and do it the right way round
years before i knew i had
some mis-wirering in this department

Sunday comes
and i go to the grocery store
and am caught in the wave of shoppers
with the dollar event,
ratatouille won't happen
cause i just gave birth
to a new boy dog

the labor pains where nothing
compared to the first
and happily i have yet to have trouble with post partum

our friends come,
caught up in their own Sunday land
of comfort and comforters and staying in bed
and then realize to our house will happen

out of the car piles the baby, a real live beauty
named Oscar with a capital o
a little Nordic Viking
blonde and blue eyed and solid solid

frolicking happens,
talk and chatting
bowls of soup
and round bagels
cheese and veg

napping and carrying the babies

and then the height light drama
at the end of the show
after long sentences and comas
and semi colons

and dishes that almost wash themselves

after the frolics of baby and pup

an unintended intermingling

well the carpet is patterned and brown,
easily not noticed

little blonde boy with puppy poo in this hair

each grab a task
the mammas wash Oscar with a capital ohhh
the man washes the carpet with a capital oh No!
in the basement i wash the change pad free of pup poo

and Bea the seven year old escapes to the refuge of
her room and her radio and 1930's jazz music

with her final declaration
"Creepy!"

it was a lovely weekend
bookended and bright
warm and cold
snow and twigs

tail wags and baby smiles

and friends
and tea
and family...

life can be very good
even when puppy poo happens.

Baby Buggy

Baby Buggy
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Owen

Owen
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Our new boy. Two month old Owen. He is a mix of Pug and Bichion Frise.

2 piece set

2 piece set
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

yabby dappy doo da zip dilly i eh

i have a pair of clean underpants on my head
they seem to contain a magical ingredient that makes me type really fast
words are just flying hitting the screen at at least 40mph,
the same speed a greyhound can run

my daughter placed them on my head giggling
doing magic spells and telling me essencial information for life
which i didn't quite hear

i am thinking swimmingly
thoughts

i thank mrs haidida my grade 7 typing teacher for this gift of swift fingers
and am sorry i teased her about joining the hare krishnas

i thank the academy for giving me this grand award


wearing a pair of underpants on your head is a good remedy for what ever ailes you
and although i have not yet heard or read about it in any advice column i would strongly advise it


if i am feeling particularly blue (now this is a secret so do not tell you know) i ask my husband to wear a sweet little hair clip in his hair...this never fails to make me laugh, even writing this i am cracking up...you have to be there
it is something like dressing up a dog and the dog still trying as hard as it might to keep it's dignity
if this aint love i don't know what is...
but please don't tell.

oh mama

oh mama
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

the land of sleep is a place i am finding a little bit difficult to get to these days, the trip is bumpy a little jet lagged upon waking and the dreams are quite intense...

3am #1

3am #1
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

holiday

keys


hearts



peace


dogs


sleep



pajamas


pulp fiction


words


holding close


perched on the sides


watching
all the windows
at the same time



i feel lucky
blessed
happy high

rocking in the rocker
reading

nourishing with page after page of words

Merry Hannukah, Happy Christmas and a Peaceable New Year

no snow no snow
doesn't feel like christmas

our holiday was nice,
but christmas always has me expectant
and i don't like the way things get bogged with too muchness
and consumer panic

having emerged from my sickness cocoon, that just keeps on hacking
i wake to beautiful burning bright hannukah candles on my purple clay menorah,
which i won several years ago while contemplating reinvestigating my jewishness

i like light, dig miracles and candle wax
new traditions are born out of old traditions
we wear silly hats and sing and feel blessed and share and dance
and play the spinning top for chocolate coins

we give gifts and exchange warmth and silliness and the joy of being together
and candles and light and wax and brightness and the quiet that candles bring

mixed into this new fangled jewishness ,
we embrace tree and more lights, coloured and blue and white
and the new led lights invented by students at my old alma mata...yeah for them

we hang our stockings with care in hopes that santa, hannukah harry and harriet will be there
and this year so special
we have wee mama
little shrinking sweetly grandmama over
and on christmas eve we make the special meal
the secrets to lamb and perfect roast potatoes and minty mint sauce
revealed such a gift

and christmas comes and new playmobil is played
and surprizes are had and the nicest wrapping is the wrap made by my husbands students
and i ask for the trim back to make into more crafti bits and pieces

and daughter tears the wrap but wee grandma is careful and unwraps with reverance remembering,
conditioned not to waste anything

it is a nice christmas, no snow, now snow

and solstice passes too, grandmas birthday...we eat and drink and make merry
and she wishes her birthday where in june

and flora, the cat sleeps in her hannukah present of a bed

menorah lights burn as christmas lights tinkle
and there is peace on the earth where i am standing

and after christmas expectation preparation a sigh of it's over another
and the odd week between this and fresh new new year comes
the pause to rethink, rework, relax

as the world slowly unchristmasizes and goes back to ho hum
and slower and less crowded and manic and sparkly

and i dream of dogs
wear new snoopy pajamas
and investigate dog parts

and become more and more interested in canine

and wonder what the new year will bring
and want to walk walk walk more and stretch

and start again at the beginning
and be well
and continue to indulge with sweets and chocolates but
know the world isn't this worry free

happy new year
peace on earth
good will


and love

ric rac baby

ric rac baby
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

ric rac moon struck

ric rac moon struck
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

whaz up?

hi, this will be a streaming mis-spelt kind of post.
i am full of creative energy and surrounded by the lights of Hanukkah and the boughs of christmasness
and no snow, no cold no snow, untamed non constructed ice rinks and garage sales that keep on coming
holy moly whaz up with this...

i decide to create a band the name being the most important part,
introducing "Global Warming and the New Asthmatics"

head swirls, yep i have a puffer, i am a new asthmatics...the cough that went on for ever and still is has brought me the concept of asthma, holy asthma is tiring...it makes playing snowless pie tag harder,

i have always been a little suspicious about modern medicine, but i have a beautiful human being for a doctor who is so smart and caring and i really really have a lot of trust with her, that i am thinking new thoughts about it all...i think hell gimmie the drugs let me experience what's in your magic bag. it took the pharmacist a while to fill the prescription for all that has been ailing me. as a person of very good physical health this little bout has been quite fascinating, i am reduced to a somewhat sickly little neb, think old time woody allen only female. i carry a puffer, apply cream for a small rash and have taken antibiotics and tylenol 2's . oi vey what a medicine chest.

i used to have this theory, that it was best to be on as little to no medication...i thought and do think it keeps one young and healthy...but recently i feel i am living so much in this modern fast technology heap of a world that i thought i would join in with the concoctions of modern fast times (at ridgemont high and beyond)..

i am feeling well...Despite being ill,
breathing is very important. yep lungs who knew...

in the course of the busiest craft sales time, I was out for the count watching numerous talk shows, Martha, the view, very weird talk about selling, consumerism, but they kept me company and distracted me from my haze of sick sick hack hack coughing.

i lost 3 craft shows and jay had to deliver orders to the stores, i sewed ornaments in a semi real state, nothing injured in the making.

i did my last craft show this saturday...in my fuzz haze of happy happy happy being out and about i meet a dog.
i have dog fever. you know, those dog people that just can't not say hello to the dogs that possibly carry bones in their pockets. well this dog and it's story captured my heart. a retired racing greyhound named value. sweet as a dream, and so reminded me of some special ed students i have worked for in the past, not that she wasn't clever, just the energy..very special...so i am considering a dog..me the cat lady..the girl that fears the bark, the loner wanting a pack animal.

not only that i have a preference for fine delicate jewelry to clunky..

i made my first roast chicken of my life...what an experience.
i am a lapsed veggie, meat does me some good, it's a long mental health story...
i had never bought or cooked a whole darn chicken
i had a lot of reverence for the chicken, i thanked it several times, while buying
roasting and eating ...a roast chicken is undeniably a dead bird without head or feet,

the chicken was delicious as was the smell, my house became more my home, house hearth cooking
nourishment, feeding....i finally get it....

then i made stock from the bones and yes made a nice chicken soup nothing wasted no sir eee,
i am still thanking that sweet chicken that gave its live..thank you.


here i sit with time, and stuff and good feeling..getting better having been quite ill...having to trust and have faith



happy holidays whether it is candles or trees or secret scents or good food or better company
i wish wellness and peace and hope and love.

always love
xo

ric rac cat

ric rac cat
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

ric rac chairs

ric rac chairs
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.