Our Most Excellent Day....

Every so often we are given a day that seems perfect in every way...the stars and planets align there seems to be no step out of place ..a day where your dreams really do come true...this was our day yesterday...April 20, 2018.

Started off like any other day really ...sun was up...shining bright and the coffee tasted especially good (which probably should have been my first hint about the day ahead) .... a few lovely squash were harvested, and our aches and pains seemed at a minimum.

We had a few chores to tend to out and about but nothing pressing...so we cooled our jets until about 10:30 am (late for us to get a start) ..we at last hopped in the car and headed to town ..heading down the street we drive each day when heading to the market. And there all of a sudden was a Garage Sale sign at our most favorite house on that long street to town...We have looked at this house for years with it's fantastic court yard and heavily shaded with lovely trees and shrubbery ..and beautiful boulders everywhere...this was 'done right' we would say.  Well recently they put the house on the market ..and no surprise the house sold quickly ...and now one of our favorite houses in Lake Havasu was having a Yard Sale...and we just had to Go!...Though we got there 4 hours after the sale had started ..that was OK cause we basically just wanted the chance to see the 'special' house and yard up close... As I thought, there were just a few items left.....but everything there was high quality...I said Good Morning to the owner and she returned with a big smile and "Hello"...always wonderful and true to my belief, this was a good day.  I then spied a piece of Pottery sitting on a beautiful dining table in the center of the garage...even from behind...I KNEW whose work it was...one of our favorite artists in Lake Havasu and a true Havasu Art Legend...Kimmberly Ioane !! I felt my  step quicken to an actual sprint to get to it before anyone else ..there sat a beautiful  8 inch tall masterpiece..with a price on it that I could actually afford...my Heart Literally Soared!! So many things went through  my mind...like how could she sell this beautiful art piece, why had no one purchased it before I arrived at the sale (lucky stars playing another part in my life) ... could this all be just one of my wishful 'dreams'?? ...  but facts were facts...there the piece sat...and now  IT WAS MINE!! The lady started to tell me about Kimmberly ...and I quickly said "oh we actually know her and of her work" and we both agreed that she is one of the most talented artists Lake Havasu has  known. She was as giddy as I was about the work while going on to explain that she owned about 10 pieces (I quickly felt a  better about her selling MY 'new' treasure.) They were a lovely older couple moving back to Washington State...she was sad about leaving but so happy she was taking art from AZ back with her. We continue to chat about Lake havasu, it's art, the beautiful land ..and of course Kimmberly.  I explained that I have one very tiny nude wall piece of hers that I have adored for years and that I have lived vicariously through several of our friends larger pots on display in their homes...and only dreamed about owning one someday...and now I do (I am sure she could see my glee) ...  I exclaimed that she made my entire month and as I was paying for my treasure....she all of a sudden told her husband to go over to a box they were packing for their journey back to Washington...and retrieve what was inside...He returned with a BIG Kimmberly Ioane pot (15" tall by 18" across ) ..we of course gasped at the sight...and then she said out of nowhere..."I want You to have this....take this...it's yours...I am thrilled to meet someone else that has the same feeling I do for Kimmberly's work as you...art should be shared and passed along so this is my gift to you...I know that it will be loved and cared for in a grand way as I have loved it"....(I remember word for word what she said...even now, and forever) ..well I was in shock (as was Richard) ...I must have said NO NO NO we can't take this a thousand times...  saying let me pay you (knowing I could never afford it) ....but she stressed again "art should be shared...passed along to those that love it as much as I do, and beside...this needs to be a 'Gift'"  well...I cried, hugged her , vowed that I would forever cherish it and treat it with care it deserves...and that I would think of her daily.  I walked away feeling a gambit of emotions ...joy, quilt, pride, overwhelming satisfaction that we were the new caretakers of this beautiful art work that we had for so long dreamed of owning one day... 
I shook all the way home which is something you don't want to be doing with a big Raku hand made art piece.... We have done nothing but stare at them both since they came into our home.

I have said many times in my life and feel even stronger that 'things' happen for a reason , we cross paths with others for a purpose , we share a moment in time with those we are meant to...life is a wonderful journey of the sharing ..and the receiving of the joy that it gives... 
This lady to me is like a guardian angel (and I have met a few in my life) .... to offer a total stranger such a gift is beyond words... but paths crossed ..and there was a connection , I felt it, she felt it... 
Before they leave we will gift them with something of ours  so that this chain of goodness will continue....

Friday the 13th....oh how I love you so....

I have never considered  myself a particularly 'lucky' person...I mean I am not unlucky but I have not lived my life void of problems or issues...like most of us.  I have always believed that Luck was something you 'make for yourself' ...you can send yourself in a good direction in life or you can chose to dance and dance often with the devil himself....looking for issues that could be called unlucky.  But there is something about Friday the 13th that I have always felt comes looking for me .. to offer  a Big Ole Bouquet of Nice smelling Lucky Roses....  I have actually always looked forward to this day...waiting to see what 'good lucky thing' might happen.  

Over the years I have won money in Vegas on this day, Met a love of my life on this day, got a job on this day, sold dolls on this day, found long lost things on this day, driver licenses on this day, found a home on this day, found a Dog on this day...and the list goes on......67 years worth of lucky Friday the 13's ...

I am however superstitious...very with some things....like spilling salt and a MUST to throw over my shoulder within 5-6 seconds...OR ELSE!!!   Cutting hair only on a full moon, open scissors next to bed if bad dreams persist,  new shoes on table tops (NO) etc etc....I am not superstitious however with umbrellas open in house, ladders, black cats or glass breakage.....   and those are considered the biggies.  I know where I got all of my 'stitions' ...I grew up with people who made sure panic and fears were just at the door....live with it!!!  EEEEK!   (Thanks Mom and Grandma)...   it is really hard to shake many of them.  I know I won't burst into flames or suffer untold anguish ...but I really dislike tempting the hand of faith ...don't fix if it ain't broken kinda stuff....

So I guess over all these years I have set up this day and opened the door for only good things to come through.... which is kinda fun...  

May luck find you where you least expect it to....

Thinking of 'that' when I should be doing the other...

Been a day today  (boy I say that a lot lately.)..starting to think I may be using it as a weird little excuse to not finish things completely....hmmmm...there I go, screwing with myself again.

We are working on our last Miniature Doll setting ...something that both Richard and I came to terms with...and actually feel OK with.... to many reasons to list why.... but suffice it to say with all the balls we have in the air right now, and calculating our age and what we still want to get done in the shorter time allotted ....something had to give....and I am afraid Minis was it!!

Now this is not to say that I might from time to time sneak off by myself and do a little witch bust (oh how I love those so)...but then who knows...will need to learn to focus on what's in front of us..."SQUIRREL"  ....

We are loving this piece ..it has been fun and I chose something that I have wanted to do for a very long time (been running around in my brain forever) ..and while I really won't say what it is...I will say it has to do with the story of Wizard of Oz....almost like the continuing story, or the story not told.....my version totally.  The aftermath if you will....

So it does involve a 'story' that I have had in my brain forever...but now...I have to put it to paper (or computer)  ...I never write things down..well, maybe a word here and a word there...but the plot stays in my head....
The dilemma....it is firmly lodged in there...and is not responding well to coaxing it out...  
Once I start...it is like a burst water main ...can't find where to turn the source off ...
 Funny how years change a pattern.... 10 years ago this would never have been an issue....
The doll setting looks at me...I look at it , they smile...I smile ...drink 4 cups of coffee and say "Alrighty then...lets do this"....only to think  "SQUIRREL"  .....

I might have to get up tomorrow morning before the house stirs...when it's dark and cool and my family is fast asleep... make a big pot of coffee.... take out a pad of paper , sharpened pencil and have a go....

Richard says I sometimes make things way more difficult for myself than they should be ....perhaps, but when I see the whole story in my minds eye exactly how I know it should be....well...it has to be that very way....

Wish me luck....

Forever and a Day since I last Posted ...Honey I'm HOME!!

What is it about the fear of another social media that makes a person go running to a place that seems more comfortable and familiar even though they have not been there in a very long time... No, seriously...I am asking...for a friend of course....wink wink!  I have blogged for years (apparently under 3 different emails and 3 different blogs, I keep finding them) ...and then a friend suggested I would hit a larger crowd with something called Facebook....  hmmmmm!  I am now finding that larger crowds make me really nervous.  Well nine years later I am still hanging with Facebook and have severely neglected my beloved Blog....
Don't get me wrong...I have met some of the most amazing people on FB...who have turned into even more amazing friends and for that I will forever be grateful....
But lately like so many I am starting to feel rather odd and funky with all that's happening with FB....I feel like many that I am being watched, rated, categorized and used by outside forces that I feel like I need a shower!  Ick!  ....But I do know that when you get as large as FB it is hard to control who is abusing you and to what level of abuse they inflict.  

Maybe I will stay on FB if they get their SH** together...but after watching Zuckerberg saying 'sorry' that he help give trump the white house with the info he shared....I just want to slap his little 'young' face till it stings.  So I will hang back more on FB and try to be here daily in my neat and tidy little part of the much smaller Blog-O-Sphere ...safe, secure ...and chat to whomever wishes to listen...and if no one does....that's cool too ...because it is rather like talking  to myself anyway...which I do often when working....

So...back in the saddle of blog again...not sure what in the hell I will say...but then....isn't that the fun part...  Dolls, recipes, dog, husband,gardening pictures... bitching, moaning, praising...you get the idea.... Hang in there.....

Happy Holidays from the Creager Studios

HAPPY HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE...

I know I know been ages since I have posted anything here ....life just gets in the way once in awhile of things we really want to do... 

Hope everyone is having a lovely Holiday Season.... 
We sure are.....  it is the first Christmas with our New Doggie...'Sofi'   this January it will be a year since she came into our life....  and we love her to pieces....
After we lost our precious Tess La Rue ....our hearts were so broken we thought we would never have another dog....but we were wrong.... Sofi came into our lives totally unexpected ...and we truly feel we were given a Great Gift in her love and being.... Our lives have begun again...

As for Dolls this past year....in 38 years this is the least amount of dolls we have worked on in our whole career .... again, life got in the way...did loads of remodeling around the house, gardening, and just in general enjoying life...

But we are ready to hit it again...after this studio redo I am in the middle of....  boy I tell ya , you hit 65 and all hell breaks loose....  which is good, must mean I have found my second wind and don't appear to be settling down anytime soon....

So Out comes carpet, new cabinets, paint, and better organization ...turning 65 did tell me one thing...I don't handle clutter and no  organization  well at all any longer....

So I look forward to new exciting things coming from the studio, finishing up some long standing commissions and hugging Sofi tightly and often.....  Sounds like a perfect life to me...

Have a good one and a Bright and Extremely Shinny New Year...

Jodi and Richard...Sofi Too!

 

 

Vacation Over.....work load looming

We had a terrific time on our short jaunt to Northern California.....  it has been 3 years since our last visit ...and it is always so great seeing old friends and family again.  Grass Valley is a place where we lived on and off for over 16 years....charming Gold Rush Sierra Foothill town....but like everywhere..it grows bigger and gets more crowded...I miss the days of the laid back Hippy Retreat feel.... now the word Yuppy comes to mind....still lovely but I relate less to the inhabitants these days....  One of the reasons for going also was to see one of my all time favorite 'Heros' of the music/movement world  in concert....Joan Baez!!  She was over the top fantastic....lovely, moving worth all my years of waiting to see her in person... it was a lovely small venue , close enough to see very well.....she encouraged the audience to sing along to a few songs...and sing we did....Loudly and Proudly....now I can say I sang with Joan Baez...tee hee! 

We visited you pick farms, living in the desert you really appreciate fresh fruits and veggies, of course we visited a few wineries and 'tested' the wares, buy a few bottles of the most delicious ones....YUM! 
Mainly this was a very relaxing visit, good talks...good food and wine....concert and reminiscing tour....  but, as much fun as we had....there is no place like home (clicking my heels together 3 times while saying that)  Yes, back to our heat, now humidity too, sunny blue skies....now...back to work.

Little tiny doll voices are calling my name .....I must follow.....

Later....

Stormy Weather....but not enough to get wet....

Morning....

The early morning desert is dark and gray, with heavy clouds hanging low , little wind and a coolest we are not familiar with during this time of the year....all of this drama...yet not a single drop of rain...UGH!  I will not despair as the day is young and we still may get a few 'spits' by days end....keeping fingers crossed...

Today is a good day to clean and reorganize the studio....started yesterday late, and by moving a few boxes I have already 'found' a few things that have been lost over the last year (tells you how often I organize) ....I do like a small sense of kayos around me, a feeling that something is about to happen, rather than the doctors waiting room tidy clean feel...that freaks me out just a tad...  but I have gone from organized kayos to Mayhem overload... I mean, it is insane.  And why you may well ask...well...I will tell you...(and I do have a pretty good excuse)...my 'our' life has been in a bit of an upheaval lately ...Our beloved dog passed recently, my mother before that, my only sister is moving to Texas and it seems whatever creative energies I have left have been sucked up by the Facebook Monster....Time melts away and with it...creative juices .....therefore, my desire to be at one with artistic creation  is well...basically...*POOF* .... So I got myself away from FACEBOOK...didn't even say goodbye, leave a light on ..but I did close the door....DAMN, should have locked it....!! oh well....  Now I am back over to my very neglected blog ...from where I started and things are once again beginning to feel right....so back to the studio.....clean, clean, clean ...organize ,organize, organize, ..and then...back to work for me....Hello Old friend....!!!

Later,
Jodi