Kathleen Botsford

Schools Out for Summer

The end of Victoria's freshman year in college

came upon us in the blink of an eye.

Even the kids were melancholy.

Glad to be done with studying and finals

but sad to see the year end.

 

Sometimes I need to be quiet.

To go inside,

to empty my head and become clear.

I get a little out of sorts when

the schedules get too full. 

As this summer starts to heat up

both literally and figuratively with

almost every weekend filled until August,

I found time this past week

to do the small  things

that get lost in the hustle and bustle

of everyday life.

I took the time to actually smell the flowers

as I cut them and scattered them thru

the house.

I sat on the deck in the morning with a cup of cappuccino

instead of jumping on the treadmill

or running off to the gym.

I struggled with my conscious,

feeling guilty and lazy

but I moved through it and enjoyed

each and every precious morning,

softly and quietly

beginning my day.

I played in my studio

doing a little of this

and a little bit of that

with no purpose or end in sight.

I took the time to plan some summer outfits

 so I am not in a panic at the last minute

finding things that fit.

And I made some new jewelry pieces

to accessorize said outfits without

the usual frenzied chaos that

accompanies getting dressed for an event

or packing for a weekend away.

The boys were on a business trip to LA

so it was just Victoria and me,

making our own schedule

and honoring our hearts desires;

eating salads every night for dinner.

And of course Rockne.

We let him bark almost as much as he wanted to!

 

 

 

Men Play on Sundays

Everything changes

and then changes again.

That is what I know for sure.

Some of our boys

are graduating and moving on.

They will be starting new careers in many fields.

Their employers will reap the benefits

of their quick minds and open hearts.

I know it's time for me to start thinking of them as men.

I know that is how they think of themselves.

Grown men. 

Adults. 

Ready to conquer the world.

And they are in many, many ways.

 

And in many ways, they will always be our boys.

Fun-loving and care-free.

Always ready to share or play a joke

on the next unsuspecting person to walk into the room.

Always there for each other at a moments notice.

These men. 

These young men we have grown to love as our very own.

Boys to men in front of our eyes.

Men who play on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

Maybe or Maybe Not

My boys are in LA on business all week.

That means a week of no laundry or dinners

and no interruptions

or the phone

ringing off the hook.

(They work at home)

I promised myself I would clean and organize my

mess of an office/studio.

But every time I start...

some new little artistic tidbit

peeks its head out

wanting to be played with.

I have been making my photos from Italy

into postcards.

It is so much fun embellishing

and collaging

and writing

and sending

to family and friends.

I promise I will

MAYBE

have my office cleaned by Saturday.

If you'd like a postcard,

hand written

and decorated,

leave your address!

Easter Baby

We are humbly grateful dear Lord

for Holiday celebrations

filled with love and laughter

of friends and family

And most of all

this precious little baby boy

Amen

 

As Time Goes By

 

This week was my son's 23 birthday.

It seems like only yesterday I saw this cute little face

peering up at me.

Where

has

the

      
   time

gone?

I have been blessed with

the opportunity to be a stay at home mother.

Thank you Steve.  Thank you God. 

For all of the blessings in my life.

Dear friends and Family.

 

**daughter #2 who is noticably absent from this photo is

at school.  But not to worry....

Stevie drove into South Bend the next day

to celebrate

his birthday with her and his buddies.

I tried to get a couple of photos from FB

but was not sucessful :(

A Spoon Full of Sugar

My office/studio is a huge mess.  I keep putting off cleaning and it keeps getting messier and messier.  These are just a very few of the surfaces that are piled high with projects in all sorts of stages of completion.

Scrap books and jewelry, collages and journals.  And not one clean surface to do anything if I should have the sudden urge to create.  Most times, I shove things over and find a space on the floor.

What a mess!  I cannot seem to get and stay motivated to clean and sort and purge and organize.  The task is getting so big, it's overwhelming me before I start.  I am going to have to resort to one of th games we played when the kids were little and their little heads swam in circles every time it was time to clean their playroom. 

We would sing a song from Mary Poppins.  "A Spoon Full of Sugar" to be exact and then we would focus on one category of item at a time.  First we would find all of the Barbie dolls and put them back into their proper homes.  Next the Ninja Turtles would find their way back together as would the Lego's and game pieces. 

One by one, we focused on one category at a time, stayed on task and the job was made doable in little pieces.  That is what I am going to have to do here.  This mess is getting me down and making me feel cranky even when I am not in the room.  Energy is like that.  It sits on your shoulder and follows you around, putting a damper on your day even when you think it is out of sight, out of mind.

Off to find my Mary Poppins CD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite Things

When the kids were small we started a tradition of hand crafting

our gifts for family and friends.

Of course that has changed over the years as the kids grew up and

started driving and shopping on their own.

One of my very favorite things has always remained

the hand making of gifts.

Even as time for art and crafting becomes ever more difficult to find,

I am always on the look-out for ways to continue our tradition.

Jewelry is my constant passion as well as turning my

collages into note cards to be tied up with antique ribbons

and unique packaging.

My newest project is sharing some of my favorite

images of our trip to Italy in the form of

embellished postcards. 

But don't tell anyone.....

it's a surprise!

Sparkling Crystals and Bubble Baths

We have had a couple of busy weeks here.  Spring break and wisdom teeth removals.  Birthdays and St. Patrick day celebrations.  Trips back and forth to South Bend and finalizing new condo plans.  But one of my favorite things was putting this chandelier together with my husband.   

It took us most of one Sunday afternoon but it was well worth it.  Rusted iron and polished crystals to play off of rough-cut stone and polished granite with antiqued gold leafed mirrors.

It's exactly as I pictured it in my mind's eye.

My freshly (almost) re-done bathroom is my absolute favorite room in the house.

Now all I need is the time to take a long, hot bubble bath!

Roman Holiday

Rome took me by surprise in so many ways.

 

We dropped our bags at the hotel

and wandered out into the streets

to find these ancient Roman baths next door.

Michelangelo restored the ruins of one small

section of the baths into a basilica

in the 1500's.

We wandered a little more and happily, although accidentally,

found ourselves at the Spanish Steps.

A cute little cafe nearby was decorated

with huge images of Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn

from her first film "Roman Holiday".

She won the Oscar that year.

I took this photo for my youngest, Tori.

We have watched that movie together more times

than I can count.

Since 1985

It hadn't snowed in Rome since 1985.

That was the year my husband and I were married.

Everytime someone mentioned this fact, 

which was quite often

since the Romans were as surprised with

the weather as we were,

I remembered our anniversary.

My we looked young!