Raige Creations

When it came to decorating the tree this year, there came a load of emotions and memories. It was the first year I decorated the tree without the kids. They are all out of the house now, and it is just hubby and me for the holidays this year. A quiet house this year, unlike almost every other one we have had since we were married. ( Here is one from several years ago, boy did we decorate then!) It used to be that he brought the live tree in and got it in the holder and made sure it was straight, and then his job was done. He never actually puts one on the tree, unless it was that crazy spinning cow above the tree the kids loved when they were little, or the octopus star that one year.  He generally he finds other things to do while the decorating is going on, and this year was no different. Just paying attention from the sidelines, when he wanted to add comments to my reminiscing and laughing and nod and agree to my ' aww look how cute ' comments.  Christmas 2020 That is some...

  Thanks Pinterest We now have got three walks in over the past five days. We took a long break, but hopefully this is the start of a regular thing. And today, I realized how much I missed it. Every time we get back to walking, we wonder why we stopped. It is really such a simple thing, going for a walk in Nature. Why do we find so many excuses not to do it?  Even they days you get rained on are wonderful - the other day, in fact, we were soaked. Even the grey and cloudy days are beautiful.  Even a grey day is beautiful I knew things were starting to feel better when I wanted to take a picture. Sure, that is not the best photo. It was cloudy, it was the 'wrong' time of day, it was a rough and not brilliant sea. We hadn't seen much that was particularly interesting. But still, the waves look cool, the breeze was refreshing, and the grey is a bit soothing. I realized I wasn't feeling nature, until then. Figuring I may as well take as shot, seeing it through the lens (so t...

I am so glad it is weekend. I have been looking forward to it since we moved in our place last week. So today, I thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee. Then I decided I had put off walking/jogging for too long now. And oh yeah, I signed up for a 5k later this month....so really have to get back in shape for that. So off I went, excited to explore our new neighborhood. It is so quiet, little activity here and there. Very nice walking with a jog mixed in. Then I got to these trees. I stopped, and listened. Casuarina Pines. If you haven't been near Casurina Pines when the wind blows, you are missing out. They make the most beautiful sound. A sort of whoosh sound, just so subtle and actually quite relaxing. It is like if you breathed out with your lips a little puckered to try to make a wind sound. These trees make it for you. As long as there is even a slight breeze, the sound of the wind is amplified through these trees and you are treated to a wonderful ...

Grateful. Thankful. It is said if we acknowlege what we are thankful for regularly it will make us happy. If we write down what we are grateful for we live a more fulfilled life. So here it goes. Today  - I am thankful for SPACE. We just moved, again. Sixth move in just over 3 years. We are now in a house. No more condo, no more apartment. We have a yard! I wander the house amazed there is so much space. Beautiful space. I have room to display things that have been boxed up for over 3 years. I have room to NOT walk in front of the TV while my son is playing. (and get him killed in his pow pow games). My son has his own room - with a spare room for when his siblings are home. No more sharing beds and air mattresses. We have a den! An extra space to allow hubby to make art, to make messes. I have room in the kitchen cupboards - actually empty shelves and drawers! I am not looking to fill this space with 'stuff' either. Nope, leave me room. Dont need 2 large fyi...

I was spending a Saturday on the porch, hanging with hubby, and just passing the time drinking sparkling water with lime in it - a treat I have been giving myself these days and I love it. He was lamenting lack of materials to make the art that he wants to make, and I said 'What about using what the ocean giveth?' The ocean does giveth. It is constantly churning and mixing and depositing things on the shores from unknown places. Sadly, lately, it is a lot of garbage, but don't get me started with the garbage in the oceans. I watched this movie, A Plastic Ocean , and it scared me so much I couldn't watch the whole thing. It is really disturbing how much crap is in our waters. I hope and pray a solution will be found, or a few . But I digress. We do find things on the beach that we don't consider garbage, and we lovingly bring it home to keep, eventually to use in other ways if we can figure out a way to do so. We find pieces of old pipe. We find pieces of pott...

source: Pinterest At 7am this morning, the rain pouring down, this was my entire attitude.  I know I started out yesterday a bit crazy , but I eventually got it together and went to town to take care of a few things.  I actually got a lot accomplished! Today, I decided it would be a leggings and big baggy sweatshirt kind of day. I had a lot to do, but didn't have to go anywhere. So I decided to slum it a bit. (I didn't even wash my hair!) Well, here it is, almost 2pm, and I haven't crossed anything off my list! YES, I even made a list!! So I decide to at least get a blog done. And as you can tell, I was not really motivated to write, but I just decided to get it done, and that would be one thing off the list. Not the best attitude going into it.  This is one of many days I have had like this lately. Sorry, but I have to ask.... "What is wrong with me?"   I have had far too many days where nothing gets crossed off the list! I have several of those d...

This great reminder helped me get out of bed yesterday. A wonderful quote from my hubby, knowing I was grumpy and overwhelmed with life, as has been the Modus Operandi these days.  I was having a difficult time finding the motivation to get up and start yet another day of stress, worry, uncertainty, and  chores. Who wants to get out of bed for that? But he wisely reminded me we have a goal, we have something to look forward to. And we are one day closer to getting there. Some days, he knows just the right thing to say.

Good Monday to you all - and Happy Earth Day.  This morning had me noticing the landscape. The green filling in all the trees, the beautiful flowers daring to bloom after the cold nights we have had, and of course enjoying the bright sunshine.  At the shop, we have been enjoying tea from Cindi's Sacred Garden , and today is the last day of this sample. So I thought it fitting Sir Paul McCartney serenade us while we enjoy some Strong Body Tea. Perhaps not proper English Tea, but oh so good, and good for you. This weather, the sunshine, flowers, green grass and leaves on trees, it makes me want to sit in miles and miles of an English garden, stretching past the willow tree ...... Hope I can sit and enjoy some tea in my yard later this afternoon, even though there are no willow trees, and the garden is sparse with a few bulbs, not yet blooming. But I am determined to enjoy.  Enjoy your day, every day, even if it is just for an afternoon tea, in a less than Engli...

Enjoying my coffee this morning, checking in on the computer and preparing for my normal routine of running, showering, getting in as many chores as I can before going to work, I was just about finished with my one cup and heard a heavy rain falling. No hesitation today - not running in this downpour. Okay, that doesn't look like a downpour, but it is enough to convince me not to run today.  Besides, there is the laundry.....and dishes....... Got plenty to do anyways. And I should probably cook dinner tonight so gotta figure out what to take out of the freezer to cook. At lease our tiny tree is getting a good watering before we bring it in to decorate. Yes, this is our tree this year. My youngest started growing this about 5 years ago, and we decided this year to save the money and not buy a tree, but to use this one. Charlie Brown , eat your heart out.

I love my neighborhood. Though I am sorry to say I missed my goal of walking each and every day since my birthday, I am still walking at least 5 days a week, and I still love seeing everything in my 'hood'.  How about seeing some of the things in my own 'hood' today? I run into some beautiful nature, fine neighbors, and interesting things that make me appreciate where I am. Today I am bringing you into my 'hood'. This area is full of dog lovers.  Dogs go with their families to eat, to festivals, and there is always someone walking a dog or a yard with a dog in it, whether you are downtown or here further in 'the country' as we are. Plus, there is a dog every other house here in my hood. Some houses have 2 dogs. They each greet us with their barks, scaring LadyJ, but I think they just mean to say hello. 'yang' 'yin' These 2 fine dogs, the 'yin' and 'yang' dogs of the 'hood', share the same house, ...

The perfect driving song, we listened to this on our drive to Greenville, NC. Last week was my son's college orientation, and we loaded up the car, and drove. It was the first road trip we have taken since we moved here, going on 2 years ago. It is a quite pleasant 5 1/2 hour drive, and after only 2 years in the mountains, we found it interesting how flat that side of the state is. (I was also surprised at the comfort I felt once we returned to the mountains.)  A beautiful campus, East Carolina University is in the small city of Greenville, NC , with the city population of only around 84,000. Compared to Asheville, the kids said it is flat and were surprised there were no tall buildings.  Pitt County Court House Greenville City Hall The highest building downtown is three stories tall. In contrast to that, the campus has dorms 10 stories tall. We all liked the campus though. Gorgeous architecture.  Cotton Hall, one of the oldest reside...

It isn't every day you can say 'I'm on top of the world' and literally be a mile high, completely feeling like you ARE on top of the world. We got to last Saturday. View from Craggy Pinnacle The kids were on Spring Break last week, and I wanted us to do something fun, something cheap if not free, and special. Since we can't take a trip for vacation (see cheap mentioned above) due to limited funds, and my oldest having to work several days of the week, it had to be local. Luckily, we happen to live in a mountain range that offers hikes and views that are incredible. We went for a hike last fall and that was such a wonderful day everyone was willing to hike again, but this time wanted to try a different hike.  We decided to pick an easy hike close to home. Craggy Gardens.   It is almost like going on vacation, but is only 9 miles from our house. Tunnels through the Rhododendron's The trail was said to be an 'easy' one, and only 1.4 miles, a...