My New Line of Greeting Cards

(now for sale)

I've always wanted to turn some of my images into greeting cards. Mockingbird Studio has given me the impetus to do so. Anyway, I thought these would make lovely holiday gifts. If you have any interest in them, let me know. A pack of 6 cards is $20usd, plus $4 shipping. You can send checks to Sister Sue or we do accept paypal....Duane can handle that one.

Hope everyone in Houston has recovered. Miss you. Barbara

Hello, friends. Just wanted to let you know we've been thinking about everyone in Houston. We hope your homes withstood the winds. I know many of you are without electricity and some have had terrible damage to your homes. Our hearts are with you.

We still miss our dear friends in Houston....in a weird way we wish we could have been there with you as a community to band together as needed. Anyway, check in when you get a chance.

xoxoxox, Barbara

My New Baby

When I got back from Denver this July, Duane said he had learned about a downtown space for lease.

I was kind of ready for a rest, but knew that this was a one of a kind opportunity. Attached to the Independent Theater and right by the cathedral, the location was fab.

Good location, great light, right price......

It was time to get to work.

After painting and cleaning, hanging lights and buying furniture, we now have Mockingbird Studio - named in honor of the state bird of Texas.

I open officially September 1. But, Friday I had a few drop-ins. One who kindly took my picture.

I even had my first NZ sale!

And, so the adventure begins.

This week I did lots of stuff. I went to the Nelson Mathix with my team since we won the Broadgreen Mathix (a math competition).

We were in the lead and then we got stuck on question 15. Eventually we got it with Finley's lucky number......?? The question was there are 41 heads and 130 legs on a farm. The farmers has turkeys and cows, how many turkeys are there? When we got it we were two questions behind the leading groups. In the end the other Broadgreen team got first and we got fifth.

On Thursday and Friday all the intermedite schools from the Top of the South Island met for winter tournament. I was on the school's soccer team and we played other good schools, but we had Sam Maxwell at forward. He and Corey scored two goals for a 2-0 lead over Boholly. It was the first time we'd won since 2004. We pretty much had a clean sweep over all of the events. We(Broadgreen) were the overall winners.

Finally, on Saturday my club soccer team had a practice playoff game vs our enemy the Bright field Bombers. the score was 4-4, but we lost in penalties.

“Actually, a small breeze of homesickness had been blowing over me for the last few days. I suspected, however, that I wasn’t homesick for anything I would find at home when I returned. The longing was for what I wouldn’t find: the past and all the people and places and cats that were lost to me. I’d been thinking a lot about that lately – the inevitability of separation, in one form or another, from all those we love, and, in a different way, from ourselves as we were in the past. “

Alice Steinbach, from Without Reservations

Just a little excerpt from a book I recently read. Alice’s keen observation articulated a familiar thought. Whether we move or not, we are often laying to rest a person we once were. It is only with a distance of space or time that we become acutely aware of that passage. And so it goes. We move, we change ……pieces of our old self dies, while new growth brings about yet another chapter.

When I first came here I was so obsessed with the future. How long will we stay? What will we do? Where will we return to, if and when we return? Somehow I’ve mellowed. I’ve met so many people who have lived and traveled the world. I’ve accepted the possibility of transience, the idea of being in a moment and letting go of the distant future and concrete answers. I am here and I am happy.

...…….what’s new? Well, Andrew’s lost a tooth. The daffodils are blooming - as are numerous other plants. (Quite frankly we’ve had flowers and foliage throughout the winter.) We've been invited to our first dinner. The days are once again getting longer (yeh!) and I smell spring in the air.




This Texas girl is ready for the heat!

Smoking House

It's winter, ok? And we are hunkered down inside the igloo. At night outside all around the house gets a layer of frost. Then the sun comes out and everything begins to steam. The entire car is steaming, the deck, the railings, the chairs. Here I'll give you a picture of what I'm talking about.

The whitish color on the lattice is frost. It'll be smoking soon as the sun hits.

Here's the deck chair:

That's what all the surfaces are doing. Pretty cool really, as long as you're inside where it's warm.

Last Wednesday we experienced what I believe would be called a gale. Purportedly the worst storm in thirty years with wind gusts between 75 - 90mph. I felt like I was back in Houston, TX in the middle of a hurricane. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtCzlZogjZQ "Severe Weather Nelson, NZ" and you'll see one of our locals escape fate......amazing. Sorry our video is sideways...if you know how to fix that let us know

When the rains and wind began I just thought we were having a bit of bad weather. When after about two hours I looked out and saw limbs flying through the air I realized this was much more than that.The kids were in school and the administration had the good sense to keep kids until parents picked them up. Primary kids who normally walked home alone and could not have a parent pick them up were driven home by a teacher. Duane and I parked under a stand of giant pine trees when we got Dean and Andrew. What were we thinking!!!! Later one of those trees became uprooted.

Our property lost at least five trees. Good news, not our problem Even better news, no one was hurt!

About six weeks ago, the oven door in our rental shattered. There I was upstairs washing dishes while my cannelloni baked, when suddenly I heard a loud crackle. I looked behind and saw the oven door splintered into a thousand little pieces. Good news, dinner had been spared. Even better news, it was not my problem.

Much to my surprise, I have enjoyed being a renter in our fully furnished Nelson home. Rather than feeling untethered and homeless, I feel remarkably liberated. Instead of spending time and energy on improving my abode, I go hiking or biking. Perhaps I’d rather the walls were white instead of yellow. But, does it keep my up at night? No, I sleep quite soundly and carefree.

Used to be, when Houston had a torrential rain, I would fret…are the streets flooding? Is my studio safe? Have we sprung a leak somewhere? Now, I revel in the glory of bountiful rains and place a bucket beneath that little leak on our stairwell…..it’s not my problem.

Oh, and the money we’ve saved! There are so many things I haven’t bought - the dishes, the décor, furniture and home improvement. I never realized how much a home sucked out until I let go of ownership. About my only indulgences these days are fresh flowers and good food.

And, yet, this place feels like “home.” We are SO lucky to have this fabulous house. After four months, I am still as satisfied as the day we moved in. I like the layout, the dishes. I love the gardens and our big family room where we gather round the fire. And, Smudge, what a cat! In fact, if Kathleen and Robert asked, we’d probably buy this house…….

Wait a second. Then I’d have to fix that leak, and paint the walls. Oh, and what about central heat? New furniture, towels. Shouldn’t we recarpet????? AHHHHHH!!

The Golden Couple- Happy Anniversary Dub and Frieda

Group shot of Lee's family

I get high with a little help from my friends!

Matt, me, Lee and Sue at RMNP
Best burgers ever!!

I get by with a little help from my friends

Goodnight Highlands Ranch, see you soon.

Well, after 22 days in the mother country I am back "home" ....... back to my glass enclosed studio listening to my old friends Granddaddy and Michelle Shocked.

The trip was great in so many ways. I can't just do highlights, everything was fun. So, here's a chronological synopsis of the good times in the Northern Hemisphere.

Meiningers Art Supply - such variety, so many cool thing all in one place. Thanks to Nancy and all the good people there! I've missed well-stocked art supply stores.

Erin and Kimberley visit - How lucky am I to have such great friends come up and see me. Good food, good friends, good times.

Sister Sue returns - back from Germany bearing Maoams and Bockenschokolade. The Energizer Bunny prepares for a grand celebration as if she just returned from the spa.

Dub and Frieda's 5oth Anniversary - an event to remember. Congratulations to this lovely couple who have kept it together for so long - 50 years deserves a celebration. Loved meeting Jess and Dave and Lee's wonderful sister Melissa.

A visit with Sharon - My dynamic sister-in-law never ceases to amaze me. Hosting a panel on Native American land rights at Boulder University, Sharon squeezed in a bite to eat and talk of what's next - it will never be dull or predictable.

The Klinkes and Kories arrive - I feel blessed to have such a supportive family to come see me flop or fly. What a fine young man my nephew Matt is becoming - I am in awe.

The Cherry Creek Art Festival - The event I have been dreaming of. It lived up to all expectations and was a blast. Thank you to all who came and supported this artist from down under. To all extended, the invitation stands. Come sit at our patio in Nelson, NZ and enjoy a glass of wine. ....spend a night, or two.....or three.

Thank you Sue and Lee for having me at your beautiful new home in Colorado. I enjoyed our time together. Can't wait to do it again!

We are on a two week break from school and so far I've done lots of stuff. I did a week long soccer camp that was fun and I've been baking cookies and brownies. I have also been playing a real fun game called sumotori and here is the link where you can download it:http://www.toribash.com/downloads.php. Fun-motion.com is a site where you can find lots of good physics related games. Over the weekend I got to be the ball boy at a Nelson Suburbs soccer game. The Nelson Suburbs are a Nelson soccer team that are very good. We won 3-0. At halftime me and 3 other members of my soccer team who got to be ball boys got Cokes.

It's "mufti" day at school. For those back in the US of A, this means a day where you don't have to wear the school uniform. (Anyone who knows where this name actually comes from please post us an explanation).

Anyway, there is "gold coin mufti day" and "free mufti day," the difference being that you pay $1 to not wear your uniform on gold coin mufti day. The money usually goes to a good cause.

Today is a free mufti day. It is also a wacky free mufti day, meaning you not only wear street clothes, you can dress up. Kind of like Halloween. Driving to school we passed, early on, a Santa Claus pushing a bicycle, followed by a jester with a big jester hat, and a princess with a very tall crown-like thingy.

Suggestion for boys at Andrew's school was prince/king, and just fortunately we had packed a few costume changes. Again those shipping boxes come in handy! I'd say he makes a fairly convincing knight. Perhaps he is a king slumming as a knight. Perhaps he will attack that threatening one-eyed hoodlum. I'd say you can bet on it.

It's the day of the big "truckie" strike. Yes, as in Spain, France, UK and elsewhere, the truck driver protests have come to NZ. And it's not so much about fuel prices, though that's the backdrop, it's really about an increase in the road usage tax. Will we be able to get to school?

Here's a look down the hill from our driveway...












I can see they've already started. Wouldn't normally see a truck down there at the bottom of the hill. Uh oh, I can hear horns in the distance. Let's give it a go and see what happens--












Well having made it there and back, I can tell you these are the nicest truckies ever. As you can see from my windshield-cam, the drivers are leaving space for people to pull in and out. Yes, the works are a bit gummed up, but you can still get where you need to go.

No impromptu road blockages here, I flip on the news, which is broadcasting the routes the trucks will be taking in Wellington and Auckland, so everyone can know exactly where to go (or avoid). It's kind of like a parade.

Those horns? I think it's more a solidarity tap on the horn between truckies and the occasional auto driver. In fact the media is reporting in their poll as to, Do you support the truckies?, the results are 95% Yes 5% No in their most lopsided poll result ever. So there you have it. The great NZ truckie action of July 4, 2008.