Move Over Kim Novak: There's a new ingenue in Town!

LAST SUNDAY...TWO OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES WERE ON, BACK TO BACK...BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart and, Breakfast at Tiffanys. I hate to admit to watching TV in broad daylight. I never touch the remote before 5 pm...but this was a delightful exception. Snow still, winter, months more of winter...and two cozy old classics, featuring two of my all time favorite actors: Kim and Audrey!

You must simply rent these movies, if you haven't seen them in a while..the clothes? gorgeous, the decor in these adorable apartments, both set in New York city, by the way. The art direction, lighting, cinematography! What is not to like...? Not to mention Truman Capote and Henry Mancini...Moon River? I get my decorating ideas from these kind of Technicolor classics, for example....audrey's clawfoot bathtub couch? And, Kim's apartment...is tres contemporary moderne...Kim plays a witch, who puts a spell on lovable Jimmy Stewart...who has a fantastic apartment gallery....you must see. Also Kim has a gorgeous primitive art gallery/apt..


And, speaking of galleries...Please please check out the new Valetine bedroom gallery at: http://www.artwallonline.com/master-bedroom/ (simply click on the cute turquoise artwall icon up by Jimmy Stewart)! (I got a little carried away with the art wall icon, but its cute....so it stays!)




Anyway....I thought I would share my inspiration for Pinky Novak: Kim Novak and she share a similar hair color...though Kim's is decidedly more ash..Kim has the best all time ash blonde hair color..and the most divine eyebrows in well, the history of the eyebrow. However, Audrey does really look a bit more like Pinky, so delicate and refined...while Kim is just such a voluptuous star....

Here, are three gorgeous women...each stylish in her own way, each an inspiration to women everywhere...each today, still an icon of style.

Color, style, sophistication, sensuality, personality??? What is that indefinable quality that these ingenues share?

Or, perhaps is it merely the scarf?

The Simple Life

I know I promised a blog on classic vintage film, but I decided instead to do a tiny, peaceful little blog in between blogs....(because that will be a huge project).

Today, I just wanted to remind myself and anyone else...to slow down, to be grateful for all that is...to seek balance.

Enjoy each moment as it unfolds...see the sky, the birds, the rain...the light, the dark, the shadows...the fullness and the emptiness.





Two beautiful haiku by one of my favorite Haiku masters, Buson
(I named one of my geese after him..you'll be seeing him soon in this blog)

Winter bareness--
little birds seeking food
in the patch of onions.


and this,



Silence
in a field with oak trees.
The winter moon.



It does seem to me..that the most unremarkable moments become our most beloved memories. The sound of your daughter or mother's voice, a long walk in the canyons with your dog, time to read a beautiful poem on a rainy day.....

and the icing on the cake: from the second book of the tao by Stephen Michell:

Don't chase after other people's approval.
Don't depend on your plans.
Don't make decisions;
let decisions make themselves.
Free yourself of concepts;
don't believe what you think.
Embody the inexhaustible.
Wander beyond all paths.
Receive what you have been given.
And know that it is enough.

The master's mind is like a mirror,
it reponds, but doesn't store,
contains nothing, excludes nothing,
reflects things exactly as they are.
Thus she has what she wants
and wants only what she has.

Good reminders in these stressful, frenzied days to slow down, breathe and remember the truly wonderful, mysterious and simple moments of the every day life.

The sun is out...the roosters are crowing.....my little rockstar rooster, attacks me every time he sees me....My husband, Cal, thinks this is funny....but I do not...
For one thing..there is ice on the ground....which I am sliding over in my black latex bogs. You city gals probably won't even know that a bog is a country gal's mule...boot, sneaker...every day chic footwear..that comes up to your knee!

My stylish country gal friends have the cutest little bogs..decorated with pink and lime green flowers ....However, Cal bought me my bogs in the men's dept. (last year for Christmas). Mine are plain, black, no bling blogs..that he is hoping I will get another couple of years out of....

Back to the little rooster, who has become my nemesis. When he sees me coming out with the table scraps....and millet and treats...he makes a beeline from across the pasture.....All the other beautiful hens and roosters (who actually know their place in God's kingdom) make a beeline as well...However, snacking is the only thing on their mind..

.Not so for the rock star....he has actually brutally attacked me from behind...and All I am going to say...is I'm not sure if I should call on Law and Order, Criminal Intent....Or Special Victims Unit...

It is especially unnerving to be attacked from behind....in your bogs on the ice..with your thousands of dollars worth of camera in hand...

Since my husband refuses to protect me.....another fine gentleman has come forth to defend my honor....You haven't seen a photo of him yet..but you will.....I was just a little worried that I was getting a little carried away with this chicken fetish..and people might stop frequenting...my blog...bored to tears and YAWN........ing.

There is a dark red little bantam....who is really fluffy..even his little legs are covered in red feather chaps...well...he has stepped in and chased the rock star away...everytime I go out to the pasture.....he actually has dominated the rock star and I am feeling better about things in general...as far as the chicken folk go...

Hoping to get some nice shots of the shyer and delicate little hens.....but I have to wait till the ice melts.

Today, I was hoping Cal would take me for a drive....that's what we do....when the sky is beautiful....streaks and clouds and shades of aqua in the sky...I ask Cal to take me for a drive...I like to go to this one gravel road where there is a row of trees, filled with bald eagles. There are usually about 5 or 6....I get out of the pick up...and Cal waits patiently down the road a spell...while I shoot these magnificent birds.....They are completely OVER me...they are so unafraid...that I sometimes must yell, hoot and holler just to get them to fly from branch to branch... That is how I got the flying photo above...hooting and hollering...and sometimes even waving my little NCIS hat around...

(You might have noticed that little NCIS button on the side bar of my blog...No, I am not getting paid by CBS to decorate this blog with that...I actually consider it an honor...to associate myself with this TV show..and I don't care who knows it. This Christmas I bought myself an NCIS hat..just exactly like they wear on the show..because Cal refused to buy me one....when I put it on my list..He said it was Ridiculous.....Now, not only am I a photographer....but in a pinch...I could solve a crime...at least that is how I feel in this hat....although I am embarrassed to wear it unless Cal is with me...No one is going to laugh at Cal's wife..when Cal is with her..tee hee...)

But really, women are so intuitive...I really think anyone of us could be a detective if we had too.....we solve little crimes and mysteries every day don't we?

Wow..that was some tangent....hope you can all follow along...

Back to the eagles....they are marvelous....lovely and breathtaking...and shooting them is the closest thing...to shooting rock stars in Los Angeles...(which I used to do in LA for the newspaper..when I was a wee little gal way back when)

Well...I would like to wrap this up now...and I am sure you would too....by saying a really lovely woman, named Pam, who purchased one of my photos, reminded me about one of my favorite all time movies: Bell, Book and Candle with Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart... The style, clothes, sets, in this movie are fantastic. Pam said..she was inspired by this movie to create a certain kind of gallery in her home....I have been excited to create a gallery in my living room..and I think I will use this movie as an inspiration as well....I love gold gilt frames, big curlicues and then strange photos of dogs in clothes, rhinestones or goats in pink collars...that sort of thing....and all modern art!!!!!

oh..and eagles, roosters, horses....

enough for now....and thanks for your kind indulgence..

PS: Kristen and her grandmother Mimi just called....they read my LOVE blog..and Mimi felt like a celebrity....Kristen has not found her wedding dress yet...and we might be planning a trip to the Big City to buy her a dress....this sounds like a dangerous enterprise...but fortunately, NCIS can handle it...

Still Winter

Where I live it is still winter.... beautiful...but winter....this is just a short blog to experiment with different blogging features and layouts AND to apologize for calling this gorgeous, unique haven where I live a God forsaken wasteland...My husband did NOT like that one bit. I did try to explain to him...it was all in good fun...and was meant in a humorous way....I don't think he bought it...I do want to say..that I am surrounded by natural beauty...24/7.. rivers, lakes, mountains, trees, rolling hills, deer, eagles, mink, foxes, birds of every kind....BUT, culturally speaking..we are 75 miles from the nearest Wallmart (and I don't mean Target) I mean Wallmart..

OK...that is the end of this blog...lets see if my experiment worked.

Love

love is definitely in the air....my first wedding anniversary is coming up January 31st. My friend, Katy Jane (from Austin) "insisted" on shooting pix of my husband and myself dancing in the pasture....She also loaned me this gorgeous dress from the 1960s....with sequins and speghetti straps, etc. that was worn to the actual JFK inaugural ball. This all sounds very romantic, except for the dress, was several sizes too small, it was a cold gloomy day. And I was forced to drag out one of my vintage fake fur collared coats, well my husband was forced to wear another 1970s vintage Ben Cartwright jacket...
Well, I'm afraid that they whole ensemble rather resembled that bag lady chic that I have been referred to as sporting...

I am just going to say here...what worries me is that my good friends Kristen and Ryan (from Hillary Dairy) are getting married in February. I am her witness..And, I have No Idea what to wear...I am afraid I will simply ruin her wedding...with my some what questionable style sense.

I wrote this little rhyme for Kristen and I:
Gone is the glamour that used to be
Now all we have left is animal husbandry....

Kristen and I were glamourous gals (she from Portland) I, from West Hollywood, when we moved to this godforsaken place....and now look at us!!!

Milking goats, gathering eggs...and even less glamorous things.....

This adorable goat is Hillary...and Ryan milks hillary (believe me, not glamorous) and Kristen makes the best cheese, mayo....ummm. They eventually will be making and selling their own goat's milk soaps and lotions....so I will keep you posted....


Last year I got married in Kristen's charming farm house..her grandmother Mimi was my witness. She wore a simply stunning peach and cream polyester paisley pant suit. She was much more stylish, than I, the bride in white levis...I was so nervous....I really hated to take the plunge......the whole thing is a blur, except for mimi's pant suit.

I really don't want to ruin Kristen's wedding....I am actually going to have to start shopping online (there are no stores here in this god forsaken waste land) And, I am boycotting the local beauty salons.....I am waiting for my trip to NY this spring..my hair is so long...well, its just not fashionable...I had a wonderful hair dresser here, but she stopped taking my calls....I can't imagine what I did...but let's say...New York here I come!!!!

And, then, valentines is right around the corner.....what shall I get my sweetheart...?

I could go on and on, but as my mother used to say...."You are just talking to hear your head rattle".....so for now..enough about LOVE......

In love with Haiku

Today, I don't have as much time as I would like....so whenever I am desperate for poetry without much time...there is haiku.

Basho (1644-1694)
and Buson (1700s) are two of my favorites haiku poets. I think it is wonderful to be thrilled by words written over 300 years ago.

One by Basho,

The snow we two once
looked at together--has it
fallen again this year?

Two by Buson,

Mandarin ducks,
their beauty made apparent
in winter woods.


When the axe cuts in,
surprise at the perfume--
woods in winter.

Feel free to write your own haiku, don't be intimidated by these two venerable haiku masters. I think they would be thrilled to know that their simple words still move us. Or, they might think we were completely insane....oh well..

The rules, if you've forgotten are five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables.

This summer my niece April, the school teacher visited and gave us all a haiku lesson. She teaches her 2nd and third graders every year in the fall. So, she should easily crank out a haiku for our amusement and edification.

This is not haiku..but a tiny poem..
feel free to post one of your own..remember hardly anyone is reading this...
thank goodness...

hee hee

the sky appears gray and empty
but many layers of white, blue and silver,
clouds and mist form this grayness,
this bleakness that surrounds the tangled bare branches,
the sleek hills, the dark silouhetts of fir


well there you have it...my apologies to you brilliant writers...in advance...

Next blog: the finest living poet Mary Oliver

This world needs more poetry!

Sharing my own poetry, would be awfully daring for my second blog, even though I don't think anyone will ever read this blog...except for maybe my new friend Sarah, who lives in a little town in Ohio. We met over the internet, when she bought one of my framed prints, which I am really thrilled about by the way! I am going to also try to force a few select people to read this..and hopefully comment...Although I, for one, cannot figure out how to post comments on these blogs...do you have to be a rocket scientist? or have some sort of password, provided at birth by the CIA? Whatever, I am not going to attempt to even hide my ignorance, because it will become very apparent...very soon.

I read a wonderful poem today...and I am going to copy it in here...and if anyone else wants to write poetry or anything feel free....or just read it quietly...in your little room and take it to heart.

One of my new year's resolutions is to bring more poetry into my life...and perhaps the world...or to one or two people (or animals)...more poetry Less Politics..is one of my new sayings....

This poem is by Edward Hirsch
it is about the painter Georgia O'Keefe (in Canyon, Texas in 1917)


She was just a schoolteacher then
Walking away from the town
in the late afternoon sunset.
A young woman in love
with a treeless place,
The scattered windmills and pounding winds
of the whole prairie sliding toward dusk,
Something unfenced and wild
about the world without roads,
Miles and miles of land
rolling like waves into nowhere,
The light settling down in the open country.

She had nothing to do but walk away
From the churches and banks, the college buildings
of Knowledge, the filling stations
of the habitable world,
And then she was alone
with what she believed--
The shuddering irridescence of heat lightning,
Cattle moving like black lace in the distance,
Wildflowers growing out of bleached skulls,
The searing oranges and yellows of the evening star,
Rising in daylight,
commanding the empty spaces.

(edward hirsch 1950- )

Is that so beautiful? Can you see it, feel it and taste it? I read a wonderful quote by Emily Dickenson if I can find it...


here it is:

"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire even can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry." (emily dickenson in a letter to a friend)

well, that is all I have to share today ..it is another cold gloom drizzly gray day and this poetry keeps me warm....maybe soon, one of my followers will post a poem if they can figure it out..and I may too!

I am also going to use a photo to decorate this page....

New Year Resolutions from Snoweflake Farm

OK..
I am blogging for the first time...should I not admit it? Of, course, I have always blogged in my mind..but never in public....but here goes!
1. become a better listener
2. set boundaries
3. read more poetry
4. eat more chocolate
5. enjoy !

I have been photographing my little barnyard rock stars...and the snow...day after day after day...
getting a little tired of the snow now....so I would like to share some color.....for the new year....
here.

I am a city gal who married a cowboy, we live on a little farm in pacific northwest....its sort of like a souped up version of green acres, west coast style....
anyway..if anyone can find this blog, feel free to add your new years resolution...
beauty and peace for the world is my dearest hope for this year...
check out some of my photos....
and happy new year...
am I doing this right?
yikes..

photos above are from my little shop at www.lucysnowephotograpy.etsy.com
Pinky Novak: the chihuahua in a scarf and two shots of
Lucky, my rooster rockstar

New Year's Resolutions from Snoweflake Farm

hi from snoweflake farm
in the cold snowy rural area of eastern oregon.
i am a city girl living in the country....
sort of a green acres kind of gal....


i thought i would begin blogging for my first new years resolution!
this is it....first blog ever.....
surround myself with beauty
more poetry than politics
become a better listener...
feel free to post a new years resolution....