Obviously I haven't written in this blog for a long time. losing my mom really took something out of me. It has been hard to find joy let alone the spirit to endure daily life. My Dad kept telling us he wanted to join her and that of course was frightening. but it was his life and his choice. he died August 1st. he had a glorious death if anyone ever can. we surrounded him, we loved him, we told him that. he told us his last bits of wisdom and gave us our last charges. he loved so well. we weren't with him when he died but that was perfect too as he longed to be with Mother and she came for him. he said she had been hanging about the hospital room for days. they are together now and I am happy for him.

I ma sad for us. we all miss him and we talk about it. I pull my phone out of my pocket a dozen times a day to call him and then sadly put it back. and I cry. he knew how to love if ever a man on earth did. and I admire him for it.

I miss you Daddy.

I am having a wonderful time at the Glenview Garden Club Tour! the weather is beautiful and so are the gardens...and Mary Wheatley is giving cooking demos! wonderful pesto...fun! sales are great and of course it is wonderful being with my Louisville friends. as always, I am blessed.

I had a great day today. well it was nutty but good. Morgan worked this morning and we had a good visit. after lunch the pups and I took a break in the weather and walked at the park. unfortunately the weather break did not last through our walk and we were drenched! and I mean soaked. still it was warm and we didn't care. we even saw a bit of the memorial day ceremony at the cemetery and got a sweet hug from my friend Sasha, who also happens to be my sister Rosey's step daughter. nice.

I have been making things for these upcoming shows! fun new pins and bunnies. tonight I even made some dogs with bees. and old friend called and played a song for me that he had written. R & B of course. fun.

life is good and I am blessed. I'm starting to feel like me again...

my daughter is in China! and she is having the time of her life. she is there on a research trip through the Valparaiso School of Business. I am so excited for her! I can't wait to hear all about it!

this has been a great weekend! ben came down and we had fun as well as getting some work done around the house. we borrowed my friend susie's power washer and cleaned off the front deck. it looks like brand new now instead of 20 years old or so. I love it. today I mowed, walked the dogs and cleaned out my pond. yuck what a mess!

today is Jack's 1st birthday!!! we celebrated all day long, with waffles for breakfast, hamburgers for lunch and soon ice cream as a treat. he is a very good dog.

Obviously I wasn't fine and it took a while to sort things out. I haven't felt like sharing for a long time. My year started out pretty painful, got worse, but I am doing better. the sun is warm these days and I have lots of yard work to do. shows are coming up and I am so happy about that. travel, people, contact.

it is good.

here are a couple of Ben's dogs! with garden shows coming up, I thought they were appropriate.

I sincerely promise to write more often!

Mud Puppies!

I'm back. it has been a hard month and a half. life must be filtered and sometimes survived. I am fine.

I had my back yard fenced in! the dogs got a little adventurous for my taste so now they are safe and sound. they have their own private pool (my pond), trees, rocks and a great big dirt pile to play in. leon was in the pond and in the dirt os much yesterday he came out looking like this!

funny how life is. we have wonderful rewarding days and then life takes a very sad turn. my mother died last night. she has had a series of strokes and finally was unresponsive. my dad, bother and older sister were with her when she passed, it was peaceful.

I drove up today and we all made the funeral arrangements. I am staying with Dad tonight. he seems to be doing okay, though he misses her so very much already. it is so sad. they were married over 61 years! the viewing is Tuesday and the funeral on Wednesday.

I had such a good time doing the installation for the gallery showing. they loved my pieces and it was fun visiting and meeting people. the santa set that was on the invitation is sold already!

busy busy day. I am getting my pieces ready to take to the gallery in Indianapolis. I will have pictures tomorrow.

I was supposed ot have dinner with my girl friend andy tonight but she got sick so no go. I needed to paint anyway so it all worked out.

time for bed.

what a good day. I got lots of things made. I finally have a pair of heels that I really like...after three tries. good. tomorrow I start painting. I added fake fur on the edges so I can glaze it apple green. the body of the heels will be zebra striped. and the daffodil yellow of course with bright red tulips. the spring collection will be wonderful!

it has been such a wonderful day. so warm and breezy...and I got so much done. the pond is now much cleaner which will thrill the fish and frogs. the dogs loved it. Leo jumped in over and over. her really likes the water. my son Ben came down and added one more dog to the mix. Ben and I went to our favorite chinese restaurant and relaxed. got back and sat on the deck in the moonlight, listened to the spring peepers and had a drink. what a good life we have!

spring cleaning!

it is beautiful today! the puppies and I took our coffee over to the neighbors this morning for a bit. I shouldn't have let them have that second cup! we cleaned up the chopped up tree mess up on the hill and made brush piles. we just had lunch and now I think it is time to clean out the fishpond. the frogs will be here soon and I want to get it cleaned up before they arrive. I don't want to remove any frog egg masses by mistake. right now there are more leaves than fish and frogs put together. I am loving this warm day!

back later with some pictures.

spring is here I think!

today I made more beach people but I also made these high heels. I love them and the response I am getting is that my clients do too. fun fun fun.

the weather was wonderful today, so warm and sunny part of the day. it didn't matter, it was warm! I walked the dogs late this afternoon and wore them out. leo couldn't even keep his ehad up, jack is down for the count. annie loved it and so did I.

I am having so much fun working on this cabana scene. today was a good day, Leah was back to work and we had fun catching up. as always, I have so many ideas and I am trying to put them all together!

the weather man says that it will warm up later this week. I sure hope so! warm or cold the pups are having a blast.

I have started on the cabana piece for the gallery showing! I found an old magazine article that had a picture of the original Tichenor one. that really helps. fun!

back home!

I brought a new little sweetheart home today. Leo the puppy is staying with us till we can find him a home. jack and I have fallen in love with him already...annie is not so convinced though she is doing better. she is cranky on a good day. Leo is so adorable. he is so soft and well behaved. he and jack just wrestle and run and enjoy themselves so much. I'm curious to see how tonight goes.

I got my mail today from my sweet neighbors who collected it while I was gone. lots of interesting mail...including an invitation to do the chocolate show in Paris! wow. now wouldn't that be something. it would be incredible but who would watch my puppies???

visit to the dunes

my goodness it is time to write in my blog. I went to Louisville last Thursday and bought a new macbook. I have been busy ever since, learning how to use it. it is fantastic. there is a lot to learn though.

I made a trip up here to visit Brandt and Allyson at the Dunes. we are having a wonderful visit. I even walked all four dogs at once! Allyson and I have had really good marketing talks. she is one smart cookie. I have learned a lot and now I am ready to go home and out it all in practice.
I can't believe how much Zia has grown. she is one sturdy little pup. she and jack have had a ball. and Indigo has stuck to me like glue. he has been my special pal. I am so blessed to have such wonderful grand pups! and kids, too...

the wind is howling. it is really fierce up here, lake effect and all. it has been so cozy all holed up here in their wonderful lake home. what a beautiful place to live. and I am so lucky I get to visit!

3D stilettoes!

good thing I relaxed last night...today I have been bu-sy as a bee. Requests have been coming in from my clients for a 3D stiletto ever since I started making the ornament style. coming up with pattern is not an easy thing for a shoe like this! It has had me preoccupied for several weeks. I decided to day I was going to make one or know the reason why! and I did. I surrounded myself with shoes, real one, photographs...the mood had to be right so I could figure it out. I have also been asked to make St Paddy's Day shoes and so forth...this is so much fun!

Peace

Late at night, all is quiet. another good day and it is time to sleep. I am listening to a really pretty song. nice. I started on my spring collection today! It is time. it has been warm but I hear cold weather is coming back. not good but it will warm up for good pretty soon.

I took dinner to a friend today. she has her plate full of so much stress. it was the only thing I could do to help really...the meatloaf is delicious and the brownies divine. I am blessed with my career and my simple rewarding life. My children and happy, productive adults who love and take care of me. and my dogs love me. what else can a woman want or need besides warm weather and a sunny day?

Another good day on Rabbitville Road. I worked I made things, I got my hair cut and walked the dogs. that is about it and that is enough. I have enjoyed my peacefulness today...

Labradoodle looking for a home...

A friend of mine is looking for a home for this beautiful dog. if you are interested, just let me know! He lives in Hope, Indiana.

Here is what he wrote me:

The dog is a Labradoodle.F1B that we got at Coyote Creek Kennels near Indy. His name is Leo, short for Leonardo. He is about 6 months old and 36+ lbs. and as you can see from the photo, all black. He is crate and house trained, walks well on a lead, is microchipped and up-to-date on all shots. We have his ancestry info as well. We paid $425 for him but would take much less if we could find a good home with other dogs for him to play with. There is also a large cage available.

sunday in february

Okay, get with the program rita!

I finally fixed my mailbox today. I had a time of it, broke two brand new drill bits but I got it to work. I used a hook I bought in New Mexico and put it on upside down. I think it will work just fine.

the pups and I took a nice long walk at the Park again today. it was cold but we enjoyed it. I fixed this mail box and then set about cleaning the office. people have been wonderful about saving me boxes lately and I needed to organize them. ta da! it has been a good weekend.

Valentine's Day on Rabbitville Road

this has been a good day. I cleaned, did laundry, played with the dogs (I found 5 tennis balls under the furniture!) and went to Bloomington to look at Mac books. sigh. I spent an hour and a half in Hobby Lobby looking at the spring stuff and scrapbook papers for backgrounds. I had fun. a bright young lady in Best Buys gave me a lot of information about apple computers. it was so helpful! now I just have to think about it.

Back home and the dogs were sure happy to see me. Jack has been loving on me non-stop. he is such a good dog...

signs of life!

yes! signs of life! my spring bulbs are peeking through the dirt. hints of beautiful flowers to come. time for me to plan my spring shows, and start creating my spring collection. flowers! what can be better...well maybe some sunshine. still, it is still dry and no snow on the ground. I am thankful for that.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! okay, a bit early but better early than not at all. I have been having a good week, visiting friends, opening valentines, and wonderful packages from japan filled with beautiful cards and delicious cookies. yum-my. I spent Wednesday with Fumi san and Dorine, listening to them talk about quilts. Ben and I picked up clay and he bought me a fantastic steak dinner at Texas roadhouse. my son is wonderful! Neighbor girl Kelcey stayed with me last night since her little brother had surgery. he is fine and we had fun. What an interesting little girl, very well travelled. I have started walking at the Park again. Sunday I heard Sand hill cranes and Tuesday I saw a 3 foot black snake. spring is definitely on it's way. walking lifts my spirits and tones my legs at the same time...what a deal! winter weight is gone and now for definition...

Valentine Show in Shelbyville big success!

Hello! the "hearts, chocolate, diamonds and ritas show" in Shelbyville was a great success and FUN! my friends kept telling me how happy they were that Nancy and I gave them an occasion and reason to get out of the house and do something different. the weather was perfect, the chocolate divine and conversation lively. the jewelry and bunnies were happily matched. I had so much fun!!!! Each guest visiting received the little party favor shown in the picture on the right...a ritabunny magnet made especially to hold upcoming show invitations. Thanks to everyone who came and see you at the spring show!

this has been a long, long day. I am going to Shelbyville, IN tomorrow for a new kind of show...a"hearts, chocolate, diamonds and ritas" reception at Sanders Jewelry Store downtown. I am very excited, it is new and different. Nancy and Doug Seeman are such wonderful friends and very kind to carry my work at their store. this reception will kick off a wonderful new opportunity for me. my good friend Fumi san is back in town so I will get to visit with her, too!

so, I have been getting everything ready. and I am tired. Jack is ready for bed so I had better get some sleep. tomorrow will be an exciting day!

more snow?

you have got to be kidding me...more snow? oh no! but I keep telling myself that spring will come we are moving towards it and this snow will melt. someday. eventually. sigh. If you want to see some pictures of the snow on Rabbitville Road, click on this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213191&l=d3e64&id=726960721

meanwhile I am working and making some really fun pieces for Valentine's day! I am so excited about sharing them with my Shelbyville friends this weekend. and I will get to go.

February is here at last...that means march is just around the corner and spring will get here soon. it better, everyone I know is about to bust! I took the dogs for a walk today at the park. they loved it and about broke my arms off again. that jack is strong. I have been doing housework and getting ready for my show next Saturday at Sanders Jewelry Store in Shelbyville, IN. Nancy and I are calling it "hearts, chocolate, diamonds and ritas!" it will be fun. here is a picture of one of the pieces.

Winter on Rabbitville Road

january is a time of enough. it is quiet, insulated with snow, warm with a fire, it is enough. after a busy, hectic, no sleep and constant barage of orders, and happy new clients holiday season, it is peaceful to enjoy the quiet of my house and it's sledding hill. my dogs are alternately eager to go outside and come back in. their barks reassure me. like my fish, deep beneath the ice, I am safe, warm and content. I have lived 55 years and I know spring will come again. it is enough.

today was good, despite being snowed in. I fixed a pot roast for lunch and it was so good. I went sledding with Kelcey in the afternoon and we wore ourselves out climbing back up the hill. back inside we had hot chocolate and watched the dvd from the New York Chocolate Show fashion show. she loved it! fun.

back to work tomorrow...

see what I mean? fun! and if you have the bunnies that spell NOEL...all you need are the heart and V bunnies to bring them to this holiday.

okay now this is ridiculous!!! some snow yes but c'mon! and ice...and my satellite dish is snow covered so I can't even watch the pictures of other people's misery and compare it to my own. sigh...

but it is giving me time to catch up on the web page. new pictures! new hearts and flowers! new snow? no please!

first big snow!

oh my goodness we had SNOW over night! altogether 5 inches or so. it is really beautiful but really puts the whammy on my valentine party in Louisville on Thursday! that is if we get the ice on top of it they are calling for. oh well. I will just have to wait and see.

meanwhile, I am painting away, just in case. fun new stuff...pictures in a bit!

the catalog picture!

I woke up this morning to sunshine and a spring bird call! it is warm but windy here and that bird filled my soul with happiness...and hope. I took a break late morning and stepped outside to take my dogs for a brief walk in the valley below my house. I have a row of deciduous holly plants near the door to the studio and they were covered in bluebirds! it was amazing. I walked, the dogs ran and back for lunch and more work.

this is a picture of the page in that catalog I was talking about yesterday. I am so excited! but all that aside, I have to go do some clay work. hearts and flowers are waiting on me...nothing like the ones we give ourselves, right?

it is good here on Rabbitville Road.

good news on a cold winter's day

I have been working on the newsletter all day. I can't wait to get back to the clay table. The upcoming hearts and chocolate and ritas parties are going to be so much fun. I have other exciting things going on as well. I have been asked to participate in the Women in Clay gallery showing at the American Art Clay Co Gallery of Contemporary Ceramics in March! The exhibit opens March 20th so I must get after it. It features the work of women artists that use AMACO products in their work. they didn't hold this exhibition last year but the year before they used a photo of my piece, "the Picnic" as the cover for their invitation. I have been trying to decide what I will make for this year's showing and I am leaning towards a Cabana beach scene, like I used to do for Tichenor's years ago. I think I would enjoy revisiting that.
and the second bit of news from that company...every year they publish a new catalog of their products. I have been using their clay and glazes for 4o years. they feature photographs of different artist's work throughout the catalog and I have always enjoyed looking at the work of the various artists. GUESS WHAT!!!! I got the call last week..this year MY work is featured in the catalog with a brief description of the piece. I am so thrilled and can't wait to see it...the catalog they tell me, is on it's way to my house.
btw, this is a picture of one of my valentine zebras in the process of drying!

This has been a most wonderful day. I spent the whole day watching the inauguration. it was so inspiring and I enjoyed it so much! Leah, my helper had not seen an inauguration before, so she was fascinated and felt really hopeful also. I am happy for our country and the world!

I made Valentine animals all day. zebras, giraffes, bunnies..so much fun. and then some chocolate bunnies! I am getting excited about my hearts and chocolate and rita parties!

Happy Inauguration Day!!!!

home improvement update.

and I entirely forgot to post this picture of my tiles. I am so pleased with how they look!

hearts and flowers and ritas of course!

oh dear, time has slipped away from me again. I have been working on that bathroom and have it all grouted now. I am going to clean off the excess grout here in a bit.

I am working on valentine's bunnies. and you know how I LOVE chocolate...I am going to have little chocolate shows here and there and it will be so much fun to show off my newest ritas! I never have shows this time of year so this is a treat. and speaking of treats, I will have just that! chocolates, cake, desserts, hearts and flowers and my red and pink collection. in japan, ladies give each other valentine presents more than it being just a romantic thing. men do give their women a gift though. I say, is is a time for fun, desserts and treating ourselves to something that will brighten an otherwise dreary month. yea! I have scheduled one chocolate extravaganza in Louisville, Jan 29th and one on Feb 7th in Shelbyville, IN at Sanders Jewelry Store. now that IS a perfect situation...throw in some diamonds! perfecto!!! more info on my website!!!!

sewing lessons

Tonight I began teaching a sewing class to the young daughter of a friend of mine. this friend has been so good to me and I just couldn't say no when her darling asked me if I would teach her how to use her Christmas present...a brand new sewing machine! I have been sewing since I was wee little. my mother taught me. it is surprising to hear that so many girls want to learn now...I am sure it is a result of the popular show "project runway!" whatever the reason I think it is important that a young lady can make a garment or at least mend one. we were deeply engrossed in our project and the time flew by swiftly, two hours gone in what seemed minutes. I always did get easily lost in fabric.

the sun is out! that makes me happy. the tiles are coming along upstairs and bunnies are shaping up for valentine's day in the studio. the puppies are in and out as usual. all is right with the world...and I am thankful.

winter is the time to work on inside projects, isn't it? I always clean, update and research during January. and today I learned a little more about this blogging business. if you like, you can become a follower of my Rabbitville Road blog. you can become a Rabbitville Reader! just go to the bottom of this list of blog posts and click on the link. it's easy and would be interesting to me to know who is actually reading it. research! I have been having fun with my facebook page, and my send a virtual ritabunny application...the Internet is fun and engaging.

try it!

finally the studio and store are clean and I am back in the clay. and what am I making? nativity sets of course. this summer I am making more than I did this year. and I still have Santas to make too. I am happy about it and not complaining! Morgan and I had a good day. she will be going back to school next week.

I am excited to go back upstairs and start laying out tiles to decide how I am going to do it. I know I am going to have to have some cut but I have several places to get that done. yea!

Okay so now I am really sore. I mortared in the backerboard tonight, screwed it down and taped the joints. My arms hurt. but now I can start laying out the tile and get ready to lay it. I am so excited...

Morgan came to work today and helped dress the shop. she has one more week off from Purdue so she shared some more time with me. We went out to our favorite Chinese place for lunch and planned our summer work schedule. it was a great day.

winter projects

I have a winter project! I am tiling my guest bathroom floor. I am so excited about this, and I am making good progress. I had already torn up the old nasty carpet and the tack strips, so I was ready to get busy on it! I hauled everything out Friday evening, cabinet, toilet, etc. I measured and re-measured to be sure of what I needed. Saturday I went to Lowe's in Bloomington and luckily ran into a fishing friend of mine who now works at Lowe's in the flooring department. He helped me find everything I needed, put it in the cart, and even help load it in my car. Cement backerboard is heavy!

I came back that afternoon and started screwing down the underlayment. And I used about an inch and a half of screws out of that great big box! Sunday morning I started cutting the "Duroc" cement backerboard.Iit was so warm out, almost balmy. By the time I finished piecing and cutting it was 3:30 PM and very cold outside! I was happy to be done with that part of the project. I had picked these lovely terra cotta color tiles out to go with the existing color scheme. at the store I changed my mind and bought a tan color instead..my friend told me I would bring them back. Sure enough the tiles did not work with the colors I had already used. I had absolutely no desire to change everything else and repaint so I took all the heavy boxes of tiles back.

I am so happy with the project so far and can't wait to start putting the tiles down. However, I have to thinset the backerboard in and tape the joints, and let it dry a day before I can get serious about the next step.

Life is good! I dreamed about angels last night. I was going to make them, had to make them, I had made them and they were sitting there. usually two of them together and it made me happy to see them. I am starting back in with the clay today and I can't wait! I miss it and need to work on orders. yes, life is better than good, it is wonderful.

up coming shows and parties!

Back to work! I am seriously working on bookwork and marketing plans. my brain is already racing a mile a minute. You know I am all about chocolate...I am planning valentine and chocolate parties in my major markets. I will be writing a year end wrap up newsletter to be mailed soon with all the details. hearts, chocolate and ritas all go together!