Thursday, April 26, 2012

Rose Gardens & Tallulah...

First of all, Tallulah ~ Woo ~ and I want to thank everyone for all their well-wishes...she is feeling better today, purring in the middle of my bed with her favorite wet food just a few inches away. Major surgery just seems so much more major when the patient is only 5 pounds! When I pet her, she stretches and curls her little toes, then rolls over as if to say "See my boo-boo? I don't even remember how I got it!"...;^) ~ Woo is definitely on the mend... Leo and Cyrus (both neutered as kittens) are rejoicing at the quiet!

Photobucket

An Eden Rose...also known as the Pierre de Ronsard Rose (photo from the German garden site Baumschule Horstmann)...
I want one!...Doubt if I find any in this neck of the woods, though, so I will be looking online for growers...
SO beautiful...big cabbagey blooms that start with a little green...I think they are just magnificent! makes me want to do a BIG luscious watercolor of one! (Or many!)

♥    ♥    ♥    ♥    ♥    ♥    ♥

My post today isn't really about roses, though.

A sweet commenter mentioned my attention to detail in the work on my little gourd "Fairy House", and it got me to thinking...

I started my blog back to inspire myself, really.

To be able to look and see things I have accomplished, when I don't feel I have accomplished much at all. That, and as a place to tell stories that I think my (grown) children might enjoy, that I've just neglected to mention ~ forgotten in the whole busy-ness of life when they were small ~ or perhaps told one, if something reminded me, and not the others. So many things come to mind, I've found, when one gets a little older...
just saying...;^)
I wanted a place that could be about art, animals, gardening, life ~ a little about family but not enough to encroach on their privacy. A "Happy Place" if you will. I choose the subject matter; drama free.

(I do check Facebook almost daily,  but I've found it is so easy to get caught up in the drama of others...though not usually in my closest circle of friends, it's still there.) So, I will usually only post about life's "ups" instead of "downs"...we all have them. This once, though, I wanted to tell about myself and maybe inspire, or encourage someone else.

I used to be SO picky ~ OCD-picky ~ about my artwork (and other things) that if it wasn't perfect...perfect...if one little thing went awry...I would either give up on it; start over (with often the same thing happening again) or just throw it away in disgust.

I never got much art done, needless to say.

Remember that song "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"...?

In 1999, I got breast cancer. It was bad. Invasive ductal carcinoma; double mastectomies, (a reconstruction disaster), 6 months of agressive chemotherapy.

I wasn't afraid, but I was disappointed...Shoot...I'll never get to open that little shop... (the next year my oldest daughter Mandy opened her own retail shop, and I occasionally helped her ~ that got "shop owner" out of my system really fast!)

Then, to my amazement, I didn't die. God is great, and chemo ~ in this case ~ really did its job.

And you know what else?

I wasn't so picky anymore.

I could create something...paint something, and it didn't have to be perfect...

I found that things ~ anything, not just art ~ didn't have to be perfect to be excellent...

and that with many things (like housework), "good enough" is plenty good enough.

I wish I had learned this lesson a long time ago (without the cancer).

I still need motivation, though, and I'm finding that in blogging. If I say I'm going to do something on here, I will do it. (Maybe not the next day or three, but I will...)

Thank you for "listening" to all that.

I'm going to go (carefully) snuggle Woo.

Happy Friday!


♥ ♥ ♥

Anne

19 comments:

  1. It sounds like you have come a long way baby. And a good way at that. I wrote today that struggles make you stronger - and you seem strong - hear you roar!
    I'm glad you made it through all that.

    I am glad kitty is okay too.

    Love, sandie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anne: Thanks for sharing that with all of us. Why would someone just putting a few words out there make it easier for everyone else to put some out there. I don't know, but it seems to, so thank you for doing that. I haven't disclosed all my little aches and pains yet, but I will one of these days. I'm so glad that Woo is doing better, and glad that you told us her nickname, because Tulluah (I bet I spelled that wrong now) is hard to spell so I like Woo better.,That rose is beautiful..Happy Thursday..Judy










    why wo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for you. Thank you for sharing with us and reminding us just how precious life is. So happy about Woo enjoying being queen of your bed! That's a good sign!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, what a moving story, Anne! You say it all so well. God bless you!
    I'm glad sweet Woo is lounging about on the bed. She is one beloved kitty, isn't she?
    I really hear your courage here. I feel sure we all feel very encouraged as a result.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, Anne! Thank you so much for sharing with us! I admire and respect you so much for the the beauty you continue to share with us! God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anne, Thank you for a beautiful post. I think blogging IS about sharing who we really are- what our hearts are feeling...and sometimes the pain we are in.

    I used to be a perfectionist, too. You have no idea. I drove myself crazy wanting everything perfect. I found it prevented me from doing a lot of what I would have really liked to do.

    We lost a granddaughter 5, no 6 years ago, and all of a sudden my perfect little world came tumbling down around me. It didn't matter if my glasses weren't perfectly lined up on the shelf...it didn't matter that there was one cup left in the sink before I went to bed. I GOT IT! It's too bad it took something life altering for that to happen. So, although I have not had cancer I do GET it. I understand your inner pain...and also your hope for what lies ahead.

    Blessings to you, my sweet friend- xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your photography is beautiful, especially of your little furry friends. Thank you for visiting my blog. Your blog is so colorful and interesting. I can't wait to explore it all when when are back from Samoa and I have a bit more time Thanks for following me!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for your post Anne. I'm feeling a bit 'beset' by life at the moment. Nothing dreadful, just countless calls upon my trust and patience. And feeling that I'm not being as good a person as I should be.
    Reading your post made me think that I just need to concentrate on the good things a bit more.
    Jane xx
    ps. I LOVE that rose

    ReplyDelete
  9. That ghastly disease does make you stop and consider what is important in life. You are absolutely right about learning the lesson without the cancer. Life is a wonderful gift and we should make the most of it, and not stress over silly little things.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sending you Love and Light....Soo inspirationalxxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good Morning Anne..
    I loved reading your post.
    You are a girl that has not let life's trials define you... you have defined your life...awesome!

    Life is too short for 'coulda- woulda-shoulda's'!

    Thank you for being an inspiraton!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ah Anne - your post touches my heart and I am so thankful God didn't take you home in 1999 - I would have missed connecting with someone so special - love your rose - your pics - please give Woo a hug from this cat lover - love pixie

    ReplyDelete
  13. So glad! I miss my kittie - looked just like yours pictured in the header! I just got the Eden rose - my son ordered it through Regan nursery - they delivered bareroot in February and it is doing well!
    Hope you're able to find it!
    Hugs,
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy Friday, Anne!
    What a wonderful, touching post. Your candor is refreshing, and your story told from the heart is soul-inspiring.
    I'm glad I know you now.
    You've helped me recall that perfection drives us crazy. It doesn't really exist anyway, being mostly about how we view what's real. I thank you for that.
    Blessings on you and the newly spayed kitty!
    Rose

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Anne,

    What a great post.

    I was diagnosed with breast cancer too back in 2004 it took a year to go through the tests, chemo, surgery, chemo again, then radiation. Whew! Just telling about makes me tired.

    It does change ones outlook on life and makes you more grateful for the blessings that you have.

    The biggest blessing being that we are still here. Glad that you are. :)

    Give kitty a careful hug for me.
    Take care, Janet W
    http://throughthewoods2.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. So pleased the patient is on the mend. They are so precious to us. Thanks for sharing. Cheers SpecialK XoXo

    ReplyDelete
  17. Such a good lesson and true. God didn't make us perfect, He made us perfectly us. Our fur babies give us so much joy. My kitty is snuggling and purring in my lap as I visit you today. I hope you have a beautiful weekend.

    Danielle

    ReplyDelete

I love your thoughts and comments, and I read each and every one! Sometimes life gets in the way, though, and it takes me a while to respond...Thank you for understanding! ♥...Time is precious, and the time you have taken here is truly appreciated!