What are we if we don’t have dreams?

One of my dreams is my mosaic art: to have a lively mosaic business in the midst of my perennial garden.  I want a little rustic workshop to house my workbench and tools.  It needs to have a wood stove in it to keep me warm in winter, and of course for effect!  I want to make special mosaic works-of-art for special people.  Walking daily through my garden, with the butterflies and birds, surrounded by sun and bloom, imagining the next project is my dream. 

If I can dream it, I can do it.

I have a stack of broken and chipped dishes to cut up this morning.  It is ironically beautiful to me that something broken represents something whole.  That something thrown away is waiting to be turned into something that someone wants to buy.  I think that very aspect of mosaic art is one of the things that so much appeals to me.

After careful cutting and breaking, I have jars of tesserae just waiting to be placed on a base. 

My one concern these days is that I don’t become overwhelmed with all that I am doing.  With more than one interest brewing — more than one pot to stir — it is easy to give each one only a little attention and end up with mediocrity.

Mediocrity is not what I want.

Chasing after one’s dreams seems on the surface to be without schedule, without bounds, without thought.  To the contrary, I believe dreams coming to fruition is the result of faithful, careful tending.  Like navigating a ship across the sea:  steering, watching, setting a course, staying out of shallow waters, avoiding all that would sink you.  In other words, scheduling, respecting boundaries, and constantly thinking. 

Here’s to dreams…

I had taken them down for awhile, but I have put my felt pages back up.  We’ll see how this goes for me.  I have requested at work to go from a 5-day to a 4-day week.  I really need more time at home.  I hope this will work out for me.

Anyway, the felt pages advertise the felt sets that I make.  It’s fun to have something to work on inside when the weather is cold outside. 

My desk is a cozy little spot.  In the window you can see the bowl full of bread crumbs and seeds (brought home from the bread slicer at work) to feed the birds.  I love to watch the birds while I work.  I love to see the sun come fully up as I sit here in the morning with my coffee.

I have started on some starter sets.  I want to make up more go-along sets for “rowers” as well.

I realized this morning that I misspoke miswrote yesterday about the time period represented at this craft show tomorrow.  It is mid- to late-1800s.  Just so you know.  I had said colonial.

I realize I’ll be somewhat rebellious in my choice of costume by wearing flip-flops and short sleeves, but I’ll pretend I’m out on my own farm and have traded some farm implement for some exotic shoes from some stranger passing through. 

We are not required to dress in period clothes.  The docents there are, but not the sellers, so we are jazzing things up a bit at our booth by dressing up at all.

I do think that the “bonnet” is cute.

I hope to make a ton of money tomorrow!

At least that’s what my mother used to say to us kids.  

Anyway, I have some gourds to do something with!  We had quite a harvest year before last, and then a few more last year.  They are all dry and ready to craft with. 

I just love the colors in them.  The one with a lot of white is one from last year.  It just needs to be cleaned off, and I think there’ll be some pretty coloring underneath the white. 

I am hoping to make some bird feeders and some birdhouses in time for the craft shows this spring and summer.  I’ll be sure to put pictures up when we have them done.