Short Post from Beech Hill

We have sad news from Beech Hill. Our beloved 15 year young dog Bailey died on Saturday night. It has been a really rough week.

Ciao

Beech Hill in the Spring

We have given our home and company the name of Beech Hill. We brought the name with us from Ridgeville, South Carolina, when we were the only inhabitants of Beech Hill. In South Carolina my husband created a beautiful landscape that was graced with gorgeous southern oaks.

When my husband was tasked with finding our home in the Northwest he found a home that had a beautiful huge white oak. We have been told it was a council tree and that it is about 200 years old. Sharing the property with this magnificent tree has helped us to bridge the divide between the Southeast  and the Northwest.

I have taken a few pictures of Beech Hill as spring is budding.

 

 

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Another way to look at color

There have been many theories about color and how it relates to our moods, psychology and reactions.

Our minister during a sermon titled “Are my wants Crowding out my needs?” spoke about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Here is the explanation:

Color can be looked at as a way to identify where you are on your spiritual path. It is simply another way to analyze ourselves.

Ciao

 

 

Exercise #3 What Colors resonate with you?

Color, some people are afraid of color on the wall in their home and others are all for color, color,  color!

I have written about Life Style, how to get clear about the lifestyle you would like. Color is one of the elements that helps to denote a lifestyle. If I say ” I want a home that makes me feel like I am in the Bahamas every day”, then my home will be filled with the happy colors of the Bahamas. If I say ” I love the sophisticated life style of  New York City” then my home will be filled with neutrals, simple bold patterns and large expanses of similar materials.

The central core of a lifestyle is you. Color is part of your “Kit of Parts” to create your lifestyle. Here are some questions to ask yourself to assist you in making these decisions. What colors do you look great wearing? What color is going to be a wonderful back drop for you? Look at your wardrobe, pick out the items you wear most. Look in the mirror do you look great in the color? Most likely the answer is “Yes”. We do gravitate to colors that compliment our coloring.

Side note: If you are a striking grey haired vibrant woman with sparkly blue eyes, you probably do not want to be in a home that is golds, yellows, and browns.

Color is a huge element of the canvas we are calling “Life Style”. Look at the magazine cut outs that you did in Exercise #1. What are the colors? You may have a few preferences, then go to your wardrobe and match up your clothes to the colors. The predominate colors are what will work well for you, use that to develop your color scheme.

There are other elements to consider, some of them are: amount of light coming into the space, what you want the space to feel like, what is the use of the space? These are a few of the questions a good designer will be asking.

Another approach is to look at nature. Enjoy the inspiration photo’s I have included by Jim Ewing.

Beauty above me, beauty below me, beauty all around me

Spring is just that way, beauty above me, beauty below me , beauty all around me. I learned this saying from a wonderful spiritual teacher Esther Kennedy. This was taught to us in a song with a drum beating. Very enriching experience.What I loved most was that it was a group of women dancing to these words and the drumming all in a circle.

The circle itself is so beautiful, with no top or bottom just the equality of the circle. The drumming and the voices chanting in unison,  bringing together our spirits in the form of song.

More beauty, to be women, the beauty of our faces, our bodies and demeanor.The beauty of our souls, voices and our intentions. We are the ultimate creators, the creators of life.

Today I am celebrating mother earth and her creation of all the beauty above, below and all around me.

Ciao, Bella

My Mother

My mother loved beautiful things. She also loved items of historical value. Then there were the momentos of family trips and of relatives she loved so dearly.  As my brothers and I have been shifting through all of these things I realize how much my mother loved beautiful things. 

Here are a few of the items she held dear: