paperwhites on the rise!

white outside, white inside

the morning after

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the O'Neils!

Greetings from Lincoln!

Lincoln Christmas

 My drive home from Whole Foods was through historic Concord.  What a lovely day!

On arriving home I was served coffee made a special way ("pour over" after having been hand ground) by Carrie from coffee beans that Tim and Carrie bought for us in Costa Rica on their honeymoon.

 Calley thrilled to have everyone home. Strategically placed in the center of things.

Sisters

Hi All,

Happy Christmas Eve day to all my readers!  I started the day at 8:00 am at the Whole Foods in Bedford, MA getting last minute provisions for the festivities of the next two days.  We will be celebrating Christmas with Carrie and Tim and Eliza today. They will go to Long Island to celebrate Christmas with Tim's family tomorrow after breakfast.  The sad news is that Katie is sick in Connecticut and will not be able to make it here for Christmas.  So these (there will be more!) blog entries are for you, Katie. We will miss you and look forward to a celebration with you next weekend.  Get better soon!   Love to your loyal companion, Gus.  Sending love also to my far away siblings, family and friends near and far.

still blooming

Here is the below mentioned painting hanging at John's place in Fort Lee, NJ. overlooking the George Washington Bridge.  Yes, her travels have brought her home to New Jersey.  No need to water or repot. Forever blooming!

Every painting tells a story.

Now that some of you have seen the book of mom's art in printed form, I  realize that each painting brings forth memories, stories and questions. Some of you have never seen some of the work in the book. I have heard a lot of, "where did that come from?" Or seeing the sunny alcove off my mother's kitchen on a winter day (above) some of her grandchildren will remember having a "tea party" at that small table and chair in the foreground. To the right is a mirror made from a window frame reflecting the inside world just as the window on the left  let's us see out.  (I happen to know that all those window frame mirrors that originally hung in our house in Canada, were bought by mom at Bertha Thayer's farm auction in Mansonville, Quebec.)

The main character in the above piece is "Boug" my mother's pride and joy. She was able to keep this tropical plant healthy and blooming through thirty four long winters. The minute I walked into her
Andover house for a visit, she would direct me to see the blooming bougainvillea resplendent in pink flowers (technically the "flowers" are leaves, my mother instructed, the tiny white flowers are inside) and green leaves on a snowy New England day. She drew and painted this plant often.

Word has it that this plant was a gift  from her fellow members of The Summit Garden Club on the day in April when I was born.  It moved with us from Summit to Brookline, Massachusetts and then to Andover. When mom died my siblings looked at me knowingly. Boug would be going home with me.

That is another story and many of you know her fate. I always thought we were not a good  pair, Boug and I. We both knew who was missing and neither of us could get too excited about life without mom. I did not have my mother's magic touch with plants. Luckily Boug's memory is forever saved on canvas where dust mites and cold, drafty environments won't touch her.

What memories or impressions are stirred for you by these paintings and silk screens? I would love to know.

Snow Scene

As a tribute to the snowy/icy world outside my window,  I give you my mother's painting of the Hemlocks- our summer cottage on Lake Memphremagog.  She and Dad snowshoed in one winter day  to find this lovely scene.

The book of Martha Lamb McLean art work is printed and heading out to destinations around the country (seventeen copies!). Thanks to all for your support and encouragement. I have to say it is amazing to have all (well most of) her work in one volume. As I worked on it I realized Mom never expressed an interest in having a show of her work.  She worked away for the pure pleasure of it as far as I could see and then gave things away. I have a feeling some of her work is hanging on the walls belonging to people we don't even know (her book group friends for instance) or old friends we have lost touch with.

Happy December everyone!

Radiant

"Miracles happen every day. Not just in remote country villages or at holy sites halfway across the globe, but here in our own lives...They are the shooting stars of everyday life. When we see shooting stars, their rarity makes them seem magical but in fact they streak across the sky all the time. We just don't notice them during the day, dazzled as we are by sunlight, and at night they emerge only if we happen to look up at the right place in a clear dark sky...Tune into the presence of miracles and in an instant life can be transformed into a dazzling experience, more wondrous and exciting than we could have even imagined." --Deepak Chopra

We got a tree!

Our friend Richard Nichols was heading up to his place in Sharon, New Hampshire yesterday to cut a tree off his property for the First Parish Church fair next Saturday. At the fair, the tree becomes a "fishing tree" where children use a fishing rod and a hook to fish for wrapped gifts decorating the tree (remember this, carrie and eliza?) At the end of the fair, this lovely tree is auctioned off and one lucky family goes home with a very fresh and fragrant tree.

 David and I joined him on this expedition (providing a tree for the church is sure to earn him a place in heaven we all decided) and we chose a tree for our house as well to throw in the back of the truck. While we were at it, we cut a small tree for our friend and yoga teacher Erin and her partner Chris, making sure we had all bases covered in the spiritual practices department.

Richard cut us a tree last year, too, and we couldn't believe how fresh it stayed, didn't drop any needles and filled the house with the spruce fragrance for weeks. We are really grateful to have this chance to have such a fresh tree. We grabbed some branches (boughs) as well to deck the halls.

It amazes me to think back to my own childhood when I went to bed on Christmas Eve and woke to find a tree had arrived and was fully decorated Christmas morning. The tree was hung with colored lights and ornaments and shimmering silver tinsel. It was pretty magical, adding to the aura of Santa Claus, but now that I think about it, I didn't get the thrill of decorating and it must have been a late night for my parents and older siblings! Any memory of this you guys?

First day of December

 My Massachusetts Audubon Calendar on the kitchen window sill

 My Advent Calendar (I opened the first window today)

My natural calendar

My Sierra Club desk calendar 

Japanese woodcut calendar on upstairs desk

My Gustave Baumann calendar on downstairs wall

Iphone calendar

constant companion

I love all my calendars and over the years I have gathered favorites. The last month of the year means turning the pages of these year long companions for one last time. I've really come to love walking around the house on the first day of the month and turning the page to a new month and a new work of art or photograph.

It's kind of like opening the tiny window of an advent calendar on each day of December but it's only once a month the rest of the year. 

I have come to love the woodcuts of Gustave Baumann (1881-1971) and often go to see his work when in New Mexico. His studio is housed in The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, complete with printing press, jars of pigment, jars of brushes, brayers and his apron on a hook on the wall as if he might return anytime. He believed that art should be available to all and not just for the rich so I know he would have approved of this collection of his artwork in calendar form.

Many people say "rabbit, rabbit" on the first day of the month. I have wondered about that superstition/tradition so below is the history behind it.

Wishing you all good luck for the duration of the month and into the new year!

"Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of a common British superstition which states that a person should say or repeat the word "rabbit" or "rabbits", or say the phrase "white rabbits", or some combination of these elements, out loud upon waking on the first day of the month, because doing so will ensure good luck for the duration of that month. Today, it is a frequent tradition in many English-speaking countries.

Baumann studio