all good stuff

i came home from watering and weeding our school garden to find a package waiting for me. really - for the girls eventually - but for now, i am savouring them. (click to enlarge.)





these sweet paintings are by alice dubois. i have never met alice. but i feel connected to her by fate. a painter inspired by rbk, she sent him a picture in gratitude. it arrived in the weeks after his death - and i returned it to alice - telling her how much i thought he would have liked it - and how sorry i was that it arrived too late for him to see.

i have been watching alice ever since. her work often shows the rbk influence and references and i smile when i think how much he would have loved that. when these gems appeared, i couldn't resist.

thank you alice.



on the home front, i found out late in the month, that our modern-shed is shed of the month. check out the pics - and a short interview with me, before the month is over (april where did you go?) over here.

also, i have decided to try chronicling our house-work separately. we will see how it goes. find it at Jumilla Productions in turn i am bringing this space back to its original name - jumilla stories - which seems to fit better than ever. as always - thanks for checking in!

deaccessioning

in my museum-world-circles deaccessioning - "the process of disposing, selling, or trading of objects from a collection" - is often a subject of conversation/debate. especially surrounding estate work. one wants to be sure that a gift to a specific institution is not put up for sale at a later date. clauses are formed and contracts are signed. but there is finite space. museum collections grow - but more often than not, storage and gallery walls, do not. something has to go.

our personal collection - of not just art, but stuff - seems to be at a peak. our walls and storage are full. our mid-century modern-carport-instead-of-garage-and-no-attic-to-speak-of is at capacity. i am trying to deaccession.

i am sentimental. i am sure that is what took me to museum work in the first place.

the kids' stuff is a big issue too. souvenirs that haven't been looked at in years all of a sudden are more precious than life when spotted in the donation box. do you have your kids participate in weeding through their things. or do you do it on the sly?

what is your strategy for letting go?

summer-lovin'

porch-swings




concrete-planters




clothes-lines

rolling along

unplugging

turning off our screens. (work email excluded - sigh.)

see you next week!

home work

2001


today

I have found an old stack of pictures from the first time we walked through the house that has become our home. I can recall looking at them some time ago and thinking I should really put them into an album. Then I thought perhaps I would start up another blog just to document the house. (I even thought up a name.) For now, I am going to try and post more before and after shots here - and document the work that has gone into making this place ours.

p.s. happy unofficial official anniversary cowboy.

my kid

I am watching as my nearly 8 year old walks a line between being a kid and this strange new childhood that surrounds us of high-heeled boots on third graders and reading tigerbeat magazine. she seems to be navigating it more successfully than i am. i revolt at all the "tween" marketing that is thrown our way and contemplate moving to a remote island (you know the one) where these issues might not be so relevant (though perhaps they would be). she seems to take it in stride. picking up a lot from her school friends but choosing wisely where she puts her interests.

she is anxious to see the new hannah montana movie. has a favourite jonas brother. is particular about her footwear but seems to understand that heels are not appropriate at an age when you have so much running around to do.

she spends a lot of time talking to her chicken. is completely into wearing a paper birthday hat at a two year old's party in the park. likes to play that she is a puppy with her sister.

she has found a balance. and i am trying hard to help maintain it.

i love you kid.

happy easter!

campout

Pt. Magu SP (Big Sycamore) :: Leo Carillo SP
one night :: two days
45 minutes from home :: a perfect get-away