Tomorrow, As Promised

Here I am, as I promised in yesterday's post. As you know, for the better part of the last 3 weeks I have been outdoors working on creating a garden.

I have been very up close and personal with the flowers I have been planting.

The purple coneflower,

the little pink roses on the low bushes I planted,

and the dahlias, with their incredible burst of color,  have all affected me.

Looking back on the time I spent picking the fabrics for the third shade, well, there was no way I could of gone with anything but these juicy fabrics from my stash.

The only problem with them, as I could forsee, is that they were a bit too garish in comparison with the two shades that were already up and hanging in the dining room. What to do? What to do?

Gratefully, also in my stash of fabrics, was this antique - or rather just plane old or used, tablecloth. I knew, when I bought the tablecloth for a song, that it had these burn markings on it. The tablecloth must have belonged to a family where just about every family member smoked because there were burn marks everywhere. I had to strategically decide which part I was going to use for the lampshade and cut it out so I would dodge the burn marks.

But it did the trick. It softened the bright colors just enough so that it could hang along side the other shades.

Rather than cover the bright colored fabrics with the tablecloth, which in daylight would give the effect of an all beige lampshade,  it worked better to diffuse the light coming from behind instead.

I held it up to a bare bulbed lamp in the studio first, before cutting, to see which way I liked it more. I really like the way the pattern of the tablecloth comes through as a design element on the colored fabrics in addition to their original design. It almost gives a batik look to the non batik fabrics.

I really like the look of that effect.

No matter which direction I am walking from, I like to see the three shades, colorful as they are, in contrast to all the neutral colors in my home.

Just to have the three shades up, my three little ladies, as I am calling them, makes me happy.

During the day, as these photos were taken, it looks lovely ... and at night? Well, it is absolute magic to have the lanterns glowing from within. I feel like inviting all of you over for a party just to see it.

You could arrive in the late afternoon, check out the flowers in the garden, and then come inside. After a bit of chatter we would move on to the outdoor porch with all it's candles lit. From our position sitting in the porch, as the night darkness took over, we could watch the magic of my indoor lanterns take place. It really is such a sight that you should see it in person.

Well, that ends the posting of the the dining room lighting task. Another check mark on my list.

We still have one more thing to discuss, though, the title of yesterday's post, Instructions Needed, But Not Included.

While my husband and I were working from the little photo of the pergola on his iPhone, we thought about just how much easier the whole project would have been had we had instructions and not just a little, tiny image. We worked through all the problems and hiccups, tackling them, one at a time, as they surfaced. I had to do the same thing with my lampshades as I did not have a template, instructions, or even a beginning light fixture to start from. I had to figure out every part of it - how it would attach to the ceiling, how long the electrical cords would be, even the color of them, then the thingamajig that would be where the light bulb got screwed into also had to double as the apparatus to hold the shade. Then I had to find a factory to make the wire frame to my specifications. They could do the outside ring, but not the part that came in contact with the fixture. I had to find a metal smith, bring him the wire lamshade and the fixture and a schemtaic of what I wanted him to reconstruct on the wire shade. Just like the pergola, I was flying solo as they say, without the backup of instructions. It was a lot of head scratching, but in the end I came up with exactly what I was after, not anyone elses lampshade. While I worked in the garden doing manual labor, I thought about all the steps I had needed to learn along the way to accomplish the pergola and also the shades. The more and more I thought about it all, something began to dawn on me that I want to share with you.

My life, like yours, didn't come with any instructions. I am flying solo. It didn't come with any instructions even though there have been many, MANY, times that I wish it had. People try and give you instructions on how to live ypour life, it is called ADVICE. Advice is nice ... but if all you do is follow someone else's advice and never strike out on your own, working through the hiccups as they surface, all you will end up with is a life similar to the one of whom's advice you followed. It is good to hear advice, ponder it, and debate it in your head, but you must come out with your own solution if you are going to be an original - if that is important to you. Is it important to you to be an original? Will it be important when you are 80 to have spent your life striving for that?

It is to me. I got to thinking, while I was out there sweating my *%# off, heaving the maddock at the solid, ungiving earth, that I like to make and take care of. Let me repeat that.

I like to MAKE and TAKE CARE OF.

These are the two things that fulfill me. The only two. They are my very own set of instructions. If I manage to continue to make and take care of things for the rest of my years, I will reach 80 as a true original. And a happy one at that. Who would have "thunk" it, that the process of making, or taking care of something, fulfills me to the max, and that that would have been discovered while I was digging and digging in the yard? I dug all the way to finding my instruction manual. Money is not a driving force. Power can go to others. I need to continuosly be making things and continuosly be taking care of things. Happiness and bliss is mine to be had.

I am sure you can figure out your instruction manual. If not, go dig in the yard. It worked for me.

I love you all.

Until next time,

Carolina

 

 

Comments

[Elizabeth Mackey]

They look beautiful Carolina! They just work so well there, and the colors meld well with all the beautiful wood and stone.
I wold love to see them in person ;)

You are quite industrious with both projects. I think I can only be that way with my sewing and embroidery, and cooking, but gardening no way.

I totally get what you are saying about not having instructions for your life. The funniest thing I heard and it always holds true is, " We make plans, but god laughs at them." Find what your gift is and embrace it.
Sorry, now I feel like I'm rambling.
Thanks for letting us take a peak at your beautiful home dear :)

[The Muse of The Day]

Here is the deal, Elizabeth: First - get on a plane and come over. Second - you are NEVER rambling, I always want to know what you (and others) are thinking. After all, this is a blog and blogs are supposed to be an exchange of ideas and thoughts. And third - this is about the "finding your gift and embracing it" part. I had, and still have, the hardest time figuring out what my "gift" is. Perhaps when I am 80 I will be able to look back and realize what my "gift" was. The thing about my discovery while digging is that I discovered that I NEED to "make things" and I NEED to "take care of things", both make me feel satisfied. both bring me a feeling of being "right", of the world being "right" when I am doing them. In finding out what I "need", it is easier to see clearly what I DON'T need: money, fame, power, recognition, cushiness, a career, etc. Thanks for reading this post all the way through, it is of great value to me to find out what your reflections are on this topic.
Carolina

[Melissa P]

This reminds me of a Joseph Campbell quote: "If the path before you is clear, you're probably on somebody else's." Maybe we will get to 80 before we realize how it was all woven together. But in the meantime, we keep creating and learning.

I am there in spirit, sharing the beauty you've added to your surroundings. It's wonderful to have the indoors and the outdoors filled with the rewards of your labors.

And the putting the lace on the inside--brilliant!

[Mari]

Nice quote from Melissa! I feel like my three-year-old. I have more to say than I'm able to produce words for. So funny that you imagined us readers coming to your house to admire the shades. When I read your last post I imagined walking to your house through the pergola when the wisteria is blooming. So I was already on my way:)

I'm very much in the process of taking my own path and it is very scary I must tell you. I feel that it really takes courage to do that. I hope I have it.

[The Muse of The Day]

Yes, Mari, courage. You have it, we all do ... Sometimes though we wish that we could see proof of the worthwhile-ness of our efforts before we jump in, that way we would feel justified in all the missteps. Unfortunately, for us, we don't have that kind of vision. You just have to run towards the edge of the cliff and when you fling yourself off the side you will realize that, in fact, there is no drop off to worry about because now you have wings.

Carolina

[Eva]

Beautiful, Carolina. All of it. :-) Love from Helsinki, Eva

[Sheri]

How lovely!

[Alicia Armstrong]

So why are stopping at 80?