connections

come on in and have a cup of tea with me. 

I like my tea in mugs.

when the Lifeguard asks me  

" Why do you waste your time blogging? " 

or when he says  

"Blogging again? you have too much time on your hands"

it hurts a bit

because what he thinks about me matters

and because when he asks the question and

makes his remarks about how" bloggers have no lives"

(his words ...not mine)

it makes me question my actions

it makes me wonder why

why am I blogging

it wasn't so long ago that I thought blogging was a waste of time

I had a few friends who blogged and they always seemed to be writing about their blogs

or taking photos for their blogs

or tweeting about blogging and blogging about tweeting

makes anyone with any common sense say

why?

I'll tell you why

connections

yes

Connections

I have met some amazing women in this past year.
I love the link up parties and the challenges and the swaps.

I love giveaways and I had the best time hosting my own

 giveaway earlier this month.

The photos in this post are of a mug from a friend I would have never met if

I had not started blogging

Elizabeth   is an artist and  her art on the mug.

a mug that I won in her giveaway last summer.

(thank you again Elizabeth...I use it every day )

and I am always reminded to:

The mug says it all

the postcard is from Elizabeth too.

I love it

I received it as a part of a postcard swap hosted by another friend, Beth

I am so proud of both Elizabeth and Beth.

They have had huge success this past year.

I am so happy to have been able to watch them grow.

So here I am

a

 part of this huge community of bloggers

each of them bringing their own beauty to the party

I love that

and

I guess

 I just want to be a part of something big..

....by doing something small.

( I stole that line from my daughter...love her )

the blogging community is huge and I just want to be a part of it

I am not pursuing a career in art

I am not promoting a business

I just want to be a part of this wonderful artist community

as a

a cheerleader

perhaps

an inspiration

and

always

a friend

xo

                                  

Please come back next Tuesday and we'll sit down to another cup of tea. 

I'll introduce you to more friends I have met.

  

 I am linking to Art in Red Wagons' "Tea on Tuesdays"
go see who else is having tea this morning
now I need to go tweet about this blog post and add to to fb too

susie asked.....

Did you do any ceilings?
well...yes I did.

This was a "skylight " painted in the same house as the window in my last post.

And these were done in a basement playroom for a family in Monroeville, PA

Looking back on these old photos really brings back memories.   I did a few more ceilings too...but I'll save those for another day. 
It's spring and those weeds are already starting to grow...

see you soon
Marianne

Spring Fever at RuffHaven

I've been raking the twigs and stones and stuff out of the yard all weekend.

Spring Fever has set in and if I want
 to continue blogging I must move my computer to the sunroom. 

As I go through old photos (before digital) I occasionally come upon a few I'd like to share.

 Here's a faux window from my mural painting days in the '80s. 

This was done for a wonderful family in Pittsburgh in 1987.

Painting murals and decorative gifts was how I supported myself and

 my two children after my divorce.

Well this, and the help of child support too.

My ex was a good father.

Hope you are enjoying your first evening of Spring.

see you soon,

Marianne

by the light of the beautiful moon

Will you be watching the moonrise tonight?


We don't howl at the moon here at RuffHaven. But we do celebrate its beauty.

Reel Around the Sun

Happy St.Patricks Day !