An Emotional Blog Break

Yes, I disappeared for a while. It's difficult for me to exercise emotional intelligence when too much is happening at once. So, I just back off rather than let my emotions get the best of me. My dear friend that I have known since kindergarten lost her husband a few days ago. With great sadness, I turned to my sketch pad to gently put onto paper, the emotions of the loss we all feel. "Life Is A Beautiful Mess" My heart is with you Tracy.  Mi Miguel and I will both miss Harry so very much. Rest in peace my friend.

The emotion of physical pain has not escaped me this past week either. I've been nursing this horrid bruise all week. I had to show it because it's something you'd see on Ellen's talk show. You can see an alien from one perspective and from a different a little girl gasping. I rarely ever bruise but this one is a dandy.  

Our dear friends own a sailboat. I have a tremendous amount of fear with water. I just learned to swim a few years ago, which is remarkable given my age. Getting over this rope line was easy for our friends and for Mi Miguel. But for me, it took an immense amount of courage.

Of course to add insult to injury, it rained. Mi Miguel can weather most any storm as long as it doesn't involve spiders. I on the other hand, was pretty sure the boat would tip over with even the slightest bit of wind. 

I did make it onto the boat. We ate a picnic lunch and never moved the boat away from the dock. Maybe soon I can let go of this fear and allow our friend to lift the anchor and set sail. For now, just getting on board was huge for me. This emotion called fear can be so crippling.

Finding comfort in keeping busy I chose to continue painting the house to keep from thinking about everything. The house was so peach and pumpkin orange that my eyes just couldn't see the orange/red in this door when I so decisively chose it and even convinced Mi Miguel that this is the one. I truly did love the copper color at first.

 However, while scouring over paint chips at our local hardware store. I discovered this beautiful caramel color. Mi Miguel and I bought a gallon. I painted a strip on the garage door.

Another strip was needed for me to get the full effect of the color with the stone.

With just one coat on two strips, I love it so far.

In comparison, this color is much better than the copper. Which means of course...

I need to paint the front door this lovely shade of caramel. After taking this photo, I've gotten started on the front door. But the unseasonably hot and humid day kept me from getting the job done. I've ran my patient husband through the whole gamut of emotions while trying to select just the right color for the exterior of our fixer upper.

With all these colors swirling through my mind, I had to divert my attention to the living room decor. For about five years I've had two "never used" windows with mirrors rather than glass still wearing the store cardboard on their corners. The beach cottage/coastal living look that we are trying to achieve could easily accept the look of the window mirrors. How to make them work became the big dilemma.  

The 80's furniture that we acquired from the previous owner is so comfortable and too cool for a slipcover. With a little bit of paint and...

a few old prints of my beloved poppies, I managed to work the decor to flow with the furniture. There is something about decorating a home that brings out the emotion of joy in me. Joy is that feeling of smiling on the inside.  

Birds, well they make me smile too. Every single species that I come across lifts the corners of my mouth. I'm sure the natives see the ibis as a Midwesterner would see a starling. They are everywhere and probably easy to overlook. But not for me. Nope, I come to a complete stop every time I see one. After a whole year, I'm still amazed that they can jab that curved bill/beak so far into the ground and recover whatever it is they are looking to eat.

While working on my mirrors I felt something mysterious staring at me. It brought out the creepy emotions one gets when you feel something is looming in the background. You can't see it but you know it's there. Enlarge the photo and see if you can find the little green eyed peeper in the leaves.   

After such an emotional roller coaster this week, Mi Miguel and I woke up to find that Hermes had passed away. 

Life is a struggle. Life has it's utter joy in the beauty of birth but such sadness in death. Somehow with our emotions in tow we manage to carry on no matter how much life seems to resist us, especially in our darkest hour. 

With much inner strength we continue to push through those difficult times and insist on moving forward. We are able to carry on, somehow. Somehow.

Mi Miguel and I wish everyone a safe and happy St. Patrick's Day.

March's Fascinating Person will be posted on Monday. Check out my blog on March 21, 2016 and see what makes this caring person so fascinating. 


You can easily view all my blog entries by title on Facebook by searching Florida Warmth and Water Blog

We will be doing our N restaurant next on our list of alphabetical restaurants. You can check out the letters A through M on Facebook by searching Florida restaurants A-Z