Amabellen

2.8.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:59:00 PST

I'm coming out of hibernation today to tell you about this beach. This beach! My parents walked here the summer they met (almost 42 years ago?). Jeffrey and I walked here the summer we met (almost 14 years ago). It is one of my very favorite places. This is national park land, but because of our history here, it has always felt like this beach belongs to us. To walk on the beach without snow and ice in February is highly unusual. The girls were...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

2.7.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:56:00 PST

Books pile up on my dresser like old friends. Sometimes I stack them up and take a snapshot of what we've been reading before I return them to their shelves and the library.

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

2.6.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:02:00 PST

My mom has a way with centerpieces. She sets a beautiful table - completely crowded with flowers in the heat of summer - or perfectly minimal in the cold gray of February. How does she do it? I'm still her design apprentice.

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

2.5.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:34:00 PST

A walk alone, after dinner, was just what I needed. There is a lot of gray outside right now; but it is still beautiful.

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

2.2.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:10:00 PST

I watched her get out of the car and reach her hands down towards the muddy drive. I was just about to say "Ellen keep your hands up. . ." when I remembered that I had packed the camera in my bag. From snow tunnels to mud puddles in two days?!

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

2.1.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:19:00 PST

Inspired by Jenny's blog again, I've been noticing the catchlights in their eyes all day.

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

1.31.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:06:00 PST

I exhausted myself making them a snow tunnel, which was promptly destroyed. Apparently all the fun was in the demolition!

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

1.30.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:08:00 PST

She is learning how to read. I love to watch and listen as she sounds out new words. What triumph!

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

If You Want to Write

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:01:00 PST

And I do. I have a space now. A little mental space and a physical space. A room of my own. But I've been holding back, tip-toeing around, wondering where to begin and how to determine what exactly I should focus on. Then I came across this book. I admit, at first I felt like it was a bit silly to read a book on writing. I mean, I should just write - not read about writing. But I found this on my shelf. I think it came from my Mom. She...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Snow Day

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:18:00 PST

We've been waiting and waiting for a real storm, and finally today we awoke to some serious snow! It was my favorite kind of snowfall - snow that came silently all night long and took us completely by surprise in the morning. We went out sledding and exploring the world so different now in a deep cloak of white. Enormous flocks of black birds have been feasting on the autumn olive berries around our house. It is such a striking sight to see them lift up...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Making Space

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:25:00 PST

The day before yesterday we spent a couple of hours outside in 50-degree sunshine on our back hill. I rested my head in the carpet of Thyme for the first time in months while Amabel and Ellen played with their gingerbread houses among the moss and pine needles. You might have been wondering what we were planning to do with those lovely candy houses; and, to tell you the truth, I was too. The warm weather inspired me to take them outside. Amabel then decided to...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

A New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:07:00 PST

Looking back on a beautiful year, put into a book once again by Jeffrey, I am filled with gratitude. The past few months, in particular, this blog reflected my overwhelming gratitude for our new home, a place where we are sinking down roots at last. I do believe that my reflections in this space since the very beginning, helped me to affirm what is most important to me and eventually helped us all make the transition to a new chapter of our life. Looking forward, I'm not quite...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Baby Pants

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:18:00 PST

This is Amabel and Ellen's adorable little cousin Julien. We spent some joyful days together while he and my brother and sister-in-law were up visiting from New Orleans for the holidays. Last spring I started to knit Julien a pair of pants, which I thought were going to be a gift for his first birthday in July. Then all the knitting supplies were packed up, a second skein of gray yarn mysteriously disappeared, and the pants were put on hold. When I picked them back up in...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 05:21:00 PST

. . . to all our friends and family and to readers near and far. Warm wishes for a joyous day!

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Weekend Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:56:00 PST

Creating next to the glow of the Christmas tree; Zipping Ellen into her new snow pants; Making a "no - mon" together; Watching them roll in the first snow of the season; Sharing the last of our macintosh apples with the deer.

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Christmas Bells

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:29:00 PST

Three or four years ago, Amabel found a tattered string of bells wound around the branches of a cedar tree next to the front porch of our old house in town. Proud of her discovery, she put the string of tarnished bells on our Christmas tree, where it joined our collection of ornaments. I've seen them every December since then, but the bells took on more significance for me this year. When Amabel pulled them out of the box this weekend, I looked at them more carefully than I had...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Scenes from a Secret Santa

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:06:00 PST

I tiptoed around the house this afternoon while Jeffrey was out with the girls. It seems that we have all been busy this weekend in our respective corners. . .

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

Why Amabellen?

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:49:00 PDT

Why compartmentalize our lives so that art is a thing apart? There is an artistic way to carry out even the simplest task, and there is great fulfillment to be had from finding our way . . . Laurel RobertsonMy daughters - Amabel and Ellen - help to remind me that I am the artist of our daily lives. They inspire me to see beauty in familiar places and to keep telling our family stories. I like to think of my blog posts as little sketches: sharing them here reminds me to see my role...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.

About the Author

noreply@blogger.com (Zane) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:55:00 PDT

I have always loved to write, and I especially love to write about what is dearest to me. When I started this blog after Ellen was born in early 2009, it soon became a wonderful outlet for me as both a mother and a writer. Over time I have also become more intentional with my photography. My husband Jeffrey helps me with the design of the blog and acts as my editor, image consultant, and closest friend. I am also a part-time freelance writer and editor, working for...

- Please click on the title of this post for the complete post and accompanying photographs at Amabellen.