Is There Really a Volcano There?
...no

We recently visited the wonderful town of Volcano, California-population 103. The sign said "100", but someone crossed it out and wrote "103"!

St. George Hotel (1862)

Coming into Volcano on Main Street

The Volcano Playhouse (outdoor amphitheater),
was presenting "Our Town", by Thornton Wilder-people brought their food and drink and enjoyed the show-weather was lovely, too. Terrific production of this Pulitzer prize-winning play.

Playhouse

Sunday morning, we visited THE.Best.Bakery.
Kneading Dough Bakery, Jackie Tarchala's place.
Jackie is better-known as 'Nana'.

Here's Nana!

What to choose?

Saturday morning Potato Plate at the Kneading Dough Bakery, 16154 Main Street, Vocano.CA
209-296-GOOD (4663)
www.kneadingdoughbakery.com
Jackie came to Amador County in 1992, bringing her love of cooking, baking, and gourmet foods. In 2011, Jackie started her own business and now sells and shares her goodies from her retail bakery located in the old Jug & Rose building in Volcano.
We sat at one of those beautiful, old metal tables-black and white. I wanted that!
I love good ol' fried potatoes, don't you?
Saturday evening, we bought a picnic lunch there to take to the play. Sunday? Yep, you guessed it! We came back to the bakery and loaded up on Pumpernickel bread, dinner rolls, quiche, chili-cheese souffles, giant peanut butter cookies. YUM!
Thank you Jackie-it was a pleasure to meet you and receive your big smile and partake of good, old-fashioned hospitality. You're proud of your craft, and rightly so.
To top it all off, Jackie is a certified Master Gardener, so there you go! Jackie sets an example for women everywhere to help make their dreams come true and to do what you truly love.
All the best to Jackie and her crew!

Saying goodbye to Volcano...
Be sure to visit this wonderful hospitable town, just three miles off Highway 88, out of Jackson, California, in Amador County.
We give it 5 stars!
We'll be back!

Retreat Recap

Retreat Recap
How was your retreat day?
I heard from lots of people! Most of them wanted to be near the water, or nature. Others were inside, like me. 
Some examples:

• Daughter and son-in-law went to the beach, rolled up their pant legs, and ran and played and rested in the sand
• A young mother went to the marina to sit awhile
• A pastor and his wife were given the gift of a condo near the ocean and walked on the beach together for two hours
• My husband re-created a drawing of a John Deere tractor he started over 60 years ago and did not complete. He finished this one, and painted it green with yellow wheels
• A friend took care of herself by lounging the whole day
• A friend, visiting his ailing father, still managed time outside
• A quilter found time to go through a stack of magazines
• Spending time in her backyard studio, an artist spent time playing
• Remembering a stash of pots of paint, an artist who has a herd of goats painted a string of lights to brighten the outdoors
• Another artist visited an exciting exhibit and enjoyed a class
• Myself? I began a new art journal in preparation for a journal exchange in my SoulCollage© group (pictures below). I was free from meal-making that day, as DH (Dear Husband) took over. Thank you!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Journals

Two years ago, in our SoulCollage© group, we did an art journal exchange and each month, worked in each other's books.

I can tell you, it's a real treat.

Now, we're doing this again, beginning in September.

Here's how my Peace Journal came together:

Front Cover (Norman Rockwell image)

Back Cover (Norman Rockwell image)

Contact Page

Watercolor Botanical Wreath (Title Page)
Greenleaf & Blueberry paints(-see below)
Finetec gold paint

Finetec Gold and Silver  Paints-Germany

Putting mine together to begin the journey is how I spent my retreat day (and the day after):

Blank 9" x 12" Canson Mix Media Journal
This journal accepts most media, including light washes
IT ALL STARTED HERE!

Paints: Greenleaf and Blueberry, Etsy(wreath)

(In an Altoids tin, can you believe it?)

1 page of a 2-page spread: Peace Bird
Daniel Smith artist-grade acrylic paint, FW Acrylic Artist's Ink (white), Finetec Gold Paint

Spirit Peace Boat
Materials: Coffee-painted tracing paper. Finetec Gold Paint, brown embroidery thread,
Daniel Smith paints, white colored pencil

Finished 2-page spread: "Bringing Peace To The World"

What a time I had!

This took 2 days-not only was it fun, I worked at my art table and watched English mysteries (Netflix) on my computer. 

I was a happy lady.

And, I LOVE my new book.

Doing what you love is always a good time, isn't it?

The artists who inspired me for this work:

Geninne Zlatkis-Peace Bird

Lindsey Bugbee-Calligraphy, botanical wreath

Norman Rockwell-Images, front and back covers

Jennifer Ewing-Spirit Boat

I hope you do the things you love!

Thanks for stopping by.

This film says it all. It is a retreat in itself.

Wrapping It Up

The Great Retreat begins tomorrow, August 15th.

May you all have a wonderful time.

All the details are below.

Just have a good time, whether you are going somewhere...or not.

Whether you are doing something...or not.

CELEBRATION CALL: Wed., Aug. 19th, 6-7 pm PST

Call-in number: 712-432-1699   Code: 356291#

This call is to celebrate your own special retreat experience, to share with others. We ask that you keep your comments fairly brief, so that all may speak. Be sure and join us.

* If you cannot take retreat on Saturday, please choose another date and join in on the call anyway, for your motivation.

* On the call, I'll give you additional tips on how to continue and develop your continuing retreat and self-care practice.

Special Thanks:

Marty Marsh: www,martymarsh.com For promoting the retreat to his communities in the U.S. and beyond

Anne Berit Olsvik: For promoting the retreat to her Facebook community in Norway

Raine Boyd: www.limetreefruits.com/freebies For gifting us with free pages to print such as Self-Care, Self-Care List and Gratitude Cards, all beautifully hand-designed.

Have a great time, everyone! Enjoy, and spread the word!

* Be sure to leave your comments here-send me a smoke signal!

"Almost everything will work agin if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you".    ___Anne Lamott, quoted in Salon, 4/10/15

Gifts For Your Retreat Day

Gifts
Woo Hoo! You are in luck! The most generous Raine Boyd of Lime Tree Fruits planner pages has kindly offered some pages for you to print just for your self-care efforts and your special retreat day!
Simply go to: www.limetreefruits.com/freebies

Some pages of interest:

Self-Care

Self-Care List

Gratitude Cards

All pages are designed, drawn and watercolor painted by Raine herself.
I do subscribe to Raine's planner pages and they are wonderful and fun-to-use. 
She mentioned that anything that's a freebie there is yours to use.
Have fun!
Thank you, Raine

My Retreat Day

Peacock-colored pencils, markers
Teacher: Paivi Erola, Finland

Thinking about what I want to do on my retreat day has been fun. I like that part.
My husband is on retreat that day, too.
It will be all day Saturday and maybe even run into Sunday, who knows?
The picture above is my Treasure Box, where I store really special pieces of art I have created during various online classes. This piece is called Peacock and I love it.
It decorates the lid of the box as suggested by my teacher, Paivi Erola in Finland.

The treasures inside represent quite a few women that I have learned from:
Paivi Erola-Inspirational Drawing  www.peonyandparakeet.com
Carla Sonheim-Year of the Fairy Tale www.carlasonheim.com
Tamara LaPorte-LifeBook 2014 www.willowing.org
Kate Thompson-LifeBook 2014 www.fracturedangelics.com
Joanne Sharpe-several classes www.joannezsharpe.com
Martha Lever-Calligra-Fun  www.marthalever.typepad.com
Lindsey Bugbee-The Postman's Knock www.thepostmansknock.com
Valerie Sjodin- Embellished Edges www.visualblessings.blogspot.com
Mary Ann Moss-inspiration, sketchbooks on her blog www.dispatchfromla.typepad.com

So- what I plan to do (for one thing) is this: I'll bring out this lovely box and go through the various art pieces and reflect on what I have learned and how far I have come with my work(s). I want to honor these women and their work, too.
After I've done that, I plan to write a poem for them, and send it to each one. I don't think I've ever thanked them enough. Now, I will.

"Sacred Eye"-Teacher: Tamara La Porte
This was in a book that belonged to someone else-I was in a sketchbook exchange.

"Christophe"-Teacher: Tamara LaPorte

"Sacred Eye"-Teacher: Tamara La Porte

Charcoal Girl-Teacher: Kate Thompson

These are some of the special pieces I store in the box.
I adore Christophe, the stag. It took some erasing to get those eyes right, but when I did, oh, boy! I fell in love and named him Christophe. I will paint a wife for him, one day.

When I drew the charcoal girl and journaled in her hair, I was bowled over that I could even do it.
I sat down to take the lesson and 30 minutes later, there she was! I wrote to Kate Thompson and told her about my amazement. She told me, "I have been there, many times. This is what we do".
There are lots more pieces in that box, but these above are in my heart, big-time.
Honoring these women seems fitting, to me.
I'll take time to spread the work out, light my candles, play some soft music and just think back on these experiences, doing things I never knew I could do.
Then: the poetry.As for the rest of the day, we'll see how it unfolds!!
Thanks for stopping by.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING ON YOUR SPECIAL DAY?
Send me a smoke signal!

The One Where It's Messy

Only 10  more days until The Great Retreat launches!
Here are some pictures of the mess on my desk, in preparation.

This helps! It's what I see from my studio window. Deer wave at me, sometimes! That's a retreat in itself, especially when they are leaping as they go. Keeping them company are wild turkeys.
When they're gobbling at 5:30 am? Not. So. Much.

New Retreat Participants (and blog readers)

I created these last week at my SoulCollage© workshop.
...and to think they started life as vases!
I have found my calling, making Vase Girls!
Thanks for stopping by.

What People Are Saying: "Where would you go for a retreat"?

Brian: Lounge chair-must come with a beach and a cooler

Kimi-Hiking

Elke-No plan-see what develops that day

Marty- A hike in a nearby state park or to the woods(the one with ferns)

In his book, The Art of Stillness-Adventures In Going Nowhere, author and speaker Pico Iyer comments:

"In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still. You can go on vacation to Paris or Hawaii or New Orleans three months from now, and you'll have a tremendous time, I'm sure. But if you want to come back feeling new-alive and full of fresh hope and in love with the world-I think the place to visit may be Nowhere".

* Pico Iyer's 14-minute TED talk, available for free at www.ted.com is the companion to The Art of Stillness.

Related Talks On TED.com

Pico Iyer: Where Is Home?

www.go.ted.com/Iyer

Carl Honore: In praise of slowness

www.go.ted.com/Honore

Matthieu Ricard: The Habits of Happiness

www.go.ted.com/Ricard

Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. (words by Brother David Steindl-Rast)

www.go.ted.com/Schwartzberg 

If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't

look any further than my backyard. Because if it

isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with.

           __Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

Welcome to Attract A Great Life, a blog for enjoying life and business, too. Here, we'll talk about some of my favorite things: good food, organization, places to visit, books to read, art, and especially how to bring all this into your life.

New event: Saturday, August 15th  is National Relaxation Day......
I've decided to go on retreat that day, and I hope you will join in, wherever you are, for THE GREAT RETREAT!.
Retreat means taking time out for yourself, and getting away from 'it all'.

There's no cost to join in and no special group to sign up for.
There's just a decision on your part to take the time you deserve.

You can retreat for a few minutes, half an hour, a day or however long you can.

Next post, I'll be writing about tips and ideas for you about retreating.
Some folks are already designing their special day-how about you.

Comments: can be left here. This is where you can report in about your retreat experience.
Celebrating: I'll host a free conference call on  Wednesday, August 19th at 6 pm PST. We'll get together to celebrate and tell our retreat stories there.
Participate: email me at- sandycoaches@comcast.net

This is a nice little spot near where we live-there's a lovely little bench nearby to sit for awhile and watch the ducks and the fountains and perhaps journal a bit. Do you have a special place near you?
I'd love to hear your ideas!

Introducing: RETREATING

Retreats-taking care of YOU by taking time for YOU, is  a topic that I want to teach you about

(for those who aren't familiar with this form of self-care. Lots of people I know do this regularly, in all sorts of ways. On the other hand, lots of people I know never take time for themselves.

My philosophy about taking care of yourself is this: Self-care begins at home.

That means it starts with you, in your mind and heart.

On this blog, you can come here to get tips, resources and encouragement to start to experiment with how to go about retreating, or retreating more often.

This is more about deciding to give it a try. I'll provide you with information so you can choose how, when, and why.

So, I've come up with an idea: Here, we can form a community of people in the world who wish to care for themselves.

You can leave comments here about your retreat experiences to share with others.

National Relaxation Day is Saturday, August 15th, 2015.

This will be our first launch date together. (If you can't make it that day, please choose another time that works for you)

There is no charge to be part of the Attract A Great Life community

At this time, there is no Facebook group to report in to-just comment here.

I also put out a free newsletter online: Contact me at sandycoaches@comcast,net to subscribe.

WHAT'S A RETREAT?

• Taking time for yourself
• It can be a moment or two, half-day, full-day, a week, a month
• Perhaps you will be still and rest
• Maybe you'll run and play
• Working in the garden
• For a young mom, 2 minutes in the bathroom alone is a retreat
• Renting a cabin
• A spot near the water
• My son-in-law says it would be with a fishing pole at the lake
• At home, there might be just the spot-perhaps a comfy chair
• You can retreat alone, or with others
• Parks are wonderful
• You may use the time to remember others
• A retreat can be silent~or not

WHEN TO RETREAT

The time is up to you. Often, we must plan ahead, which is a great thing!

This way, you get to look forward to your special time that is just for you.

You may need a baby-sitter or help at home

HOW I'VE DONE IT

Usually, I pack a small tote bag, because I often retreat at home, often in my studio-home office.

I put little treats in it and maybe a book, DVD and some art to do. When the day comes, I can't wait to go in there, light a candle and sit quietly. Our little patio works, too.

I notice my breath and appreciate it.

HOW OTHERS HAVE DONE IT

A friend went to a retreat site to sing, dance and write poetry to honor her mother

Someone else goes to a Buddhist retreat in the mountains for 12 days of silence

My husband sits quietly a few minutes before leaving for work

Another friend calls Monday mornings her 'Soul Spa'-she does what she wishes

I'm on retreat when I chop veggies in my kitchen-relaxing, to me

A park bench is a welcoming retreat spot, isn't it?

At the beach, the mountains, the city, the country, the RV

WHAT NOT TO DO

DO NOT 'GO ON RETREAT' WHILE DRIVING!!! 

DO NOT LEAVE BURNING CANDLES UNATTENDED

DO NOT TELL YOURSELF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS-YOU DO!

Make a decision to begin to relax, refresh, and restore yourself.

There's no time like the present!

NATIONAL RELAXATION DAY IS SATURDAY, AUGUST 15TH

HOW WILL YOU RETREAT?

RESOURCE:

The Woman's Retreat Book-Jennifer Louden (great for men, too)-tons of ideas on ways to take a retreat, books, movies and music to choose from.