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˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★
What a lovely reminder for us to enjoy all the moments in our "nows." Yesterday is dead and gone and nothing can be done about that. Tomorrow may never come, best not to fret about things not yet experienced. Today is ours. Now. Here. Golden. We must make all of our todays the best that we can and take our blessings where we find them. Be present in our lives. Enjoying the small and simple things which make up a beautiful life. As I am fond of saying, every day may not be a good day, but there is something good to be found in every day.
This week has gone by rather quickly. I feel that way every week. It seems like they no sooner begin than what they are ending. And in-between there is life. A busy, happy, joy filled life. There is really nothing extraordinary about my life, nothing to mark it out as being any more special than the next person's life. It is filled with simple joys and pleasures that are really only mine.
Many would think perhaps that my life was quite boring, but I do not find it to be so. I have never been the kind of person to seek out bright lights and excitement. I have always been happiest at being a homebody. A person who enjoys the simple things. I think excitement is highly over-rated! Even when I was very young I did not crave such things. I have always been content to be in my home, doing homemaking things. Caring for a family. Doing simple needle works. Puttering in my house. Baking. Cooking. Cleaning. Reading. That was all the excitement I ever craved or needed, even back then.
I have never felt that I missed out on anything by marrying and having a family when I was young. I was never career oriented. All I every really wanted to be was a wife and a mother, a homemaker. I was so blessed to have been able to spend the first 45 years of my life being just those things. I know that many people do not and have never had the luxury of being able to do that. I see my having been able to do just that as a particularly sweet blessing. One which I hold dear to my heart.
I love to drive through my small valley at dusk. To see the white houses, being lit up, and the people coming home for their suppers. The violet light on the crocus buds by front doors, bicycles leaning on steps and scooters drawn up with relaxed wheels. It gives me a good feeling. My imaginations help my life to wear wings.
This is a secret for living, the ability to have your life wear wings. Imagination isn't always dodging reality, but its things like doing dishes and playing classical music while I do so. . . and feeling such things, instead of like an enslaved drudge, like a "fortunate breather of the air" who can hear the swish of satin from ballroom dresses and the soft purr of velvet and the light tape of enchanted slippers from the past.
Imagination can invest any dull task with a glow. Even peeling potatoes can acquire interest. Even this boring task can become something much more than what it is.
It is fun for the mind to make a journey beginning with even peeling potatoes. You can start with thoughts of Ireland, and digging them up in the green land of Eire. Little thatched cottages, peat bogs, horse carts and the lilt of Irish fiddles echoing in the night air through the well-lit open doorways of pubs. Before you know it your mind is diving into thoughts of Irish faery folk . . . Diedre and Cuchulainn and the shadowy horses and the little silver trout that turned in the pan and spoke. The changeling, and the child the faeries stole away. These are fine tales and fuel the imagination.
I have always been a dreamer.
Oh what a wonderful day I had with Cindy on Thursday. The sun was shining brilliantly and the sky a beautiful azure blue. We were in the car together, chatting and listening to music. I do so love to spend time with my dear sister. She really is my best friend.
My left knee made it a bit difficult for me getting in and out of the car. It is also making it hard for me to sleep nights. I don't know why it decides to act up every year about this time. I remember the year we went to Scotland it plagued me the whole time and I was hardly able to move about.
I will not let it keep me down however, or hold me back in my life. As much as I possibly can, I want to be present and doing what I can, even if it is only sitting in the car and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin through the windows and a breath of fresh air through a car window cracked open. Never under-estimate the joy of the sun's warmth when the cold of winter is on the wane and that fresh clean air is bringing with it the promise of many more warm days to come.
Before we know it we will all be complaining that its too hot!
Dan and Cindy stopped by yesterday. They were going to the tip and Dan gathered up all of my old cardboard that was still waiting to be put out and he even took my compost down to the green bin and topped up all my tired with air. The roads are so full of pot holes at the moment, it is very easy for your tires to start to go down a bit. They were out filling some of them on Thursday, but the job is a mammoth task. They seem worse this year than ever. Especially along the verges of the roads. I think that heavy trucks take a huge toll on them. You have to really keep your eyes open and alert while you are driving because the potholes are everywhere and some of them are really quite bad!
I was thinking last night about how wonderful it is that I have a brother-in-law that is so good at doing things like that for me. He works hard all week in a job he is not overly fussed about and then in his spare time he takes the time to do these small acts of kindness for both my father and myself. He doesn't really need to, but he does it anyways. I am grateful for him and for my sister. They are both really good people. Everyone should be so blessed to have people like them in their lives!
I need to get off here now. The time is marching on and I am going out with Cindy this morning to do my father's shopping. I will pick up a few bits for myself as well. It gets me out of the house and moving about a bit more than I can do here at home. Plus I get to spend time with my best friend. What can be better than that!
A thought to carry with you . . .
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •In The English Kitchen this morning . . . Easy Date & Oatmeal Muffins. A very rustic small batch recipe for some simple muffins that are delicious. Even day old and cold. Everything a good muffin should be, not too sweet and wholesome.
I hope you have a lovely weekend. Happy Saint Patrick's Day! May the sun shine down upon you and may your hours be richly blessed! Don't forget!
A few of the things I find each week that pique my interest, bring me joy, inspire me to learn, create, do, become . . . maybe they will do the same for you!
Love these sunny crochet coasters from Cute Alley on Etsy. Not free, but not expensive either.
So cute, but could not find a source.
How to make felt succulents. From the people at BHG.
Laptop Sleeve sewing pattern. From the Polka Dot Chair.
Earl Grey Panna Cotta Tarts. From Kitchen Heals Soul.
No source. Just eye candy. It looks simple enough. I love things like this. What a cute Easter Brooche this would make or decoration for an Easter Tree.
I love this stitch. Not so much the colours, but that is an easy fix. From Craftsy.
I hope that you have a lovely day. Whatever you get up to stay safe and be happy. Don't forget!
Just a few more days now and it will officially be Spring. Well, okay, more like a week. But it is definitely waiting in the wings. The river is still very high, having burst its banks on both sides. Its been like that for a couple of weeks now. If you look over both sides of the bridge as you drive into town you can see huge swathes of it laying amidst the tree line. It has gone down however, so that is good.
When I was a teenager they actually rerouted the river to take it further away from those residential streets at that end of the town. It was a huge undertaking and came at great expense. At one time the homes in that area could look forward to flooding almost every year. It rarely happens now.
The Annapolis River is a river that winds through our beautiful valley, which lays between two mountains which are known as the North and the South Mountain, the one mountain abutting the Bay of Fundy.
We live in somewhat of a micro-climate here, which is ideal for growing fruit, making the Annapolis Valley one of the most productive bits of agricultural land in the province.
I only know that there are parts of the river which are spectacularly beautiful. I especially love it down near Paradise. Towns are scattered all along it's banks and I suspect that is where Paradise got it's name, because of the beauty of the river in that area.
This was the condition of my lap for a good part of yesterday afternoon. My left knee has been causing me a lot of pain this week and so I decided to take a bit of a rest mid afternoon and put my legs up. Cinnamon hopped on board and I took advantage of her being there to snap a few photos of her.
She didn't seem to mind overly much. She was just enjoying being on my lap. We have taken to doing this for at least a half an hour or so every day. She seems to really like this time we spend together. Nutmeg is usually off sleeping under the bed and so I think she feels comfortable enough that she can really relax without him coming along and spoiling it all. He did arrive eventually and jumped up as well and then started aggressively bathing her, which she doesn't really enjoy all that much, so she jumped down and our nice relaxing time together was finished.
I am sure he does not mean to be a nuisance to her. Its just who he is. Loveable and bumbling.