Small and Wonderful Things

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life.   It's the small things in life which truly mean the most.  Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

 

Baking on Saturday mornings.   Todd usually takes himself off into town and I putter about in the kitchen.   I like cooking full stop, but I love baking.   This week it was a pie . . . other times it may be cookies, or muffins or cakes . . . oh my.  There is something to very soul enriching about getting stuck into baking something sweet and lovely to share with your family, even if you family is only two.  Mitzie is always hovering around.  She knows something tasty is happening and that if she is lucky she may even get to lick a beater . . . I know, she's spoiled . . .



Bees in the Lavender.   I love watching them.  They are so busy at work and about their business.   They don't mind my camera poking in here and there.  You can learn a lot from the bees.  It distresses me that their numbers are down . . . we need the bees.  They are so important to our planet . . . so very important.

 

Daydreaming  . . . my head is often in the clouds somewhere.  It goes off on tangents and into places.  I have some of my best thoughts on some of those trips.  It has ever been so . . .




Memories of catching fireflies.   We stayed overnight at some friends of my parents on the banks of the St John River in New Brunswick one summer eons ago.  I was about 13 or so.   We chased and caught fireflies.  It was magical.   I had never seen fireflies in person before.   There was a wicked thunderstorm later in the evening.  I remember hearing the crashes and watching the lightening flicker across the sky and it's reflection in the water of the river . . . years later as an adult and with children of my own, we lived in the same area and . . . we spent many evenings chasing fireflies in our garden.  Some things never change . . .




Homemade granola . . . it is so much better than any you could buy in the shops.  I love making my own.  I stogg it full of nuts and seeds . . . and dried cranberries, to be enjoyed later on with huge dollops of Greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey . . . best dessert ever.  Like a creamy crumble.



The sight of the sun as it appears through the cloud streaked sky on a morning after rain.  So filled with promise.  It is a joyous thing to behold and lifts the spirits unbelievably . . .



The nooks and crannies in my craft room.   Filled with colour and little surprises.  It makes me happy.  I am so grateful that I have a space to call my own like that.   I know I am lucky . . .



This wonderfully whimsical and beautiful life I am living.   For years I didn't know that that is what it was.   Now that I am older I can appreciate it for what it has been and what it is.  I am grateful for the inner child in me which has never disappeared . . . and for the adult which helps to keep it in check. 

 

Fried potatoes like my mother used to make.  Today in The English Kitchen.  Grateful for the memories . . . and the gift that they are.  My mom will never fry potatoes again I don't think . . . not in this lifetime anyways.  I feel her slipping away and it makes me sad at times, but it also makes me appreciate what is left even more . . .

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

 “I've got nothing to do today but smile.”
― Paul Simon

Have a great Monday!