"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.
I have often read that we need to choose Joy. I think that more likely it is the other way around. Joy chooses us. Joy is not something that arrives with bells and whistles, accompanied with the flowers of a perfect life. It is something that sneaks in. It arrives when you aren't looking.
Joy cares nothing for messy homes or hair. It doesn't mind a robust waistline or a slim bank account. Joy slithers into the cracks of your imperfect life, often without you even noticing she is coming in, but then . . . . all of a sudden she is unmistakably there, uninvited, but who cares!
You can't ignore it when Joy chooses you.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chilliest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
~Emily Dickenson
Where would any of us be without hope? It is the thing that keeps us going. That powers our being able to put one foot in front of the other in the expectation that always things will be, get, become . . . better. That the sun will rise and the rain will stop. That good days are ahead. That this is not all that there is. That we can be and become better than what we are. That there is good in every man. Hope springs eternal. Life would be pretty desperate if there was no hope. May I ever be fueled by this eternal promise and the expectation of a better days ahead.
Cinnamon can often be found basking in the light of the Christmas Tree. She doesn't touch it, not when I am in the room anyways. I have found the odd paper ornament mysteriously appear on the floor. She is discreet if anything.
My tree is filled with lights and round cardboard symbols of the Jesse Tree. That is the Advent study I am doing through Multiply Goodness, from seed to Savior. Tracing the lineage of Jesus from the creation to his birth.
Half price Gingerbread Houses. I would not have paid full price for this, but at half price it seemed a bargain. If only it lit up. It does sparkle however and we all know how much I love things that sparkle.
He is such a big cat. As big as a small dog. I don't know how much he weighs but it is more than 15 pounds I am sure. Love and joy in a big furry package. If I lay back in my easyboy chair, lap covered with a blanket, he always jumps up and keeps me company, snuggled into the blanket and my lap. In the evenings he can more often than not be found on the sofa next to me. I think he loves me.
Its my Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It chose me. I saw it in Home Hardware, marked down. How could I resist. The Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon was an integral part of my childhood Christmas's. The angel was a gift from Dan my first Christmas. It took me two Christmas's to figure out it lit up, lol. DUH The book, a gift from Elaine. That is a bundle of Joy and love right there.
Mom's cat Pumpkin sitting under her first Christmas Tree. Sadly we did lose Pumpkin this year, and Gary too. Plus Mitzie. We are ending the year with three less heartbeats than we started the year with. We especially remember our lost loved ones at Christmas. They are always with us and in our hearts. Oh how blessed we are to have loved and been loved so very much. Love is love. Be it human as in family and friend, or be it animal family members. This is a sweet photograph of Pumpkin.
Sunday suppers (and Saturday this week as well) with the family. Days out with Cindy. Church. Snow. A warm home to live in. Clothes, food, faith, family, friends, a job. My life is filled with a multitude of small and wonderful things. The small things in life, are not really so small at all.
A thought to carry with you . . .
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*The love of family•。★★ 。* 。
is life's greatest blessing.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~Eva Burrows° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
In The English Kitchen today . . . Lasagna Roll Ups, the small batch. Oddly my rollups were not rounded, but rather flat. Still very delicious however! I suspect I did not roll them up tightly enough!
I hope you have a beautiful week filled with a multitude of joys and blessings. Be happy. Be safe. Don't forget!
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