My romantic side like to open my windows wide at the first scent of rain.  Long ago I removed my screens because I love the look of my windows thrown wide without any barriers.  Like a french villa I tell myself.   It means the cat escapes every three minutes and must be retrieved as it instantly has remorse finding itself without the comforting walls of its home.  Only to find itself once more with only its haunches clinging to the window sill and once more making a dive for it.  Charlie my wonderful Yellow Lab gets a anticipatory gleam in her eye as she has come to know the Ritual of Rain.  It’s time to Hit the Road Jack.  Rubber boots retrieved, the hood zipped to the chin and the click of her leash on the collar.  A car drives by and I love the happy splash of the tires as it passes.  The cafe down the street is busily putting out its green and white striped awning over its patrons.  The red gleam from the street lights make a pretty design on the wet streets.  The snap of the umbrellas being opened is a happy sound to me as Charlie and I make our way down the street.  I love when we hit a dry spot and her little paws make the most darling prints down the sidewalk.  Her hips happily swaying.  She enjoys the rain as much as I do.  I think it’s a welcome relief to her some days as it is I.  Charlie finds a spot under the awning next to a happy dog lover who enjoys her company as I sneak in for a steaming americano.  I love the quiet chatter and the smell of blueberry scones and lemon tarts that fill the air along with the freshly roasted Fratello coffee beans.  I love how people take time out for the simple pleasures.  A young man in the corner is reading a book, two young girls are enjoying an afternoon chatting over their cappuccinos.  The little chiming bell welcoming each new customer is so charming.  Charlie is still happily engrossed in her newfound friend outside.  We bid adieu and continue on our happy wanderings.  Life is beautiful, rain or shine.  Sometimes we need to allow it to be though don’t we?  It’s the strangest thing, that enjoyment in life takes the discipline to see it.  To take time to even create it.  It’s all waiting for us each day.  So this was yesterday.  Today, the sun is shining.  There’s weeding and car cleaning on the agenda. Laundry.  I will take time today to enjoy these simple tasks.  I refuse to allow them to become just a task, but I am committed for them to be a way to enjoy the Gift of Life.  You with me?

 

I love you.

xoxo

When we stop Acting and Reacting from our own Moral Compass it is Veritable Suicide.  We all should have our own Value System.  Not contingent on the moral compass of the Most Popular Kid in Class so to speak.  The person in your current line of vision who is Scintillating your Senses.  Popularity and who is being Admired in Society changes on a Whim.  Our sense of Who We Are and what we want to bring to the world should be Settled.  Engraved in our Being.  We should act from that Moral Code first in our Thoughts.  The Private Chambers of our Hearts.  It should then first Extend to our Families.  Then outwards into the World.  Then we Know we are being True.  True to Ourselves.  Not taking on the Values of Others.

I’ve had Chapters in Life that left me Rattled.  As I Emulated what I thought Others wanted from me.  What would make me Accepted.  The Initial High of Being Accepted was never worth the Empty Feeling of Betraying Myself.

It’s good for me each day to Center Myself.  Remember Who I Am.  What I Value.  I then ask my Creator for Strength to Be those things.  Then I have Self Confidence.  The TRUE kind that can only come from knowing in my very core that I am being True to Myself.  Then I am Content.  Peaceful.  Satisfied.

I Love You All So Much

xoxo

 

Today is Overcast.  It’s midmorning and I’m still in my silk pyjamas nursing a coffee.  My kitty is curled up on my knee and watching my fingers move on the keyboard.  I love mornings like this.  It seems the sun being covered by a grey mantle says “Relax.”  I love the ritual of turning on lamplight on days like today.  A perfect jazz music day.  A day for cooking in the kitchen.  My dog Charlie splayed on the floor at my feet.  A day for Art.  For Nesting.  For Meditation.  Long Walks.  The flowers on my porch almost have a look of relief.  Like they are enjoying a lazy morning too.  Charlie is having a big ol sleep in.  She’s still snuggled deeply in her blanket in her kennel.

I love the brightness of a sunny summer day.  But it feels like a reprieve somedays when clouds buffer its rays now and again.  Feeling grateful today for the simple things.  Like a Grey Day.

Love you all

xoxo

Ralph Waldo Emerson that is…here are a few of his lovely quotes…

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

“The earth laughs in flowers.” (This is the moment I fell hard for Ralph.)

“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.”

“To be great is to be misunderstood.”

“To know even one life breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded.”

“Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.”

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

“Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide.” (I Love You, Ralph)

“We become what we think about all day long.”  (Yep, proven that one both ways!!)

“For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.”

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”

 

So tell me Dear Friends, Wisdom is better than silver and gold isn’t it?  Why?  Because without wisdom, silver and gold are used to our hurt.  Wisdom is the key to Success.  I’m grateful for those like Ralph that put effort in to understanding the mechanics of a truly successful life.  We’ve all benefited.  Here’s to Wise Ralph….

 

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Love Y’all

xoxo

 

Slade told Janie years ago “Happiness is a Choice.”  A Wise Guy.  In the Best Way.  Most people’s lives don’t go as Planned.   As Dreamed.  Some people from the day they were born their bodies Struggle.  The ordinary feats of life become a Challenge to Overcome.  Some people from the start have struggled for the Basics.  Love.  Food.  Shelter.  There’s a lot to deal with on this Earth.  Some of us enter the Battle of Life fiercely assailed from the moment our little pink toes see daylight.  But Happiness is Free.  And Free Flowing.  Not Contingent on Circumstance or Providence.  One way to Achieve it is to Humble Ourselves to Be Grateful.  Grateful for what IS ours.  There isn’t a soul Without Blessings. Sadly though there’s too many Souls Without Happiness.  Waiting for Arrival.  Waiting for Utopia.  Waiting for Change.  Well today there’s going to be Change alright.  Change in my Attitude.  My Gratefulness.  My Happiness.

 

Love you All.

xxoo

“A dinner of herbs with love is better than a stalled ox and hatred therewith” .  I’m loving this reading this morning.  Love filling the hearts of our little families nurtures them far more than the external blessings we can give them.  Especially if hatred has a place at our tables.  Maybe it’s not directed at our children or significant others.  Maybe it’s to the neighbours.  Our coworkers.  Our employees.  The leaders of the land.  Hatred in any form hurts our families.  Maybe we could say, “Let’s be Real.”  Since when is a negative perspective on someone or something more real than finding the positive in them?  Since when is ugly usually right?  Could we not say beauty and goodness is most usually right? Positivity and Optimism creates Resilience in our Families.  Sends them into the world expecting good things even from the hard experiences.

Let’s remember the conversations around our tables are as important as the offerings on the table.  This has chastened my heart this morning.

Here’s to Filling our Families with Soul Food.

Love Y’all So Much

xoxo

Visualization is Powerful.  Imagination a wonderful tool to Heal.  To Renew our Strength. Our Gratitude. Our Passion for Life.  As I Pondered Life this Morning, here are a few of my Pretty Pictures….

…blue gingham dresses on little girls, sweet ringlets gleaming in the summer sun

…strawberries ripening on the vine, little white blossoms with their sunny yellow centers.  blonde sawdust lying between the garden rows, sending its woody fragrance into the summer air.

….the quiet rhythmic lap of the lake on its shores.  a sailboat drifting gently by.  the snap of it’s sails in the warm breeze.

…farmer’s market wares and the wonderful aroma of homemade bread.  gorgeous vine ripened tomato sauce in mason jars with the basil leaf pressed to the glass. 

…homemade lemonade with a mint leaf garnish in a gold rimmed glass gifted to you from a little Slovakian watchmaker.

…early morning window shopping with my doggie Charlie.  the french linen shop.  the flower shop owner busy making cut bouquets on her wooden table. 

Some of these are my present real life things I get to enjoy.  Some are memories of the past.  Some are the wonderful gifts I see in others lives on social media.  I love my own gifts. I also love witnessing the gifts of others.  It reminds me of how teeming with blessings this wonderful life is.  So thanks for sharing with me.

I love you.

 

xoxo

 

…..the village would be clean. This saying has been reverberating in my heart and mind all afternoon.  I can see my little girl self with my braids and plaid skirt looking up at a picture hanging on my grandparents wall in the entry.  The little scene was of a woman. Sweeping her doorstep in the cutest little village. At the bottom of the painting was the inscription…

If each before their own door swept the village would be clean.

Our little patch of dirt. That little doorstep. That’s our responsibility. No need to tsk tsk the neighbours garbage that may be piled up. Most signs of neglect come because someone is sick. Overwhelmed. Sad. Hopeless.

So let’s look after our little patch of dirt. If your neighbour’s step is in a little need of love, take your small straw broom and sweep your neighbours step. Don’t complain to the other neighbours. Don’t draw attention to others lack. Just silently and gently sweep the dirt away.

Thanks to all those who have swept my step when I couldn’t .

Sometimes it takes a village.

I love you

xoxo

 

 

 

 

As I busy myself making rhubarb lemonade for my daughter’s Helen’s bridal shower, I have some classic country music streaming in.  Memories flood in on little butterfly wings as the songs I heard my Grampa sing in his rocking chair. Slapping his knee along with his deep baritone.  Other songs that have played today I’ve heard  my beautiful auntie Verilynn sing and Uncle Don.  It feels like such a gift as I head into these next beautiful days with my daughter.  Yesterday on the way to get some thrift store vases for the flowers, I saw a vehicle my dad used to drive and melted into tears.  These moments you wish they all could be here.  My darling grammie Helen with her rosy apple cheeks.  My dad with his quiet grace.  I look at my daughter Helen and see so much of her great grandmother in her and it makes my heart smile.

I love the intertwining of the generations at times like these.  The sweet memories that life enfolds us in.  So grateful that others have given me so many beautiful moments in this Journey of Life.

Enjoy your journey.

I love you.

xoxo

 

One thing that isn’t habitable is a war torn country.  When your safety is challenged every day, the citizens can’t be fully engaged in their lives and their families.  The privileges that were theirs before the war become frivolous.  They no longer matter.  All they dream of is Peace.  Safety.  Without it, we have nothing.

We live in Canada.  It’s a Safe Country.  Do we treasure our Peace?  Are we every day adding to that Harmony?  How about our Families?  How safe are our children in our home to be themselves?  Do they feel unconditionally loved?  Do they feel peace?  If they don’t, consider this…..

Unsafe is an Unhabitable Environment.  Let’s be Safe for Others.

I love you.

xoxo