Late for US Mother’s Day, but right on time for Mother’s Day in Mexico. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!
Continue readingflowers
Inspire. November.
StandardI am grateful for what I am and have. My Thanksgiving is perpetual.
– Henry David Thoreau
November is full of thanks and gratitude. If only, we held onto these sentiments throughout the year, what a wonderful world it would be. I don’t know that I can show gratitude for the difficulties I had in October, but I can offer thanks for the inauspicious start to November. Somewhat quiet and subdued. While we will not see our cousins for Thanksgiving, we will see my brother-in-law and hopefully have a nice get-together later on with my son’s girlfriend and something quiet for my birthday. I am hesitant, but cautiously optimistic.
Sitting in front of the typewriter/keyboard, I am clacking away at the keys, and while I still haven’t taken hold of my Nano projects, I have been jotting things down on all matter of things.
I still have hope to take Thoreau’s words to heart, and be grateful for who I am, for what I have, and remind myself perpetually of all that I have to be thankful for. Every day can be thanksgiving if given the mindfulness to quietly look around and take in the life around me.
The picture below is a reminder that not everything is expected. About once a week, my family goes to The Fresh Market chain. They have what they call a “little big meal”. It feeds a family of four for $25 and usually comes with five or six components. The most recent one was a chicken roll up dinner and surprisingly one of the items was a bouquet of flowers. I thought it strange since they are not edible, but instead they fed something that was missing from me recently. The brought on a quietness, a contemplative series of moments as I trimmed the stems and arranged them in my vase. I smelled each one, adding water and a bit of the powdered food daily. We got them Sunday and they are just as strong, just as beautiful as when I brought them home. They are a welcome addition to my work space. I didn’t know I longed for them until I received them.
Sometimes looking past the expected brings us from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt – #4
Standard4. Find one thing you enjoy looking at
My lilac tree in springtime
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt – #2
StandardSee original post for hunt items!
2. Something to give someone else to make them smile.
Flowers, Rocks, Trees.
What makes you smile?



Mental Health Monday – Do Something Small and Manageable
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Retreat
StandardI am on retreat all day today. I had planned to write a reflection and publish it later in the afternoon, but I thought it would be better for my own self-care if I posted this instead and concentrated on my day.
Take some time to smell the flowers and really look at them. Continue reading
September – Back to School – Quotation
Standard“Autumn is a second spring where everry leaf is a flower.”
-Albert Camus
August – Vacation/Staycation – Photo/Art
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A variety of road trips, top to bottom: rental car, Celtic shield pin, Days Inn motel sign, Via Aquarium entrance, pansies on the path, crosswalk, Ballycraigy welcome sign, Erie Canal Cruises. (c)2018
July: Sum Sum Summer: Photo/Art
ImageMay: Flowers and Birds: Photos
StandardFrom my garden. This lilac tree is one of the best things about my house, and probably counts in the top five reasons we bought it. This year’s blooms are so much more than the past several years: they really are extraordinary. A silver lining, or purple if you will, to this last year and more of political and ethical strife.

Mid-morning sunshine through the lilacs and pines. (c)2018

Buds are still formng! (c)2018

Close-up. (c)2018

Close-up. (c)2018