Beauty in the Ordinary

This is not about being brilliant, or extraordinary, it's not about wanting to be famous, or making headlines, or trying to impress...this about sharing a 'gift' each day with the world...to lift the spirit of people when they read this blog, to show them the beauty in the ordinary.
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." Raold Dahl

Thursday, September 30, 2010

I Shall Go To The Ball!









Seamus has just flown in from Ireland...

Not one for dancing the night away, Brilliant Husband has gladly aquiesced his position as my escort to The Third Annual Willow Manor Ball.
Seamus has secretly agreed to read his poem, Sunlight, as we drive down 

"There was a sunlit absence.
The helmeted pump in the yard
heated its iron,
water honeyed
in the slung bucket
and the sun stood
like a griddle cooling
against the wall
of each long afternoon.
So, her hands scuffled
over the bakeboard,
the reddening stove
sent its plaque of heat
against her where she stood
in a floury apron
by the window.
Now she dusts the board
with a goose’s wing,
now sits, broad-lapped,
with whitened nails
and measling shins:
here is a space
again, the scone rising
to the tick of two clocks.
And here is love
like a tinsmith’s scoop
sunk past its gleam
in the meal-bin."


Do I notice a slight  twinge of regret that BH is not coming
as I take Seamus' hand, dressed in my fabulous gown






and step into our Bugatti?



(but perhaps it is the car he is pining for!)

No matter...my dancing shoes are calling




Yes Cinderella, you SHALL go to the ball!
See you all tonight!  It's quite a long drive from here to there.  Perhaps I can convince Seamus
to read Lightenings VIII too!

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

D-Day

Today is Departure Day.

Just me, Hankypants and Miss D
up early this morning




and then, in a heartbeat, the car was loaded




a last minute check


and they were on they're way


Toronto to Miami, 1985 km
24 hours of driving
3 days of traveling
a whole new chapter of their lives
Go safely kids...Travel Well...Godspeed



Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Loofah

When I bought my lavender plants this past spring
Melissa and Robert at the Lavender Farm
gave me a loofah plant.

I thought it would be a lark to harvest home-grown loofahs.



Well...this plant has grown up the entire side of my house


and while we have had some flowers


there is no sign of the pods which product the loofahs.



and now it's almost October and it's cold,
which makes me think this project has been a bit of a bust.
Molly...I just don't seem to have your green-thumb!


Sunday, September 26, 2010

Victoria


Has anyone seen my sister?

I'm pretty sure, when we started writing this blog
she was here somewhere.

Just lately though ... I can't seem to find her.

Please ... if you see her ... tell her I miss her...

What a Mess!


My house is a disaster!


Back-to-back house guests for ten days straight!


I know what I'll be doing for the next few days



but we all had such fun...totally worth it!

Friday, September 24, 2010

AGED

For some reason or another, or for lots of reasons,
this is the only photo I have of my parents together.

It's aged and creased and cracked and faded
and precious.



We watched a dreadful movie the other night
(not worth mentioning the name),
but there was a scene when the principal was asked
"If your house was burning down and you had 60 seconds
to grab something before you left, what would it be?"

I think I would grab this photo.

This is my submission this week for Razmataz's photo challenge AGED.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Balance and Beauty



The fall season is upon us.
It's the time
of the harvest.
To look at see what has
passed in the previous year.

To shed the old.
To set new goals.
To clear the mind.

To see the Divine within us.
To attune with the mysteries of Nature.

A time when nature's energies are drawn inward.
So too are our energies drawn inside
to cleanse our hearts.

To call upon the angelic angels of Libra,
they hold the symbol of the scale - the balance.

To awaken us to our intuitive knowing
of how to balance our own lives.

To listen to their messages and signs that are found in nature.
That bring us to the awareness of how
to weigh opposites and gain balance through
the higher expression of love.

And as life begins to rock us,
we are guided
and we open ourselves
to devotion, and
aspire to a higher understanding.

Calm and peace
enter our lives.

Then we look inside and see
the inner hidden beauty
in others
and ourselves.

We see what needs to be done to
bring harmony,
balance
and
beauty.

inspired by the late Ted Andrews

Vision +

Tonight I re-read my vision
and then I looked in my kitchen
and there were my kids, working away at their
special sauce for tonight's fish.
I suddenly realized, with tears in my eyes
there were no
"twinkling lights' no "ancient linens"
no "grand tables" and I wasn't even cooking...
but right here, right now I was being given my vision in its real sense...
and I laughed, and I wept and I know I will miss these beautiful children
and I am so very lucky and so very blessed.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Vision



Recently, Victoria has been walking me through creating a vision board.
This isn't something that comes easily or naturally for me, but she believes in their power, and so I listen.

I'm having trouble finding just the right picture that will keep me focused on the end game and not allow myself to get tied up in the details of getting there.

I do, however, have a very clear picture of what I want...in my head.

 Picture this...

It's a gentle, warm late-summer evening, the sky is inky-black and full of stars.
Behind the swish of the wind in the tops of the trees, Sarah is seducing us with her silky voice, telling tales of angels and mysteries.

Time moves at a sweeter, slower pace.

At the bottom of the garden sits a long table, covered in ancient linens redolent of the loving hands of mothers and grandmothers who have gone before us and cocooned by swathes of twinkling fairy lights.  Flowers, lately gathered from the garden, are plopped haphazard into mismatched vases and china and crystal from each phase of my life sits waiting to be graced with food. 

Around this wonderful table sit my family, and my family of friends, all the people I love. 
They are laughing, sharing, enjoying each other.

I emerge from the kitchen wrapped in a beautiful apron, a bowl of something delicious and nourishing in each arm and slowly begin my descent down ivy-clad steps to the table.  Over my right shoulder I hear "Jack"...there is only one person who calls me this as he has done now for almost 40 years.  I turn, smiling and see him standing behind the camera....the moment, the scene, the vision is captured.

This is the perfection that sits in my heart.

Monday, September 20, 2010

House Guests




Sorry to have been absent.

We are entertaining house guests at the moment.

It seems like every minute of the day is full....back soon!


Friday, September 17, 2010

Photo Challenge Friday

"Visualize the Big Picture"
"Keep you eye on the Prize"

So go the dictums of Life.

But today, Razmataz
has challenged us to 
"Get in Closer".

Focus on the details...and perhaps, as Mies van de Rohe says,
it's there we will find God.








What I did learn was, no matter how dire the conditions,
how rugged the land,
Life Flourishes.



Thursday, September 16, 2010

Pink

V. has inspired me with her beautiful
post of Pink's and her words to show you, what
I believe to be a beautiful, touching, magical
performance by the lady herself.





This was Pink's performance of 
Glitter in the Air
at the Grammy's.
Not being a TV watcher, this is the first time I have seen this.
Blew me away...made me cry.
Thanks, sister dear, for leading me to this.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010


'Have you ever thrown a fistful
of glitter in the air?

Have you ever looked fear in the face
and said,

"I just don't care".

Close your eyes and trust, just trust'.

I wish upon that star tonight to see
you smile.

Know that as long as I am here
you are safe.

some words by Pink, some by Me!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Thank you Jeanne




Look what arrived in my mailbox today!


I was the lucky winner of this
fabulous apron from Jeanne over at
Collage of Life

which inspired me to make this!
A Blueberry pie!

Happy aprons make happy food!


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