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, December 29, 2011

My Favourite All-Time Designer

Issey Miyake...

...hands down...

...utterly, amazingly, beautifully-constructed clothes...




I am fortunate enough to own two of his pieces.
I have owned them for twenty years.
I will have them and wear them until the day I die


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Winding Backwards...

Upon reading all of your lovely posts this morning
dear blog-friends, I sense a slow-moving wheel being turned in reverse as the clock ticks down to the end of 2011.


Everyone seems to be languidly recoiling...gently taking up the slack of the old year.  Cleverly beginning, ever so slowly, to tighten that invisible cord of excitement and energy for the New Year.


Hope abounds in all of us.

Hope, by Gustav Klimt

Open heart, soul and mind to the opportunities of the future.



There is magic to behold.

Monday, December 26, 2011

December 26...Nine Bells...and All's Well...

Happy New Year!


Kids are gone (some temporarily)...
and the house is sighing with joy and relief


Tomorrow morning, the tree will come down,
and the decorations will be lovingly stowed away 
as we prepare to ring in the New Year.


This year will be a separate celebration...complete with
decorations and attitude.
Old friends will roll in New Year's Eve,
and two of our four and a half kids will come back
to herald in 2012 with us.

Dinner will be risotto with curried shrimp
and an avocado and tomato salad



with the Grande Dame in attendance



we will dash to the Cenotaph at midnight to welcome the New Year
with our neighbours and friends...


and will I be tossing that fistful of glitter in the air?  Without a doubt!
New Year's Day will be brunch at our neice's home and then 
January 2 we will bless this life as we get set to do it all over again in 2012!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Morning Silence

In this most busy time of the year
there is nothing more special, more important to me,
than the dark silence of early morning.



I sneak downstairs, gently squeezing light switches on, dimmers on low so not to wake others in the house and prepare a cup of espresso splashed with steamed milk.



I sip silently next to the Christmas tree,
just letting the essence of the season settle into my heart.
Trying too hard just seems pointless and unproductive.



This particular gentle morning
it's just me, Miss Daisy snoring at my feet and Hank pleading with me with her big green eyes to turn on the tap--just one more time!--so that she can play with the dripping water.



Today will be the last of the prepping for the weekend...perhaps a pate and some gourgéres for the freezer?

One more present to wrap,
finishing touches to the Christmas lunch shopping list,
Iron the napkins
and then a long walk with Miss Daisy on The Common.




to be with you."


I wish you all a Gentle Christmas.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Time to Stop

Today, I was lucky enough to spend the day
with my best friend.


We started at Tim Horton's, (it's a Canadian thing) over coffee and muffins and just sat and talked.


Meandering around a shopping mall...(Petra hates wind in her hair)...
superficially looking at stuff and still talking, we caught up on each one of our twelve (collective + husbands/significant others) kids,
husbands, parents, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews...


We chatted about arrangements for Christmas...
meals, sleeping arrangements, grocery shopping, pick-up/drop offs at airports,



 we discussed books and make-up...





where we were in our lives;  how we felt about Christmas today, 


about how now it was time stop...


and enjoy...


and think...


and what we were really saying was...


"I love you...


I'm so lucky to have you in my life"...


Happy Christmas everyone...especially you Petra.


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Soap

Clever and talented Chania at Razmataz
has just written and photographed some beautiful soaps.

Right now, well actually for the past few months,
I have been removing all the bottles of liquid soaps I have in the house


and I am replacing them with wonderful, delicious-smelling, tactile
bars of soap.

(no, I did not make this!)


I just find the whole thing, more beautiful, more luxurious, more sensuous








The wrapping alone sends me into raptures...





I am sure there are those who think that liquid is more sanitary...but isn't soap, by it's very nature, cleansing?  


So are you a liquid-person or a bar-person?
Enquiring minds want to know?
pictures, courtesy of Pinterest
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