Grandparenting/Living the Moment

Daisies in December

Posted on by Joy / 2 Comments

The daisy teaches us that even in the midst of chaos and uncertainty, there is beauty to be found.

Flower Chimp**

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Hello Friend,

Please come in! How wonderful to see you during this special season. Let me hang your coat here by the door, then let’s sit by the fireplace. Would you like the wing chair or the deep leather one?

It’s so strange not to have snow at this time of year, but it is a welcome change not to have to worry about icy roads and slippery paths. The Cowboy has been busy these last several weeks, hanging Christmas lights on railings and trees, so the place does look festive even though there’s no snow to brighten the nights or to glitter like diamonds during the day.

Now, I’ve made some Almond Rocha–such a simple recipe, but everyone raves about it. Would you care for some? There’s a plate of it on the table there, and the tea is about done steeping. It’s a white tea with vanilla and almond flavours called White Christmas. Just smell that aroma. You’d almost think there was chocolate hidden somewhere in it. We’ll have it in my new red-sweater mugs. Don’t you love these?

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Our Christmas has been a quiet one this year. The hustle and bustle will begin when family arrives for New Year’s weekend. I’ve been up early in the mornings to curl up by the fire in the deep leather chair by the lighted Christmas tree. I read, I meditate on scripture, I pray. And I cry. Truth be told, I’ve shed more tears this season than I have in the last two years of seasons combined. I wonder if a grandmother’s tears carry a special kind of weight – every tear a wordless prayer for a struggling grandchild.

It is surprising then, in the midst of heartache, to find moments of joy and beauty, harmony and good will. They are like daisies in December, unexpected and refreshing. A visit with good friends, the purr of a comfortable kitten, beautifully written words, pretty lights on the lawn, the fun of making gifts for Christmas. All of these daisies seem sweeter this year, and I lovingly press them into the pages of my memory like I would tuck in a contented child.

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Daisies are nature’s way of smiling, a burst of joy in the meadow of life.

Emily Dickinson

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This is the essence of life, isn’t it? Pain and sorrow tempered by beauty and joy. It doesn’t always make the current trouble less painful, but the shadows prove the light, showing us that hope is not lost.

I’m so grateful for these daisies in my December, and I’ve begun making room for them, pausing in my day to find them and count them. I realize I have quite a bouquet, and I bet you do too.

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I”m so glad you stopped in for a little visit today. As you step into this next year, whatever it may hold, I wish you daisies. Look for them, savour them, and press them, so that when you need them you can take them out and remember how you were given daisies in December.

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I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness, because you have seen my misery; You have known the troubles of my soul.

Psalm 31:7

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Stay safe out there, and see you next time.

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ALMOND ROCHA

Spread graham wafers on a 10 X 15 cookie sheet
Cover with sliced almonds

On stove, boil together for 3 minutes on medium heat:
- 1/2 pound butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup

Spoon over base and bake 8 minutes at 350 F
When cooled, cut into fingers

Keep in cool place, do not refrigerate

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Feature Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay Two daisies image by Petra from Pixabay

**Flower Chimp is a Malaysian flower delivery service founded in 2016 by Maximilian Lotz and Niklas Frassa.

Daybook/Life is so Daily

November Daybook

Posted on by Joy / 12 Comments

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all details of daily life.

William Morris

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Hello Friend,

Come in, come in! How nice of you to stop by.

Well, here we are in mid November. I almost can’t believe it, but when I look back to all the happenings in the last several months, there should be no reason why I wouldn’t believe it.

We’re having uncommonly good weather. The snow of a couple weeks ago is gone and we’re not taking any of these days for granted, but it’s still a little chilly so let’s sit here by the fire. This big easy chair is the perfect size to tuck your feet up under you, and the burgundy wing chair is a hug. Please help yourself to tea or coffee. It’s there on the kitchen island, along with cream, sugar, and honey. And, for this cozy day, Mom’s chocolate chip squares.

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Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

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Today

Looking out my window …

I see evergreens, tall and confident, carrying the wisdom of years. What secrets they could tell of the changes on this little bit of land! I see poplar and trembling aspen trees. They are bare of leaves now, but oh! I do love those trees in winter. In the morning sunrise their white bark glows pale pink, reminding me that beauty remains despite change. It just looks different.

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Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

Beauty, wherever we find it, is always telling us the story of our healing.

Sarah Clarkson

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I am wearing …

A comfortable print dress with tiny white, orange, and teal flowers on a brown background, brown tights, and sparkly earrings.

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One of my new favourite things …

Yesterday I stopped in at a garden centre, which is decked out for Christmas this time of year. It was lovely to walk in through the big rustic doors, hear Christmas music playing, and realize the season is almost upon us! I walked up and down the boardwalk aisles among displays of poinsettias in red and pink and white, evergreen boughs (real and almost real), tropical plants, and Christmassy things like wooden nature ornaments, snowmen, twinkly lights, candlesticks of all sizes, and so much more. It was a pleasant thirty-minute reprieve in my day. I couldn’t resist these mugs. They look like they’re wearing sweaters! And I get a secret thrill every time I use them.

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I am creating …

Well, I created a children’s story years ago that I never sent anywhere, but this summer I entered it in a contest and it won first place. Part of the prize is publication and first serial rights in FellowScript magazine. So my story, Willard, will be in that magazine this month. After that, I can post or link the story here if people are interested.

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In my garden …

I’ve planted tulip and hyacinth bulbs in pots. Last year I planted so many bulbs in our garden bed at the corner of our property and they never came up. The voles got them all – a common tale around these parts, if you talk to the community. So this year I’m playing it safe – not so many bulbs, and planted in pots instead of in the ground. I’m treating it as an experiment. That way if it doesn’t work out, I won’t be disappointed. But I know I won’t be able to stop the anticipation once Spring rolls around.

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I am reading …

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot – out loud, after suppers, to Mom, Dad, and The Cowboy. Because all three of them grew up on farms, they can relate to these true animal stories excellently told by a veterinarian in 1930’s Yorkshire. We are all getting so many chuckles out of it.

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I’ve been watching …

Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. So interesting and so uplifting. And, the biggest secret of all is that it’s not just about what you eat or how much exercise you get. Look for the trailer on Youtube.

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I am listening to …

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I am learning …

That there are all kinds of happinesses. Delight and beauty can be found in the smallest of things, like sweater mugs or a cozy chair by the fire; waiting for tulip bulbs to grow or opening big rustic doors and hearing Christmas music for the first time this year. It might take a moment to remind ourselves that it’s there. We only have to open our hearts.

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Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by.

Elizabeth Bishop

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Image by lee seonghak from Pixabay

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Closing Notes …

Thank you for dropping in today, I love your visits. Stay safe out there, and see you next time. Oh! And one more thing …

Post Script …

It’s come to my attention from one of you visitors that you haven’t seen a photo of our finished home. The last you saw of it was here almost two years ago, when I described the history of the land and the desire for our home to be sanctuary for all who enter. So here’s where we are today.

The Cleft

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Feature Image by Ralf Kunze from Pixabay

Life is so Daily/Living the Moment

Settling Leaves

Posted on by Joy / 6 Comments

Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.

Delia Owens

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Hello Friend,

I hope you will have a cup of tea or coffee with me today, from wherever you are. My own coffee sits beside me in a cup unfamiliar to me, among brightly coloured plastic children’s cups and blueberry muffin crumbs still on the table from breakfast.

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I write this from Sweetie’s home in Manitoba, two provinces away from my own. Sweetie and her hubby are off on a business vacation and The Cowboy and I have taken charge of the three grandboys. I’m sitting at the dining table which, as has been all the rage in recent years, is high, and requires tall chairs on which to sit. Because I need to have my feet flat on the floor, I’ve pulled up chairs on either side of me so I can rest my feet on their rungs. It works, but I’ll take a regular table any day, where my chair allows me to keep my feet grounded.

From my vantage point I can look out through glass patio doors into the large yard where leaves carpet the ground in bronze and buff and camel. Just two days ago those leaves were still clothing the trees in golden glory. And, if the weather app is right, we will have snow in the next day or two.

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Fallen leaves on the ground are the golden song of immortal creativity.

Amit Ray

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When we left home, almost all of the leaves from our trees had floated to the lawn, which was still as green as summer. Now, however, reports and pictures of snow have reached me. So, I’ll enjoy these last snowless days, here where I am, while I can.

And so it goes. Fallen leaves become blanketed in white snow until it warms into rivulets and streams, greening the earth to bloom and blossom into life and colour, until it’s time for the leaves to fall again.

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How the Leaves Came Down
by Susan Coolidge

"I'll tell you how the leaves came down,"
The great Tree to his children said:
"You're getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown,
Yes, very sleepy, little Red.
It is quite time to go to bed."

"Ah!" begged each silly, pouting leaf,
"Let us a little longer stay
Dear Father Tree, behold our grief!
'Tis such a very pleasant day
We do not want to go away."

So, for just one more merry day
To the great Tree the leaflets clung,
Frolicked and danced, and had their way,
Upon the autumn breezes swung,
Whispering all their sports among--

"Perhaps the great Tree will forget,
And let us stay until the spring,
If we all beg, and coax, and fret."
But the great Tree did no such thing;
He smiled to hear their whispering.

"Come, children, all to bed," he cried;
And ere the leaves could urge their prayer,
He shook his head, and far and wide,
Fluttering and rustling everywhere,
Down sped the leaflets through the air.

I saw them; on the ground they lay,
Golden and red, a huddled swarm,
Waiting till one from far away,
White bedclothes heaped upon her arm,
Should come to wrap them safe and warm.

The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
"Good-night, dear little leaves," he said;
And from below each sleepy child
Replied, "Good-night," and murmured,
"It is so nice to go to bed!"

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In this tumultuous, chaotic world of ours, it is grounding to know we can rely on the seasons to come and go as they always have. The sun will set, the sun will rise. Another day dawns.

If you find yourself lost and tumbling with each new horrific story in the news, look for someone who is grounded. It’s easy to spot them. They’re well-balanced, sensible, and reasonable. Most of all, they understand the importance of the ordinary things in life. And, there are more of them around than you might think. Usually, they’re just going about their business quietly and confidently. They know life is hard, but God is good. That’s where the confidence comes from.

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Thanks for the visit today. It’s been lovely to share a cup with you, whether you’re sitting among blueberry muffin crumbs, or cozily settled in your favourite chair. By the time you read this, I will be back home looking out over our white-blanketed lawn to the snow-dusted bales in the field beyond. And so it goes.

Stay safe out there, and see you next time.

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Even a leaf in the wind settles sometimes.

Alison Goodman

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All images from Pixabay. Feature Image by Rebekka D from Pixabay Poem, How the Leaves Came Down, is in the public domain and can be found here.

Living the Moment

September and the Bend in the Road

Posted on by Joy / 5 Comments

A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.

Helen Keller

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Hello Friend,

Welcome back! I’m so glad you’ve dropped in today. We’ve been having perfect September days, which is a blessing after such a tumultuous summer.

I have tea and cupcakes waiting out on the deck. Come on out and let’s enjoy this weather.

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Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the Fall.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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I don’t know about you, but for me September is the beginning of the new year. The air is fresh and pregnant with new beginnings. I buy new daytimers, feel hopeful about new goals, add new journals to my growing stash. And I can’t resist wandering the store to look at school supplies. The nostalgia and memories they bring! Yes, September is all that for me.

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The track of the golden autumn wound its bright way visibly through the green summer of the trees.

Wilkie Collins

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September feels fleeting too, at least it does where I live. All too soon the biting winds will arrive, ushering in grey days and dark nights. So I feel like I need to purposely take it in; to stand on the deck (sitting is not purposeful enough) and acknowledge how the sound of the rustling leaves is different this time of year. I must deliberately walk by the flower bed and applaud the zinnias for saving their most colourful songs until now; to praise the sunflowers, which were seeds the size of my pinky fingernail in May, now grown taller and straighter than I am.

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Image by Vijaya narasimha from Pixabay

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september,
teach me to 
soften
in change.
to learn the 
art
of release.
to savor the 
last of the wild blooms
before they go.
@emoryhall

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This September, the bend in the road is taking The Cowboy and me somewhere new. We’ve been cleaning out and rearranging. The Cowboy has been putting in extra storage shelves, finishing up the little kitchen downstairs, and making room in the shop. Then, my parents moved into a suite in our walkout basement.

The moving truck arrived this week with their furniture and possessions, and we all got to work unpacking and moving them in. Babe came out on her day off to help, reminiscing with Grandma whenever she came upon something she remembered from Grandma’s house. Old and treasured possessions in a new home, making it instantly cozy and comforting.

However, to feel at home will take time. This is a big bend in the road for them, having left their home and province of decades. But I’m so glad they’re here.

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In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that’s the way new leaves grow.

Amit Ray

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Change is hard, but having lived through many changing seasons myself I’ve learned that pain and beauty can exist side-by-side. And sometimes, the pain makes the beauty stand out even more if one only chooses to take it in.

And God is good.

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Everyone must make time to sit and watch the leaves change.

Elizabeth Lawrence

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Thanks so much for stopping by today, I’ve missed you! I hope we can have another visit before too long. Stay safe out there, and see you next time.

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Feature Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay All other images not captioned, by Jill Wellington of Pixabay.