a spirit of simplicity

Y is for...Year Me I love you Joe and I got married on 2 May, 2016. At the Town Hall on this rather tiny sort of an island where we live.  still laughing I walked the beach one summer's day while Joe and the boys climbed a cliff They waved to me from the top  It looked like the YMCA song winter wonderland We didn't have a lot of snow in 2016 but we did have some beautiful sunsets birthday  my beautiful grandson, Verne  born on 12 October, 2016 friends a Saturday afternoon in bean-town I was inspired I went to the In Bloom Conference  over the summer. It was held at the Antioch university campus in Shelburne, Vermont, on the shores of Lake Champlain. I was inspired to be a better teacher. In March I started working at a new job teaching toddlers at Bright Horizons at Beacon Hill. I absolutely love it.  spring fever I happened upon some toadstools growing along the forest path I stopped and ma

From the parking structure at the train stop I can see out over the Atlantic to the rather tiny almost an island where I live sometimes there is a ship or two sailing past on the horizon on their way into Boston....just like me. the Sweet shop around the corner from Beacon Hill  all decorated like a magical faerie land for Christmas and filled with chocolates and goodies!!  It seems like the Advent season and Christmas flew by this year! I put all the Christmas things away on Monday.  I normally wait till closer to New Year's but the tree was dying fast and I wasn't sure it would last till the end of the week. As much as I love having all the house decorated for the season it's always so nice to have it all cleared out and clean again. Christmas was very special for us this year although it was a year with some pretty heavy losses in our family it was also a year with some pretty

Nana and Verne It's not such a little thing to hold your first grandchild on his very first Christmas day! It was pretty exciting for me and I think he liked it too. Little Things Thursday

Lay them carefully away, Trimmings from our tree so gay, Rainbow-light and frosted ball, Silver star high over all, Santa Claus and candy-cane Reindeer in a jaunty train, Dolly with a piquant face, Red and green and tinsel lace, Lay them carefully away For another happy day! For another day next year With the children gathered here! Yellow-hair and Curly-lash, Dark-haired girl with drimson ssh, Brother growing tall and wise, Happy wonder in his eyes. Hearth-fire will you burn as bright As you did this Christmas night? Can ensuing days be spent Harboring this deep content? Farewell little Christmas tree, You have made a memory! -Vera Keevers Smith

She woke before dawn the streets of the village were covered with snow a dusting of white on the bare trees  white frost settling on the grassy fields coloured lights of the Christmas tree the only brightness in the early morning peace drifted down and joy and love and hope for the day shopping and a movie this afternoon an early dinner and the Christmas parade come evening.... but for now there was the quiet of a morning watching the sun rise up over the ocean ABC Wednesday wordless Wednesday Watery songlines  Yarn along coffee for your heart Wake up Wednesday Women with intention A Wise Woman Builds Her Home  

the good today is Joe's son Ryan's 30th birthday! Happy birthday Ryan! the fun Saturday night was the Christmas parade on this rather tiny island Santa and Mrs. Claus headed off island and back to the north pole the random "It came without ribbons, it came without tags, it came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore then the grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store, What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." The good, the random, the fun Monday musings Monday mellow yellow making your home sing In a vase on Monday  I love macro macro monday 2 The art of home

t But Mary kept all these things  and pondered them in her heart Luke 2:19 ~ ~ ~ spiritual Sundays through my lens  Sunday Scripture Blessings

She never thought she'd make it this far back in the day she was groovy taking a stand against the man and the machine but she was just a symbol now, of another time once the stars collided in the sky above her bright and colourful now she saw them grinding slowly to a halt one foot in the grave and the other resting on a couch she could barely get out of she played  her cards and rested her head on the cusions told her grandson to turn down the volume "you call that crap is music.... back in my day, now we had music..."

Sweet baby Verne is already two months old I spent Thursday morning drinking coffee slowly in an old fashioned lunch and breakfast joint  that was all decked out for Christmas. I love doing that. From the town landing at Marblehead even the fishing boats are dressed for the season Tuck Finn has a tendency to walk up between me and whatever  device I happen to be on at the time.... but this is might be taking things a little too far. I saw this on facebook I love it so much I want to make one of my own on the beach but not till it warms up a bit... Friday fave fives skywatch friday Friday my town shoot out soulfood friday    Willy Nilly Friday Weekend reflections 

I feel the loss of you I suppose as one grows older  the losses mount up like unpaid bills or clean clothes that must be folded and put away a pile in the corner somewhere that constantly has your attention though you go about your daily life as if it wasn't there see a day on the calendar  that no longer holds meaning  no card to send out - no call to make buy a tree and decorate trying not to remember that this is the first Christmas First New Year's  First Valentine's First anniversary  of when you were no longer a person walking on this earth I suppose as we get older we learn to carry our wounds with us rather than crumble under the weight of them But I wish that you were still here with us and carefree and woundless like when you were a girl before we knew how heavy wounds could be ABC Wednesday wordless Wednesday Yarn along coffee for your heart Women with intenti

For Today 12 December, 2016 Looking out my window It's rather cloudy and grey. We had a bit of snow during the night but it turned into a cold rain this morning. The streets are quiet, the seas are a bit choppy and it's almost to high tide. I am thinking I have been a bit down this season. There is such a lot going on and I feel overwhelmed. I miss Ashley. Just to type her name brings me to a new set of tears. This is the first Christmas without her but that sounds so cliche. She was my step-child and I hadn't seen her in 4 years and yet I raised her as if she were my own, I raised her beside my own. I feel somehow as if I am not allowed to grieve so because she was not mine. But she was mine in my heart and my heart aches that she is gone. I am thankful We have Verne! He is such a beautiful grandson! I am so happy for my daughter. One of my favorite things low lying light I am c

the good I wasn't able to get to see Verne this weekend..or last weekend either. My daughter sent me this picture....he is so good!!  the fun I have been down and out with a wicked cold. It may not seem so fun to be stuck in the house all weekend...but it was. the random I walked over to the Boston Winter at City Hall Plaza during my lunch break It's very cool and I think it will be even prettier  when it gets dark and all the lights are lit. The good, the random, the fun Monday musings Monday mellow yellow making your home sing The art of home

in the morning I rise with the dawn I like to see it stretching out over the horizon at the very end of the Atlantic ribbons of colour where the world once ended it's all silence at this time of day. The wind is not rustling the dune grass or the dry branches the seas are silvery calm they make almost no noise at all as the slip over the rocky shore I light the third candle on the advent wreath t rejoice evermore 1 Thessalonians 5:16 ~ ~ ~ spiritual Sundays through my lens  Sunday Scripture Blessings

First and foremost my sweet baby Verne My favoritest boy in the universe! We have our tree up and decorated. It is so pretty. I went to City Hall Plaza during my lunch break. The new Boston Winter park is up and running. It's great! It will look even better in the dark with all the lights lit. Well...that's only three this week. Sorry, I'm down with a wicked cold. Friday fave fives Floral Friday fotos Weekend wind down party skywatch friday Friday my town shoot out soulfood friday