a spirit of simplicity

YEAR once this piece of clay was a brick  now it has become a heart in 2014 i chose the word reach this year my theme word is BECOME I am not sure what the new year holds for me but I hope that I end up on the beach as a representation of love  abc wednesday wednesday around the world outdoor wednesday

I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take.   No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.   No Peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take Peace.   The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy. Take Joy.   And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away. — by Fra Giovanni Giocondo Fra Giovanni Giocondo (c.1435–1515) was a Renaissance pioneer, accomplished as an architect, engineer, antiquary, archaeologist, classical scholar, and Franciscan friar.  Today we remember him most for his reassuring letter to Countess Allagia Aldobrandeschi on Christmas Eve, 1513.

a few random thoughts ~ One year I walked through the Christmas tree farm just before the mad rush. I had no plans to purchase a tree so the pressure was off. I just took my camera for a stroll. I got the best images and this is one of them that I have doctored up. ~ we have colored lights on our tree this year for the first time in a long while. Those boys like the colored lights more so, of course, we went right out and purchased new lights. I like the white kind the best but I like those boys more than I like white lights. ~ Every morning I make coffee in my french press. I love the whole process of making it and I love the way it sounds as I pour the water in. It doesn't stay hot very long though.... ~ I lost my copy of It's a Wonderful Life. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find it available to watch either on line or on demand? We have to wait until they show it (with commercials) on Saturday night. I'm going

our beautiful serendipity family black and white wednesday

in the gloaming   at Christmas tide on a rather tiny island black and white wednesday wednesday around the world abc wednesday -water outdoor wednesday

i am tangled up in you have been forever your ring-tone is a spacecraft landing on the rooftop we two spinning together  with angels and lunatics we shall endeavor now to tread upon this planet and spread what love we have before all's lost and say hello the sunday whirl

in the morning sunlight christmas candy glimmers enchanting with it's sweet colors pretty enough just to look at.... texture tuesday

shiny underneath today is my mother's 80th birthday and tomorrow is my sister's 50th underneath what we look like lies the real beauty  decorations fresh colorful Scavenger hunt sunday  I didn't quite get to them all.... it's OK though

tomorrow my mother will celebrate her 80th birthday and my sister will celebrate her 50th the next day momentous occasions I think that the beauty lies beneath the milestones beneath the noisy holidays beneath the layers of leftover wrapping paper and half glasses of wine remaining in  bottles   old photographs i find the beauty in the quiet ride home as the sky is darkening and a sepia film developing  over everything that is where i find the beauty not so much in what we say but in how we hold each other here is a link to the poem I wrote for my mother in my mother's garden photo hunt saturday

these are a few of my favorite things ~ a bit of lamplight from the corner table for these early dark afternoons tiny brown paper packages tied up with string  peppermint sticks by the jarful friends and family around us friday finds

PEACE the second candle of advent is lit for peace may the hush of peace settle over our world this season may you feel it  and hear it and see it and carry it in your heart ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Let peace begin with me Let this be the moment now. With every step I take Let this be my solemn vow. To take each moment And live each moment In peace eternally. Let there be peace on earth And let it begin with me this song was written in 1955 by husband and wife Sy Miller and Jill Jackson first performed at a retreat in California for a group of young people  who were from a wide variety of religious, ethnic and socioeconomic backrounds after the retreat these people came down off the mountain and spread this song every where they went history of hymns

the thing about gingerbread zombies is that we eat them 1440 little things thursday

 we are in the midst of a very slow moving  nor'easter heavy rain, wild winds and super tides I suppose that one would need a vaporimeter  to determine the exact vapor pressure of this storm I wish that it was snow.... but don't tell anyone saying that kind of stuff around here isn't exactly the way to win friends  watery wednesday outdoor wednesday abc wednesday

2015 reading challenges these are the challenges I will be participating in key word challenge January- silent Quiet February - Key, water, lie, chase, heir, once On a Farther Shore The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson William Souder I believe this may be a bit of a stretch but this is a biography of Rachel Carson who wrote the book Silent Spring which was the impetus for the  environmental movement in the 1960's. March - kind, face, power, city, blue, night, to April - dream, prince, long, wind, rose, the, rock May - Ash, road, thief, bend, in, far June - my, together, whisper, win, soul, sleep July - sun, unto, energy, fate, high, look Sundial of the Seasons Hal Borland August - fall, boy, glass, heart, lost, now September - color, touch, life, day, how, sweet October - ghost, home, beach, away, test, number November - rise, holiday, and, little, call, dark December - space, mirror, over, flower, trap, cold road trip chal

he came to this rather tiny island  at 6:00 in the evening after work she turned on the Christmas lights just at sunset so they would come into view as he drove over the causeway and into the shimmering quiet of their evening together poetry jam

brown paper packages  tied up with string texture tuesday

This brings me joy You can see our house all lit up in the back ground.  The Christmas tree stand is in the beach park right across the street so our serendipitous family doesn't have far to walk it home and carry it up the stairs.  white A white pear vase I bought at the Christmas fair  tree stripes Ever so patiently she threaded the striped Twine through the pinprick holes  In the tiny  whale ornaments.  shape We made cinnamon applesauce ornaments in the shape of whales scavenger hunt sunday

memories traipsed through her hallways like filets of time  some days she just feigned indifference sustaining her cape of invisibility fanning the flame of her small fire her heart  a cavernous cave where the chains of Jacob Marley  echoed through a red and green haze deranged and derailed and too late to exchange and some days she wondered why she didn't break under the strain the sunday whirl just thought that this is rather depressing...but not autobiographical although I dabble lightly in the dark I live in the sunshine... i am annoyingly cheerful and ever more so during the Christmas season

the PTO christmas tree stand is open in the lowlands We can see this from our kitchen window the mothers and fathers volunteering at the stand when the sunsets they light a fire in an old metal barrel and gather around it to keep warm You can see the dune grasses in the image and the wind coming off the Atlantic get's pretty chilly Children run around with each other father's tie trees to the tops of cars with rope grandmothers bring hot cocoa and homemade cookies to the helpers little things thursday thursday favorite things My town shoot out

let us not be unobservant  to the plight of those around us where there is want where there are tears where there is loneliness let us sow what plenty we may have and cheer and the gifts of good friendship and let us look to our own hearts and leave them not unamended for thereby some have entertained angels unaware abc wednesday

 jugs in the cupboard wish cheers of the season upon all who enter texture tuesday

"Not what we say about our blessings but how we use them is the true measure of our thanksgiving" P.T. Purkiser It is not enough to be grateful It is not enough to recognize our blessings we must share them we must give them away we must find those that have not and use what we have to bless them otherwise it is all for naught " every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity, an obligation, every possession, a duty." John D. Rockefeller  Noblesse oblige little things thursday

T is for.... turkey tryptophan thanksgiving most especially thanksgiving I cannot possibly express the ways in which I am blessed For what ever reason I was set here, in this place, at this time,  to share a life with these people there are not words or expressions or even emotions enough ABC Wednesday outdoor wednesday

hydrangeas and japanese lanterns I am recycling a few old photographs lately while I slowly rejoin the universe I was at a complete stop while I was sick and I don't want to rush back into the hustle and bustle that this time of year brings I am going to keep each day slow texture tuesday

the good I have been feeling better....slowly recovering from bi-lateral pneumonia the fun Joe's oldest son is staying with us  this weekend was our weekend with his younger sons so I had a houseful of McGrath boys!  No picture as I've been too tired to play around with my camera the random  this is absolutely random I pulled it out of an old photo file I've not one idea where it is or why or when I took it..... the good, the random, the fun the good, the random, the fun

Chrysanthemums on the sunny kitchen table mellow yellow monday macro monday i love macro nature notes blo-ma

feather the saturday photo hunt

I have been very ill with bi-lateral pneumonia these past three weeks. While I have not been able to go outside much I have been able to notice the changes that November brings to our rather tiny island.  The Atlantic has changed to a darker and less inviting color  the scrub brush along the dunes has changed color as well slowly the golds and russets of October have given over to the browns and blacks and grays of  November I am recovering slowly but I tire very easily. I plan my days carefully so as to get the most done before I have to come home and rest. It is a good time to take stock and be thankful for the beauty that surrounds me friday finds friday my town

a pear is a sensual fruit. ripe and round and sort of plump almost voluptuous in shape soft, but not too soft beautiful in the light almost dancing on the kitchen windowsill fits nicely in the palm of your hand delicious and slightly fragrant I once had a pear tree growing outside my bedroom window I would lie awake in the moonlight and listen to fat pears  dropping onto the grass below us friday finds

we live on a rather tiny island between two beaches Short beach on one side is for people and black rock -aka, dog beach is open to dogs year round Friday my town

o is for outside where we often wander when the day is waning abc wednesday outdoor wednesday

Two paths diverged in a yellow wood And knowing I could not travel both  And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth Robert Frost the wood is littered with yellow leaves from the birches and beach trees bittersweet bursting open yellow leaves with red berries and dappled sunshine on the path mellow yellow monday texture tuesday

a perfect day I was not familiar with this song so I played it on youtube.  it seems, somehow, depressing to me...almost sarcastic.  It is rather sad that he died so young (71...seems younger and younger to me) For me, a perfect day is spending time with the ones I love or a romp on the beach while supper is cooking. song-ography

fun picture rock over the summer we went to see the rock band  Yes so much fun!! saturday photo hunt photo hunting on saturday

this was taken last winter... it can get rather lonely and foreboding on an island  in Janurary a rather tiny island has mood swings let's just say she can get mighty pissed off  in the dead of winter    give you the cold shoulder  or toss a few boulders up onto the causeway during a high tide and leave all the folks stranded here till she feels like she's proved her point then go all quiet and still again like nothing ever happened friday my town shoot out

October at the seashore friday finds

the path through  the hundred acre wood leads to the playground sometimes there are groundhogs  in the pathway when they see us they waddle  into the tall brush reeds where the birds and mices scuttle about gathering tiny seeds and acorns  for an October feast nature notes outdoor wednesday little things thursday

our beautiful world autumn our life is frittered away by detail simplify, simplify Thoreau friend  i am always comforted with a cuppen tae new moon above  scavenger hunt sunday