a spirit of simplicity

 ~ ~ ~ I had my grandchildren over the weekend. We went to Gas House beach. At low tide you are able to walk out to Gerry Island and we went searching for mermaids and pirates.  We didn't see any but we did see the flag flying on the crawler crane at Little Harbour boat yard.  Marblehead has a tradition of flying the flag on the boat yard cranes around Independence day. ~ I spent Sunday night at my daughter's house. She and her husband were gifted tickets to  see a show so I said I would babysit. I had to be at work at 7:30 the next morning so I  slept on the couch and slipped out early like a thief in the night.  She has a green thumb, even her house plants are beautiful. This one looked so pretty sitting in the living room window I just had take a picture.  ~ We've been having some strange weather. It has been pouring down rain, humid, hot, cold, dry.... It's impossible to figure out what to wear. We get the children at my school outside either way and they love to pl

  ~ ~ ~ I had my grandchildren for the weekend! It was rainy on Saturday but Sunday was hot and we spent the morning at the beach.  We found hermit crabs, mermaid shells, and lots of pretty seaweed. So. Much. Fun. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ thankful Thursday little things Thursday

  This is the table that my son-in-law made for me. I have some tiny, pottery vases filled with bits of Lavender and other little things something gone to seed and a feather... When they were growing up, my children often said that they wished we had new things in our house. But everything in my home has a story and most of it is old. As I sit to drink my coffee in the early morning hours  I always think of my son-in-law in his workshop building the table and my grandson helping his father sand the wood, my granddaughter playing underfoot,  my daughter making dinner and holding the baby. The wooden table top is reclaimed from the jail of the small town my son-in-law grew up in. He has a friend who was doing some work there and they let him keep the old wood. I think of it as a table of amazing grace Once upon a time a sinner may have entered that Andy Griffith jail cell lost but come out found. Blind but now they see. "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

 ~ ~ ~ t Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. Psalm 65:11 KJV I once lived in a house where there was an old pear tree just outside my bedroom window. I would lay there in the night, full moon shining in the window, listening to ripe pears plopping down onto the grass beneath them. I think of that old tree when I read these words. Pears dropping their fatness and singing. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ scripture and a snapshot lets have coffee grace and truth

~ ~ ~ A rainy morning at the Farmer's Market  It's quite early in the season here. In fact I am at the opening day! Here in New England we have long cold winters and short outdoor growing seasons. We've had a chilly, grey, somewhat rainy June so I'm not expecting much in the way of produce. After the farmer's market I drove over to Salem for a vegan market.  I've been looking for a foundation and a bronzer that I can use in the summer time and I found one I really like! ~ The rain cleared just long enough for me to go for a walk when I got home. You can see the clouds above Gerry Island. It poured again after I got home.  ~ I had Monday off of work for Juneteenth and my daughter came down to visit with my grandchildren. We walked to the beach and then went out to lunch followed by a trip to the ice cream parlour! I love this picture of Abigail and Natalie. Abby is telling us all about mermaids and seashells, and princesses, and unicorns... Natalie looks as if sh

  ~ ~ ~ My husband and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate our anniversary. My class parents gave me a gift certificate to a swanky restaurant in my town. Every thing was delicious! I even wore my new dress. I think it looks like something I might have worn to my 8th grade prom! I remember that Brendan OLeary asked me to go. He picked my up on his bicycle and I rode on the back. The bridge over the old train tracks was covered in honeysuckle and I brushed against them as he went pedaling past. I am thankful for those innocent times and that I still live in this beautiful town with my husband.  Sadly, Brendan passed away a few years ago but I will always remember his sweet spirit.  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ little things Thursday Thankful Thursday

  ~ ~ ~ Everything I need to know I have learned in my mother's garden. Nature notes communal global

 ~ ~ ~ I can't say that I have a favourite time of year but... I do love the end of June and the beginning of July. The very beginning of summer.  The days are warm but the nights are still nice and cool. I absolutely love to hear the birdsong at dawn and to smell the Atlantic ocean through the open window. I keep my bedroom colours somewhat cool.  We have a muslin quilt that is white with little blue fish all over it. I ordered a native american 8 pointed star quilt on Etsy and I love it.  My granddaughter is always asking me what my favourite colour is  and I tell her, "Pink, and green, and blue, and white...with a bit of sand and sun colours as well." Our bedroom floor is carpeted. I wish it was old hardwood but we make do with what we've got.  We live in a tiny little old ocean town on a tiny little narrow, twisty one-way lane that is just big enough for one car to travel down with no parking on either side.  The bottom of our road, where we live, spits out at the

  ~ ~ ~ t The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.  He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,  for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 ~ ~ ~ When my mother passed away in 2021 she donated her body to Harvard Medical School for use in research and education.  Recently, there have been indictments against an employee, his wife, and others that are so vile, and sub-human that I can't even speak of them. We have received notification from Harvard that while they cannot say for sure right now it is quite probable that my mother'

 ~ ~ ~ all is still save for the rising  of a mist over the belt of a creek  and the filtered shadows of the trees marking time on a verdant afternoon the crow,  a lone sentinel in a summer forest ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Sunday whirl

  ~ ~ ~ On Sunday I went to a pow wow.  I got to listen to some wonderful native drumming and singing and see some beautiful dancers. The man in the top picture was a really good dancer and the two old gentlemen in the bottom pictures  were brothers. They were dressed in beautiful regalia. I noticed that they paid special attention to the children that were dancing.  The most important thing is to pass on their culture and traditions so that they will not be lost.  I am not Native American but have always been drawn to their culture.  Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Ta Hool Hool Shute is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one kno

  ~ ~ ~ I was at a pow-wow over the weekend. It's no small thing to pass on your culture and traditions to your young. That's the only way that it won't be lost.  I am of Irish descent and not native but my ancestors traveled to the United States in steerage escaping persecution, genocide and the great hunger so I understand some of what it means to try to keep your heritage alive. I am thankful that I got to listen to some great drumming and singing, and to see some beautiful dancing. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ little things Thursday thankful Thursday

 ~ ~ ~ t Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6 It doesn't matter what kind of a house you live in, how cute your curtains are, or what kinds of crafts or dinners you make for your family, if your words are not seasoned with love.  Who wants to be in a house where the inhabitants are using words that are not kind, or caring,  or loving toward one another.  All of us have good days and bad days. Some days we are stressed out, or sad,  or hungry for comfort that we are not receiving.  These are the times for communicating with our loved ones with honor and respect. These are the times to say, "I'm feeling down. I need your blessing." Or, "What can I do to help? You seem a little off." We should think of our bodies as temples, or houses.  Each of us a living embodiment working together for the good of all.  And so our words should matter. They should be reflective of ourse

  ~ ~ ~ t For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his flory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through is Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts  through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled  with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19 My sister is living with stage 4 colon cancer. She has been since 2009 when she was first diagnosed. She was 7 years cancer free but it did return in her sacrum, which is a little bone near your coxic.  Since then she has been through chemo, radiology, and all kinds of medications to treat the cancer that is never going to go away. She has been told that it's not a matter of if it comes back, it's a matt

  ~ ~ ~ The summer before my mother passed away we planted a peony garden.  She had ordered some from a fancy garden store and my daughter gifted us a bunch from her garden. It's been three years since my mum has been gone and this year I feel like I may finally be able  to get down into the garden without her. I've just let things go the past few years. I haven't even gone into the yard at all as it's been just too painful to be there without her.  The peonies are beautiful though. They are blooming like crazy and I know she would be so happy about that.  ~ My older daughter, Hannah, is in Spain this week. She has been sending some beautiful pictures to me. I'm so happy that she has been able to go to Europe. She is there by herself and though I am so happy  for her to have this experience, I will also be very happy when her plane lands back on  this side of the Atlantic and she is safe in her home. I like all my loved ones to be home and accounted for.  ~ I comple

  ~ ~ ~ I found a bubble machine that looked like a unicorn at Marshal's the other day and brought it when I visited my grandchildren over the weekend! They loved it! We went out for ice cream as well and it was delicious! I'm so thankful for every opportunity I get to spend with my grandchildren. My heart overflows! thankful Thursday little things Thursday

 ~ ~ ~ ♥♥  As I look outside my window ♥♥ Cloudy and grey. It's been this way since Saturday and will continue being cold, rainy, and grey all week. It's rather discouraging but we do desperately need the rain.      ♥♥  Right now I am ♥♥   I am sitting at the kitchen table drinking my coffee. I will have to leave for work soon. I teach toddlers in a Montessori school.              ♥♥  Thinking and pondering ♥♥   I went to a new church on Sunday and I am thinking about how thirsty I am for the word of God in a worship setting. It's been a while since I have attended a church though I do read my bible regularly.          ♥♥ Listening to ♥♥ It's very quiet here at six in the morning.         ♥♥  How am I feeling ♥♥  I am feeling well. I wish I could motivate myself to get out for a morning walk but here I sit typing.          ♥♥  On the breakfast plate ♥♥  whole wheat cereal with oat milk, blueberries, and bananas. And coffee.               ♥♥   On the lunch plate ♥♥   sob

 ~ ~ ~ t Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. rather train yourself for Godliness 1 Timothy 4:7 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ let's have coffee scripture and a snapshot grace and truth

 ~ ~ ~ I am thankful for the gardens that my mother planted. Even though she is gone from this earth I feel her loving care with every blossom. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ thankful thursday Little things Thursday

 ~ ~ ~ I met my daughters, Hannah and Bonnie, in Gloucester on Saturday afternoon.  It is a beautiful town on the coast of Massachusetts. We walked around Main street for a bit and did some shopping. Hannah wanted to check out a really cool old book store which sold both new and old books. I picked up something by N. Scott Momaday and also a little book called Suddenly Sixty since I just turned sixty last month. I don't feel like it happened suddenly  though...it was a long time coming!  It was such a pleasure to be with both of my daughters without the grandchildren.  Don't get me wrong. I am absolutely head over heels in love with my grandchildren. It's just that when I'm with them I tend to give them all of my attention and I don't get to spend any quality time with my daughter.  We went for an early dinner at a beautiful restaurant and sat on the deck overlooking the Atlantic. It was such a wonderful treat! ~ Sunday I took a short walk to Crocker park which is r

~ ~ ~ t And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, sayeth the spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.  Revelation 14:13 King James Version ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Scripture and a snapshot