Pumpkin Sunrise

  We've been home for over a week and I just might be recovered from the travels. I am pleasantly back into the ordinary swing of things and doing the activities that bring me joy. Such as:   - walking daily, weather permitting - exercising - menu planning (not enjoyable but I do like to eat!) - knitting daily - easing in a bit of sketching and watercoloring - reading daily - trying my best to be PRESENT - journalling - connecting with family While it took me a week to get back into my daily groove, Frodo needed three days to recover from the kennel stay. He might have too much fun and bark more than he should. Thankfully he had a grooming appointment and looks dapper. I pulled out my little watercolor notebook and quickly sketched and painted some daffodils.  While the weather was spectacular these past few days, it looks like winter will edge back in and --gulp-- with it some snow showers. Oh March you do love to do this!! What  brings you joy?

  Yesterday it rained all day and most of the snow melted and today I woke up to intense 'flurries' that could or could not accumulate, that's to be determined. I know why it's snowing, I put the heavy coats and the winter boots in a different closet. I jinxed the warm up!  This week has been 'busy' with a splattering of random appointments strategically placed nearly every day breaking up the rhythm I enjoy. We met our new dentist earlier this week (and passed the exam!) and now I think we are done with establishing care with new medical providers. Phew!  I enjoyed reading your comments from last Friday's post about saving things for special occasions and the special occasions never come. I have plans for my deep stash with yarns that are over 20 years old. In my defense, I inherited much of my mother's yarn stash when she died in 1998. I have yarn that I bought in 1990 that I have yet to knit up! Right now I'm thinking I should always have some kin...

  Lately I've been thinking about what brings me joy. I revisit this theme over and over throughout the year and try to tweak my days so they reflect what fills my bucket. My challenge is that I have many many things that bring me joy and trying to fit all of them into my days is nearly impossible. I keep a track of the following in my planner: knitting, journaling, sketching/watercoloring, reading and cross stitching. I'm not strict at what I do each day I just like to see how I end up allocating my time. Anyways, when I eat well and exercise daily I feel fantastic and that brings me joy. I keep track of those activities as well as daily meditation and yoga. Good health is a top priority for have a good day. Keeping my creative pursuits revolving in and out during my days makes for a delightful existence! Since moving here I've been managing any perceived stresses (usually self generated!). I want to sit down at the end of the day and feel like I enjoyed the day, lived it ...

  Every single morning I write in my journal about the day before and anything else I'm pondering about. I've been doing this daily journal writing for years and love the ritual of picking up my Lamy fountain pen and Moleskine notebook and beginning my day in the very best possible way. I pour myself a cup of coffee into a 'current' favorite mug and sip away while writing. Sadly one of my favorite favorite mugs sprung a leak. So sad. However, that lets me shop to find new favorite mugs along the way. The sprung leak mug was over 30 years old so it served me well. art journal In my daily planner (not the writing journal), I write what I'd like to accomplish in that particular day. Sometimes I am really good at meeting these loose goals and sometimes I am not. I just move them onto the next day or the next week.  While sitting in darkness and silence sipping coffee, I play fetch with Holly. This particular fetch game really isn't a true fetch game. I throw a mouse...

  Hello! How are you doing?  This past week I've been pondering about a mindfulness prompt in a book I'm reading throughout the year, A Year of Living Mindfully by Anna Black. It's a really nice book and I've enjoyed the prompts throughout this year. Anyways the prompt this week was to consider what you believe to be nourishing or draining. I've thought about this all week long. My obvious nourishing events are knitting and reading. But over the course of the week I've added some surprising concepts to the nourishing list and challenged my draining list. I had the opportunity to help my cousin at her house with her preparing for company this past week. I found helping her nourishing to me, an added bonus was making her very happy. I also initially considered walking 150 minutes draining because of the amount of time it takes to get that done and I'm not doing other 'things' but then I changed my mind because I am nourishing my physical health which i...

  Right now I'm sitting in the kitchen before dawn writing this post. I've been reading many books at the same time about mindfulness and taking notes. My sister and I are reading together Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Since October, I've been reading and learning about being mindful in my everyday movements and meditating daily. I'm learning I have a lot to learn.  My husband and I were discussing that this new house does not feel like home ... yet. We feel like we are on an extended vacation. He thinks it's because we eat lunch on the patio daily weather permitting and that's something we would do on vacation. I think it's like a condo rental with all of my 'stuff' in it. When I go to cook it's weird trying to remember where everything is, just like vacation. Yesterday the electrician was here updating the original electrical panel (eep!) and the electricity was turned off for five hours. That then felt like we were at camp. We are...

  Good morning to you all, how are you? Right now it's early morning and I'm sitting at my kitchen table listening to the birds outside. At this house we can feed the birds without bear activity. What a delight! I've heard there are foxes but so far we haven't seen one yet. There are also deer that come right up to the house, so bold.  When I do my morning routine that consists of journaling, praying and meditating,  I ask myself two key questions. I never write down my answers, I just mull them over in my head. Sometimes the mulling over gives me some insight on myself. Question #1: What would make today a Great Day? Question #2: How will I make today a Great Day? A great day for me is usually some knitting time and reading time. I'm finding that these questions I ask myself are more about how I want the tone of my day to be and how I want to feel and not necessarily a litany of tasks to check off from a list. I want to feel relaxed, calm and content. Going down a ...

  How has your week been?  We are knee deep in decluttering and the first phase of packing up a house we've been living in for sixteen years. I try to squelch the little whispers in my head that get overwhelmed by the process. I just wake up, do my morning routine (mostly journalling and praying), get ready, eat breakfast, meditate and then tackle the to-do list. I have a moving notebook where I'm capturing ALL the tasks. I'm getting it done box by blessed box. Yesterday I finished packing up the dining room (yay!). That room was 'easy'. The rooms with closets where I can stuff them from top to bottom are the challenge, remember sixteen years of stuffing closets. I'm finding the more I let go the easier it is to let go of more stuff. We are paying the movers by weight so that is a contributing factor as well. I go through closets and boxes and have my internal questions: 'does this bring me joy?' 'is this meaningful to me?' 'do I want to pay ...

  Good morning! How are all of you doing? I've got lots to say so sit back, grab a cup of coffee or tea and let's begin. This week has been busy. We continue to declutter and unearth all sorts of treasures (junk) and I wonder why oh why am I keeping this stuff. I have systematically picked a section of a room and just go through the belongings and make a big pile on the kitchen table to then put directly into our SUV.  Earlier in the week, we donated a second car load and now we have a third load ready to donate. Slowly we are making progress.  Yesterday I fell in the hallway on a droplet of water that I splashed and did not clean up. I sprained my ankle, at least I hope it's just that, I see the doctor this morning to confirm. I am looking forward to his humor and teasing about how it's 'just' sprained. I don't know, I guess because I have RA and joint issues, I freak out when I injure myself and want to make sure all is well.  In case you're keeping sc...

  I'm amazed at how much I take for granted in my surroundings and my life. I live in a small rural town and my husband and I take the same daily walks down two of our adjoining roads. You might say it's a 'same old, same old' way of living. I thrive on sameness, honestly the more mundane my days can be the more content I am. I eat the same breakfast every day (cheerios)!  This week we put a pause on the Great Decluttering of our house (yay) and ventured to towns that are close to us. We sat on a bench and watched geese and goslings playing by the river and we picnicked outdoors at a park near a beautiful covered bridge. This particular bridge is retired from car crossings and filled with picnic tables. We took Frodo with us who was thrilled to be exploring new places. His nose went into overdrive trying to decode the information. He thoroughly enjoyed our outings. No matter where we go with Frodo, there is someone who stops us on our excursions and tells us about their...

  How was your Thanksgiving (for those of you in the USA)? I had a lovely Thanksgiving. It was just the two of us and I enjoyed the non-traveling and the cosiness of being home. I missed the kids and I missed my family. I had phone calls and zoom meetings and that bridge the gap of being together.  I've decorated my house earlier this year because I can. It's our third year with the 'smaller' tree because of Miss Holly the Cat and her inquisitiveness. So far she has not tried to climb into the tree. We have the tree bungee corded to the wall just in case. I'm one step ahead of her, or so I would like to think so. Because I can, I am choosing to focus on creativity and mindfulness. Each morning I set an intention and think of what I want my day to be like. Sometimes I follow those intentions and sometimes I forget those intentions. The beauty of each morning consists of a brand new slated day - the newness and openness is a treasure. Because I can, I repeatedly list ...

  Lately it seems that each day that comes and goes is just like the previous one. How have you been? Have you been able to make the days feel different? Today I am planning on wrapping some Christmas gifts and I'm toying with decorating the house this weekend which would be a week early, just because I can. I hope to have a walk after dinner and take advantage of the milder weather. The local radio station said they will start playing holiday tunes, that was a bright beacon of delight to hear! When I was in high school, I loved Christmas and the days leading up to it. I would wear jingle bells tied to my shoes and I'm amazed that the teachers and Sisters at my Catholic high school allowed this. Maybe they liked the 'jingle jangle' or maybe they had great restraint at being annoyed.  I upgraded my phone after waiting since March to do so. Unfortunately I lost October and November photos due to a rookie mistake. I was so consumed with making sure my husband's photos ...

  Good morning! How has your week been? Overall my week has been a good week. I've been thoroughly enjoying watching the leaves change color around my neighborhood. The oak trees are starting to do their leaf dump, in the next week or so the oak trees will be finished. Autumn goes much too quickly for me! All of the holiday plans in the next coming months are completely undone and I keep trying to think of ways to gather without gathering. Can a fire pit keep you warm outside for socializing in late fall early winter? I don't know. Also if it's raining sleeting or snowing that makes it a little nuts to be outside. If you have any suggestions let me know! always a sunrise photo neighborhood sign I saw my kidney doctor yesterday and she said 'you are too healthy to be in my clinic'. So I'm discharged!  That was quite exciting. I was so upset when I was referred to her back in February, but now I will miss her, she is a kind, patient and caring doctor. I'm in t...