"Perhaps the chiefest attraction of a garden is that occupation can always be found there...with mind and fingers busy, cares are soon forgotten."
-Alicia Amherst, horticulturalist
(Victoria Magazine Facebook post)
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Tip for a Tuesday....
Ever find yourself soaking up wisdom and ideas from a book you are reading, hoping you will be able to recall them at will?
But alas, your memory is as faulty as mine.
Here's a tip: Tuck a slip of paper (I use the back of bookmarks) into the book you are reading and keep a pen handy. Make note of page numbers for sentences, quotes or paragraphs you wish to remember or refer back to.
Then store the slip of paper in the book for future reference.
Easy Peasy!
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Thursday's Thought for the Day....
"After all, it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life."
~ Evelyn Underhill
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Wednesday's Wisdom....
The things over which I have no control .... like today's weather.
We, like many in the Tri-State area, awoke this morning to a coating of snow and ice on the ground. Not the usual experience for an April morning, but then this has been a rather unusual weather year.
As my day began to unfold, I started to look for a possible "lesson" from Mother Nature's overnight joke, (a habit which can sometimes cause much sighing from my daughters.) And then I found it.
Lesson: I have absolutely no control over what the weather is.
Similarly, there are countless events in my life over which I have absolutley no control.
Having recognized this, what is my approach to this day? Just to get on with it.
I took a few photos of the snow in the yard to record it.
I went on an errand in my car, driving slower than I normally have to do on a Spring day, in deference to the snowy covering on the road, but I didn't let the snow keep me from going out.
Now, the sun is shining, the ice and snow are melting, and it looks to be a beautiful day out there.
I'm reminded by this stumble in Spring's arrival that the majority of things going on in my life, today, are out of my control. My job is to take care of those things which are mine to do, and leave the rest.
Sounds like the Serenity Prayer!
My Dad used to say he was glad it wasn't his job to wake up each morning and put the sun up in the sky. He said there might be days when he would forget and how sad that would be for everyone.
He was grateful not to have that responsiblilty.
I'm right there with you, Dad!
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Tip for a Tuesday....
I highly recommend.....
THE Ribbon IN MY JOURNAL
http://www.theribboninmyjournal.com/
SHARON LOVEJOY
http://www.sharonlovejoy.com/CultivatingWonder/Home.html
Two new to me blogs I've started to visit. Recommended to gardeners, Moms, Grandmoms, Teachers and women who just want a brief respite from all the "noise" out there.
Monday, April 14, 2014
A Monday Memory....
(I wisely followed my mother's example and purchased an extra long cord for my kitchen when I became a mother. It worked fabulously until daughter #3 realized there was an area just beyond its reach where she could get into trouble.)
Back in the '50's, many phone numbers began with words, such as my parents number, "North". That stood for the first two numbers, 66, under the letters "NO" on the rotary dial. I was surprised as I gained friends and their phone numbers in grammar school to discover their phone numbers simply began, "391". It made me think our number was special.
Those of us old enough to remember the rotary phones can recall how long it would take to dial certain numbers, especially when they contained numbers past 7. You had to wait until the dial returned to its starting point before putting your finger in and going round again. And you had to memorize all the phone numbers you used. Automatic dialing didn't come along until there were push button phones with storage capacity.
I've probably dialed my parents number thousands of times over the years - from calling home to see if I could stay at a friend's house for dinner, to calls after eleven pm on a Sunday night from my college dorm pay phone in order to get the cheaper rate, to daily calls to my Mother after I married. Today, after fifty eight and a half years, that phone line is to be disconnected and that special number will no longer belong to our family.
If only we could "retire" that phone number, the way they do for sports figures. It just might lessen the sadness I'm feeling today.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Friday Fotos....
M is such a confident, happy girl!!
Latest residents at daughter #2's house.
and the results so far.
What a glorious day today! I was able to open the windows
and let the breezes clear out the stale air of winter.
Wishing everyone a restful Spring weekend and
may the warming winds clear your air and heads!!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Thursday's Thought for the Day....
“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.
Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.”
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Monday, April 7, 2014
A Monday Memory....
Recalling a habit which could only fall into the "What was I thinking?" category, I had a discussion with daughter #1 recently about the manner in which I would begin the summer tanning season as a teen.
Friends and I would go "down the shore" with the express intent of obtaining a suntan. Arriving on the sandy beach around nine a.m., we would commence the ritual by generously lathering our bodies with Johnson's baby oil. Towels were then unfurled, and we would lie down for the next eight hours, turning over every half hour or so, breaking only for lunch or bathroom breaks. This was serious business, mind you, so despite the heat and boredom, we persevered through the day.
You can imagine what we looked like by eight p.m. Red as cooked lobsters!! What other result did we expect? When reading the description above it strikes me, as it may you, that it is not unlike the recipe my mother taught me for broiling chicken! So yes, that is essentially what I did. I literally broiled myself there on the sand.
What (or rather who) finally cured me of this insane behavior? Our neighbor across the street from the first house the Englishman and I lived in.
Betty was a lovely woman and the only one in the neighborhood who spoke to us. She worked in the local school and took the summers off. She had a membership for the swimming pool at hotel nearby. Like my "teen" self, she would lie by the pool for hours. Oh and it showed. By summer's end, she was as bronze as mahogany wood. And wrinkled. Heavily, heavily wrinkled. In fact the wrinkles were so deep that her skin hung in folds. I was shocked to learn she was more than ten years younger than what I suspected was her age.
That did it for me. I vowed then and there to stop sunning myself ever again. I saw my future before me and I was horrified by it. All the preaching, warnings, and pleadings by my parents did nothing to dissuade me in the way in which Betty's image before me did. Here, in the flesh, was proof to me of what years of repeated tanning could do.
Sunscreen became a staple in our house as our girls were growing up and I tried very hard to limit their exposure to the sun. These days, I religiously apply sunscreen to my face and try to limit the exposure to my arms and legs to fifteen minutes or so, just to get a dose of vitamin D. Then on goes the sunscreen.
And finally, I silently thank Betty for the skin saving lesson she taught me all those years ago.
Friends and I would go "down the shore" with the express intent of obtaining a suntan. Arriving on the sandy beach around nine a.m., we would commence the ritual by generously lathering our bodies with Johnson's baby oil. Towels were then unfurled, and we would lie down for the next eight hours, turning over every half hour or so, breaking only for lunch or bathroom breaks. This was serious business, mind you, so despite the heat and boredom, we persevered through the day.
You can imagine what we looked like by eight p.m. Red as cooked lobsters!! What other result did we expect? When reading the description above it strikes me, as it may you, that it is not unlike the recipe my mother taught me for broiling chicken! So yes, that is essentially what I did. I literally broiled myself there on the sand.
What (or rather who) finally cured me of this insane behavior? Our neighbor across the street from the first house the Englishman and I lived in.
Betty was a lovely woman and the only one in the neighborhood who spoke to us. She worked in the local school and took the summers off. She had a membership for the swimming pool at hotel nearby. Like my "teen" self, she would lie by the pool for hours. Oh and it showed. By summer's end, she was as bronze as mahogany wood. And wrinkled. Heavily, heavily wrinkled. In fact the wrinkles were so deep that her skin hung in folds. I was shocked to learn she was more than ten years younger than what I suspected was her age.
That did it for me. I vowed then and there to stop sunning myself ever again. I saw my future before me and I was horrified by it. All the preaching, warnings, and pleadings by my parents did nothing to dissuade me in the way in which Betty's image before me did. Here, in the flesh, was proof to me of what years of repeated tanning could do.
Sunscreen became a staple in our house as our girls were growing up and I tried very hard to limit their exposure to the sun. These days, I religiously apply sunscreen to my face and try to limit the exposure to my arms and legs to fifteen minutes or so, just to get a dose of vitamin D. Then on goes the sunscreen.
And finally, I silently thank Betty for the skin saving lesson she taught me all those years ago.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Thursday's Thought for the Day....
“Cultivating the habit of good deeds will not only affect those around us, it will improve our own emotional well being.”
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Wednesday's Wisdom....
Catalog shopping
The number of catalogs that have entered my home via the post office, if laid end to end, would probably circle the globe. Multiple times. Whereas, in the early years, I felt a certain excitement when a new one would fill the mailbox, these days I view them as more of a nuisance. The majority of them go straight into the recycling bin.
For the most part, there is very little I need these days to arrive off the UPS or FedEx truck. But every now and again I hold onto a catalog or two and study them carefully.
My attitude used to be one of, "oh, I can't afford that" or "that would be too much of an extravagance". But I confess that having that approach would often leave me feeling like a "poor little thing," a nickname my Dad had for me when I was a small child. So I decided to try a different approach.
When a favorite catalog arrives, I give it a quick scan, noting all the items that appeal to me and think - yes, maybe I'll order that. Then I go through the same catalog again several more times, at a much slower pace and really give thought to each "maybe". And nine times out of ten, I decide I don't actually want the item.
This new approach has eliminated that feeling of denial I used to have. Instead, I look upon the exercise as one of having carefully considered my choices and made a decision that I am happy with.
Just thought I would share that in case it is of help to someone else.
The number of catalogs that have entered my home via the post office, if laid end to end, would probably circle the globe. Multiple times. Whereas, in the early years, I felt a certain excitement when a new one would fill the mailbox, these days I view them as more of a nuisance. The majority of them go straight into the recycling bin.
For the most part, there is very little I need these days to arrive off the UPS or FedEx truck. But every now and again I hold onto a catalog or two and study them carefully.
My attitude used to be one of, "oh, I can't afford that" or "that would be too much of an extravagance". But I confess that having that approach would often leave me feeling like a "poor little thing," a nickname my Dad had for me when I was a small child. So I decided to try a different approach.
When a favorite catalog arrives, I give it a quick scan, noting all the items that appeal to me and think - yes, maybe I'll order that. Then I go through the same catalog again several more times, at a much slower pace and really give thought to each "maybe". And nine times out of ten, I decide I don't actually want the item.
This new approach has eliminated that feeling of denial I used to have. Instead, I look upon the exercise as one of having carefully considered my choices and made a decision that I am happy with.
Just thought I would share that in case it is of help to someone else.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Tip for a Tuesday....
See something, say something....
Last Wednesday I was so sorry to see on the tv news that two firefighters may have died while battling a historic nine alarm fire in Boston. I then sat down at my computer, with hopes of finding more information online. What I saw on Facebook brought me up short.
There was a post from Woman's Day magazine, stating that "thoughts" were with two celebrity families during this very difficult time. Clicking on the link, I was shocked to see that they were talking about that Paltrow woman.
"Seriously" I shouted out. With all that is currently going on in the world, someone chose to single out this person as someone who needed our thoughts? I was fuming!
At that moment I could hear the Englishman in my head, as he often suggests to me when I am upset about something - "If you feel that strongly about it you should say something." So I did.
I immediately commented on the post, "Seriously? If you are serious about this post I will no longer be subscribing to your publication."
Within minutes thirty four others posted similar reactions and I had five "like" on my post. I then "shared" the post on my Facebook page. Thirty minutes later, I saw that the post had been pulled from the site. Good! Maybe whoever put it up in the first place got the message!
There are still 239 people missing from that Malaysia Airlines flight, thirty unaccounted for from the mudslides in Washington State and two heroic firefighters dead, and a yet a woman's magazine thinks we should spare our time and thoughts for a celebrity. Outrageous!
So, what to do? Besides putting up my comments, I have since unsubscribed to all communications and social media involving Woman's Day magazine. In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure it won't impact their publication at all. But it certainly made me feel better for having taken some action on the matter.
The Englishman is right - it is important to speak up when you feel strongly about things. So that's my "tip" for today. "Speak up and say something." Perhaps it won't change anything, but at least, like me, you'll feel better for having done so.
And who knows, maybe if more of us speak up, we can actually make a difference.
Last Wednesday I was so sorry to see on the tv news that two firefighters may have died while battling a historic nine alarm fire in Boston. I then sat down at my computer, with hopes of finding more information online. What I saw on Facebook brought me up short.
There was a post from Woman's Day magazine, stating that "thoughts" were with two celebrity families during this very difficult time. Clicking on the link, I was shocked to see that they were talking about that Paltrow woman.
"Seriously" I shouted out. With all that is currently going on in the world, someone chose to single out this person as someone who needed our thoughts? I was fuming!
At that moment I could hear the Englishman in my head, as he often suggests to me when I am upset about something - "If you feel that strongly about it you should say something." So I did.
I immediately commented on the post, "Seriously? If you are serious about this post I will no longer be subscribing to your publication."
Within minutes thirty four others posted similar reactions and I had five "like" on my post. I then "shared" the post on my Facebook page. Thirty minutes later, I saw that the post had been pulled from the site. Good! Maybe whoever put it up in the first place got the message!
There are still 239 people missing from that Malaysia Airlines flight, thirty unaccounted for from the mudslides in Washington State and two heroic firefighters dead, and a yet a woman's magazine thinks we should spare our time and thoughts for a celebrity. Outrageous!
So, what to do? Besides putting up my comments, I have since unsubscribed to all communications and social media involving Woman's Day magazine. In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure it won't impact their publication at all. But it certainly made me feel better for having taken some action on the matter.
The Englishman is right - it is important to speak up when you feel strongly about things. So that's my "tip" for today. "Speak up and say something." Perhaps it won't change anything, but at least, like me, you'll feel better for having done so.
And who knows, maybe if more of us speak up, we can actually make a difference.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)