I am joining with Carole and friends to share some things that sparked joy in my week this week! (And yes, I am totally borrowing this idea from Carole!)
Thing One:
My choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus on Sunday was the most joyful thing I did all day. (More joy, the pianist is a freshman in high school) Also, I am in the back row on the left side of the video as you look at it – you do occasionally get a glimpse of me – yes, I sing tenor! There are grandparents singing with their grandchildren, mothers and daughters, and our oldest member is 94 years young – it is the most joyful group of people I know and the joy of singing with them has overflowed to fill much of my week.
Thing Two:
This new video of Pittsburgh is so full of joy! I love living in such a welcoming city.
Thing Three:
Finally, this was in my feedly last week and I thought this could be fun and I would learn so much. But with the busyness of Easter I kind of forgot about it until Tuesday night when I mentioned it at knitting. And, the two knitters who are also quilters also thought that could be fun! The three of us are going to spend the summer working on the Summer Sampler together and that fills me with unbelievable joy. (And, if you want to jump on the Sampler Bandwagon – I would love your companionship!)
This was the first thing I saw yesterday morning when I out with Sherman in the wee, dark hours. The view stopped me in my tracks and filled me with such wonder. That glowing dogwood will fill my thoughts for many days to come!
I hope that you found things over the weekend that filled you with wonder too!
It’s a holiday weekend and Steve has the day off. I thought today would be the perfect day to share our brief but spectacular bush (Maybe Bridal Veil? I am not sure what it is.) Anyways, it blooms and is over before you can really even appreciate it, sort of like weekends are occasionally!
If you celebrate Easter or Passover – have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all back here next week!
It was a full week and next week will be more of the same so today I am just taking a deep breath and planning on spending some time today knitting on my Marsa Alam, because I don’t think there will be many knitting moments this weekend – the yard is fairly screaming for some attention and the Yard Work Fairies have yet to show up, darn it all!
But all that aside, it was such a good week!
Thinking about –
Gardening… it is that time of the year! I stumbled across this article about a garden that is still thriving…six decades after the death of the gardener! This makes me think about my yard and garden beds in different ways – ways that are more long term and lasting. I am also reminded of our visit last year to Fallingwater and all the rhododendrons that were planted all over the grounds – the forethought of this truly impacts the beauty of the grounds today. Gardening with purpose is something I always want to do, but I don’t always achieve that. These are good reminders as we begin a new season.
Grateful for –
My library. Truly. It is a place beyond measure. A place to gather with friends, a place for stirring conversation, a place with unending books ready to take you away…and this morning I saw this! This sparks all kinds of joy inside me! I am adding “nurturer of crafting” to the list of things my library does!
Inspired by –
Courtney, as always – and the timeliness of her messages. How does she know? Her words of wisdom about how to deal with being busy – even too busy – are just what I needed this week. I have been thinking about the things I spend my time on – and have been paring some things back. At first these things were hard to “give up” – but after a couple of days I found I did not miss the constant scrolling I was doing on IG – I check it, but only at the end of the day. Am I missing things? Yes, I am quite certain I am. But if you don’t know you are missing something, are you really missing it? I am also not spending hours each day “surfing the net” with much the same results – at first, it was so hard to get up and walk away from my pc! But like the IG phenomenon, after a few days it was not hard to get up at all. In fact, each day it is easier and some mornings I have had to make myself go and sit at the pc! What am I doing with all this extra time? Well, for one thing – my meditation time has really improved since cutting back on my screen time! And that is absolutely inspiring!
Fun –
This weekend Steve and I are heading into the “wilds” of our yard to tame the overgrown bushes. Is this going to be fun – oh, hell no! But!! I am going into it with the following mindset – I am going to be quiet no matter how much Steve yells (and he will be yelling, oh my! lol) I am going to be patient no matter how much I want to be doing something else – my mantra will be, “this too shall pass”, and I am going to be cheerful even when I don’t want to be (because it is hard to yell at a cheerful person right?) Wish me luck!!
And, there you have it! I wish you all a wonderful weekend – full of every little thing you want! See you all back here next week!
I am happily joining Carole today to share three very good things in pictures from this week!
Thing One:
The weather has been perfect for keeping this glorious magnolia in my neighborhood just so… It is so full of blooms and must be so old because it is just massive – it is the biggest magnolia tree I have ever seen!
Thing Two:
All the seeds are sprouting! I am so happy – why even the seedsI sowed outside are sprouting!
Thing Three:
The quilting has begun! I have one place mat to go and my goal is for these to be on our table for happy hour tomorrow!
Lenten devotions, still. Stillness. Meditating. Listening…hard. Open windows and cool breezes. Bird songs and snoring dog. The smell of spring rain. The hint of leaves that overnight burst into reality. Iced coffee. Pilates and a walk. A full week. Planning and list making. Transplanting seedlings. Hallelujah Chorus practicing. Never ending laundry. Knitting. And taxes. Oh, those taxes. TODAY!
