A Magical Day

Friday, April 12th, 2019

A MAGICAL DAY

The Post Box

turned into a Treasure Chest

and out poured all these wonderful

jewels from Thrift Books

True Gems of Literature......

like poems of John O'Donohue

A Fable by Paulo Coelho

THE ALCHEMIST

and a couple of books

to delight the young at heart....

"IF YOU GAVE A PIG A PARTY'

and a coloring book entitled

"The Trees of Life"

this is for my seventy-some son

who maintains 

not only a young heart but also a

philosophical mind

and this book should just fill the bill!

Thrift Books is a treasure in itself

and one that I have just discovered....

some of out-of-date books

and many that you would pay a fortune for elsewhere.

If you don't mind second hand books

that have been busy handing out joy

to others,

do investigate further.

+++++++++

From "Conamara Blues" by John O'Donohue

a wonderful collection of

poems on the

Good Friday/Easter Passion

here are two.....

+++++++++

"The Carrying of the Cross"

A kiss on the back of the neck tingles,

Almost sound, a breath of music in bone

It is here they laid the heavy crossbeam,

Each step a thud inward like sick thunder.

It invades his head.  All silence leaves him.

Stooped forward he watches his innocent feet

Search each step for sure ground to take the weight.

He falls face first on the broken pavement.

Those he knows to see will not meet his eye.

They fear his gaze might unleash misfortune.

Sweat down his back opens a line of wounds.

A white towel absorbes a mirage of his face.

Windows open in the crowd, his heart rends

At the weeping of his mother and friends.

and

"The Resurrection"

Oh, the rush with which the forgotten mind awakens

Under the day a well of dark where colour dwells

Until it learns the art of light and can reveal,

In neglected things, the freshness thought darkens.

With grey master distance starts to blur the horror.

Already the days begin to set around the loss.

The after-silence of his death becomes porous

To the gossip of regret that follows failure.

Through the cold, quiet nightime of the grave underground

The earth concentrated on him with complete longing

Until his sleep could recall the dark from beyond

To enfold memory lost in the requiem of mind.

The moon stirs a wave of brightening in the stone.

He rises clothed in the young colours of dawn.

Springtime Sunday Evening

It is Sunday evening and I have just finished in the kitchen after having a delicious dinner, - baked potatoes, sweet carrots and pork ribs with whiskey BBQ sauce.  Lovely!!!

The pork ribs were fabulous. but it was the potatoes I wanted to tell you about.

When I went to the cupboard to find the spuds, rub them with butter and wrap them in foil for the oven I discovered that they were sprouting eyes!!!  In the old fashioned way.

So often, - perhaps always, - the potatoes you buy in the Super Market have been chemically treated to prevent them from sprouting, probably to increase their shelf life.  So it was quite exciting to see these wonderful brown and fertile garden opportunities!

I immediately thought about the potato growing bags we have been using for the last couple of years, since our veggie garden space has been reduced.

The year we left the farm and moved to 10th avenue we planted potatoes on the 3rd of March, so surely the 8th of April would be an appropriate time to bury these beautiful morsels under a coat of rich brown earth.

Mind you, the garden on 10th was quite unusual, - the first time since our retirement from the farm that we had been able to devote all our energy to it, - which Farmer Finch did with great enthusiasm.

Will probably never have a garden to equal it, but nevertheless, the signs of spring are everywhere.

The lawn awash with violets, a few daffodils and tulips blooming, but the rest of them busy making

gigantic leaves and buds to attract the bees and butterflies.

The neighbours apricot tree is in bloom, and I did try to get a decent picture of the flowers, but you would find them blurry, I fear, and so I have added a picture of last year's apple blossoms, with a springtime bee filling his little tumy, or honey sacks.

The house has forsythia which I slipped away from various children's gardens

and brought in to blossom

and the Hellebores are in full bloom

the catkins have all fallen off the hazel nut tree

 and lie abandoned on the lawn like so many little worms

replaced with tiny fresh green leaves

We are badly in need of a good two day rain to replenish

the poor dry earth

and I await eagerly for someone

to shovel all the lovely compost from the bottom of its bins

on to the beds which will welcome

its richness!!

Springtime, and off we go to another summer

of gardening!!!!

In the morning I shall plant the potatoes

that have been languishing in the cupboard!!!

April 3rd, 2019

Ordinary Things

The other day I bought a book from Amazon.

Well, I bought two books from Amazon, both entitled "Poetry of Presence" An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems.

I bought two, knowing that one I would want to share, and give away.

One copy sits close by the breakfast table and I treasure those early morning hours when all is quiet 

and I can read, and play the ukulele, 

and just kind of ponder on life, and what it's like to be 94!!

Oh, this life,

the now,

this morning,

which I 

can turn

into forever

by simply 

loving 

what is here

is gone,

by noon.

Sad, but true....

However, this morning, as I had my coffee from an ordinary cup,.

sitting there at an ordinary table,

I came across this ordinary poem...

The Patience of Ordinary Things

It is a kind of love, is it not?

How the cup holds the tea,

How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,

How the floor receives the bottom of shoes

or toes.  How soles of feet know

Where they' re supposed to be.

I've been thinking about the patience

Of ordinary things.  How clothes

Wait respectfully in closets

And soap dries quietly in the dish,

And towels drink the wet

from the skin of the back.

And the lovely repitition of stairs.

And what is more generous than a window?

Pat Schneider

And I thought about how all the flowers that find their home on the vanity

 against the wall opposite the front door, 

double the pleasure they radiate from their reflections in the glass

and the way the piano is reflected in the window at night...

And how I can see exactly what the little dog, Bruce, is doing

if I sit on the right side of the table and watch

in the glass

his perambulations on the sofa

and his earnest activity in getting the pillows

in just the right place for a morning nap!!

Life is good, and entertaining.

April the First

A Reminder

I believe you have until noon,

after which you will be immune to

the April Fool's Tricks!!!

However.......

don't forget that tomorrow is the day

when the White Rabbit

looks for homage

from readers of Alice in Wonderland

And there's no fooling around with the white rabbit...

he is fanatically aware of the time!!

It behooves one to properly

acknowledge his day

at the beginning of April,

if you expect to enjoy all the delights

of this coy month...April can be a terrible flirt!!

                                                                Maltserv

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, 

and of having nothing to do: 

once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, 

but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?’

So she was considering in her own mind 

(as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid),

whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble

 of getting up and picking the daisies,

 when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that;

nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself

 `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’

 (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this,

 but at the time it all seemed quite natural); 

but when the Rabbit 

actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT- POCKET, 

and looked at it, and then hurried on,

 Alice started to her feet, 

for it flashed across her mind that she had never before 

seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it,

 and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, 

and fortunately was just in time to see it

 pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge."

As the days go by.....

Wednesday, March 27th, 2019

There came a time, just recently,

when I had no empty bobbins.  Not one!

All of them had various lengths of cotton, silk or wool

in a wide variety of colours.

Pretty to look at, but of no use whatsoever

to weave with!!!

What to do?  What to do?

It came to me in the night....why not morph the threads on these bobbins into a colourful, random warp and make a nice, dented, wispy summer scarf.

and so I did!

It is not the most intricate, elaborate project

but it is gay, and it drapes nicely,

and is just the thing to add a little colour

to a white summer ensemble.

And I have my bobbins back!!!!!!

Some of them are getting filled with 8/4 cotton

to do a Log Cabin sample

a la Jane Stafford

and this too may end up  as a scarf,

or a runner,

or placemats.

I am not too inclined to get into mischief,

but if I were

the looms and weaving certainly

keep me out of it!!!!

Spring is here and the garden is tattered and forlorn

with last fall's dry leaves and stalks

but underneath, as I rake the debris away

(lovely compost)

the peonies are pushing their beautiful scarlet

knobs through the soil

the Daphne is in bloom

and there are violets scattered throughout the lawn.

I brought home some pink tulips

from the grocery store,

but soon there will be a glorious array of spring bulbs.

The catkins are now about seven inches long,

fat and sassy, and the nut tree

is full of bees, in their glory!

Ah spring

I'm frightfully bucked at the signs that one sees

the jolly old sap in the jolly old trees!!!!!!

That gorgeous green aura 

that surrounds all the trees,

and the beautiful rosy bushes.....

heavenly!

Friday, March 15th, 2019
The Ides of March
An Update on the Decluttering Business

A slow process from which I am often dissuaded by the sunshine, by the essays I am currently reading, by the music I am delighted to find tucked away in numerous wicker baskets, drawers and bags, and which I am so tempted to put on the piano and let my fingers find the harmonies that were once so familiar to them....

And the memories that evokes.  The duets that Charles and I used to play at one time, - the Clemanti Sonatinas that were part of my practise when learning to play...

A musing aside,  --  as I remember walking to lessons, waiting on the bench at the foot of the stairs leading up to the lesson room,  a little nervous if my week's practice sessions haven't been up to par!

Today, as my fingers fumble along, and I note the little reminders left by my piano teacher, I am reminded of the affection I had for her and her many kindnesses, which I tried to acknowledge by "trying hard".  I have a Second Place medal to prove it, won in a Music Festival....

What shall I do with all the organ music  - or with the old tattered sheets of music that were the favourites of various members of the family.  My father - "Charmaine" and my mother, The Rosary and Ramona.

And the music that Charles played, although he gained his inimitable style from his cousin's player piano where he learned to play by ear.   Great bass, especially on "The Dark Town Strutters' Ball"
He also had the traditioal Toronto Conservatory  lessons, so was well versed in reading music.

Well I took all this music out and found that there was ONE book that I felt I could grow older without.

I have to say decluttering played second fiddle to the delightful hour I spent playing old familiar dear-to-my-heart pieces.

Such a great part of my life!!

It was the same with my threads, despite the clutter on the shelves in the weaving room - along with all the weaving books and magazines!

I will start small.

I have a very limited supply of empty bobbins, but a great display of bobbins half full, quarter full, perhaps only a one third full, - cottons of all different sizes and silks of all different colours.  Threads of no use to me, left over from other projects.....

Until it came to me that I might transfer those lovely colourful threads from the bobbins to the warping board!!!

And thus it was - de-clutter the  bobbins and create a lovely airy summer scarf, dented generously between warp threads to increase the width of the scarf,  and the weaving going at the speed of lightning as I weave twelve weft threads and then skip half an inch before I start on the next twelve.

Is this de-cluttering??

Well, I like to think it is.  The bobbins are all shy, bashful and bare, waiting to be dressed and re-filled, anticipating the chance to do their thing in some new scarf or towel or table mat or......?

I will work on the music and find somewhere I can put it out of my sight - perhaps present it to one of my piano playing children, or put it on the shelves that sit behind the organ at the Church.  Probably not Charmaine or Ramona, but The Rosary would feel quite at home there.

A work in progress!!

Clutter Begone

INSTRUCTIONS

Sheri Hostetler

Give up the world, give up self; finally, give up God.

Find God in rhododendrons and rocks,

passers by, your cat.

Pare your beliefs, your Absolutes.

Make it simple;  make it clean.

No carry-on luggage allowed.

Examine all you have

with a loving and critical eye, then

throw away some more.

Repeat. Repeat.

Keep this and only this;

     what your heart beats loudly for

     what feels heavy and full in your gut.

There will only be one or two

things you will keep,

and they will fit lightly

in your pocket.

These are stern and almost impossible instructions to a lady 

who has been keeping house for over seventy years;

who gathers to her heart six children and their spouses, 

thirteen grandchildren and an equal number of great grands!! 

What do you throw away??

Only those things that don't bring you joy....

and that limits the amount of detritus

that remains in my house!!! 

However!!!!

lately I have been very much drawn to de-cluttering;

to the books that give you wild and wonderful

advice about how to go about this...

I am cautioned to

"keep this and only this;

what your heart beats loudly for"

"throw everything on the floor

and only return to the closet those things

you simply cannot live without"

How can I throw out the beautiful blue shirt that

matched my husband's beautiful blue eyes,

even if the collar is frayed

and the colour slightly faded from so many washes?????

"leave sentiment out of this -

the watchwords are order and serenity"

Well, there are things, like old electricity bills

and tax notices, income tax forms and

other files that haven't been opened for lo these many years...

Would that satisfy the Orderly Gods?

I don't THINK SO!!

I believe we require more drastic action

to reach serenity with a capital S!!

I shall make a half hearted attempt

starting with the contents of the old trunk 

that belonged to my parents,

and going on to whatever might be stored

in my "hope" chest...

but books????  Not likely...

It is a long time since I have read Teilhard de Chardin

or Clemance Dane,

but if the longing for them should overtake me

they have more to offer than

Martha Stewart's

100 ways to unclutter your home.

.......and my thirty years of Handwoven Magazines
are precious to me
and bring me great JOY

This is an on going thing - I will let you know how we fare!

Thursday, March 7th, 2019

And the mornng was perfect...

Mild and windless, the air warmed as the sun rose

and by ten o'clock, with the front door open

I was out on the front porch

enjoying the sunshine.

My son-in-law remarked it was a lovely day

to bring a chair and a book, and one's glasses

and enjoy the rest of the morning reading in the sun.

He offered to retrieve the round glass summer table

 and the two wicker chairs from the garden shed

and it was lovely...

One would almost think that Spring

was on the outskirts of town and that it would be appropriate

to welcome her with flutes and trumpets!!!!

About one o'clock the clouds began to gather!

Dang, - wrong about Spring again  (such a flirt)

At three it began to snow - and it is snowing still

Dusk began to gather the evening shadows

and I found the camera

and snapped a picture of the round glass table

and the wicker chairs

entirely inappropriate with their

icing of snow!

What will the mornng light reveal tomorrow?

Canada Post brought me a new fringe twister today

ti replace the one that is hiding in some mysterious spot

so whether it rains, or whether it shines, or even if it snows

the day will find me twisting fringes

on the seven scarves that hang over the hall bannister!!

Weary of Winter

Are you weary of winter?????

Here are a couple of fellows to bring you some relief.

If you forgot to say hello to the White Rabbit

when he arrived

rest easy ---

he is forgiving

and too taken up with the Mach Hare to

give it any thought!!!!

If they don't do the trick

rest your eyes on these lovely flowers

blooming in my garden in the good old summertime.

or on the lilies

that come before them

or the buttercups!!

first sign of spring - out in the woods

or in any meadow!

Take heart -

Spring is just around the corner

lazing up against a tree

until she feels called upon to

gladden our hearts!

I do wish she'd hurry

she'd be such a sweet antidote

for my cabin fever!!!

re my header!

I have such fond memories of the yellow bells

that grew on the hillside

of our farm

and were brought to me

clutched in dear, sweet,

 and loving little hands!!!

Saturday, February 23rd, 2019

A lazy Day....

Well, yesterday I was seized by a passionate need to finish "the shawl"  

which has been demanding

so much of my concentration, determination and enthusiasm. 

 And I did,  as you will see......

Last night, after I had washed and agitated it late in the evening, and hung it up to dry, I went to bed with such a lovely feeling of satisfaction and slept so well I was half an hour late waking - I time my waking hour with how strong I think Bruce's bladder is  (Bruce, my darling dog)

All things necessary attended to I poured the first cup of coffee and went to investigate 'the shawl' and found it to be ready for a good pressing with the steam iron. 

 Breakfast can wait....  

I am so anxious to see this project finished!

Pressing done, I examined the fringe and couldn't quite

make up my mind...

to leave it hanging loose, or twist and knot????

For the present it is hanging loose

and here is the shawl...

(although I am not a good photographer)

I have to say I am most pleased with it

and feel those hours of sticking in a pin to mark

where I was in the instructions,

changing shuttles 

and keeping track of the tabby

were all worth while.

And so today I am having a LAZY DAY

made some orange muffins for church tomorrow

and that's the extent of my endeavours for the day!!

If I were to go to watch curling

I would probably fall asleep

so I will just laze the day away

happy with my efforts

and not even contemplating what

will go on the loom next

to keep me happy and contented.

This and That

Wednesday, February 20th, 2019

It's weaving day today!

In between working on the current shawl

(which requires me to be very diligent and concentrated

because of its intricate pattern)

I am watching a bit of Scottie's Curling

when I break for a little rest,

and marveling at the ability these girls have

(it's a Woman's competition)

of tossing a rock down the ice and being able

to aim it so aptly that it

sends another rock flying, or skidding, or sliding.

however their eye and their hand

have determined.

The first thing I had to do this morning, though,

was to go outside and rescue the flag which flies over our

garden gate.

I noticed when my DIL came to pick me up for dinner

last night

(wonderful dinner, - ribs in BBQ sauce)

anyway, I noticed that the wind had been playing havoc

with the flag, and it was entangled in the

climbing rose, beneath it.

The Beloved, from on high, would have been very upset

to see the flag so disabled, and I was prone to do something about

this immediately!!!!

Luckily there was a long pruned limb leaning against

the house (and I know not how it arrived there, but was happy

to see it!)

Between the limb and my cane, which accompanies me most places,

I was able to disentangle the flag from the rose spurs

and gradually bring it within reaching distance, free

of all encumbrances.

I folded it up reverently, and took it into the house,

to be replaced by a new emblem

that indicates this is the house of a patriot,

and I hoped my dear one would be happy with the effort!!

The sun is shining this morning, - there is blue sky

and there are white clouds.

The catkins have not yet acknowledged that spring is

around the corner, and if the spring bulbs

have started to poke through the ground

they will have discovered a half a foot of snow impeding their progress!!

However, we had a mild January, and I guess winter

had to put in an appearance sometime before the March winds do blow!!

The Christmas Hellebores were lovely,

and I'm sure the Lenten Hellebores will be just as beautiful

even though Lent is late this year......

Easter is April 23rd.

In 1943 on the day I met my sweetheart, Easter fell on the 25th of April.

A day of happy destiny!!

Lunch time now, - weaving time later!!!

I'm off to deal with this precious day.

Post Script


While having lunch I was leafing through a book

entitled "Poetry of Presence"

(an anthology)

and came across this poem by Lynn Ungar, 

The Way it Is

"One morning you might wake up
to realize that the knot in your stomach
has loosened itself and slipped away
and that the pit of unfulfilled longing in your heart
has gradually, and without you really noticing it,
been filled in - patched like a pothole, not quite
the same as it was, but good enough.

And in that moment it might occur to you
that your life, though not the way
you planned it, and maybe not even entirely
 the way you want it, is, nevertheless -
persistently, abundantly, miraculously -
exactly what it is.

In Loving Memory

February 16th, 1902 - October 4th, 1957

Dolly (Clark) Thompson