lucky me, lucky you

It's a stormy day here, today.

Big dark clouds tumbled in and settled above our house, or so it seems.

I had the local noon news on while I vacuumed ants off the kitchen floor. Again. Ew.

Anyway, so much of the news was dedicated to the Mega Million lottery.

Do you play? I've bought just one ticket about 2 years ago and didn't even know how many numbers to choose.

One of my favorite memories of my grandma was whenever my grandpa would come home with a lotto ticket she would have him read the numbers aloud and she would always say, "oh those are GOOD numbers". And then would always be surprised when they did not win. I love that spirit.

Of course, the thought of winning so much money has to get a person wondering how would life change with that kind of windfall. Would your life change drastically? Or would it change just a little? Would it mean more security in your life or less? Would you purchase more or give more? Could you make those changes without winning great deals of money? What is holding you back?

Honestly, I believe my life wouldn't change dramatically. That alone makes me feel like I've won a great prize already.

Tell me what you think. I'd love to know.


love and light
Deborah

the post that seems like I am writing about trees and flowers....

Sure enough, last week's pear tree looks different today. In full bloom.

But, those blooms won't last. They aren't meant to. By design the flowers will wilt and drop. New green leaves will grow in their place. There is something next. There is always something next. We need not worry about it. It will happen on it's own. With or without our worry. Changes will happen. Growing things will continue to grow. And when we lean into it, even we will grow and stretch and bloom again.

Am I even thinking about trees anymore? ;)


love and light
Deborah

present beauty

The unseasonably warm and sunshiny weather has coaxed the flowers and trees to behave like it is later in the season.

Shocks of yellow daffodils are popping up, as if to say, "look at me, it is Spring time".

I had to get this picture today. Tomorrow, I think, it will look entirely different. The pear trees are just ready to burst into bloom.

I'm feeling similarly. Have you felt that? That feeling like you are just ready to bloom? To make a big change? To transform?

Have you or are you feeling like something wonderful is just around the corner? That you are preparing for a beautiful tomorrow?

What if you recognized the beauty right there in the bud? What if....?


love and light
Deborah

abundant gratitude

100. 100 things. last but not least. the woman, the book and page that started my gratitude journey.

100. "simple abundance: a daybook of comfort and joy" by sarah ban breathnach.
i love this book. it is a book of days, a return to the basic, simple abundance in our lives. a gift in 1996....and ever since.
january 14th is the page that changed my life. seriously. i've kept a gratitude journal since 1996. that's a long time. part of that time, my journal was typed out--online, part handwritten--in books.

at a women's retreat that year--1996, i led a session on gratitude journals.
this is the journal from that weekend. i know when that retreat was from the journal entries tucked inside. so much has happened in fourteen years.

it's funny, i'm still most grateful for the same things now as I was then--plus another son to love.


best
deborah

heirlooms

in the fall we return to the orchard and cider mill just north of our home. it's not the orchard and cider mill of my childhood, but it could have been. i'm sure lots of equipment has been updated and computers are used to track shipments and such but the orchard and cider and donuts? it is my childhood memory come to life.
we would always end up driving a dirt road lined with trees ready to drop their leaves. just like we did this day.

although, i think these might have been tagged *warty pumpkins* not *antique* when i was a little girl. *antique* sells better than *warty* these days.
i am struck as i now watch our son spy each and every pumpkin--looking for the right one for his already decided design. just as i used to do. our little guy decided to wait another day, to pick from the pumpkin patch at the back of the orchard.

remember indian corn? it hasn't changed. though, in some places it is now just referred to as "maize".
remember goats? haven't changed.

as much as the world has changed in the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years--some things stay the same. and i swear that just makes it sweeter.


best
deborah

lovely welcome

do you ever look around your space and think--i need to change it? right now? immediately. that's how it usually happens for me. i love it until the minute i don't.

a few weeks back, i suddenly decided the entry felt too heavy. i wanted something lighter, happier and much more open and welcoming.

so i did little editing. a little adding--a little less and a little more.

tweaking, without spending a dime.

freshening up while paring down.

it's all new to me, just by adjusting.

the table was a bargain years ago and used to be behind the sofa in the living room. the old ceiling tins were souvenirs from a trip(back when big red and i were first married) and the basket came from my mom and dad's house. the planter is a real mccoy. and the candles are tuberose-scented (just ever so slightly). the lamp looks like an old japanese fishing float (which is one of my current and ever-evolving obsessions). i recently covered the shade with burlap. I still might move the mirror to the dining room.

but, for now.

for today--this is my new *lovely*.


best
deborah