Pause & See ::: a Visitor

Looking out my window right now this is what you would see~~~big, fluffy, wet snowflakes coming down.  9 to 16 inches is the last prediction I saw...I will keep you posted!  I better get this blog done quick...there has been some power flickers already!  This is what I call March Madness!   

But what I want to share with you happened earlier this week.  I went for my walk in the woods without my camera because I was carrying a pack basket full of cracked corn for the wild turkeys.  I have stopped feeding them near the house since the coyotes took all of my ducks.  I figured I was luring their natural prey near my house.  This  made it a bit easier for the coyote family to choose duck for dinner.  

So walking away from the corn I saw these prints!

I went back to the house and got my camera AND a ruler...

MOOSE PRINTS!

Funny thing is my son's guest told us she wanted to see a Moose before she graduated.  I told her it is fairly rare to see a Moose around here.  In 20 years, I have only seen one Moose on this property.  Next day after she left Moose Tracks!  Go figure!  And I am not leaving the camera behind again!  Well, time to batten down the hatches and stare out the window~~Happy Storm!

Moose Puppet

This is a regular feature on my blog.  I try to see something new each day. The art of seeing is essential to any creative work in my humble opinion.  My favorites are the ones that stop me in my tracks!  Like so many folks I have a very busy mind that I struggle to quiet.  But by creating this practice it has given me many opportunities to pause and be with a new wonder.  I love to wonder about wonders.  These little seeings can be just the jolt my creative process needs to get out of a rut.  But mostly they provide a pause which is that moment of peace I need to heal from a frustration. These seeings are grounding for me and bring me to the present.  I will admit to laughing out loud with joy over some of my discoveries, they are a moment of childlike wonder!  

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky"             ~~~Buddha

~~~Gratitude~~~

4 Direction Tree

My last blog was about time....hmmm...Sunday Gratitude on Tuesday Tip Day....I am always thrown for a loop when we have to change the clock.  I don't understand how it saves energy...maybe in a city?  But here the time changes seems to deplete people energy!  But this is Not Gratitude!!!

I try each day to sit and BE quiet.  I won't call it formal meditation, it is just sitting and quieting.  My house buzzzes so I try and go outside for my sitting.  Even with the super cold we have been having I just bundle up.  Also, I sit after I have walked so my body is warm and Runa is satisfied to sniff about.

I have two sitting places right now.  One is this sideways growing old wild apple trees.  It makes for a  lovely bench.  My scarf makes a nice seat cushion and is easy to carry when I walk.  This spot is near the house and I can stare at this beautiful tree.  It is a big old pine with 4 huge trunks coming out of the base.  This tree is a wonderful focal point and helps quiet my mind. I call it the 4 Direction Tree.

My other spot is further in the woods near the spring on this downed old apple tree.  This spot is nice because it faces south and I can enjoy the warmth on my face.  I am grateful for taking time most every day to just sit.  Some days, due to my busy life it is only for a few minutes.  But I find the practice of quieting helps make the busy-ness flow more peacefully.  

Sunshine warms my face & my soul!

MY SITTING DOWN PLACE

I go down to the creek
Where the water gurgles
Joyfully
As it hurries along
Over the shining sand and pebbles
To its destiny
With the sea.
Dappled sunlight
Flits and moves
Across the water,
over the creek bank;
And the birds sing happily
To the accompaniment
Of insects and crickets.
I sit in silence as
I soak it all into my soul.
Peace flows
From the water
To my heart.
Whatever life brings me
I now can face
Because of this,
My sitting down place!

Gail P. Kay

(I know this poem is a bit summery~~but even I could use some seasonal shift at this point!)

Do you have a special place where you sit?

It is my intention, each Sunday, (OR another Day)to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

~~~Time~~~

How much time did it take for these icicles to form?  Do "they" care?

Today, Yesterday, & Tomorrow I am, was, will be thinking about time.  Each day my list is seldom completed.  Each day something seems to come along that causes me to stray from my idea of how I should spend my time.  The simple act of heating something for 3 minutes in a microwave can cause me to wonder.  I am amazed at times how much I can do in 3 minutes...stoke a fire, read an email, put away the dishes.  Other times, I wait for what feels like an eternity for those 3 minutes to pass.  Like waiting for the rice bag to heat when I am exhausted, then the beep, beep, beep means I will be able to lie down in bed and sleep.

There are folks all around me dealing with different aspect of what time means.  I have a family member who has to had an accident that requires her to not bare weight on one leg for 3 months of time.  A friend  who has to make the dreaded trip to the vet wishing there was more time with a beloved dog. Another who is transitioning out of 10 year marriage looking at the was and will be.  Someone else, that is wondering if it is time to seek medical attention or see if these symptoms will pass with time.

At this juncture, this interval, this point, allotment, interval, infinity, eternity, instant, stretch, this moment I am "behind" with all of my ideas of what would be done in my life at this time.  Nevertheless, (<--love that word) I am at peace.  Looking back, forwards and all around I see that nothing but the present moment matters.  The past week I spent those twinkles of time enjoying young people, my son and his lovely young woman friend.  The work will still be there and the time will flow along.  I will still wonder about it's passing and what seem like an uneven tempo.   

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.
- Albert Einstein



The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
- Bertrand Russell

Time Management 
  
Time Management… 
The illusion we control our lives 
To some extent. 
  
Time Management… 
The promise that we will fail 
Managing our time. 
  
Time Management… 
The inspired though that somehow humans 
Control their lives. 
  
Time Management… 
The grand façade that we are 
Masters of Earth. 
  
Time Management… 
The great joke everyone buys into 
Thinking humans disciplined. 
  
Time Management… 
Sad reality that one unknown day 
Our incarnation ends. 
  
  
© 2013 Dr. Joseph W. Schnapp, Jr., Ph.D., D.D. 

http://www.poetry.com/poems/972141-Time-Management

~~~Gratitude~~~

Some extra settings at our table for a bit.  The Boyo is home for Spring Break...and...he brought a lovely young woman with him!  So we are enjoying some extra festivities with the young people.  I even made a turkey yesterday.  The effect of the big meal hampered my blogging ability so I am a day late.  This will be short too.  Even though the sunlight is getting longer each day the time seems shorter.  I just ALWAYS plan to get more done each day than I do...but no worries slow and steady will win the race...at least my race with an emphasis on NO worries!  So here are a few photos from the week.  I AM grateful for the extra guest!

The Boy's Favorite Schezwan (homegrown) Green Beans and Garlic

Spring???? Break is sub-Zero here in Maine ~ But Runa & I get out each day no matter how cold!

Sewing in the sunshine some bags for the shops ~ Upcycled feedbag bags ~ coming soon!

Vern is not such a fan of the cold~~~think he is dreaming of tropical climes?

It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

***Tuesday"s Tip*** Signs of Spring???

Despite how it looks outside and the temperature forecast says the high will be 29 and the low 5 today there are signs of spring around here.  This week begins my gardening activities...&...dreams.  I have prepped my soil and will start my onions, celery, leeks...and for something different Stevia today.  Soon too follow will be my eggplants and peppers, then tomatoes, finally some broccoli and cauliflowers.  All before anything goes into the ground outside.  This is the way it is here in the Northeast.  Spring is something that slowly emerges  in Maine.  I like it, I am not weary of winter yet but, in all fairness I seldom have to leave the homestead or drive when the weather is dicey.  But nonetheless,  the dreaming begins...the too large of garden is planned...and the optimistic thoughts of bounty commence.   

I have tidied up the growing shelves...

I am saving egg shells in my freezer ~~A TIP~~ Add a handful of eggshells into each Tomato planting hole...They love the extra calcium!

Also...

Save your cardboard milk cartons for transplanting tomatoes.  I am not sure why but the seedling that get planted in the milk boxes do much better than those in other containers.  I have done numerous experiments!

Something new I am trying this year will be planting my eggplants and peppers in my saved  Ice tea cups from last summer....little mini greenhouses, I hope.  (Ok I do go out, occasionally, and I do indulge myself with a drive-thru Dunkin Donut Ice Tea, with Lemon.) 

My box of first dreams ready for the winter starting....

and back to the cold room the summer dreams go after an evening of garden planning reverie sorting seeds and imagining the future.  The cold winds may blow outside my window but... "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer"  ~Albert Camus

~~~Gratitude~~~

morning moon set

It has been a hectic week and one that has kept me away from the computer more than others.  No complaints, actually refreshing.  I got a lot of loose ends taken care of this week.  But rather than go on about what got done I want to share what gave me joy.  Here are some of my moments this past week that made me smile and feel grateful to BE in my life~~~

snow fog snow shoe

sparkle snow

woodpecker art

Vern & Runa Play!

Catnip Stupor 

walks with my good companion

And finally a special bit of warmth and gratitude to my blog fans!  

This is the Little Bear Family from Germany~~ big admirers of Vern!  

Thanks so much for reading & looking~~~EVERYONE <3

Each and Everyday may YOU find something that makes you Smile and feel Blessed!

It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

***Tuesday's Tip*** Dusty Books

 I dove into the bookshelf project Sunday and finished last night.  Not the kind of project you want to live with for too long.  So what could possibly be the "tip", you might wonder?  My books were wicked dusty!  I love micro fiber cloths as an eco way to clean.  My regular cloth just wasn't getting the job done.  I was rummaging among my rags and I came across this lime green sea anemone looking thing I forgot that I had.  It was a gift.  A Christmas gift from 2 years ago.  I don't remember who gave it to me, I am sure I thanked them...I am good about that sort of thing.  But, I do remember opening the package and wondering...What the Heck?!  Must of tossed in the cleaning rags back then.  Well, I will tell you this thing is FANTASTIC!  I wiped down all of my books with this thing and it cleaned each one wonderfully getting into the edges and right down to the last book! I don't know where you can get one of these things but, if you see one I would get it!

It was a lot of work and a bit of a push but I really wanted this project done!  Now I can focus on taxes and garden planning (& ETSY)  What I like about a project like this is the purge aspect as well as the organizing.  I have a pile of books to give away and some nice vintage finds to list on Etsy.  Also, I know better what I have for books and they are organized by subject.  I arranged the books I use the most to be more accessible and the books I want to read more seeable.  When I glance up from scarf weaving all the books I want to read most will be right there!  Think I've earned a cup of tea and a bit of reading time!!  (moral of the story too--->I will keep a more open mind about odd gifts in the future!) PS...no more taxes procrastination excuses either!