One Part Inspiration...

I don't know about you, dear cyber-reader, but I have very vivid dreams.  It is not unusual for me to wake up from dreams with tears in my eyes, or a smile on my face. I often tell my husband about my dreams and he looks at me kindly, but I can tell he thinks I am a little bit crazy. Not too long ago, I was having a dream that he was ruffling my hair.  Usually I like it when he ruffles my hair, but in my dream, it was causing me much consternation.  Every time he ruffled,  a part of my body became paralyzed.  It started with my feet.  I couldn't move them.  Then it moved up my legs.  Soon, all my appendages were paralyzed. I. Could. Not. Move. [I don't know what was really happening as I was sleeping.  Perhaps, I was getting embroiled in my bed covers.  Maybe I had myself wrapped up in a roll and that's why I couldn't move.] Panic set in.  I was desperately trying to feel my feet. My arms.  Anything! Nothing. My ar...

"Morning by morning, new mercies I see....." What does this line mean?  I have been pondering this for months.   Some days, seeing mercies takes effort.  Life has a way of beating you up.     Those are the times when a deliberate choice has to be made  to see the mercies and appreciate them.   Any time that I feel sorry for myself, I only have to look around a little bit and see  that I have many measures of mercies.  There is also merit in looking at mercies you have been served in times past.  A favourite trip.  A quiet sunny afternoon sipping lemonade in the playground. Sitting on a swing, talking about everything under the sun. Mercies of nature are never far away.  Even in the colder seasons, there is beauty.   Sometimes it is the unexpected  message of mercy that makes me stop in my tracks.  Like the day I saw this leaf hanging from a spider's web.  One th...

 M.A.D.D.:  Mothers. Against.  Dumb. Dogs. Maybe he was bored.    Perhaps he was lonely. Could have been hungry. Or Maybe He was just being himself. But really??? My     Christmas-gift-from-my-sister sweater? That I'd only worn ONCE? I was so M.A.D.D. I put him outside and told him I hoped he never came back. [But he did. .....Although he knew he was in still in trouble when I let him back in.] By the next day, he'd forgotten what he'd done,  but he could tell I was still M.A.D.D. He was very quiet for two straight days. And when the 3-day windstorm hit us on the weekend, and the garbage bags got thrown all over the lawn, he didn't get into them, like he usually does. So I thought he might have learned his lesson. Until this afternoon when I found a wool sock on his mat. M.A.D.D. (Mothers. Against. Deconstructing. Dogs.)

One day in November, at our weekly Pancake Breakfast, I said "I want a kitten for Christmas".  It just seemed the right time to get a kitten.  We no longer had the care of Cheer Bear, who was my daughter's cat. We are no longer responsible for little kids.  In fact, we actually enjoy the 'long winter's evenings', but it can be quite quiet.  And it's been a long time since we had any cats.  Our best cat was Burger, who was what I called a "man's cat".  He didn't like to cuddle but he would come and sit with you on his own terms.  He had a crooked tail, which he would swish at you when you got after him for getting into something he shouldn't be in.  He was incredibly smart, and fast and caught many a mouse for us.  My husband, upon hearing a mouse, would go get Burger and put him in the offending cupboard, and within several seconds, Burger would catch the mouse and dispose of it quite happily for us. Burger also liked to watch me ...

The year that was to become, is now, the year that was.  And what a year it was!  I don't believe that any other year that I will live, will comprise so many big events.  2013 seemed to have had one of everything: births, death, (no resurrections - unless you count some of the meals I rescued), weddings, anniversaries, visits from far and near, retirements, big birthdays, additions, subtractions..and everything else in between.  As I look back, I realize that even though there were a lot of big events,  the 'in-between's' actually comprised most of the days, and this is what I share with you now: Days of Mercy At the beginning of the year, I saw this sunrise and made a picture of it - wondering if this was a sign about how the year would turn out.  I hoped it was because I had just come through a season of darkness. Rainbow Days  More harbingers appeared.  Each time I saw a rainbow, I was reminded again, that no matter what wa...

Every Christmas season, I choose carols to present at the special events.    One of the songs, which isn't sung much anymore, is " Good King Wenceslas ".   Truth be told, I have always found it sort of hum-drum. The melody is repetitious and I have never heard a version of it that captured my imagination. The story of Good King Wenceslas is about rich king who saw a poor man at The Feast of Stephen and decided to give him help. He enlists the help of his page-boy to go and bring him tangible help. Although I have sung it many times, it was always without much spirit. However, last year, I was struck by a vivid picture within the carol and it became a game-changer for me. Wenceslas and the page are about to go out into a raging storm.  I imagine it was the kind of blizzard in which you cannot see anything.  The kind of blizzard threatening the very life of the person who ventures out in it. The page says [voice trembling - my interpretation]: ...

Looks like another festive occasion, you say?  That's correct!  It was a big birthday for my mother-in-law and a great opportunity to celebrate together.  And even better, I got to use my good dishes! In case you lost the significance of that last statement, it was the first time since we left the farm four years ago, that I have been able to use them.  They have been in storage ever since then, until the week before the big wedding. I had a lot of fun laying out the flatware, and placing the plates in just the right place. I went online and re-learned how to fold the napkins into standing fans (epic fail at the elf's hat version....and this one: I added roses in a line of vases along the table for decoration.  The table isn't that big, so I decided that the guests could serve their plates in the kitchen.  I bought sparkling apple juice and filled the glasses for a toast to the birthday girl. The dinner was a great success.  The best part w...