Rewarded

Deep Purple with Black Velvet inner petals

I've never really seen the inside of this flower.  I was eager last week for the discovery.  Delphinium, this purple one at least, is regal enough to be queen (gracious thoughts to Queen E yesterday, today and for the two days after).

Black satin beads in the center.  

I'm away visiting and helping my mother for this week.  Find a sweet post here from the past to read.  Then find someone's mother to visit and help out this week.  Feel your heart open with love and compassion for all the Things you get to do today and everyday this week.  See you on Saturday!

Choral Qualities

Diva of the early morning--may I introduce Nora Jones Chicken!

Today's the day for singing. As these words are finding the page, my girls have started into yet another chorus.  The first piece had two stanzas beginning at 6:34, and after a 15 minute intermission, ending at around 6:55 AM.  I believe Nora (Jones/Chicken) was the soloist.

The second number picked up its rhythm about 9:14 with Miss Katy Perry Chicken taking the lead. Her double hiccough-with-a-glitch syncopation is hard to miss.  The other hens added an occasional extra beat to the confused song cycle.




And now as the Things I get to do today move into full swing, Nina Simone Hen has grabbed the mic.  Her heart-felt lines are delivered from her soul, and when she's done, she's done.  It's quiet.

Reminds Me of Something

I guess I could use duct tape to cover the label.  The salt people are not paying me anything.  They do not know I exist.  So this is not advertising for anything or anybody.  This is about the ordinariness of life.

Filling a salt shaker is not the highlight of the Things I get to do today.  But I was paying attention to the process. Shaker wasn't quite full, but the "bulk" bag of salt was empty.  I held it in my hand for a moment because it reminded me of something--but what? The picture was hazy.  So I fiddled with the bag and its cap for a bit longer.


That's when I made the connection: this salt bag looks very much like the water bottle pouches that fit in my husband's ski jacket.  It is nearly the same size and holds two and a half cups of liquid I found out.  Hot diggity! I'm not a total recycling maniac, but it is always deeply satisfying to reuse something that was meant to be thrown away.


My new water bottle for cross country skiing (or hiking for that matter), is a winner.  Next Handy Andy task:  develop some thing so the little tiny cap doesn't disappear in the snow if cold fingers fumble it.  Ideas?

Pack Your Parachute

Skydiving is well beyond the scope of this blog and blog writer.  A good figure of speech, however, must not be left unturned, so pack your parachute--since you'll be coming down soon, plan in advance for a soft and safe landing.

Not magazine-photo perfect,
but certainly ready for service.

All this mumbo-jumbo about being prepared came to me this morning after breakfast.  I didn't really want to clean up the kitchen, so I had a little chat with myself to take my mind off my "troubles" while I watched my hands tidy up and began wondering whether or not it made any difference for me in my day--this having the kitchen straightened up and wiped clean. Was I just OCD? That's when the parachute came floating down.

Here's what I saw:  busy day, lots of projects, needing a rest, wanting to eat something to restore my body. And it hit me.  Having a clean kitchen when my body was really tired and hungry meant that it would be so much easier to prepare some food for myself.  While I watched my hands wipe off the stove, another picture came forward:  tired body at the end of the day wanting an eagerly inviting place to rest for the night.  Having my bed made so that it beckoned me with love and comfort seemed so much better than tossing the mess of laundry off the foot of the bed and falling into the jumble of sheets and covers.

So there you have it.  Handy Andy's take on preparedness for the body.  I'll do it first thing before I launch into all the Things I get to do today and my body gets too weary to focus.  I'll pack my parachute when I'm clear and rested, because I know I'll be grateful as I'm coming down for a soft and safe landing.

Anticipation

Glistening Delphinium ready to pop

They are ready to burst open!  And I'm watching.  It's like a slow-motion fireworks display with the intensity of color and vibrance and life building and building until it explodes in glory.  Oh, my!

Single Peony gifted from a friend

Loving this time of year is on my Things I get to do today--everyday--spending time in the yard and garden in a state of open gratitude, appreciation and observation while drinking in the glorious being of each plant's structure and flowers.  The variety is beyond comprehension, and the display is breath-taking.

Honeysuckle--a ruby challis

Find your own place to sit with something that grows outside under the Divine canopy and allow its elegance and magnificence to soothe and feed your soul.

Clary Sage.  I've never seen its flowers before.  So eager am I!

Blessings for your day.

Our Daily Cloth

You know it's time to put it through the wash:  when only a glance at the middle where the dishes were set reveals last week's menu, when the daily smudges from the newspaper that we still read at breakfast each morning are dark enough that with a little focus the top story of the week comes into view, when a committee meeting is scheduled for tomorrow evening with just ordinary folks you don't care about impressing, but you don't want them to put their things on the floor because it looks cleaner.

Smooth like a garden bed

I love my table and its cloth.  I love it clean.  I love it smooth.  Probably not often enough the Things I get to do today say, "wash the table cloth." Which brings us to the "smooth" quality.  I've found a way to have absolutely no wrinkles with absolutely no ironing though the table cloth is 100% cotton.  This tip doesn't work as well with poly-type fabrics (which I'm not fond of anyway).

Got your pencil and paper ready?  And answer is: watch what your mother-in-law, Evelyn, does.  Don't have an Evelyn? Ok, ok, I'll give you a straight scoop:  After running it through the wash, toss it into the dryer with the rest of the load.  BUT take it out after 10-15 minutes, when it is still damp/dry. Spread it on the table (I have a table pad and a water-proof cloth to protect the wood surface) to dry, smoothing it with your hands and pulling the hemmed edges straight. That's it. It's all about having the right mother-in-law connection, really.

Lupin from Finish to Start

Kitten toes is what they look like.  That's how lupin ends.  Individual pussy digits complete with a gentle hook on the tip. That's where the similarity stops, I believe. Real cats do not have gentle claws.  They are real.

The top of the stalk is still full-flowered and vibrant.  This pretty must have been planted by Mother Nature herself, or perhaps a passing bird dropped something that planned to glory in this location.

Spike of a maturing flower--beginning of a cat claw

My father-in-law, Merlyn, had a whole row of different lupins--all different colors--one of his favorites.   They are a fascinating flower with all their complex development.

Colors grow more intense with time

Shaped like brilliant fortune cookies, these individual flowers have called me from the Things I get to do today to take special note.

Full spectrum of tight, baby green to vibrant, mature purples

Lupins come from the pea family, and the little beans in the pods are actually edible.  In some countries with colder climates, a type of Lupin tofu is made, since soy beans don't grow well in the cold.  But that is way more than any of us wanted to know about this gorgeous flower.  Merlyn was not a fan of tofu.