~K

It is amazing what you find when you look beyond the immediate.

I have been doing what I like to call Foraging Friday.  I started many weeks ago when I realized I have a high bush blueberry bush on the property.  They are the tiniest blueberries but real sweet!  Anywho,  as I looked closer at the trees in the vicinity, I found 2 more bushes!  The berries were just starting to turn color but a few were ripe for picking.  So, I  picked what I could reach, and of course, what was ready.  As picking progressed through the short season, it started getting to the point of needed a vessel to carry the fruit back to the house.  Just around the same time, the raspberries along the driveway started to ripen too.  Woo hoo!!!

So for every Friday, and sometimes other days, I have been picking blueberries and red and black raspberries.  I get the giggles when I come in with my bounty. 

The blueberries are slowing down and the raspberries have gone by – BUT, I have a new fruit to pick….blackberries!

I have been picking the fruit along my driveway.  Easy access. 

One Sunday I decided to walk the perimeter of the open yard.  We have a thick tree line that is loaded with bushes, wild flowers and yes, the dreaded poison ivy (I need to rent some goats to take care of that).  My haul was bigger than I imagined.  When I looked closer to the yard line, we have tons (yes an exaggeration but way more than I could have hoped for) of raspberry and blackberry bushes.   It is so funny that I never noticed them before.

My lesson of the summer….Look beyond the obvious and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Love, Blessings and Peace,

~K

I can’t remember at what point in my life I became fascinated with them.  The earliest memory was the hot air balloon on the cover of the Jules Verne novel ”Around the World in 80 Days”.  Maybe it was then.  I can’t say as I have read the novel, but I do remember a cartoon with the same title. 

As a kid, I would get so excited, yet also feel at peace, when I would see the colorful patterns of the balloons gracefully move across the sky with the occasional “whooshing” sound.  

Early in our marriage, hubs and I would attend a local Hot Air Balloon festival and yes, I always had my camera with me (I went prepared with several rolls of film).  We would get up before dawn each day, watch them launch, and follow one in the car (as best as we could) to see where they would land.  Now, we are not so much inclined to follow as we are to happily pull the car over and watch them do their dance with the trees and sky.

Early Sunday morning I heard the familiar “whooshing” sound  as opened the door to let Wally out.  While still in my night clothes (advantages of living in the country) I stepped out onto our deck to see a balloon above our yard.  It was close enough where we exchanged our “good morning” greetings.  

One day, maybe this year, I will be the passenger in that basket with my camera in hand to take pictures from that vantage point.  Until then, I will happily take pictures from the ground. 

Have a beautiful day.

With Love, Blessings and Peace,

After a hiatus, I am back.  Hopefully a much stronger version of myself than I was before my self imposed time out.

To the surprise of a few people,  I took off for a weekend, completely without prior planning.  An action like this is so unlike me.  I am not a plan “months in advance” kind of gal, but usually a week or two ahead is more my speed.  

During this time away I did a lot of reflecting. I stepped outside of myself – realized a lot about myself and my personality and I reintroduced myself to my inner child.  Who doesn’t like to randomly hop in the car to swim in the ocean after 9pm with a best friend who keeps you laughing?  Ya,  I needed that time.  I can never thank you enough…you know who you are.

I am a helper, a fixer.  I want everyone’s life to be the best it can be.  If I could fix whatever is making someone’s heart ache, I would.  But Alas, Poor Yorick, I can’t.   With that being said, we “fixers” aren’t used to being on the other end of being helped. 

Life can get way too serious at times.  When that happens, we all need to take a break – a step away from our regular environment – a mini vacation.   It works wonders for our souls. 

There are many moments and situations that arise where we easily doubt ourselves. It is that pesky devil talking – trying to break us down.

Remember, you are enough!

With Love, Blessings and Peace!

It has been raining and gloomy the last couple of days.  Yesterday, in what I thought would be a brief respite from the rain, I hopped in the car with Wally to find pavement to go for a walk (it is mud season here and we live on a dirt road).  I wasn’t even up the driveway when I needed to use my windshield wipers.  Oh well.  We drove around the block and came home.  It rained all night and was still raining when I took Wally out for his morning walk.

As I was leaving for Yoga this morning, I put my sunglasses on my head.  Mind you, it is still dark out.  Hubs asks why.  I replied, “It is always sunny in my world”.  

He was speechless. 

May your days always be filled with lots of sun.

With Love, Blessings and Peace

As many of you have gathered by now, I LOVE my yoga practice.  Not only is it great for the body and mind, but also spirit.  

We solve the world’s problems (at least for a minute), we listen to each other about the stressors of the day/week (great therapy), and boy can we laugh at ourselves without embarrassment (great joy).  

Our early morning class is a family where we all can be ourselves.

It is a great way to start the day.

What do you do when you feel like life is so crazy you feel that you are stuck in the mud?  Right now that is how I feel.  We just maneuvered through two years of crazy Covid and now we are in outrageous inflation, housing costs and fuel prices, and Russia is “invading” Ukraine.  The “quotes” are there because I guess it is politically incorrect to use the term invading.   I don’t care – just call me politically incorrect – I own it!  It is so easy to let our minds wander down the road to a year from now and see the disastrous repercussions of what is going on now.

I feel like the country and the world is, as my Sister calls it, a “sh*t show”. 

Here is what I TRY to do.  I shut off the TV.  I retreat to where I feel grounded.  I take Wally for a long walk in below freezing temperatures until I can’t feel my face (that is what I did this morning).  I find a body of water and just sit and listen to music (what I am doing now).  I meditate.   I talk to God and I thank Him for my many blessings.  

I feel, and some may disagree, that the stuff that gets us stuck is “of this world”.  We are all human and get sucked into it quickly and easily.  

It is these times we need to take a breath and just STOP.  Stop letting the media creep into our minds and look at the world in all dark grays – find the colors.  Get off social media if that is what triggers you – I am lucky that a lot of my Facebook family mainly post positive things.  If there is a person who is doom and gloom, avoid them when you feel vulnerable – but  when you find your center and strength, ultimately help them to see that life is not really that way.  

While I am writing this, I am sitting in my car, looking at the frozen lake with a lone person ice fishing in the distance – I am finding my center, finding my peace.