May 8 ... what a Saturday should be..

Today is the kind of day those Italian gardeners warn you about. Lot's of folk I am sure have set about planting their gardens, vegetable or flower, believing that the most spectacular March and April we have ever experienced in this hemisphere, would surely make it time to plant. Well aha! I say - you were wrong!

My mother, who grew up on a farm somewhere in Austria, taught me about something called the "Ice Heiligen" - not sure if I'm spelling that right. It would sort of translate into Ice Holies .. and sure as shooting, no difference what kind of Spring we have had - we can always count on a chill before the real planting weather begins. I am sure that other cultures (those Italian gardeners I was talking about) have their own myth about it - which is why you never see a real Italian planting before the Victoria Day weekend.

All that to say, cold, rainy, chilly day. Merited turning the heat on for a bit. Windy, blustery, a moment or two of sun, but nothing you could do anything with. Ran around doing errands, enough to get wet, cold, damp - yuck. Came home to nice Pea Soup - I mean is there anything better on a day like today? After noon nap, wake for a sec to find Honey covering me with a blankie.... I smile, feel warm, safe, taken care off... and doze off again.

My kind of day....

March 25 .. Spring theme continued...

Walking to work today was awesome. +12 degrees, March 25, many, many crocuses blooming.

About two weeks ago, a dear friend of mine gave me feedback on the blog. One of the things I learned is that not every moment about gratitude needs to be about big feelings, big events. Sometimes it's about having eggs for breakfast, or enjoying a favourite sweater; something, at some point of the day makes your face break into a smile.

For me today it was those crocuses. I would love to show a picture but they didn't turn out. All good... I got to stare, and hover, and enjoy all the same. Crocuses, the purple and yellow ones, are just super happy spring things. You can't walk by and not notice (at least I can't) and you can't walk by and not smile. And I think the smile is even broader when it's March (I mean come on folks - March 25th, no snow anywhere) rather than May.

While tomorrow the temperature is supposed to dip, but ever so briefly so it's all good really, I am really grateful for noticing the flowers, for enjoying the walk (twice today!), for the sun on my face and the warmth in the air. I'm loving Spring this year.

March 4 ... Spring Rites...

It is another glorious day. I love it. I am grateful.

A few years ago, we had a deck built onto the back of our house. It's sixteen by sixteen, and our house is attached on both sides by houses that extend further than ours. This makes for no wind factor and makes it private and lovely. During the first year of the new deck, we spent most of our time out there, had all our meals out there, did all our morning coffees out there, had our afternoon naps out there. Our dining room, which we stopped eating in all together, became a depositoire for all the junk we collected during the day. We would rush into the house, dump our "stuff" (knapsacks, papers, food bags) on the table and go out on the deck. I remember at one point, when folks came to visit, we would escort them quickly out on to the deck, lest they linger and look at the disaster our dining room became!

Our deck is always the first to have all the snow melt. We are westward facing. Our back wall heats up, and because as I mentioned, we're a little back from our neighbors, a micro climate happens. It is always warmer in our little nook than it is outside of it.

So today we had lunch out there. In our T-shirts. Should have had a BBQ and beer! Maybe we will. It's March 4th!!

It was wonderful being warmed by the sun. It was wonderful being warm, outside. It was serene and peaceful to listen to the birds singing, and the sound of the snow melting... I am grateful.

I often feel a lot of gratitude when thinking of my home. I am very fortunate.

February 11.... Lunch and stuff

Hi there. Today will be short and sweet.

It was a glorious day. I'm grateful! My work schedule today permitted me to come home for a two hour lunch break. I made a great, really great, salad - chick peas, lettuce, pear, yellow tomatoes, red peppers.. sounds awesome doesn't it? - and had a totally lovely lunch with Honey, who worked from home today.

Even better was that I walked to and from the office today - it's February 11 and Mother Nature is teasing us big time with this Spring-like seduction of hers! I've been wearing shoes!!! For days!!! Yes Ma'am I am grateful!

I am also grateful that while I trained really hard yesterday, today wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! Which is very motivating. And .. I slept like a baby!

I am grateful and happy... how about you? What are you grateful for today?