sweet indigo life

*i love the simple things*

*grapefruit that grows outside your door

*sunlight that grows the grapefruit right outside your door

*raw brown sugar on steel cut oats

*driving with no maps, getting lost, and loving it

 

*welcome mats

*front doors with character

*friends: old, new, ones that left and are back again, ones that left and have stayed gone (I wish you well), ones that are fleshy, ones that are virtual, ones that love me back

*rock and roll music really loud.  no, REALLY loud.

*flying over the Grand Canyon

 

*swimming in crisp blue water while looking for fish, also known as snorkeling

*waves breaking at sunrise, coffee in my hand

*hiking

*sleeping

*dreaming

*meeting friends for dinner

*smelly candles

*freshly laundered bedsheets

*bubbles in my bath

*Bailey's in my coffee

*rum in my Egg Nog

*helping my kids hatch Sea Monkeys

*breathing.
 
Thank you Christina, at Soul Aperture for hosting this *love infused* series of lists.  Gratitude can be cultivated in copious amounts if we only pay attention. Scroll down to read my first post today, a whirlwind tour of southern California taken last week.  xo

Reverence is a season, a majesty exalted in orange :)

 

 I'd rather have a goddam horse.  A horse is at least human, for God's sake. 

~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

I was down on one knee, in the mud, fussing with my camera and when I looked up he was right there. I started to laugh and his friend came over.  I schmoozed with them for awhile and they posed, gladly.  Horses know they are powerful sleek magical creatures after all.  They don't mind grandstanding every now and then. 

Bursting with orange, the trees begged a hug.  I couldn't...lest someone see me.  I'm shy that way you see but I do talk to them.  So instead I stood there silently wishing. Wishing on stars, trees and stones.  Drinking in the display of high definition mother nature.  Leaves swept up on unseen breezes swirled and danced and fell inches from my nose.  It all seemed choreographed.  Chocolate brown mares snorted and kept inching closer to me, until nose to nose we became fast friends.  Crunching on leaves fallen as I made my way back to the car, the invigorating air the horses and I shared circulating briskly about, I glance back and whisper my goodbyes to my new equine comrades. I blew them a *kiss*

Dark eyes blinking madly, they sent me their "goodbye and please come with apples next time" glance, before nuzzling each other and going back to their business. 

 

The alchemy of chocolate and orange, results in a majestic autumnal day. Oh, the horses send you their love. xo

The latitudes of my equinox.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!! The nights and days are equal for a wee spell.  Then the nights reign heavily for six months.  Oh, the upheaval of Mercury gone retro is lightening up now...we'll soon get our messages straight again.  (The last few weeks has been insane for communications.)

I am hoping to accomplish the following this week:

• take a fun shot for Bench Monday! not like this, but I'll show you this anyways-as it sums up where I'd like to lay my head for the next-up in the bullet list...
• get some much desired SLEEP
• walk briskly to clear my head
• read the rest of Oliver Twist
• smile much
• increase my energy somehow
• watch a chick flick or two, I need a good cry!! (things have been even-Steven for awhile, and that is very boring, I need to FEEL)
• read all of your blogs, yes ALL of  your BLOGS!
• figure out some work related issues, yuck!
• bounce around on the beds like a ten  year old with my kids

Maybe I'll go to the lake, and get an ice cream cone before the weather gets too cold...oh and I'll shop for sweaters and boots.  Yes.  I love fall. OH!!! A recipe.  This is so inspired by the lovely chef Christina over at Soul Aperture.  I just couldn't resist it, and am telling you it is a major must in place of mashed potatoes.  So yummy!  So, fall!!!

xox

Our tasty Sunday.

Lamb chops, in light oil and mint.  So melt-in-your-mouth.

A double skewer of pork souvlaki.  Big squeeze of tzatziki sauce. :)

Roasted corn dripping with hot spicy butter and hot peppers.

A tasty way to spend a Sunday.

xoxo

Enjambement.

 

It's Sunday and I'm happy to be home putzing about doing what I do best. (My new bedroom windows allow the sun to tap me on the shoulder, waking me up.  It's a sweet view, with the golden light coming up over the houses on the street. I'm surprised to be up so early, as last night we saw Paul Potts in concert.  Not Pol Pot.  LOL!!! The Nessun Dorma's were weep worthy. But truly my fave of the evening was Caruso...love that song!)

So...today I'll eat toast, drink tea, flip through my book, fret about my hair (Thursday's appointment seems so very far away!), attempt more unpacking. 

I'll weed the yard, fuss over the kids, call my mum.

I'll make a dinner.  (After I go to the grocery store and spend so much more money than is necessary because when I shop I'm a chef!  I can go on T.V. and prepare culinary delights for the nation to envy and emulate! Taste buds will stop in their tracks! Faces will gaze upwards in praise singing...)  It'll likely be a simple meal.  Who am I kidding?  It will likely have an avocado in there somewhere! Oh I've also been told there is far too much food being thrown away.  We compost now, and well, let's just say our bin was overflowing this week!  Egg shells and tea bags baby.

I'll nip out with some excuse or other with my foot to the floor (pedal to the metal baby) and gun it to some pretty location, camera in hand, hoping, wishing and praying for the right light! The right subjects! The right mood! And right when I'm about to snap the perfect photo my cell phone will ring and it will be my sweet husband asking me to pick up milk, and "How much longer do you think you'll be?"

Whatever Sunday brings you, whether you are washing your car (windex those inside windows, it makes for better night driving), making spaghetti bolognaise, watching Amelie, painting your toenails, chatting with your friend on the phone about closet organizers & the benefits of aioli sauce on a salmon burger...or just napping on the couch with the dog curled up behind your knees....do it with L O V E.

Have a  lovely Sunday mon cheries!!!

p.s. Did you have to look up the post title? Perhaps you are a smarty pants and don't need to. (If so, good fa you!)

Do you know why

It is relevant

Here, now, for you to grow!

Wiser, stronger you will be

for using this in your _____ :) 

? {Lousy example, true!)

edit:

I'm sorry for the comment trouble guys.  It should be fixed now. :)

Flower picking.

A field of wild daisies near my home.

Thursday is upon us and that means a few things to me; It means I'll rise with the sun and pop off to work with a song, because the world keeps turning and people need us.  (Who needs you today? Cause that includes YOU.) It means I'll start a new book today.  I'll listen to this song a few times.  Cause I love it.

Does Thursday have a scent?  I think Thursday smells like naturally aged Indian sandalwood, with a hint of Moroccan rose. (It's got to smell good! . It's the day before Friday after all.)

Now some sharings (internet flower pickin's);

Want to watch a stylish old French film?  (Love her hair! She does too, combing it as much as she does.)

This is one expensive restaurant bill!

A place to exhibit your photography. Free.

Go have yourselves a joyous one, embrace those who embrace you, kiss those who kiss you, and praise those who need it.

xo

EDIT; I know the *new* Typepad has its niggles.  (Don't you love that word?) Anyway, I've become addicted to following.  Now I'm finding all these glorious writers and blogs...who knew?  What a pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow! Go get your free profile...then you too can follow along.  Such fun! :)

Little appreciations, an inspired post.

Christina at Soul Aperture wrote a post on "Simple Things in life".  I am following suit, as I believe in gratitude so deeply.  Little things do make our lives what they are.  We need to just pay attention.  So for my rendition, I'll walk you through Greenwich Village, the first of two posts I'll do on this trip.  Come along, and if you haven't already counted your own blessings, you may want to do your own post! According to Christina's rules, it's a list, some photos, or a post on the "simple things".  The first photo I've shown you here is a gorgeous apartment on Bleecker Street, a lovely place to hang your hat and read a book when you are done venturing out for wine and pizza.  So home is the first on my list.

 

A place to eat.  Be it a restaurant, your backyard BBQ or a dinner party hosted by a friend.  Where there is food, you've satisfied one of Maslow's hierarchies, and henceforth should be grateful no matter what.  Each day I hit the "click to give" button on the Hunger Site.  I can't imagine being in a place where my children couldn't eat. This sign represents food and also creativity, two things to feed our soul.  August is located in Greenwich.

 

Freedoms.  Liberties.  Let's not take them for granted.  Oh, and by the way...for my American readers....here we just call it "bacon".  LOL!

 

Adding a little "you" to your front stoop.  I am so excited about moving to my new home, because it already has a yellow front door!  It will save me from painting it yellow.  Oh it is a gorgeous, welcoming colour.  (I've had red doors for years! Still love red though.)

 

For any writer, photographer, or artist...a space in which to work can be completely sacred.  This is the desk space in the little apartment we rented.  Two talented people reside there.

 

You don't need anything but a pen and a notecard to make someone's day.  Christina mentioned loving opening her "snail mail".  There is nothing nicer than opening the mail and getting a brown paper parcel or a handwritten letter.  I can't go into a stationery store without leaving with lots of new crispy paper.  I'm a bit of a vintage postcard addict too.

Last on my list today...warm apple tarts and cool lemonade.  Why not???

See you next post for more little appreciations. Enjoy your week everyone! xo

We are all sweetly made of stars ✩✩✩!

Good morning sweet people.  EDIT: Just a quick mention that my link list is being redone.  If you aren't on there it's because I haven't added you back on yet.  I'm so challenged with this stuff.  I tried reorganizing it and lost most of the list.  I've had to go "fishing". LOL! Thanks xo)

 I was just thinking...there is a sweetness in prayer.  The same sweetness resides in celebration, meditation, attention, and love.  This morning is a call to gratitude.  I've spent a weekend in the sun, with loved ones, preparing meals (a prayer in itself), and examining my heart (it's nice to get to know oneself). 

So as I ponder the weeks agenda, I remind myself of this.  That every action is rippling outward to touch the lives of others, and so (with this thoughtfully in mind) I take cautious steps (prioritizing).  Everything I do will be a meditation in sweetness.

As the star factories churn out new and brilliant stars, as 800 billion suns circulate in a galaxy (the Sombrero Galaxy) so large it takes 50 million light years for light to cross it...I will simply exist sweetly. We are all made of stars after all, always have been, always will be.  Hafiz had it right! (My sugar withdrawals are coming through in this post.  Every other word is sweetness or sweetly. LOL!)

Also...I will keep my father (newly retired, yay!!!) in mind (will you, too?), as he enters the operating theater again this week, as his (oh so funny and kind) warrior spirit seeks to battle it out with the invading enemy cancer.  All thoughts and sweetness will be greatly appreciated. xo

One last thing (a little stat for your inner geek), but my husband-to-be explained something to me about the difference between a million, and a billion.  A million seconds is 12 days.  A billion seconds is 32 years.  (800 billion suns, now does that give you some scope to work with regarding that Sombrero Galaxy I mentioned?)

xo Happiest of Mondays to you...and Happy Birthday to Queen Victoria!

(feliz?) Dia del maestro!

 My daughter's legs.  A lovely idea plucked from this very fun flickr group.

Teachers come in all shapes and sizes.  Some you give a shiny red apple to.  Others you treat poorly, because they cause you anxiety or anger (often our greatest teachers).  I guess the lesson here is to learn.  At the very most basic level, we are all here to learn.  So take whatever it is you may have perceived as a slight, and work it to your advantage.  (After all, some folks out there may not have your best interest at heart.)

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.  I've often found this to be true in my own life.  Let's learn from each other then.  Let's squeeze this orange of a life and see what we get, fear-free.  Be yourself.  Discover who you are.  Reach for what is rightfully yours.

Thank a teacher today!! Our language, our music, math, cooking, in fact ALL your skills came from a teacher.  We need them.  We all are them.  Let go, fly, and be free!!

(Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.” - Helen Keller, right Tara?)

Enjoy your long weekend everyone! I'm going to a rollerskating party, and then a huge fireworks party.  Basically the weekend is one big party.  (Why not? Back Monday!)

xo

Dancing a THANK YOU along the curb!!

 

Giddy~! Blissed out~! Tripping on the pure LOVE that has poured in to this little cyber-space. :)

While I caramelize some onions for a dip I'm making (Caramelized Onion, Spinach & Artichoke!) (and no, I'm not pulling a Martha, just burning the damn candle at both ends again people!) I thought to take a break and post a THANK YOU to TypePad for featuring me in May's newsletter as one of their "Blogs to make you happy".

I'm honoured to say the least! Thank you to all who stopped in to read this humble little blog.  Tomorrow my eldest turns nine, so I'm prepping food (marinating chicken breasts in fig balsamic marinade shhhh! it's Kraft Olive Oil dressing...) and my hubby is outside cursing at the new BBQ he is putting together.  The old one had bitten the dust and so since twenty people arrive for a feeding tomorrow, it was a necessary thing to be assembling it tonight! Poor lad, I'll have to go pour him some tinto vino. :)

Oh! I can't wait to hear this man sing Nessun Dorma on July 18th!!!

Talk to you soon and enjoy the upcoming weekend folks! Love to you!! xo

{Giving this a whirl next time}xo