Little Luxuries

In the midst of an intense deep freeze here....
                                                   

but silver linings seem to find their way through to my soul somehow...                 

welcomed daughter Katrina home for a week as she took a break from her studies and life in the city....

love hearing her play the piano again...                                   

white flowers in the winter....could not resist them even if I tried...
             
than I read this timely post...

                                 simply adore the crisp white blooms...

warm muffins on mornings when buses don't run and schools are closed due to cold...
              

hanging laundry out in the winter....yep. I'm that crazy....but look I don't have to go out to hang it up....my clothes line comes inside...
pretty neat...huh?

                         " the winter sun has gold in it"...is a quote my mother in law taught me....

and last I 'll share my concluding line with a conversation I had with my daughter this week...

"I have learned there is always something in your life that keeps you on your knees....always something that keeps us from being okay on our own....
somehow only there do we gain proper perspective"....
                                    

Warmest of wishes to you and all your week brings....Lucy~

With Love Here

Good evening friends....

just a short and sweet little post for you tonight, here at the end of this day of love....

a little bit of art work from  youngest daughter....

                                                 

and a scene from our supper table...

(I had made reservations:)

no really, no place like home on a blustery Saturday night!

there seems to be something profoundly hilarious about taking a picture by setting up the camera..:)

on the menu....

Zesty Chicken Bake,

Salad,

Homemade currant juice..

and of course....

leaving you with one of my favorite songs...

God Bless...

~Lucy~

Missing Targets and Such....

            who knew that the closing of a retail store could inspire a blog post...?                      

                                     the lamp and poster in daughter's bedroom...(from Target of course!)   

I happened to have a few errands to run on the first day that Target Canada was having its closing out sale.....:)
After having announced a few weeks prior that Target stores were closing... I anticipated this happening with mixed emotions...

The parking lot indicated I wasn't the only one. 
I hadn't  seen it like this even around Christmas!
Having a Target in fairly close proximity, I had  developed a retail relationship..:)

I managed to find a shopping cart that a shopper had just finished with, the others were all used, and in every aisle were people milling about anxious to save a few dollars on purchases they may or may not have really wanted.
I made my way to the home decor aisle....I had  found so many great deals here in it's short life.... decor items...clothing and craft supplies...(I look  around my home and see reminders everywhere....)
                                                                                                                                   

Now I felt like I was attending a funeral of sorts.... all of us offering our condolences if you will, to a situation and a decision out of our hands.

Although Target's demise was not a surprise; the gigantic store seemed unable to compete with people's expectations for lower prices and great selection.It  seemed evident from the beginning that its days here would be numbered.
The lack of regular, loyal patrons was the bottom line.

It made me ponder humanity and how  someone can be larger in death than in life.
How dying seems to somehow brings them a sort of fame...
How suddenly the deceased is an icon, someone to revere...
Don't get me wrong I am all for honouring and bestowing kind words to the remembrance of a departed loved one...
Memorial services should be beautiful tributes to the life someone lived....

but life really is for living...for appreciating the people who are in my life.
For a bouquet of flowers now, not a coffin loaded with them later...
For a kind word spoken gently;  not a eulogy  they will never hear.
For eyes expressing  understanding and empathy, 
not for tears on a lonely grave.......


                                                                                        

                                                back home with the candle I purchased...

                  Yes Target you did bless my life for a time...I am grateful.
               But even more for the timeless lesson that your passing revealed.

Weekend Corners...

Since winter tends to be the time we draw in ....

a few vignettes for you this weekend....

                                      recently I found this shelf...I fell in love with it....
I think I'll enjoy changing up my display items...for now I like this look.....

and then I found I had
  a matching tea towel :)                                         

It compliments my painted hutch quite nicely.....

I added this little detail at the top....

 an old trunk which belonged to my husband's grandmother holds photo albums in my living room...

a few of the books I'm enjoying..

my front porch view from my front door...

Thank you for visiting....I am off to conquer this Saturday....

Lucy~~

The Was And Is

We were seated around the table at my sister's house on that blustery Sunday  in February.
Our husbands had sought the comfort of soft seats and cozy fire downstairs to ready them selves for some football and camaraderie.
Our hands all encircled a large mug and our conversation created warmth enough...

                                                               

Inevitably we started discussing years that were and are no more....Days that though long were filled with life's sweetest and best.
Innocence and simplicity were the general theme of our days as we raised our little ones.
Days before social media and outlets that technology invented. 
Days where college and wedding plans were nothing more but a far away some day.

                       

                                             from the archives...

We laughed as we recalled the little but large moments in life....

Then someone asked...."but would you want to go back to those days now?"
Silence...and then bravely we all agreed "No, we would not wish to repeat all those gloriously long days with our young children in tow"....
Although blissful; retrospect is kind....and without saying it we knew there was also doubts, fears and a restlessness that at times permeated the season we were in...

                                                        

The feeling that still can prevail if we allow it a corner to thrive....

Life must be lived facing forward....we cannot change what was ...only what is.....
that is enough and it is beautiful...

                                                                 

With enough grace, and love in each season we live....knowing every day has trouble of it's own kind...
we can laugh ...realising life here is heaven's prelude....