Back To Beginnings

         The abandoned art table in the basement says it all....                                                  

                          the quote says that's the trouble in this world, too many people grow up. (Walt Disney)

It's that time of year again. I open my eyes on that back to school and routine morning and decide rain is an appropriate synopsis for September sentimentality.  The summer in all of it's breath taking brevity always ends too soon,and ready or not that old school bus trundles it's way up the hill to pick up my children. And ready or not I accept the relentless march of time and constant motion of change.

                                                       

I watch them go with a mixture of emotions.Them so independent and ready to 'take on the world.'...

Me;  not sure how they will survive.

There is much I don't understand....
                              

Then I remember lying in the waves at the lake. Their  gentle motion soothe my spirit and I feel brave and fearless. Undaunted by all the uncertainties that are certain to blur my faith on days.

But here midst the fluid motion of the water, the ethereal blanket of sky stretched above me I feel confident and unafraid.
                                      

We were altogether as a family, a rare treat in and of it's self, but we were also by the lake and there is no place here on earth that is better than creating sun drenched family memories. We end off the summer together and I cherish each fleeting moment.

                                                        

                                                         

They are growing up; or they have grown up, and back home alone in my kitchen,that feels so clean in comparison to the woods and beach,  I bite into a juicy over ripe pear, that should have been preserved before we left. I wipe the juice from my chin thankful. 
Reveling in a summer well spent, days, moments. memories created and loved.
                                                 

I will keep my heart wide open, like the surface of a lake. Wide open like a lake. (Sara Groves)

Seasonal Subtleties

                                          

Recently I replaced the quilt on my bed, with a plush and cozy comforter. (I found it calling my name on the Target clearance rack.)

                                        

I am partial to quilts, but I thought it may be nice to add some warmth and this comforter is nice and neutral enough to do that. I think it even works with my green walls.(for now!)
After I did that my casual throw rug looked rather forlorn, so I pursued a few more clearance places and found a rug that works well!

                                                      

                     Fun to make a few changes now and then, isn't it?

It has changed out doors too. The world is blanketed in white today, and looks like it may stay a while.    my flip flops are still under my chair....
I am not sure if I am ready but much like children growing up, it happens anyhow.

                                                    

So the subtle and not so subtle changes happen here, as I get ready to give the china cabinet in my kitchen a makeover. I'll keep you posted on this and other subtleties. 

Off to the races.......Lucy~
                                                          

Ps. Apparently if the leaves are still on the apple trees, the snow is not here to stay! I am pleased to report the leaves are still on the apple trees!


                                

Finding Feathers

Now that two of my daughters have left the nest. One who has permanently flown  (although she does come home to sleep on the occasions when she has two twelve hour shifts back to back)
The other daughter is in university and will be home the occasional  weekend and holidays.
                                      

                               a favorite photo from a few years ago sits on a window ledge

Somehow this has has felt like a double whammy of change. I knew it was  to happen eventually, but it has taken me a little time to adjust.

Through the highs and lows of this phase and settling into a new normal, I have been working on cleaning up the remains that somehow seemed to be an integral element, of their bedroom.
I even wrote about it once out of desperation...here.
                                                   

                                            the bittersweet tidy:)
One day as I was working on organising and revamping their closet, I came across a poster my girls had put up when they were much younger, and why this poster ended up in the closet is a mystery.
Here behind the beautiful wedding dress,(which will eventually get cleaned and boxed for my daughter) and banished sweaters and other rejected clothing, was a groovy girl poster.
                                            

It looked ambiguous and innocent, and I stared at it enchanted.
It took me back to a time of girls and dreams. 
Girls with imaginations and creativity that seemed limitless.
Girls who loved, and lived passionately.
                                                 

Sisters tho' vastly different from one  another; in reality were quite the same.
Two fiercely independent and resilient spirits, both wanting to find a place for their dreams to flourish.
                                                                                 

I recall two brave, "big girls" moving into a bedroom on a different floor, to accommodate a growing family.

I wish for a moment, that these walls would display some of its history, some of the giggles, disputes, and bedtime rituals.
I wish for a moment,  for a do over of the long days, 
  and that children would not grow up  so quickly.                                    

Time does not afford such luxuries, rather paying it forward,
leaving memories behind, like feathers scattered along life's way.

             the welcome home sign holds a special spot, as it was made to welcome hubby and I home once:)




 

Clothesline Clarity

today there was bright sunshine that if you really used your imagination you could detect a hint of spring! Perfect for quilts on clotheslines and somehow these thoughts...


The day began in a slight mist. The trees were embellished as though they understood that words are  pithy at times.

                                                   

       She kept staring at the horizon that was slowly becoming more transparent.

She hung out the girls quilts. She knew the sun would eventually shine it's brilliance, releasing it's super, stain removing power.

                                                                  

 She loved the way the quilts clung to the line, flapping regally, close to the sky.

The pale, pastel colours on the quilts seemed to dazzle the stark, white and blue world.
                                                                

She lingered a while; admiring their simplicity, the billowing in the sunshine, the fresh scent she anticipated.

Somehow the lucid way the quilts moved  bolstered her faith and courage.
 Somehow all that waving and holding on was something she understood. 

The day began in a slight mist. She kept her eyes on the horizon, waiting for clarity, and the certain  illumination.

                     Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 
                                                   - I Corinthians 13:12

Keep The Wonder Alive

            It is now 2014. I leave behind what was, could have been, and should have been.
There is way too much to look forward to to waste energy looking back.
                                     Life is for living, dreams are for dreaming....

                                                          

                                         
What is life without a dream? Some of my own may wait while I assist others  with theirs.
My daughter is dreaming of her wedding in a few short months.
I thought I became a mother yesterday...
                                            

Somehow dreams meld into years. Years of blessing and sacrifice and work. 
Work that pays off in ways that can not be measured. Work that is never done, but changes it's facade.
It waits, prays and hopes a lot. 
The dream is out of focus at times but it is always there. 
Shifting the perspective from regret to gratitude makes the difference.
Remembering it is in what we give that brings reward.

                                                                 

I have not decided on my word of the year yet....It will come. Good things take time.
I know this year will move me and bring change like no other has yet. 
Like every year I will mourn it's departure when it slips away.


                                                                             

But I am determined to notice it. I will feel it. All of it's wonder will seep into me, and I will be amazed! There will be no old experiences. Wonder will be reborn, whether it is in a flower or a sunset. In laundry or lunches, smiles and waves, aches and tears, beauty abounds....

              I hope you see it too, wherever you turn.....

                       Accept the inevitable, believe the impossible,
                          wonder at the ordinary. love, Lucy~
                                

                                                    








                                    

Reasonable Angst

There are two things that evoke a measure of anxiety that range in close proximity with one another. One is getting my hair colored (or highlighted in my case), the other is paint. 
Standing at the paint counter and sitting in that chair and realising there is no turning back. This is it baby.

Both require trust in the abilities of somebody else who I do not really know, and who really knows very little about me.

It's funny really because I generally have a pretty clear picture in my head of what I am after. Why is it then, or is it because of this, that I could regale you with at least a few instances of my complete and utter shock at how my hair or my room turned out.

Are we idealists our own worst enemies? Do we create our quandaries or do they create us?

On to painting my room last week. Finally after agonising over which colour to paint this large, rectangle of a rec room in our basement. 
Don't get me wrong I am glad for the space! But let's just say it has some rather weird  unique features. One cinder block, two mirrors inserted into them, and three a lot of colour happening with stencilling and fireplace plunked in the centre.

My usually creative painter side of me was feeling uninspired about a colour.
 I ended up asking someone who works in the field as she was conveniently here one day to pick up her children. She advised me on a colour that everyone loves and looks great everywhere.

         before... it was green... for almost twelve years! time for a change...

 Finally with a vision in front of me my paintbrush got pep. I rolled and brushed confidant that the stark white of this colour would somehow transform into a soothing hue.(it really was a beautiful colour on the sample, but for some reason on my wall it vanished:)
                            

After  a day's labour and verdicts from my family that weren't helping to boost my waning enthusiasm. I decided this shade was not working at all, figuring I had nothing to lose I took matters into my own hands and began dumping some brown and some turquoise into the can. Eventually I had a colour I felt I could live with and I tackled my project anew, which included scraping the paint off of the mirrors which I had covered up. ( I discovered I rather like the quirkiness  of them and the way they add sparkle.)

As I was doing all this painting I had a lot of time to think and ponder and I couldn't help but rejoice in the fact that unlike we humans who second guess ourselves and continually mess up our lives with the wrong colour. 
our God has a plan for us from the beginning. He created us and knows us better than we know ourselves and even though we don't always get the colour right,  His grace reaches us there and He is not offended at our admitting of our mistake.
When we acknowledge that His design of our lives is always right we can live, embracing the color around us.

He knows we are like that wall; which is likely to get another colour someday.

That continual work in progress, that continual striving of finding the right shade.
                                 after...a bluish gray I think...

 Some walls take longer and are a lot more work than others but when the paint brush is  put away, we can admire the way the colours compliment each other, and look forward to a potentially clean slate.
 We can move forward knowing that as long as we are here on this temporal abode; paint and hair colour are never permanent.

Here We Are Already

                                          via pinterest                      

Yes, time flies
Things change.                                                                         
Life can blur
Right on the page.

We're a dot
A speck in time.
Risking all
For a dime.

Keep the Faith,
Don't give up
Make great memories
From every drop.

Sing out loud
Thank God you're free
Hold loves hand
While you dance with me.

Because time flies,
Things change.
Life can blur
Right on the page.


A new week is here ready for the taking.  April will soon be no more than a dot on the page.Don't the months seem to fly by even more as we are older and children become 
replicates of us, even though we've willed them not to.
I hope you had a good weekend. The weather was beautiful here.
Sandals appeared,my girls found their flip flops....backyard trampolines were bouncing with kids high on spring fever energy.

Hope your week is off to a pleasant start.... 

the chives in my herb garden are coming along nicely...also mint and a few things that will surprise me...I tend to forget what I've planted  sometimes,so I look forward to being surprised:)










hubby picked up 25 new laying hens for me...
so I'm looking forward to an abundance of eggs....

(I hope I haven't turned you off of eating eggs)

dead things are being removed,
      empty things 
                are waiting


            to be filled.

I head out in my trusty garden shoes....

                        
                         with hope in every step...


555-chickens &eggs,556-watching Les' Miserables..(WOW and WOW)557-Grace and it's awesome power,558-a relaxing Sunday afternoon,559-baptism service at our church,560-walking with friend on Saturday,561-praying for difficult situation she is in,562-wedding invitations...563-laughing at this,,my youngest says"it smells like wet water in here:)

Falling Fast

                                            It's Fall.
 The sky wrestles between moody greys and opulent clouds.The sun comes out in short intervals as  it   adjusts    to it's reprieve as well.

                             

 The corn fields stand in silent surrender,awaiting the reaper.

  

The forests and woodlands burst with stunning vibrancy.                The magnificent colours sweep the landscape 
               with a grand gesture of benevolence.

The gardens have a weathered appearance . Bravely the flowers bloom on ,as if completely unhindered by the sudden chill in the air.






          





   Lamenting is useless. Completely unnecessary.
Tears and joy mingle to imbue the present with raw beauty.

Only when we have come to the place where we can say,"yes, it is all beautiful.
The hope, the passion,  the thriving,  the surrender."



                                        via google


We humbly whisper "thank-you" in awe and adoration.
                                             



more gratitude,17.family time,18.friend time,19.pumpkin parfait,(a yummy dessert:)20.creative children,21.thanksgiving dinner at sister's 22.being able to cuddle a baby in the nursery,23.reading to girls at bedtime,24.a ride for daughter stranded at school,25.eggs from our chickens,26.music and silence.27.Divine protection.28.Helping hands to empty out the garden.
                                     
                                                            (a few weekend pics....)

                                

Some Things Never Change

                                                   please listen to the music...

Beginnings and endings, the ebb and the flow,
The joy and the sorrow the stay and the go.
Life has it's seasons of storm and calm
Time to move forward,or look back upon

I pray I may never selfishly hold
What was never mine, but borrowed gold.
I'll keep my hands open and trust the great Giver,
While I savour the moment that He has delivered.L.M.

Enjoying a wonderfully, busy week here before it changes .

How are you spending yours?