facing…

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yesterday the quote I reviewed was about facing the light and thus putting the shadow behind…

made me think of the juxtaposition of light and shadow which had me wandering around my plants and taking photos being sure that my shadow didn’t affect the pictures…

it was was relaxing and I appreciated the time…

contemplating…

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this morning I started a new activity…

for each of the next 24 days I am going to read and think on one of the cards that I received last year for Advent…

I really enjoyed the process then and am looking forward to this time of reflection each day…

I am going to start each day with a time of looking at the artwork and contemplating the quote on the back…

today I was thinking about how much sunshine can affect my mood and feeling of well-being… when the sun is shining everything seems more upbeat and positive…

where I live, we used to have a lot more sunny days… they are particularly helpful during the cold winter months, as even the cold seems more bearable in sunlight and blue skies…

I was reading some data which showed we averaged 51% sunny days between 1981 and 2010… for the past few years we have noticed that there is less sunshine that’s there used to be…

this morning, as I look out the window, the sky is blue… gonna be a good day😊…

hoarfrost…

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what a wonderful day yesterday… slept in, and when I got out of bed, saw hoarfrost on the trees out the bedroom window…

as I passed the window on the staircase, I spotted a bunny having a snack… first one I’ve seen on the deck this winter…

and the views out the window were wonderful… I even went outside a couple of times to get a few photos… some when it was overcast…

and some in the sunlight…

so beautiful, and a reminder of a day with my beloved when we took a drive to photograph hoarfrost

goddess…

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for many years, since my trip to Seattle in 2013, I have had a Chihuly calendar… either my daughter or I have purchased them for Christmas gifts to one another…

this year that didn’t happen, so we were discussing how we missed it the other day…

she suggested that I make one using Vistaprint… I had gone online and found them on the Chihuly Garden and Glass website, but the shipping charge was more than double the cost of the calendar…

so I did… I used the photos from our visit in 2016… it took about an hour to prepare and order…

that was on Monday… on Thursday it arrived;-)… it is beautiful, the photos came out clear and crisp and it is just slightly smaller than the Chihuly ones…

I am very happy…

I had fallen in love with a photo of the garden goddess many years ago that was taken in Montreal… on one of my visits to see the kids in Ottawa, we planned a visit to see it… unfortunately the picture was old and the structure was not in the garden…

in 2015, my daughter sent me information about a goddess structure in Atlanta, and that there was a Chihuly installation happening as well in 2016… I was very excited and so away we went…

it was a special time… I am going to enjoy this calendar…

dining…

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spent a lovely hour in the dining room garden recently…

trimmed up, and cut back, the mandevilla and fuchsia… they have both lost most of their leaves but are still alive…

I am hopeful that they will both perk up… the mandevilla looks lovely now…

listened to music and felt such happiness… before you know it, spring will be here…

today I took some photos of the garden, including the blooming orchid…

clumps…

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about an hour ago, the city plowed the front street…

they did a great job of cleaning the end of the driveway, but the sidewalk always gets plowed in…

I put my supper in the oven, got dressed, and went out to shovel the end of the sidewalk…

I have learned over the years that if it isn’t removed immediately, it freezes into a solid block of unmovable ice…

knew that I had a small metal shovel in the garage and where it was, so I found it and cleaned all the clumps up…

went well and got it tidy for anyone who is delivering mail, parcels or treats;-)…

threshold…

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on New Year’s morning I was walking on the treadmill and happened to turn on the front camera to see if any birds were at the feeder…

there was a man standing there, so I ran upstairs to see what was going on…

it was a young friend with a gift in his hand… he said he was looking for coal… I had him step back, and put out a gift bag I had put coal and a scone into… anticipating that my middle grandson was coming over…

then he stepped over the threshold and put down the gift and gift bag and stepped back outside…

my daughter had sent a number of items to her friends and they had packaged them up and delivered them to my door…

for years we have done first-footing… this was by far the fanciest package, lol…

there was tea, charcoal shampoo, chocolate covered fruit, a Christmas cracker, little bottles of alcohol, sourdough chocolate, a delicious fresh banana chocolate chip muffin, an adorable tin with a cute gingerbread person in it and a fresh orange… and of course the chunk of coal;-)…

what a wonderful surprise… truly, I am blessed