Shadow Shot #16 - Blog Your Blessings Sunday

Click for Today's Flowers and Photo Hunt

This is my sixteenth …

Neighborhood Shadows

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Shadow Shots at Hey Harriet
See also Shadow Shot #15 & Camera Critters at Small Reflections today.

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

Really Good Things

1. I enjoyed Retired Ladies Lunch on Monday and spending the afternoon shopping with a friend afterward without spending much money at all. It's a relief to know I can exercise such fiscal restraint, finally ;--)

2. Spending quality time with Molly and taking her to Dog Beach to play on Friday morning feels good. Now that the weather is warmer, we'll be able to do this more often together.

Clicking on the collage will enlarge the photos ;--)

3. Devoting time over several days to pruning, weeding, watering and photographing flowers in my front yard all seem like worthy accomplishments.

4. Learning more about Word 7 at Adult School is nifty and I love using the Photoshop Elements skills I learned last year to create collages like the ones in this post to share the photographs I've taken with my new Nikon D60.

5. I had a wonderful phone conversation this morning with my Taos Writers Retreat Buddy and found myself revisiting my early posts here at Sacred Ruminations ... and I'm surprised by what's there ... pretty much undiscovered by anyone. Perhaps I'll share some of those early posts again sometime in the future ... just because.

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo above.

Thought for Today
"With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now." Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Almost Wordless) Wellness Wednesday

Savoring Spring Flowers

LOOK!
Soon I'll have fresh strawberries to enjoy.

For now I'm enjoying a variety of bulbs in bloom.

This is my 1st yellow Iris of the season.

Here is where I sit in the afternoon shade to read.
Ms. Kitty's 'cushion' is under the
chair on the left.

Purple Irises have been blooming for several weeks already

The Azalea given to me by a dear friend
when my Mom died in 1989

Allowing myself time to relax, read, and enjoy my garden
brings healthy, happiness, and a sense of well-being.

'Garden' Thoughts for Today
"The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."
Hanna Rion

Sacred Life Sunday at Home

I've started my 2nd alliterative piece for Lucy's game, (see Small Reflections for my playful purple "P" post) but a call from my sister this afternoon consumed my writing time ... so my vibrant "V" verbiage must wait for tomorrow.

This evening I'm sharing
more treasures from my home in three photos.

To the left is my Mom's piano in my living room with three of my favorite books containing poems by Nancy Wood beautifully illustrated by Frank Howell. From left to right they are: DANCING MOONS, SHAMAN'S CIRCLE, and SPIRIT WALKER. Also displayed from left to right are hand made art pieces purchased directly from the artists who created them: a carved "bear" motif gourd ... a hand-painted goose egg with an African scene highlighting a giraffe, elephant, and lion ... the pair of snowmen shown last Sunday ... and three more giraffe pieces with my piano lamp on the end.

Below is the 2nd pony I purchased in Taos. It's part of the "Trail of Painted Ponies Project" that I wrote about previously here when I shared my 1st Painted Pony. This is "Heavenly Pony" and was created by Noel Espinoza who was born in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. Noel has devoted his efforts as an artist to sharing a vision of Mexico as a place "as colorful and vivid as a memory." Of his inspiration for his Pony he writes, "The nobility and spirit of the Horse is so high and sublime it led me to take them to heavenly heights in the shape of billowing clouds."


Finally, the rose below is blooming in my yard today (along with a few others). It's been cooler than usual for the last few weeks,




but today was sunny & warm "t-shirt & shorts" weather for most locals and visitors alike.

These apricot colored roses have a delicious scent that permeates the entire yard. They last longer than most roses and draw the attention of everyone who passes by.




Today's Zen cards by Daniel Levin:

TRUTH

"What is, is. What IS not, is not. No amount of WISHING or wanting can change that simple fact."

TAO

"Tao is truth. FOLLOW it. Meditate on it. BECOME it. Then forget it. Only then can you live it."

THE WAY

"MEDITATE. Live simply. WORK with integrity. Become Compassion. This is the WAY."

Day 3 Gratitude & Cleanup (My Sacred Life)

Thankfully, the Santa Ana winds have subsided and we have a light onshore breeze this morning. There's ash everywhere and I'm sure the air isn't clean because all the smoke hanging off shore will blow back through as the winds pick up and continue to shift, but Molly and I needed some "outside" time and a break from the ongoing Southern California fire coverage.

In a little less than three hours, I've cleaned up the front yard, almost completely filling one large trash can. Because the Korean grass is bumpy, rakes and brooms did little to remove the thousands of palm seeds nested therein ... so I did most of the work sitting on my rolling "Lawn Buddy" ... leaning over while using my hands to gather seeds & debris in the same way I do regular weeding ... meditatively. I noticed about a dozen Daffodil sprouts already peeking through the grass so they'll bloom early again. Last year after the lawn was stripped, the bulbs went crazy as this photo illustrates.

One lovely pink and three apricot roses greeted me this morning. In addition to the lawn and the roses, several Periwinkle, Heaven's Breath, and Giant Impatiens plants (along with the Potentilla ground cover) weathered the winds as did the lime & lemon trees, but most everything else is in sad shape. Hopefully the Endless Summer Hydrangea will bounce back. I'll plant new flowers in the next few weeks.

I took a few pictures this morning as I worked (before, during and after) but will need to wait to transfer them from the camera to my computer & add them here because McAfee is doing it's weekly security scan of my laptop, significantly slowing things down. This reminds me, belatedly, that I've missed my usual Weight Watcher's meeting ... forgetting today is Thursday, so I'll look for another meeting before the week ends. Because I don't know how to add photos within the post, I'll probably create a "continuation" for today as I did previously.

For now ... I continue to count my blessings, pray for all affected by these fires, and feel encouraged to learn that fire-fighters have "contained" some & are more proactively "fighting" other fires in addition to defensively protecting structures.