Snapshot

"Sometimes it's the same moments that take your breathe away

that breathe purpose and love back into your life." ~ Steve Maraboli

I found this beauty in a digital photo file the other day. Photographed in my garden almost seven summers ago, I realized it was one of the very first I uploaded to my then-brand-new Facebook page.

It seemed a shame not to show it off again -- this rosy glimpse of summer bliss. I can almost catch a whiff of her fragrant petals. Although I'm not weary with winter yet, as I love this season too, I must admit its beauty adds a certain light and grace to this grayish, dimmish January morning.

By the way, although I do not have a public Facebook page -- where you can follow without asking to be Friends -- you are cordially invited to send a friend request, if you so desire, by clicking here. I'd be delighted to share the journey with you over there.

  

Wishing you glimpses of heaven in unexpected places,

Hugs,

Brenda

xox

English Snippets...

"Where shall I begin? Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first?"

~ As Jane Austen once wrote to her sister Cassandra

The last week in January and we're still in the throes of clearing out the clobber around here. This week we're pulling out all the stops, as we really do want to make an end of it before the month is done.

Before I get to it today, I wanted to offer snippets of other things in my thoughts while hands continue the task of rounding up dust bunnies and detritus.

Downton Abbey.  Watching the final season, we probably all have hopes for certain endings. So far, so good! Now, if you want a real discussion on the matters of great national importance to many viewers this side of the pond, I highly recommend reading Susan Branch's latest Abbey post. Please note she has spoiler alerts.

What I will say is that when Lady Mary said, "Tom, you're my brother", I knew it was The Clue for the direction this relationship was not going. Oh yes, she has great warmth and affection for this very dear man, but obviously no romantic inclinations. I don't think I ever believed they'd get together that way, but for me now it's clearly a no-go.

  

Penshurst Place, Flora Garden Tour website

Dreaming about English Gardens. As I mentioned before, Rick and I are planning a trip to England this summer. A along awaited dream about to come true. As the coming weeks unfold, I hope to share more about our trip and I do hope it will work to blog about it while we're there 'breathing English air'.

Not all details are sorted out yet, but one activity for sure is a much anticipated six-day Flora Garden Tour. During this intimate (four to ten people) guided tour, our host Dr. Barbara Sommerville will be taking us to visit small and large gardens in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, which includes Anne Boleyn's girlhood home Hever Castle, Sissinghurst Garden, and the Hampton Court Flower Show ... for which she already warns will be an arduous event with much walking, so please wear sturdy walking shoes --  guess I'll have to leave my princess slippers at home that day.

Agatha Christie. While we're in England, one place I would love, love to visit is Greenway House, now part of the National Trust, but it once belonged to world renowned mystery writer Agatha Christie. Apparently she described the house in her autobiography (which I'm going to pick up from the library this very afternoon as) "...the ideal house, a dream house."

Mrs. Christie is one of my all-time favourite mystery authors. I don't remember when I was first introduced to her mystery writing -- probably in my early teens -- but I've never stopped enjoying her writings. Or seeing some of her works in film, especially with David Suchet as Poirot, and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple.

I recently started reading a book Agatha Christie wrote in 1934, not a mystery but a 'crime of the heart' novel under her pen name, Mary Westmacott. It's entitled Unfinished Portrait and is about a woman named Celia. Her second husband Max Mallowan said, "In Celia, we have more nearly than anywhere else a portrait of Agatha."

For inquiring minds, no, we're not sure yet if we can fit in Highclere Castle on this trip. It certainly would be lovely -- I imagine the place would be extremely busy during the summer months. I understand that booking a tour ahead of time is crucial for getting in. Amy, was that you who mentioned this tip?  Thanks.

And, now I must be off. Duties call and I see from my glimpse through the window, it's a bright and sunny morning which means going out this afternoon will be a delight. The birds certainly are enjoying the warmish temperatures. Are you folks on the Eastern coast now digging out from your big snow event?

Sending hugs and wishes to you all for a wonderful day,

Brenda

xox

Linking today with Kara @ Tuesday Afternoon

It's Not All Cleaning Around Here, You Know

Hubby suggested an outing to the nearby conservatory  --  oh yes, dear sir, that's a wonderful idea. Suddenly messy drawers, overflowing bookshelves, and grey winter skies seem far, far away. And, when we walked into the feature pavilion yesterday afternoon, we were indeed transported to a far away garden somewhere in the exotic Orient.

For we were surrounded by bright pots of yellow chrysanthemums alongside red and deep pink cyclamen, displays of flamboyant orchids, and to our delightful surprise, a life size ancient Chinese clay warrior with his trusty steed -- as you see in the photo above.

First, I noticed the sweet fragrance on the air as we walked in. I thought it was the flowers, but in actuality it came from light floral-scented incense. This pot of incense sticks. Quite often I find incense too intense, but this was really lovely. It was just there, if you know what I mean, evoking that sense of something special.

Then, we spotted this gorgeous red lacquer garden bridge. Also surrounded by masses of flowers, it sat over a little pond replete with koi and other fish. As we stood to take it all in,  the fish caught sight of us by the bridge and they all swarmed towards us -- must have been hoping we were the lunch wagon.

Now for a few glimpses of the orchids -- all so breathtaking in beauty, colour and shape -- it was hard to decide which few to include. These were some of my favourites...

It was a wonderful outing! Nothing better than sharing it with someone special, then stopping at the cafe afterwards for a refreshing pot of tea, and rounding it all off with a wee bit of shopping in the too-lovely gift store (can't show you because it's a gift and someone might see). It was perfect!

Now, here's wishing you a beautiful weekend
with glimpses of beauty in unexpected places,

Hugs

Brenda

xox

Linking this post to

Amy @ Five on Friday

A Little Every Day Is Still The Motto

 Artist: Honor C. Appleton | Source: I Am A Child

There is always one moment in childhood

when the door opens and lets the future in.

~ Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory

When I was a little girl, even before I had siblings old enough to play with me, I loved to play in my south-facing farmhouse bedroom. Oh, I liked to play in the kitchen and the living room too, but the tiny room that seemed perpetually filled with light and sunshine was a favourite spot. My little iron frame bed sat in one corner and a little table I think my dad made sat under the window where pretty curtains must have fluttered on summery days.

A tallish dresser sat against the wall by the doorway; I still remember the pretty floral decals my mom put on after she painted it. Funny, I don't really remember the drawers that must have housed my socks and shirties, white cotton undies, tops and bottoms, but I can tell you about the two bottom drawers. That's where I could keep my play things -- I loved opening and closing those drawers and finding my treasures.

From the beginnings of my very young life, I was already turning into a dyed-in-the-wool, bonafide collector and saver of all manner of treasures -- paper and otherwise -- which I stored in those two deep drawers. Scraps of paper, coloring books and story books, pencils, crayons, cherished old creamery cheque stubs and handbills with all that lovely empty space on the backs for drawing and practicing my letters ... not to mention assorted knickknacks like empty spice tins and buttons and bits of ribbon. Wooden thread spools. Ohhhh, I loved all that clobber. It was my stuff.

Alas, I wasn't very good at keeping it all tidy. And things got messy in my room. So there would come that blessed day when dear Mommy would clean it all up for me. I helped. Although a little nervous about what she might discard, there would come that moment when the job was done, and it was all neat and tidy again.

How I loved my little room in that moment. Something happy would well up on the inside of me. A feeling of contentment and blissfulness. I loved the tidiness ... I loved that the clutter was gone. And, most interesting was that I now wanted to be in that space. I wanted to play there. And create. I'd look in my tidy drawers to find the crayons were back in their box and discover some 'lost' toy.

Some things never change. As you know from our last post we've been cleaning, decluttering, sorting through every drawer, cupboard, closet and shelf. Lots done, more to do. Today we tackled the laundry cupboard -- funny how you have to clean out the closet that holds all the 'cleaning' supplies. The flower vase shelf was ungainly and I don't remember the last time I wiped off little drip blobs from the fabric softener bottle. But when it was all straightened out, I have to admit when I came by later, I had to open the door just so I could stand there and feel the bliss of my tidy space.

As we've been checking off the tasks day by by, I admit to feeling a shift ... a sense of liberty, even a feeling of clearance (like when an airplane gets clearance for take-off). I'm enjoying my home again. And, I have renewed urge to make something ... like the old cartoon Herman when he felt so inspired, he said to his wife, 'Quick, give me something to invent.'

Clearing out the old makes room for the new. Having things in order is like balm to my mind. And like candy to my creativity. Our brains like order, I'm certain of it. They work for us more efficiently when there is some sense of order in our physical space. I feel like I can relax into other creative work now because I don't have all this stuff hanging around, cluttering my space and my thoughts. I told my sister the other day that I even had the urge to start up a writing project I'd buried a while ago. And we're not even done this 'clearing the clobber' project yet ... just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait!

A little every day is still the motto. In the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began".

Here's wishing you a beautiful day!

Hugs,

Brenda

xox

Clearing Out the Clobber

 Annie Spratt: unsplash.com

If you're wondering where I've been these past few days, my hubby and I are busy clearing out the clobber in our house.

I just love that word 'clobber'. It's British and slang for personal belongings, effects, property, chattels, or paraphernalia.  I fell in love with this fun-sounding word when Oscar Blundell in Winter Solstice tells Elfrieda he'd need to clear out the Billicliffe clobber when he learned he'd inherited the old Major's house and effects, which included one old dog and a rusted out vehicle. In light of that revelation, the word 'clobber' seemed to fit perfectly.

Closer to home, it seems when we weren't looking, we've collected quite a lot of our own clobber over the past few years. I never figure out where it all comes from. I mean, where does it all come from -- do you know? I'm not a big shopper these days, but while we were busy and much too tired from working at our part-time night cleaning job these past few years, our own house grew into a somewhat disheveled, sadly neglected old lady. The basics were done and that was about all.

But, now with the night cleaning job behind us, and us having lots more energy, certainly more time, and even pockets-full of enthusiasm, we've undertaken to tackling the mess in our own lives this month. We're culling. And cleaning -- sorting, shredding, chucking, giving away, and re-organizing -- going through every cupboard, drawer, shelf, and closet. In every room. No stone shall be left unturned. Cough, cough ... not to mention a few dust bunnies.

It may seem an overwhelming job, and it jolly well could feel that way, but we're doing it the smart way. Drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf, closet by closet, something every day as much as we feel inclined to tackle. So far, it's been quite manageable. Plus, we get coffee and tea breaks. With treats.

Hubby and I each have our own clobber to sort, and we leave each other to it. No sticking our noses in the other's clobber -- oh no. But, for those things we need to decide on together, well, we do that over morning coffee. With team spirit and a feeling of 'we are in this together.'

Little by little, by month's end, we should see sparkling decluttered corners, all remaining clobber shining and fit for use as we enjoy that lovely, beautiful feeling once again ... order has been brought from chaos, not to mention that really nice feeling of knowing everything is back in place and we'll know just where to find it when we need it.

"Do other people, I wonder, find the same keen pleasure that I do in periodically undertaking a pilgrimage all over the house to wage a war of extermination upon its accumulations of rubbish?" ~ Chiffon, "The Woman of To‑Day," To‑Day, 1898, from quotegarden.com

And so, on that note, I'm wishing you all a beautiful day. Glimpses of heaven in unexpected places, even in dwindling shredding piles ... or whatever you are up to on this wintry day.

Sending you hugs,

Brenda

xox

Today I'm linking with a spirit of simplicity