100 days of summer :: day 16

“The most significant gifts are the ones most easily overlooked. Small, everyday blessings: woods, health, music, laughter, memories, books, family, friends, second chances, warm fireplaces, and all the footprints scattered throughout our days.” 

~ Sue Monk Kidd

gratitude for the warmth of the morning sun on my face and the quiet of the morning.
for a few hours with Percy, books read, bug hunting and the study of ladybugs.
for the simplicity of a peanut butter sandwich with last years rasberry jam
for him listening to the restlessness in my heart right now, and how he doesn’t try to fix it.
for celebrating vegan week out and about with my my youngest and his family
and, finding it hard to share the best butter bean humus with roasted cauliflower dish, because I wanted it all to myself!

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100 days of summer :: day 15

" A multitude of small delights constitute happiness." 

                                        ~ Charles Baudelaire 

I spent some time in the flower garden today mostly deadheading perennials. In the process I cut a few to bring inside. I tossed these peonies onto the kitchen counter and went to find a vase.
This is what I came back to…

that light coming through the kitchen window
the way the shadows play with the petals
showing off the pink within the flowers center
the smell, that the warmth of the sun, made more pronounced
how the three stems filled the perfect vase for the table

a multitude of small delights for sure!

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100 days of summer :: day 14

“When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die. Why do I say that? Partly because they change before my eyes. They live and die in a few days; they keep me closely in touch with process, with growth, and also with dying. I am floated on their moments.” - May Sarton

a beautiful summer day,
coffee in my pajamas with Baker on the deck,
the quiet that surrounds us, the bunny that hopped by
watching the first boats out on the lake
stick class at the marina, kites flying, picnic blankets spread about
talking around the BBQ while he grills the chicken
he cooks for us, and once again the food is amazing
how I see glimmers of the little boy he once was,
a tilt of the head, his laugh, the way he smiles

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100 days of summer :: day 13

“The library in summer is the most wonderful thing because there you get books on any subject and read them each for only as long as they hold your interest, abandoning any that don't, halfway or a quarter of the way through if you like, and store up all that knowledge in the happy corners of your mind for your own self and not to show off how much you know or spit it back at your teacher on a test paper.”

― Polly Horvath, My One Hundred Adventures

the newly designed large print section at the library
the perfect weather, sunshine and a light breeze
meeting the kids for cider and chips in the afternoon
love notes from Percy
thinking about my mom and dad today (my dad in the top left corner with the guitar
my mom with a string of fish they caught.)
wondering what they would think about the state of our country right now

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100 days of summer :: day 12

“How nice it is to be us, Big Bear thought.
Two brown bears in two fine boats sailing on a blue, blue lake.

And he was happy.”

― Eve Bunting, Big Bear's Big Boat

a spur of the moment meet up for lunch at a new place, on an old pier
boat watching and all of us picking the one we would like if they offered them up, cheap
remembering when he lived on a boat with his dog when he was finishing up college
another little snake in the garden this morning and how I did not scream, and calmly walked away
feeling like Bellingham is home now and how lucky we are to have landed here
slushies for Percy and me, a beer for everyone else ….
and really good pizza!

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