Gently Unfolding Stories..

Did you have a favourite teacher when you were little?

I had some lovely teachers when I was at primary school, but none quite as wonderful as my dear friend Pom Pom..I feel sure that all who have the good fortune to be under her guidance in a classroom will well remember her warmth & passion all the days of their lives.

I recall, a month or two ago, Karen telling about a young girl in her teaching care who had suffered great loss: the little burdened one had developed a way of coping with the pain, by taking her own time with all things. She would simply refuse to be hurried along.

I still hear much talk about our hurried, harried lifestyles but as I too sit with pain & discomfort (quite often) I am grateful for the thought that any of us can make the choice to simply take our time, measured time & refuse to be stressed & rushed. Such is the case with each day of our lives; the stories that unfold sometimes simply express themselves in their own sweet time & will not be marched to the insistent beat of the expectation drum.

I am letting the stories unfold gently these days.

It's good to have choices, don't you think & your own story to live in?

I got held up at the organic stall at the market on Sunday buying celeriac, I chose to relax about it & when I came running out of the hall, knowing that I had kept Rob waiting for ages, he came running after me laughing & not cross at all. It is so good to keep practicing ways of kindness, not irritation. 

We took the time to stop on a journey into the country last week.
These apples were just sitting there, perfectly ready to eat.
Tree-ripened, crunchy & delicious Granny Smiths.

Lucy is very nearly ready for a wee road trip..into the country perhaps

 or maybe to the seaside?!

Rob is organizing her a spare wheel tomorrow.

Last thing.

 I have finished making the pink candlewick/doily cushions & managed to find a very vintage '50s looking sleeping bag at The Hospice Shop a week or two ago. It's not as contrasting as the camera makes out & unlike the easy care modern variety is made of a heavy cotton fabric & lining & doesn't rustle...at all!

 A day or so ago I found a bag of filet crochet tucked in the corner of the craft section of the same op shop. It was one of those continuous varieties, painstakingly crocheted & intended to grace a linen tablecloth.
I have re-invented it's purpose & used it instead to decorate Lucy's little windows.

 Much better for it to be used & admired ever single day than tucked in the cupboard through over-preciousness!

We called in for a delicious cup of Earl Grey tea at this garden centre cafe last weekend.
We just had to sit at this pretty table.

I quite fancy finding an old pram or dolls pram, but ah...the space factor!

This is such a magnificent vista viewed from the cafe courtyard.

I love this idea..hosting a beehive in the garden. Apparently we need to help the bees as much as possible these days. It costs $300 a year to host a hive but you do get 250 grams of honey every 2 weeks, which is quite a lot in a year really. Worth thinking about.

I hate to contemplate what might have become of so many unwanted items before the advent of ebay & Trade Me. I just love this vibrant tapestry.
I am going to make it in to a cushion soon.

Having spent most of my life feeling like an outsider & that I didn't belong or make a difference I really liked this quote that I came across today. It's through the open sharing & correspondence of blogging that I have discovered that we do indeed touch each others lives & that helps me to believe that I make a difference in the world around me, right here too. 

"What I do know is that, feel it or not - no man is an island, we are not alone.

 My failures, my successes, my strengths and weaknesses reach beyond me - they affect people around me. Whether or not I feel close, my life - every life - touches other lives.

 We are joined in a responsibility to together make this world a good one for all of us.

 Each of us warms the world or chills it in-as-much as we offer or withhold respect, hospitality, encouragement, love, or truth. In that sense we are all part of each other's well-being or
sickness, and we affect the climate that we all share."
~ R. Mullins

Isn't that just such good commonsense talk...each of us warms the world or chills it!

Thank you so much for warming my world!

I am so glad that you came to visit.

I hope that you know just how important you are through this coming week...every moment of every day. 

I was so blessed to have an Inspiring Blog Award passed on to me by Barbara from March House Books just the other day. I'll tell you more about that next time. 

We've been sitting in Lucy & singing this little song loudly all week (well not the actual whole week)..want to join in..??!!

It's a perfect Lucy song!

♥♥♥♥♥