52 Friday...

22/52

SIMPLICITY

***

Animals love us

with constant hearts.

They offer us

pure joy,

a place to love

with

simplicity & purity.

~Julia Cameron~

***

Happy June 1st!  It is much cooler today, windy & pouring with rain. Peony petals have covered our front courtyard.  The garden will be thankful for this lovely deep soaking, much better than the sprinkler :-)  

I can hardly believe it is the first of June & even harder to believe it has been almost 4 months since we adopted Archer.  It feels like we've been together always.  I love this Julia Cameron quote ~ speaking of constant hearts, pure joy, simplicity and purity. How lucky are we to be on the receiving end of this ♥

Have a wonderful weekend xo

52 Friday...

21/52

HOME

***

Home is oneness,

home is my original nature.

It is right here,

simply in what is.

There is nowhere else

I have to go,

and nothing else

I have to become.

~Tony Parsons~

***

I wasn't able to get many photos of Mama Robin.  Out of the 4 eggs, two babies resulted.

Her nesting spot was really awkwardly built and even though we tried to keep that side of the garden off limits by avoiding opening the gate etc ... she was nervous.  I had hoped to get photos from my Studio window, but the Trumpet vine grew too quickly and  hung down covering her nest.

Yesterday, we noticed two Robins building a NEW nest in the pergola outside our kitchen window :-)

This is the usual spot chosen by the Robins each Spring and so much fun to sit at the kitchen table watching all the activity as they go about gathering nesting material and wiggling their bodies to flatten and shape their nest.  I like this spot as it's nice and safe and cool. The pergola is covered with Honeysuckle vine and the leaves are huge, draping  like little curtains. 

 Home Sweet Home ♥

~Have a wonderful weekend ~

xoD

52 Friday...

20/52

SOLITUDE

***

I had three chairs in my house;

one for solitude,

two for friendship,

three for society.

~Henry David Thoreau~

Happy Mother's Day! ...

19/52

BLOOM

***

Never yet was a springtime

where the buds forgot

to bloom

~Margaret Elizabeth Sangster~

***

Can you ever have too many Ranunculus in a garden ♥  I absolutely love them!!

Sending out Happy Mother's Day Wishes today xo

52 Friday...

 14/52

~SPIRIT~

***

April hath put a spirit

of youth

in everything

~William Shakespeare~

 We've filled our urns with  pansies, wrapped them in grapevine and tucked in pussy willow stems where ever we can :-)

 spotted  signs of new LIFE...

  everywhere we looked ...

52 Friday...

12/52

~PERSIST~

***

~Have a wonderful weekend!  Yesterday saw record breaking temperatures here.

52 Friday...

 I realized today, that I had forgotten to post 52 Friday last week ... so today, I'll post 2!

9/52

ENJOY

***

He was free to enjoy

the breathless glee

that overwhelmed him:

the speed, the clear cool air,

the total silence, the feeling of balance

and excitement

and peace

~Lois Lowry~

10/52

BALANCE

***

Balance your thoughts with action.

If you spend too much time

thinking about a thing,

you'll never get it done.

~Bruce Lee~

***

I was looking at a bowl of lemons on my counter and decided I should make Luscious Lemons Squares :-)

They're the perfect BALANCE of Tart & Sweet.

Here's the recipe...

LUSCIOUS LEMON SQUARES

1/2 cup softened butter

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

1 cup plus 2 1/2 tsps all purpose flour

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar ( I use a little less)

6 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

***

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease an 8" baking pan.

FOR THE CRUST:  Using an electric mixer, cream butter, confectioners sugar and 1 cup of flour on medium speed and beat until well blended.  Press dough firmly over bottom of pan and bake in oven for 15 minutes until lightly golden.  Set pan aside to cool.

FOR THE TOPPING: While crust is cooling, prepare the lemon topping by combining eggs, granulated sugar, remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons of flour, lemon juice and zest in medium bowl.  Beat with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Pour over cooled crust and return to oven for 20 minutes more, until set.

Allow to cool thoroughly in the pan before cutting into squares.

Dust with confectioners sugar.

Enjoy ♥

52 Friday...

8/52

Dreaming

{Kim Klassen Texture: All my Loving}

***

Without leaps of imagination

or dreaming

we lose the excitement

of possibilities.

Dreaming, after all,

is a form

of planning

~Gloria Steinem~

52 Friday...

7/52

~Destiny~

***

Even when you think

you have your life

all mapped out,

things happen that shape

your destiny

in ways you might have

never imagined

~Deepak Chopra~

***

Have a wonderful weekend ♥

52 Friday...

6/52

Miracle

***

People usually consider walking on water

or in thin air a miracle.

But I think the real miracle is not to walk

either on water or thin air

but to walk on Earth.

Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even

recognize : a blue sky, white clouds,

green leaves,

the black, curious eyes of a child ~ our own

two eyes.

All is a miracle.

~Thich Nhat Hanh~

***

Have a wonderful weekend ...
snow is in the forecast for this evening :-)

52 Friday...

5/52

UNDERSTAND

***

Look deep into nature

and you will

understand

everything

~Albert Einstein~

***

When my daughter & I were out walking a few mornings ago, we came across this gorgeous male Cardinal enjoying some seed (thought the bird house was wonderful too).

He stopped eating when I brought out the camera & struck what I thought was a lovely pose :-)

52 Friday...

4/52

~Beauty~

***

Let the beauty we love

be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways

to kneel

and kiss

the ground.

~Rumi~

***

I've always felt that finding a feather upon your path is a sign & I always stop and say a prayer of gratitude when I come across one.

On this past weekend's walk, the camera was turned off,  lens was back on and we were on our way home when we came across this lovely lone white swan feather.

Instead of cropping the photo, I decided to leave it just as it had been taken, thinking  how beautiful it looked amongst leaves and twigs and dirt. 

 I remember reading that it is believed in many cultures that finding a feather upon your path was a sign of encouragement ~  Birds being creatures of the sky (Heavens).  The hollow shaft of the feather allowing for prayers said, to rise up through the shaft.

~May you find beauty all around you~

♥D

52 Friday...

3/52

 POTENTIAL

***

We spend January 1st

walking through our lives,

room by room,

drawing up a list of work to be done,

cracks to be patched.

Maybe this  year,

to balance the list

we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives

not looking for flaws,

but for

potential

~Ellen Goodman~

52 Friday...

~1/52~

Life is now.

There was never a time

when your life

was not now,

nor will there ever be.

~Eckhart Tolle~

***