Dear Friends

I seem to have been spending all of my

"Time Coinage" everywhere

but here, and there has been 

little savings of the coinage to spend

reading and leaving comments

on all of your lovely places.
Please forgive me.
I do hope to build up my savings account
and be a much better "Spender"
in the new year. 
I just have a wee mosaic to share here.
I hope that you like it.

...and perhaps just one more
which holds that which I love in Nature...
some you have seen before.

I do sincerely wish you all the best
in the New Year.
May it be all that you hope it to be.
May it be filled with good health
for you and those whom you love.
May peace for all of us
wrap around this world of ours.
May small joys and much comfort
be a part of every one of your days.

Thank you all for enriching my life.
With love, Ellen.

A Very Late Goodbye

to October.

Dear October,

You were the best.

If Autumn were a seasonal sandwich,

you were the goodness,

the nourishment

and the tastiness

lying between the bargain supermarket

white bread that was September 

and now is November.

You were everything I wished for

and all I needed.

You were all glory

with your brilliant reds,

coppery yellows,

joyous orange

and freckle-flecked browns.

Each day was a gift,

below me, above me and around me.

Dear, dear October,

you are #1 in the Calendar of My Heart.

****************************************************

Many thanks again for all of your notes

of kindness and support.

I have learned a very important thing

through all of the worries concerning my siblings.

I have known the importance of giving

thanks for all the good in my life,

but now I understand and am determined

to practice the act of being Thankful For That Which I Can Do.

It dawned on me that we are all blessed

to be able to do the simple and most mundane

tasks that each day always brings...

the washing of dishes

the washing of clothes

the constant clean up

the running of errands

the things that are not always welcomed

or enjoyed, or even those tasks

which seem tedious and never-ending.

I am blessed because I can still do these things.

There will come a day when like my siblings,

I'll not be able to.

I'll take them on gratefully for as long as possible.

And should I forget and relapse

and turn the air blue with my language,

do remind me with a good slap!

Love and thanks,

E.

Dear Ones

                                                                                 

Dear Readers,

I want to thank you for your generous support, your goodness,

graciousness and your loving words sent my way.

I am finding it hard to express

my gratitude and the feeling of warmth

and comfort I have received from you.

We all struggle at times, I do know that.

I hope that I could and would do the same

in return to all of you.

I am doing much better.

I know that I may never, ever understand my beloved brother

when I talk to him on the phone.

Strokes happen.

I went up last Saturday

to see my sister.

It was a good visit,

but the onset of dementia is frightening.

Disappearing ink covers the pages

of so many collective memories...

and who will be left to read them with me?

It has been both difficult

and wonderful to be back at school, 

but who can comfort a mother

who's son was involved in an accidental shooting

with a hunting rifle...

and the same person who lost her sister-in-law

two days later. She was also a friend

and had worked in my school office for years.

I had all of their children in my classroom.

And, my feral kitty, "No Ears",

who has been here for several years,

the one who finally came close enough

to my hand when I fed him...

to feel his soft (tho. ratty) fur

brush up against my hand.

He must have crawled up into my car,

because the next day 

I drove to the post office...

at a distance of nearly seven miles.

When I stopped, I saw a grey streak

run out from under the car.

I knew at once what had happened.

Tears all the way home

and the feeling of such responsibility.

There is a part of me

that keeps hoping he will turn up.

It's the heart part..the brain knows better.

So, enough here about sadness

and heartache.

I am so behind on reading

and leaving comments,

and I have this silly feeling

that I should never post

until I have left a message of thanks to all of you.

******************************************************

I will stop soon and leave you with

some lovely photos of the sky

at my sister's.

And, guess what?

I took them with my phone!

I have never done that before.

Also, if you have blueprints for building an ark,

please send them my way.

It has been an absolute gully-washer

for the last two days

and I am not happy with Mother Nature

who is ruining the colors of my favorite time of year.

Love times ten, E.

Here are the clouds. 

I hope you enjoy them.

Again and again,
you have eased my heart.
I have been reminded that we
are here for such a short time
and that time is filled with such beauty
along with some pain.
It is the human condition,
but aren't we blessed to hold that which is lovely
and comforting and surprising and wonderful?
Such life filled with wonders
and thankfulness, and the beauty
of the world with clouds, rain, sunshine,
color, warmth and.............
YOU.

E. with so many xoxoxox's

                                             

Sometimes

Sometimes you don't know what to write.

Sometimes too much awfulness happens.

Sometimes it concerns your brother

and your sister,

the loves of your growing up...

whom you are losing,

and the disappearance of a beloved cat.

Sometimes it concerns the loves

of your working life..

Twenty three teaching years

in the small town..

Twenty three years 

out of thirty plus

in the classroom.

So much loss in the last few weeks.

I have tried to write about it,

but I just cannot.

It is my story, but not my story.

Many children who were in my classroom,

and most of all

my beloved teaching partner,

have gone through so much.

I don't know what to do,

except be there for them.
I am back in the classroom every Tuesday
to read stories and do art projects.

For me, I pull up photos

that give me comfort,

and I am spending time

with D. in the Grasmere Journals.

I am pressing leaves

and gathering all Fallish things..
knitting mindless things..

I am baking bread and making cheese...

and, I am giving thanks to you,

Dear Readers, for being with me.

And, I am hoping to be back soon.
Oh, and yes and yes...
I saw the otters the other day while crossing the bridge.
Spirit lifting it was.
A reminder that goodness comes
even when times are just so hard.
Love, so much to all of you,
E.

August in the Garden

Candle flame yellow..

our patty pans have been spectacular

Hops that when dried

will be mixed with home grown lavender

and buckwheat hull...

a lovely lulling sleep pillow to make

Fuzzy furry visitor

Proof of an organic plot

We do have tomatoes

but they live somewhere else

and have been quite bizarre this year

with curled leaves and cores

so tough they are hard to slice,

but delicious nonetheless.

Plenty

Bounty

Earthly Goodness

With appreciation and affection,

E.

Hello Sunshine

Wishing all a wonderful week.

E.

The Little Green Jewel

is still here,

although there have been

a few sad days

when I could not find him.

My son has declared,

"You have

separation anxiety, Ma."

Probably so!

Here are a few more

photos from the last few days,

and a new discovery

that probably explains

where he has been.

Are you able to see

the reflection in his eye?

Those are the fir trees

in the distance.

Here he is moving away

as if to say,

"Please grant me

some privacy."

The brownish colored curve

on the left in the photo

is an old wool hat

that I found on the ground

one day and carelessly

tossed up there.

And, here he appears

to spend most of his day,

even in the heat..underneath the hat.

Oh, he has been a most welcome guest

and such a little wonder.

I believe that he is

a Pacific Coast Tree Frog,

aka Chorus Frog.

Chorus Frog is so much more lyrical,

don't you think?

Wishing all a beautiful weekend,

and sending thanks for such thoughtful comments.

E.

A Potted Jewel...

....an unexpected guest

a joy to the eye

a delight to the heart

a gift to my day

found the other day

in a pot of succulents

a darling of design

a gift with a capital G

I stayed and admired

his luminous eyes

that reflected all around him

I wanted to borrow his eyes

that gather the wonders

that surround him

and reflect the beauty

of all he sees

I spritzed him with some 

cooling water

he looked at me and was

still as still

I like to think that

he smiled at me

and said, "Yes,

it's a hot and sometimes

mournful world we carry."

He gave me more

than I gave him

Never underestimate

the power of small

Goodness to all who come here

Ellen.