saturday

you start the day with the best of intentions to make it a happy one...

~ you make french toast for breakfast

~ you read a great book with your morning coffee

~ you go out in the yard and really take in the enjoyment a six-year-old feels when jumping in the puddles (+ you don't have to worry he'll get sick when his trousers are drenched)

~ you hang the laundry out to dry and love the fact that there are green plants, all in full bloom, below

~ you plan a pizza evening



yet, at the back of your mind, there are always the stressful thoughts that have been bothering you for a while

~'where will we be in september? we'll only find out late august'

~'what will happen to my country, to our jobs, to us?'

~' how can we plan our future?'

and then the realisation comes: we might as well enjoy what we have in the present

have a gorgeous weekend!

xxx

down at the river

We had a very pleasant and relaxing walk, all three of us, on sunday afternoon.

One that I cherish and keep close to my heart.

It will help these last five weeks go by faster.

xxx

my today

While packing her bag in the morning, she remembered that it was Wednesday and there would be some free time between classes to unwind. The novel she was reading was the perfect choice to take along with a cup of coffee at the school yard bench.

12.35. She rang the bell for everyone to go inside after recess and went upstairs to get her book and make some coffee. Just then, she remembered she had promised a colleague to look after his sixth graders while he took care of an unexpected emergency. 'They are good kids', she thought. 'I'll let them play outside, while I read'. Out in the yard again, she looked at the bright sky and thought it was the best possible weather; sunny but not too hot because of the breeze. The boys had already started playing hide-and-seek but the girls seemed quite indecisive as to what to do. They were all lying on the grass, looking at her. 'What are you reading?', one of them asked her. 'The Violets of March, a novel', she replied. 'Will you read to us?' After pondering over it for a moment, she recalled a little extract she had underlined the night before. 'Sure, why not. Just grab me a chair; the grass is a bit too humid for me'. They all got comfortable, using each others' legs as cushions, some closed their eyes, some looked straight at her, waiting for her to start reading.

"Hello, girls!" she said, walking toward the kitchen. In her hands were a bottle of wine and a bouquet of purple lilacs wrapped in brown paper and tied loosely with a strand of twine.

"They're lovely," Bee said, smiling. "Now, where on earth did you find these this early in the season?"
"In my garden," she said as though Bee had just asked her what color the sky was. "My lilac tree always blooms before yours." She said it with an air of amicable competitiveness that only a sixty-plus-year friendship could bear.

After the necessary translation, there were a couple of comments about the two characters' friendship. The girls were amazed at it and two of them looked at each other with warm smiles on their faces. They probably had the same thought of them being still friends in their eighties. 'Go on. Read us some more. What happened next?' the girls asked their teacher. And she went on, reading about a secret diary, or novel. They were mesmerised. When it was time for their next class, they asked her if she could tell them what would happen next, once she'd read the rest of the story. 'I will most definitely do', she promised.

~~~~~~

~ extract (the middle part of the post) from The Violets Of March

~note to self: always have a camera with you! You never know when you'll want to capture a moment!

in the back yard

Hello lovely people! I hope the second week of May is off to a
good start for you!

The weather's been crazy here. It doesn't feel like May at all;
more like November.

Saturday was fine, but yesterday it was windy and cold. We got about an hour of sunshine (kind of) in the afternoon and we grabbed the chance to go out for a while; and a good thing it was - it started raining as soon as we got back in.

Have a lovely Monday!

xxx


(PS. Any idea how to bring spacing back to normal?)

do crochet hearts grow on cherry trees?

Thank you Maaike for the tutorial!
~~~~~~

It's Mother's Day tomorrow. Here's a heart my son made at school...

and one that his teacher made for us, mums.

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mums out there!

xxx

note to self

Instead of counting your days, make your days count.

~Author Unknown

a year ago

This is what I posted a year ago. While looking at the picture, I thought how much I miss the view of the sky from my kitchen window and that, even though I'm so close to nature now, I don't look at the sky as often as I used to.

I also miss the feeling of serenity that my words convey. Now, words don't come as easy as before, and this feeling of contentment is usually elusive and temporary.

May {right now} ...

Today was the first day at work after the two-week break.

I found books waiting for me here.

I'm excited about my new books! I need to show you what I've bought so far this year.

I'll go drink this coffee now and leaf through my books before I go get little one from school.

Have a lovely month!

It's a beautiful, sunny Monday here.
xxx