Friday, April 9, 2010

The Happy Book Club - April 9

Happy Friday, everyone!  It's rainy and cool after a gorgeous, warm week - and it's ok.  The little changeups in weather keep me appreciating the special aspects each day.
I have to tell you about a few notable happy times.
First, though many people I know ask me "Why on earth do you bother with Twitter, etc., I have made some wonderful acquaintances through those networks.  The picture above illustrates this point.  These lemons are from Quinn McDonald's tree in Phoenix, Arizona.  We've been in contact for over a year and recently someone in the group was commenting on the scent of lime blossoms in their yard.  I remarked how I used to love having a lime tree when we lived in Mexico when I was young.  And Quinn wrote back adking if I wanted some lemons.  Her tree had an abundance and she'd be glad to send me a box.  That package came just before Easter - and it was like unpacking sunshine!  The lemons were huge, juicy, delicious.  She'd left some of the leaves on them so they were also gorgeous.  I have had fun sharing them with special friends, making sauces, putting zest in my coffee. On this rainy morning I have a ginger cake in the oven to serve later with a warm lemon custard that I made a couple of days ago.  Boy, everytime I walk into my kitchen and see those lemons, I smile.
Second, through my connecting here with Valli, I found my way to the blog Five Orange Potatoes.  This woman writes a lot about sharing her love of nature with her daughters and since this month has been declared Children and Nature Awareness month she's got a challenge going - each day people take their kids, grandchildren, friends or neighbors' children - and go outside.  And then write about it.  I started doing it with one of my grandsons whom I see regularly, and we've been having a wonderful time finding new ways to look at our surroundings. You can see a couple of things we did on an earlier post on my blog this week. Valerie's own blog on children's books instigated a flurry of buying some new additions for our little library, too.
And third, with a small push from one of my friends, I ended up painting out of my comfort zone, and have discovered that I do like painting larger than I thought I could/would.
As I sit in my studio and listen to the birds, watch the bright colors of blossoms and new leaves against the gray day and smell the ginger cake baking, I am experiencing a few moments of bliss.  That is a wonderful way to start this day.  I so hope that you, too, can make room for something precious today.

8 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading this post! It looks like it's been another full week of happiness. Your photos are wonderful too. I felt a little happiness leap in my heart when I landed on your page and saw that bowl of lemons.

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  2. Oh those lemons! Maybe I should rethink my anti-twitter stance.

    Thank you for the lovely post and have fun in the great outdoors with your grandson!

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  3. The lemon photos are just perfect! Sounds like you had a wonderful week. I agree that technology has the power to connect us in all kinds of wonderful ways. Happy weekend!

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  4. Bright yellow lemons make me happy too. What joy.

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  5. How wonderful. I smiled while reading this whole post. It's amazing to see how the happy just spreads like magic, isn't it?

    What a beautiful treat to receive those lemons. What a heartfelt, generous and beautiful gift. Thank you for sharing them with us too!

    ((hugs))
    Jamie

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  6. I'm so glad the lemons brought sunshine into your heart! The photos are wonderful. I discovered that my lifelong habit of reading the newspaper propped on my elbows left me with printing ink permanently in my skin. I scrubbed my elbows with a half lemon and not only does it smell great, but the oils and juice get the ink out!
    It's so great what you are doing with your grandchildren--to get them out in nature. Nature has so much to teach us, if we'll just sit still and pay attention. P.S. if you want a lemon curd recipe, I have a great one!

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  7. Wow, what a wonderful gift those lemons are! I can smell their scent just by gazing at the pictures! It's amazing how the internet can bring "fruitful" connections and spread the joy.... : )

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  8. Love your lemon story, sometimes when I can't sleep at night I will make myself a cup of nettle tea with lemon and honey - it's very soothing and I'm soon sleepy again!

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