🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀
May your day be fair and may all the golden luck, rainbows and good wishes be with you today!
{Image: Showing some Irish pride, Helaine Lender holds an oversized shamrock bagel a few days before the St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1967. Lender also got in the spirit of things with a traditional hat and pipe for St. Patty’s Day. (David Mclane/New York Daily News) // Pinned HERE}
Hello, March. February brought us the first flush of bulbs pushing up from the earth and bursting into bloom. The world around us has slowly been polka-dotted with the whites and purples of crocuses and the eruption of saffron painted daffodils. We’re ready for you to usher more pops of colour into the landscape.
We’re ready to spend more days in the sunshine and for dusk to take a dash longer to arrive before the curtains close on the day. We’re ready for more chances to picnic outdoors and for longer evening walks. We’re ready for St. Patrick’s Day, where my Nana’s Irish Soda bread will grace our table.
However, we’re not quite ready for our rhythm to change with the latest government announcement that all children will return to school in one fell swoop on the eighth. Selfishly, I will miss the opportunity that this time has afforded us (Mr Michie and I) to work around one another again. I will dearly miss being able to pop out of one room, while on a break, and see Mr. Michie’s beautiful face working in another. That has been a gift that I have cherished.
We are blessed during this time to still have a roof over our heads, food on our table and jobs when so many others are not in the same circumstances. I think it’s easy to say during this time, that we’re all in the same boat. But, in actuality, we’re not. We’re all in the same fleet, but each of us face different challenges in our own boats. We should strive to be physically, mentally and emotionally aware of that. We are navigating these waters as best we can.
So, let us continue to live in the moment and not let the small things pass us by. Let’s celebrate the coming of spring and welcome her with open arms.
{Image by Barbara Dziadosz found HERE // Pinned HERE}
“True love is the greatest thing, in the world — except for a nice MLT — mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe.”
Billy Crystal as Miracle Max,The Princess Bride, 1987
I hope wherever you are today that you are surrounded by LOVE in all its many shapes and forms. 💖
May this year bring us all good fortune!🧧
About this pattern: “For this design, we took inspiration from the Eastern styles prevalent in the Aesthetic Movement, as referenced by the Geffrye Museum’s 1890 drawing room. Lucky Lantern features tasseled Chinese lanterns, decorated with pine, plum and bamboo – known as Suihan Sanyou, or the Three Friends of Winter. These three symbols – 松竹梅 (sōng zhú méi) – are revered in Eastern culture, as they flourish in cold weather, and therefore symbolise strength in adversity.” – Mini Moderns
{Image: “Lucky Lantern” pattern in Harvest Orange found via Mini Moderns // Pinned HERE}
A long stroll this morning took me down to the seafront and along the shore where the pebbles were covered in snow. Then, up to my favourite set of beach huts; their vibrant colours standing out in illuminating contrast against the white frosting; icicles dripping from the edges of their roofs.
Stealing myself against the cold, my feet carried me further to a favourite stopping place. I stood on my tiptoes to gaze over the stone wall to see if the goats were up and out of their little hut. To my surprise, they were out playing in the snow. I paused and enjoyed the moment; lost in the calm serenity of the winter morning; as the goats romped about in their field.
All the while, pillow sized snowflakes were softly landing on my hat and shoulders. It was magic. In that moment I felt blessed. I walked back home with Patti Page singing in my ear and a heart full of happiness for all the beauty around me. It was a good start to the week!
Hello February! We’re ready for hot chocolate swirled with whipped cream on still frosty mornings; the world around us turning pink, white and red in the celebration of L-O-V-E that you bring on the 14th.
We’re ready for more nights spent eating popcorn and watching old movies together. And we’re ready for cold nights where we eat breakfast for dinner by candlelight and listen to albums on the stereo. We’re ready for that much needed downtime in this whirlwind; for those quiet moments to savour books that we have been greedily devouring.
We’re ready to continue cherishing these slower winter days where we watch, little by little, the sun stay out a bit longer each day. We’re ready to see those first glimmers of spring: bulbs sprouting up inch by inch and buds forming on trees, soon to burst forth in the coming months.
We’re not wishing away this slower pace. Rather, we’re enjoying the stillness and the reflective mood that the final month of winter offers, before spring comes into full bloom.
February, this year you take us full circle to the cusp that we were standing on last year before madness descended. And we have found our way each month and we shall continue to do the same through your days and weeks. We will persist in finding the pleasure in the little things. We will continue to dream, to laugh and to breathe in the world around us.
We’re ready for you February.
{“Dear Frost” by Lore Pemberton // Pinned HERE}
Wise men still seek him. ✨
{Albert Edelfelt (Finnish, 1854–1905) Itämaan Tietäjät (Three Wise Men), s.d. gouache 43 x 30.5 cm. (16.93 x 12 in.) signed private collection}
🌟 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🌟
May this New Year lay an abundance of blessings, peace and love upon your door.
{Image: 26th December 1942: Couple kissing under mistletoe during a Christmas party for the Flying Fortress Boys. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) // Pinned HERE}
We are ready to ring in the New Year, hoping that it brings better tidings than this last one did. However, there is a silver lining to all things. This past year, Mr. Michie and I have been blessed to spend a lot of quality time with one another and for that I am forever grateful. In all the ups and downs that occurred in 2020, we have, as we always do, faced them together. I am blessed that I have a partner by my side who is truly a ‘partner’ in every sense of the word. We leave this year behind with a renewed sense of gratitude for each other. We will shepherd in that appreciation to the New Year.
I come from a family that makes the best of every situation and tries to find the humour in things. And I know that so many people have joked this year that they are “surviving, one glass of wine at a time” and I do see the funny side to that. But, I don’t want to be just “surviving”, I want to be thriving! And that is what we did in 2020 and that is what we will continue to do in 2021.
Wishing love and light to you all as we close the book on this past year and open a new one tomorrow.
{Image: Arthur Sarnoff “Happy New Year!”, The Progressive Farmer Magazine Cover 1958 // Pinned HERE}
Merry Christmas!
May your day be merry and bright! And may this season fill your soul with love and light. x
{Doris Day, 1950s // Pinned HERE}