Tears and Prayers

Tears and prayers today for the people of China, and Myanmar, and our own United States. What an awful lot of tragedy in just a few days...

Rainy Day

We've gotten quite a lot of rain here lately, but speaking as a person who has a well, I cannot complain. Besides, it makes the garden grow faster, and it just looks so fresh and pretty as it gathers on the alchemilla leaves, or on the faces of the violets. It also tends to make me slow down a little -- I just cannot bring myself to vacuum on a rainy day. I tend to putter around -- do some laundry or straighten up the pantry or make some soup. So I am going to take it easy today -- slow down a little and enjoy the rain.

Happy Monday, dear bloggers!

*****

I got the most wonderful gift for Mother's Day -- my son came home for a visit! What a terrific surprise, and it was just one of the best Mother's Days ever. :)

Motherhood

All that is good in me I have from my mother.

I have always questioned the easy sentimentality of Mother's Day -- the cards and flowers and boxes of chocolate. How can they compare to the labor, the tearing pain, the sleepless nights, the worries, the wonder, the joy, the love? A bit of us breaks free with every child, to be carried on in their hearts. We cry a river of tears over each one. And as much as we make them into the persons they will become, they make us as well. We are who we are because of our mothers and because of our children. How do you say that in a card?

Of course I cherish each flower, each breakfast in bed, each sentiment scrawled in crayon across a piece of construction paper. But I hold in my heart the smiles and the tears, the hugs and the trials, the whole of my life as a mother. I met a wonderful man, we fell in love, and he gave me two beautiful children. I am so very blessed.

Happy Mother's Day, dear bloggers!

Heaven

Here's my idea of heaven -- morning sunshine streaming in through the window, and a pile of new (secondhand) books from (yes, you guessed it) the rummage sale. At $3. or $4. each, these decorating books were a steal. So many wonderful pictures, so many great ideas, so much inspiration.

I'll be taking a mental health day soon, to spend a morning with all these beauties. I'm waiting for some sunshine, though. Have a great weekend, dear bloggers! :)

Craving More?

Just in case you haven't had enough rummage sale posts this week, I thought I would show you what my friend, Robin, got at the big sale. I think, at this point, we are all "saled" out for awhile. Maybe. ;)

The Joy of Being a Woman

Taking a little break from what is turning into a weeklong celebration of rummage sale finds, I offer this bit of conversation from my yearly gyn exam:

Nurse: Your blood pressure is a little high. Were you just running around?

Me: No, but I'm kind of nervous about the exam.

Nurse: Oh, do you have "White Coat Syndrome?"

Me: No, but I think I may have "Someone's About To Stick a Little Wooden Spatula Up My Ya-Ya Syndrome."

Have a great day, ladies! More rummage sale finds tomorrow...

Yada, Yada, Yada, Part Deux

I promised more thrilling rummage sale finds, so here they are. Are you quivering with excitement? Pale with anticipation?

Bored out of your gourd?

Anyway, here they are:

A pair of unusually framed flower prints. We all know by now that I cannot be trusted to walk away from anything flowery in a frame. Or not in a frame.

Which leads very nicely to my next find, a handpainted tin tray with daffodils. Perfect for my kitchen.

Three examples of pressed flower art. See above, regarding flowers and frames.

And finally, the picture at the top of the post -- a cute needlepoint in a tiger maple frame. I would have bought it just for the frame alone, but I do love the needlepoint, too.

I did get some books, too. Maybe I'll save those for another day...unless you have had enough "yada, yada, yada..." for the time being. :)