The End of the Discontent

It’s been a bad winter and I am just not speaking of the weather which for many of us this was a winter that we do not want repeated any time soon…no, I am speaking of my attitude and my loss of joy during these past few months.  I am not saying that I was in total misery, but many times my daily joy in the little things somehow vanished and I found myself in a winter of discontent. 

Friday I drove to the small town where my daughter lives and where my sweetie’s Memory Care Facility is located until I needed to move him from there to a nursing home facility due to the extra care he needed last summer.  I realized that as I made the drive how much I missed  this trek, this open road with farms on each side of the highway, growing corn or soy beans, or an occasional horse farm.  Prior to moving him this was a regular trip for me and usually after a visit I would wander the country roads snapping pictures of old barns, country roads, and occasionally I would come upon horses, cows or sheep.  This always brought me a feeling of contentment, of peace. 

As I drove yesterday I realized that this trip, this drive, this open road was a big part or lack thereof of my winter of discontent.   There were times when the snow would fall I thought that a drive to the country to capture the fields and barns covered in white should be on my agenda, but somehow I would inwardly talk myself out of going, thinking it might be too cold, or too ice covered, or too many back roads impassable.  So as the winter continued on, my discontent grew. 

Yesterday I spotted a horse running, and kicking, his head bobbing up and down as tho he had just been released from a winter of imprisonment and finally allowed to run free. Almost the way I was feeling as I drove the highway, altho I wasn’t kicking nor was my head bobbing up and down, but I had that same feeling of freedom. 

I witnessed the willows as the color of their flowing branches turn a brighter yellow, a sure sign of spring, and against the pale blue of the sky was a photo op waiting to happen. I saw fields freshly plowed waiting for planting, and a pick-up truck piled high with bags of soy bean seeds in preparation for spring sowing.  While I did see patches of snow, but after the amount of snow that blasted us this past winter, I was surprised that only patches remained.

After a wonderful lunch and girl-talk time with my grand girl, Brie, she wanted me to see her new “babies”….oh my, now what.  Brie’s ambition and her degree will be in zoo keeping, always having a strong love for animals this is the perfect career for her.  Her babies were a pair of gerbels….the only animals that are allowed in her apt at school.  Kinda reminded me of a couple of mice, but I had to admit they were cute.  It was definitely a challenge to capture this image....she NEVER stop moving.

Over at A Beautiful Mess, Elsie and Emma have challenged their readers to a 100 day happiness challenge.   And since my winter of discontent is hopefully drawing to a close, I want to be more joyful, more happy, so I am taking that challenge and each day for at least the next 100 days I am going to be "happy" about something during each day.  Almost like the 30 days of gratefulness I did in November.  I think happiness and gratefulness are coupled, don't you?

So day number 1 I am happy for spending the afternoon with friends enjoying a delightful concert and this beautiful bouquet of little pink mums from my fav flower vendor, Trader Joe's.

What makes you happy??

"A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are for what you have." 

 

-- Author Unknown 

Until next time.....

Random Five On Friday - The March 21, 2014 Edition

Joining in with Nancy for her weekly meme....Random Five on Friday...hop on over and enjoy.

1) Happy Spring everyone.  Now admittedly it is definitely not Spring weather here in Chicagoland since I woke up to this yesterday morn......

The only one in my household that doesn't seem to mind the snow is Toby...

It didn't last long, the sun began shining and the temps warmed up into the 40's to welcome in our new season.

But we are supposed to soar into the 60's today which will be a literal heat wave.  Shorts and sandals will be the attire among the younger set today for sure, but this chick will keep with her less layered attire, probably stripping off one or possibly two layers as the temps rise.  But it's only a tease since the cold is AGAIN returning for the weekend and into next week.

2) I am headed to Charleston, SC on Tuesday for a week's stay which includes a photography workshop, "Charleston in Bloom" but now I am wondering just how much is going to be in bloom.  Hopefully some spring flowers will be popping their heads and a wildflower or two will be emerging, but let's just say the suitcase will be filled with warmer clothing in anticipation of cooler than expected temps. I made that mistake when I went to Phoenix in January.  I fully expected capri weather, but was greeted by much cooler temps which resulted in a shopping trip to add longer legged attire.

3) Yesterday, my oldest grand girl, Bailey took off work for the day and we went shopping at the outlet mall, dinner at the Corner Bakery, and bookclub together.  It is been far too long since I have been with either of my grand girls, with Bailey's job moving her to Rockford instead of convenient Naperville, and Brie is far away at school. Brie is on spring-break so I am meeting her for some girl time today.  My week is always brighter with my grands in view.

4)  I love that app Waterlogue, Even with my old phone it takes decent enough pictures that turn out to be little works of art.  I think it must have gone viral by now because I am seeing it everywhere. Everyone I show it too downloads it immediately and then they show their friends and family and it goes on and on.

5)  Whee, my son gave me a Kindle Fire for my birthday.  I love it...now I see my book titles in color, can enjoy magazines, newspapers, my e-mail...I never purchased any books for my old Kindle that contained pictures (ie: Cookbooks or even Photography Books) because of the lack of color.  But now that has been eliminated with this new gift.  Thank you, Lane. And btw, on my shopping trip yesterday I had to buy a pretty new Vera Bradley sleeve to wrap around my new gift....after all I did have my birthday coupon that made it's cost easier on the wallet.

And if you could, please hop over to my collaborative blog, Focusing On Life where I am sharing one of my writing assignments from the recent Writing class I just completed.

"Be willing to take the first step, no matter how small it is.  Concentrate on the fact that you are willing to learn.  Absolute miracles will happen."  ~ Louise Hay

Until the next time....

The Week That Was....

After seeing a glimpse of Spring on Monday & Tuesday, Mother Nature decided our winter and snow was not over yet.  But this time she gave us a glorious, magical snowfall.  The kind of snowfall that can spell danger for possible heart attacks because it is filled with ice crystals and wet, wet snow.  As beautiful as it may look, it is the worst kind for clean-up.  But since I am not part of the clean-up crew my perspective is more positive.  I am seeing pure beauty.  You know the kind of snow I am talking about, the kind that clings to everything it touches leaving behind blankets of pure white snow.

Now we have had our fair share of snow this past winter....what am I saying fair share??? I mean we have almost topped the all-time record for snow this year, but it has always been that light puffy snow, easily removed, but not the good snow-ball - snow man making kind of snow.  I need to go on a treasure hunt to find some good home-made snowmen, but unfortunately I think because everybody is so fed up with winter and snow, that not even good packin' snow is enticing many to venture out as it would have earlier in the year.  Even the ducks and geese are ready for this winter to "be gone"...

Well, it is now Saturday, didn't even finish this post that I began on Wednesday....oh inspiration please return.  Even tho I have moaned and complained (and by the way I am definitely not the only one complaining about this winter, just to be clear) one good thing that has returned to my life is my love of reading.  There was a time that I literally devoured books, finish one, immediately start another.  But then, something happened, don't know what, I stopped reading.  Well, not completely, but the only books I read for probably the last 4 years was whatever my book club was reading for the month. And many times I skipped those.  Books enrich your life, so why did I stop?  Still a mystery to me....but anyway with this lengthy winter I began reading again and it's brought me a lot of the joy I used to feel as I read good books.  I love the way some authors can just literally mesmerize you with their style of writing, their way with the written word.  And with the lightweight of the Kindle it makes it easier to hold books for long periods of time.  I gotta admit as this aging process takes over my body, the arthritis in my fingers has progressed to the point where it just downright hurts to hold a book, especially a hard back book for long stretches.  I still would prefer to have the "real" book sitting by my bedside table, but for comfort and ease I have fully embraced my kindle.

Spring is on it's way....slowly, very slowly.  After the wet snowfall we had on Tuesday night, it began to warm-up again with the melting snow piles getting smaller.  And ofcourse the mud, and the dirty paws, but that comes with Spring, part of the ritual.  The birds are returning, you can see them gathering bits to begin their nesting, green is beginning to make an appearance underneath the melted snow.  I know winter is not over yet, but at least we are on the downhill swing.
 
 

And one last pic.....I couldn't resist.  The only thing that Cinder cannot  pass up is a piece of paper that has fallen on the floor.  A napkin, a paper-towel brings Cinder to inspect and and begin to rip and chew until I stop her with just a word.  She usually does this in secret, but somehow one of the "pieces" caught on her tooth and there was no hiding the guilt.  It's like the proverbial "kid caught with the hand in the cookie jar".

And another Lenten thought.....

Do more than belong: participate.
Do more than care: help.
Do more than believe: practice.
Do more than be fair: be kind.
Do more than forgive: forget.
Do more than dream: work.  ~ William Arthur Ward

Until next time.....

I Am Here....

A few of you have inquired about my whereabouts this past week considering I am not usually absent from the blog world for long periods of time, and it does so touch my heart that there are those that miss me when I am not around.  But I do have a reason, sick.  Yeah, sick.  Just that nasty flu-like sick with coughing, sneezing, chills, fever, runny nose (oh my gosh the runny nose) and then after every sneeze and blow I felt the need to clean my hands, so now not only is the nose red and chapped from all that blowing, but the hands are as well, but they are germ free.  At least right at this moment. 

So instead of complaining about how I felt physically and more complaining  about this dang winter weather that refuses to leave (another 4-5 inches of snow last night) I just decided to back away for awhile.  The photography has been slim to none, just how many pictures can you take from your front window of the same snow day after day??  Taking a picture of the gallons of orange juice that I consumed didn’t excite me either.  And because I was sick I didn’t even go to Trader Joe’s for my weekly dose of flowers to add color to my world.  See now this is why I didn’t blog, I am having a pity party and that was not my intent. 

What I did do was read, nap, watch a little TV, read, nap and watch a little more TV.  I finished “The Girl You Left Behind”, good book – recommend.  Then I switched to something totally different, “The Bat” by Jo Nesbo a Norwegian writer dealing with crime fiction and a main character named Harry Hole.  Kinda gritty and unless you are into crime novels with some gore probably not what you would want to read.  Harry is from Oslo but is assigned to a murder case in which the victim is Norwegian in Sydney, Australia.  It does feature a fascinating take on the lives of Aboriginals in contemporary Sydney and is well written.  Now I am reading “The Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles a completely different story that begins at the end of 1937 and follows a young girl from the Bronx on her journey into the upper echelons of high society New York in the late 1930’s.  All the glamour and glitz of New York City, interesting story and great characters. A definite recommend.  As you can see, I am into variety, and I particularly like a well-written, character driven book.  

And speaking of writing, I have registered in another writing class at our local college.  It begins Wednesday and we already have homework.  If I come up with any good stuff or a "high five" from the instructor I might share....might.  I figured that if I didn't stimulate my brain somehow that it would begin melting unlike the piles and piles of snow.  

I came across a couple of great quotes today that I think are quite appropriate for this winter...

"May we all emerge from winter with our strength renewed and any unwanted pieces left under the ice"  ~  John Darnielle

and this one....

"At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening."  ~  Unknown

Until next time....

Big Changes

Hmm, I came from this....

to this...

and then again this...

to this in less than 24 hours.

Not only did the temperature change....drastically I might add, but my overall attitude went in the toilet.  I wish I could say that the effects of the 10 days of sun and fun would have managed to hang on and last me thru the rest of the winter, but it didn't take my attitude long before it began to grumble just like the rest of the folks around here.  Putting on boots, gloves, heavy coat, & muffler just to drag the garbage can to the curb for Tuesday pick-up is a drudge.  I know, I know I am definitely whinning, and I know there are many out there that did not have a chance to get away, I know there are many that battle the elements daily (ie: the garbage pick-up crew) but I am being honest...this winter absolutely sucks.

The "kids" love to be outside, but it doesn't take more than 3 or 4 minutes before both are hobbling back up the sidewalk, limping because their little paws are so cold.  So I am sure they echo my sentiments.  I think the look on their faces pretty well sums up our present conditions.

OK, enough of the grumbling, moaning, & complaining, now is the time I need to stop and think of all the good and the blessings in my life....hmm, having to dig a little deeper, my attitude seems to be blocking those thoughts right now or maybe they are just "frozen" along with everything around me.  Oh stop it, now I am just rambling negative thoughts.  

OK...a little positive, here are a couple of "doors from the Barrio" in Tucson where my blogging buddies and I spent a wonderful day wandering around taking pictures of these fabulous doors.  I did a whole blog post on these on my collaborative blog here if you would like to see more (I know I was in much better spirits too).

Love the cat in the window....linking this to Kim's Texture Tuesday.  Used her Marabelle texture

This is so typical of the type of doorways you will find in this area, painted a bright color, crumbling brick, old doorknobs, a photographer's dream.  Who gets excited when they spy peeling paint...ok, raise your hand high.

OK, I am in a better mood already, just knowing that I have all these wonderful memories of such a grand time along with almost 2,000 pictures to prove it.

"The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention." ~  Susan Salzberg 

Until next time....

I'm Done

Yeah, my Christmas tree is down with all the ornaments packed away, even the tree is bundled in a zip-up container.  Dropped by Trader Joe's yesterday and picked up a couple of wine boxes with their dividers still intact....voila my ornament containers. Worked perfectly.  

I pluck the dried hydrangeas from my bushes to adorn the Christmas tree, and when Christmas is over I have a huge pile of hydrangeas that are so dry to the touch they break apart instantly.  I never like throwing these away, they have given beauty since they begin their blooms in mid summer and add their continuing beauty all thru the holidays.

Tonight is bookclub, wondering how all liked our book, The Husband's Secret?  It certainly held my interest.  I have started reading Kate Atkinson's Life After Life and was a bit confused for the first few chapters.  I had downloaded the book on my Kindle when it first came out several months ago and forgot about it until I strolled thru and spied it, so I had forgotten the premise of the book.  That's what happens when you download, you don't get that book flap to give you a little start-up as to what the book is all about.  Now that I am in tune as to the gist of the book I am enjoying it, but I will admit a little confusion at the start.  Reading anything good?  I am always up for a good read.  That is on my 14 in 2014...read more.

Gotta go, still a little straightening remaining and my grandgirl is joining me for dinner and bookclub.  I think it's a hoot that Bailey comes to my old ladies (oops I shouldn't say that) book group, but definitely in a different age bracket than my Bailey.

Joining Kim at....

"Books are like imprisoned souls till someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them."  ~  Samual Butler

Until next time....

Beginning With Texture Tuesday

Each month over at my collaborative blog Focusing On Life where I contribute twice a month, we choose a "word" or "theme of the month."  I always start the year and this year my choice was "Beginnings".  In my thought process I imagined that this would be the perfect word for the brand spankin' New Year.  Let's not do resolutions, because you know we all seem to fail miserably at those, but beginnings was a kinda of guilt-free way to think about what kind of new beginnings would I like to do during the year.

Well, I definitely have not been the poster child for "beginnings" as now it is the 14th day into this new year and my Christmas tree, is still fully dressed and still standing proudly, lighting every evening by 4:30.  By this time, and usually by the 1st week of January all the Christmas beauties have been tucked neatly into their bins and put away for another year.  I have been draggin' my feet all year, literally.

About the only new beginning I have done for this year, is make the decision to let my hair grow longer and I started a new book.  Now both of those are truly momentous....wrong.  I will admit to having most every other Christmas pretty packed into boxes, it's just the tree that is still standing. My only excuse is I needed a new ornament box for storage and I dragged my feet about getting to the stores, now they are all sold out.  That procrastination pattern took over again, and now I am stuck with figuring out how to store those beauties.

Oh yawn, this is getting boring.  The above pic was taken with my 50mm and the lovely ranunculus was purchased to brighten my attitude.  I added one of Kim Klassen's lovely textures that she continues to share with us even after the struggles and year that she has had, KK_100 and am now joining her over at her blog for Texture Tuesday.

I hope you have a lovely day....

"The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy." ~  Jim Rohn

Until next time....

Yesterday....

Yesterday was the scheduled "reunion" of all of us that went to the Photography Workshop to the Smoky Mtns. back in October.  Oh what fun to gather with all my photo family that I spent 5 days with in Tennessee.  I must say, we all cleaned up really nicely.  In Tennessee we were dressed for hiking, loaded with layers and layers of clothing, make-up and hair kinda took a back-seat, so yesterday seeing everyone all "dressed up" and lookin' good was a real treat along with just visiting, eating and viewing photos from our special time together.

We had our gathering at "Lovell's of Lake Forest" a beautiful restaurant....now there is a story here to be told....  My traveling partners, Susan along with Jim were both from the northern suburbs. (fyi, I knew neither one until that morning when we introduced ourselves)  We met up at my house which is much further south and took off on our adventure together.  Now we spent 6 days together, traveling, eating, classroom time, taking a kazillion photos and not once during this time did I wonder if Susan Lovell was any relation to Jim Lovell, ya know the astronaut that was part of the team of Apollo 13 (in case you are still wondering who the heck is Jim Lovell, just watch the movie, Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks portraying Jim Lovell then you will remember.)  It wasn't until the last night, when only my traveling companions, Susan and Jim and our instructor Lou were having dinner together, all the remaining classmates had already headed for home, but we decided to wait until the following morning to take off.  It was then that I discovered who Susan Lovell really was.  Oh my, surprise, shock and awe were written all over my face.  And it wasn't until last night over dinner that she really talked about her Dad and growing up during the time he was an astronaut.  I wasn't the only one surprised, most everyone else did not put two and two together either until last night.  Anyway, we had a great spread of food, casual but yummy, wine aplenty, and lotsa laughter.

Lou is having another workshop in the Smoky Mtns. in April, but since I am going to a photography workshop in late March into early April in Charleston, SC (be still my heart) I don't think I will register for this one.  I can't leave my kids that much.  Leaving for Phoenix the end of this month for 10 (yippee) days and then again in March, is a challenge.  Having animals always presents a problem when traveling but there is no way I would give them up for the few times a year I travel.  My daughter always cared for Toby, but now that I have two and with her 1 dog and 3 cats it is too much. Oh what's a Mother to do?

Anyhoo...on my way home last night I spotted a little grocery store across the street from the restaurant called "The Sunshine Market"...and thought, I need some flowers.  Now that Christmas is over and all the prettiness from the holidays has wilted away, I need a little color on my kitchen sink.  And, no surprise, it's red.   The little primulas, one of the early, early signs that spring will return is now adding cheeriness to the kitchen.

And do you have as much trouble with photographing reds as I do?  Trying to get the brightness but not over exposed is always a challenge for me.  But I gotta say, using Lightroom 5 really helps in the editing.  And fyi, taken with my 50mm....someone asked what class this is.  The class is given by Kim Manley Ort.  Here is the link to her website where you can find all of her workshops... Kim Manley Ort Photography .  I don't know if anyone can join the workshop now, we are in to our 2nd week out of 4, but she may offer it again in the future.  Our challenge this week is street photography.  This will definitely be a challenge for me, not that I don't love street photography it's that I am not sure how many people are going to be out and about during this horrid weather.  It has warmed up but the predictions for the week are back in the deep freeze once again.  Oh Phoenix come to me baby.

And thought I would share a few of the shots that I displayed yesterday from my trip to the Smoky Mtns.

This is why they call them the Smoky Mountains...

OK, that's enough.  Got alot to do today, busy week ahead.  Hope yours

is a great one!!

And thanks to those that suggested Whirly Bird app...now I'm hooked.

"We owe it to each other to tell stories". ~ Neil Gaiman

Until next time....

I Don't Like Grumpy

Ha fooled ya....probably not.  But as I was strolling thru some of this past summer's images, found this one and figured some of you out there in deep winterland would appreciate some summer-time color. It will return, I promise eventho some of us are buried and shivering and apparently bored as to be looking at last summer's images.  Last year I was begging for snow, now not so much....I think I am feeling a little trapped....what is wrong with me....never, never satisfied.  Because of our very frigid temps many roads are still a little icey-dicey and the piles are getting higher each day.  In fact it is snowing right now as I look out the window.   Not much, and tomorrow's forecast is for rain.  ay yi yi where is all this moisture going to go?  Icicles are starting their dreaded formations...these are mine at the backside of the house.

Hmmm, I have read several blogs about troubles with blogger.  I was feeling so smug that I had not experienced any of their issues and just as I was writing this, a message popped up saying that I had unlogged from a site, did I want to re-log back in and then wham, half of my post was gone.  Maybe it was reading my "bitching" words and decided to stop me in my tracks.

I was complaining about the depth of the snow and how my "weak" ankles are not the least bit sturdy manipulating thru the heights and worrying about dropping my camera when blogger decided to delete that portion of my post.  Hmmm

What's with the starlings sticking around this winter??  Yesterday I saw them hanging around a restaurant's garbage bins and today this in my backyard....and no, I do not have garbage in my backyard.

I am trying to capture more compelling images since that is my "word" for the year.  The only thing I find compelling in this is the need to hire someone to remove all of this "ivy" that is growing on the west and north sides of my house.  I planted the green ivy....the brown came from my next door neighbor.  Don't know if it was planted or drifted in from parts unknown, but it is extremely aggressive and probably is doing some damage to the siding of my house.

I have 3 huge things on my "to-do" list and I keep putting them off, keep putting them on the back-burner, keep doing everything but what I should be doing.  That is probably why I am in a cranky mood. And I know the answer is to get busy and get them done, complete and finished.  But first....

lunch.  My daughter gave me some soup mixes for Christmas.  Frankly I thought it was a brilliant idea since she knows I don't do much cookin' anymore and these soups are simply delicious.  The one pictured above is called "Florida Sunshine Red Pepper Corn Chowder" from Frontier Soups.com.  I first discovered Frontier Soups several years ago at a craft show.  It was one of the "classiests" craft shows I ever attended.  I won't go into detail because it "unfortunately" no long exists, but that was my first introduction to these soups.  They were made by a woman from Waukegan, IL, a neighbor so to speak, who loved cooking.  Her friends and family urged her to go "into business" because they were so delicious which led her to "Frontier Soups".  A dry mix with you adding the fresh ingredients.  They are healthy, no salt added, gluten free and mighty tasty!!  She has a bounty of choices.   If you go to the website there are a variety of soups, appetizers, bread mixes and apparently she has expanded all over the United States.  Wow, just from her kitchen to the world, love it!!  If you can't find a store near you, order from the website, they ship!!

So I better stop and get busy with one of those HUGE items on my list.  If I don't I'll stay grumpy and I don't like grumpy.

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."  ~  John Rohn

Until next time.....