Valentine week in photos

"All walking is discovery. On foot we take the time to see things whole." -Hal Borland

Last Sunday was a stellar weather day. It was also the birthday of my sis and brother (twins). Brother lives halfway across the country but sis is nearby so we took her out for lunch then went for a walk at Crescent Beach.

 She showed off her plot in the community garden. The bottom photo is of kale, growing in a nearby bed. I thought it was stunning with its variegated coloring and fuchsia ribs.

Eagle sightings were good on Sunday. This eagle gallery is really only two birds. The mature bald eagle was obviously on the alert judging by how often he turned his head.  A little farther down the path, we saw a juvenile eagle, looking very hip and casual in tattery feathers.

Monday brought more signs of spring. These crocuses look ready to pop the minute they get some warmth and sun.
 

And how about this Valentine dessert hubby and I shared it at the end of our date on Thursday. It was the last course of a luscious Italian meal.

On our walk this morning we passed these Pine Siskins, all excited about their topped-up feeder.

All in all, it's been a photogenic week!

games

 Uncle playing Angry Birds

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: SHINY (Mirror, Reflections, Chrome, Plastic, Glass,...)

dress-up

SUPERMAN!!

Thursday Challenge

Next Week: ORANGE (Flowers, Produce, Candy, Signs, Clothing, Vehicles,...)

autumn

Playing in the leaves

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: DRESS UP (Costumes, Uniforms, Rain or Snow Clothing, Ceremonial clothing, Wedding Dress, Formal Clothing,...)

family special (#1024-1036 of gifts unending)

"Put a grain of boldness into everything you do." - Baltasar Gracian

I can hardly believe that the first long weekend of the summer is already history. Hubby and I packed up and drove east to visit the kids for part of he Canada Day long weekend. Of course they figure largely in my list this week.

1024. The new shed and grassed back yard are the perfect place to play.

1025. We're so proud of Liam who has learned to ride his bike in the last few days.

1026. Little Myelle is getting cuter every day. Love the trendy leggings to go with her green top. Yes, it's summer, but those baby knees need protection even in summer during the crawling stage.

On Friday Ernie and I explored a new-to-us park - McArthur Island.

1027. I loved the Butterfly Garden (which was partly underwater).

1028. ...and the Saskatoon berries found in the native plants section.

1029. But the real treat was sighting a painted turtle lounging on the log with the ducks.

1030. Along with a lot of flickers.

1031. and a bold little beggar.

1032. Plus the marmots. I think they basically own the park.  I took so many marmot photos, I've put together a little gallery.

1033. The weekend had some special hours of Grandma time—like Saturday morning when the kids and I lounged about on the hide-a-bed, watching Bambi.

1034. I came away wishing I had young eyes again. Liam and David see everything! Liam spotted a moth on the ceiling and another well-camouflaged one on the stair rise.

1035. On Saturday Ernie and I took a walk along the dike beside the North Thompson as well. Though we managed to get to the riverside trail and travel along it for a bit, the water soon chased us to higher ground. Here's a spot where the path normally dips to lower ground—washed out of course.

1036. Saturday afternoon we all went to McArthur park for another walk. Here is the little family, out walking in their various ways.

1035. We saw the turtle again too!

1036. This week I am waiting for my shipment of books to arrive. While I wait, I'm doing a little promotion. Pre-order Destiny's Hands by Saturday, you get it for only $15 (regular retail $17.99) and I'll pop it in the mail for you as soon as they arrive.  Email me to set it up.

life's gifts don't stop at 1000 (1003-1015 of gifts unending)

"Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it." - John Hughes

Believe it or not, I've been missing the weekly ritual of reviewing my gratitude list and posting updates of my life! I was thrilled to reach my goal of 1000 a few weeks ago, but now ...  what? So I've decided like some others, to carry on past 1000. May finding things to be grateful for become my lifestyle!

Since I put up my last 1000 gifts post (almost a month ago) here are some blessings I've recorded:


1003. Dr. Charles Price visited our church on his publicity tour for Living Truth. Another couple joined us and we found seats in the second row. Dr.Price ended up sitting right in front of me. (I felt like reaching out and touching the hem of his garment—just kidding!)

1004. I took courage and set up a Facebook page to help me publicize my soon-to-release novel. The process was smooth. It's here, if you care to visit it. I'll be posting book events on it plus other writing-related stuff.


1005. On the subject of the book, I got the proof copy of Destiny's Hands last week, checked it over closely and found no typos, weird spacings, pages missing etc. Whew! So it's on to the print phase.

1006. I love spring's continuing flower show. My camera wants to own! Here are a few mementoes.

1007. We celebrated a couple of milestones. A sad one was my cousin's funeral. He died suddenly in his sleep one Saturday to Sunday in May. I didn't know him well so his memorial service was like getting to know him. What an incredible man who made a huge impact on many people. Memorials always get me thinking too... What will people remember about me?

1008. A happy milestone was a friend's 60th birthday party. He's taken to running triathlons, reflected in his beautifully decorated birthday cake.

1010. We've been enjoying spring scents on our walk—the sweet perfume of wild roses and the spicy scent  of Dame's Rocket.

1011. We pass a favourite dogwood every day on our walk. I've been documenting it in all its phases.

1012. The salmonberries are ripe. Here is one, photographed just before I ate it.

1013. And how about this curious bloom on a shrub (also seen on a recent walk)?

1014. Father's Day in Vancouver. Son lives just off Main Street where they were celebrating Car-Free Day. The street was a big party / stroll. We had a delicious Greek food at The Main. Happy Father's Day to the man in my life.

1015. This very handsome flicker posed for me this morning.

To discover who had the idea to start listing 1000 and more gratitudes, and to find links to many more such lists, go here.

who is this woman in the mirror?

Here I am with my beautiful 90+ Auntie. Talk about a beautiful smile!

If you've watched any TV or browsed through women's magazines lately, you've probably been bombarded by some or all of the following messages:

~ Grey hair is always best hidden (unless you're a man).
~ Wrinkles must be made to disappear.
~ We should all aspire to look like our teen or twenty-something daughters.
~ We'll want to consider product x, y, or z to plump up our lips, erase the bags from under our eyes, and tone the flabby flesh on any part of us.

By marinating in these messages and many more, we've come to hate our bodies when they betray is by greying, sagging, drooping, generally aging. (Who is this woman in the mirror with the puckers around her mouth and the crepe-skinned upper arms?!)

Of course we can't stop implications like these from coming to us through the media. But we can counteract them with a different soundtrack.

•  We can start by familiarizing ourselves with what makes a woman beautiful in God's eyes. One such depiction is in 1 Peter 3:3-4. Here it is in the Amplified:

3 Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] [a]interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes;


4 But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God.

• We can read the writings of others that affirm the qualities Peter talks about. One such writer is Dale Hanson Bourke.  In Embracing Your Second Calling she writes:

"He (God) wants us to know that the best is not behind us. God is calling us from others to him. He wants more of us than we can even imagine because he wants to do more through us than we could possibly know .... If we can understand what God is calling us to and can turn away from those voices calling us to stay attached to our youth, we will be given a power and purpose beyond anything we have experienced" - Dale Hanson Bourke, Embracing Your Second Calling, p. 7,8.

Bourke goes on to suggest some things we can mull over in our minds and act on, to shift our attention away from our disintegrating exteriors to things that really matter. Try some of these this week:

"Consider how you are different today than you were in your twenties, thirties (and I would add forties, even fifties). List in your journal at least three things that are better about you today" (Embracing Your Second Calling, p. 5).

"Make a point to really look at women who are your age or older and notice their beauty. Go out of your way to compliment a woman on what she is wearing or her smile" (Embracing..., p. 6).

"What has been significant in your life so far? What do you consider successful? As you look to your future, do you wish for more success, significance, or both? How do you distinguish between the two?" (Embracing..., p. 7).

If you'd like to share your answers to some of these questions in the comments, that would be great!

discover something new in a familiar place

On Sunday after lunch with B. at Sophie's  we went for a walk to Granville Island. It's a place we've walked around dozens of times. Yet on Sunday we discovered something new. For the first time we came across the houseboats. I'd seen them from the waterfront when on a harbor cruise way back in 2007. But this was the first time we stumbled onto the row of them via land.

It made me wonder how many other things I've missed. And it got me thinking of how to put new zest and enjoyment into familiar walks. Here are six things I thought of:

1. Walk a different way than you usually walk. That's how we came across these houseboats yesterday—by following hubby's suggestion to walk around the island instead of diagonally across to the market like we usually do. Whether your walk is a line or a loop, taking it in a different way than you usually do is bound to yield some new discoveries.

Granville Island houseboats

2. Carry a camera with a charged battery and set yourself the goal of coming away with at least a dozen photos. Your attention will be sharpened as you scout for scenes to capture and take home with you (from panoramas to macros).

Downtown Vancouver from the False Creek sea walk

Oriental poppy - close and personal

3. Be alert with more than just your eyes. Listen (to the seagulls, the horns of the water taxis, the ching of the bike bells...), smell (flowers, kelp, fish'n chips, coffee...) touch (couldn't keep my hands off those displays of lovely silk scarves) and taste (we found a cozy new-to-us gelato place that we liked better than the one we usually go to, judging by scoops of cappuccino, chocolate almond and maple walnut).

B. and me, smelling the posies

4. If you have time, take it. Relax and enjoy people-watching, the scenery, the ambiance of the pan flute, French folk-singer and the bagpipe buskers. As you can see, that's what this crowd believes in too.

5. Take into account what the people you're with like and don 't like to do. The three of us don't enjoy thick crowds so even though the Granville Island Market is one of the island's must-sees, we skipped it entirely yesterday, knowing that it would be stall-to-stall people.

6. Park away from the congestion if you can. When we go to Granville Island, our favorite parking spot is off site at a cheap little-frequented lot near the Granville Island school. It's a short walk to the seawall, but  it's much less stressful than easing our car through the throngs of pedestrians looking for those rare parking spots in the middle of the island's action.

Back to you: What are some of your favorite walks and haunts? Why do you keep going back to them?  Have you discovered something new in a familiar place? How did it happen? 

made it! (971-1002 of 1000 gifts)

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier

If you've been reading my blog regularly or from time to time, you will realize I've been doing some strange count-my-blessings thing here. It originated with Ann Voskamp who, after accepting the challenge of finding and naming 1000 gifts/blessings/things for which to be thankful, found herself focusing on a life of gratefulness. She wrote a book about it and in the community that has grown up around her blog and that book, invites participants to share blessings. That's what my posts have been a part of.

At the beginning of this year she threw out a new challenge. To enable  people to reach 1000 blessings in one year she issued "The Joy Dare" which challenges folks to name three gifts a day.

She puts out a monthly prompt for these blessings. To help me reach my 1000 more quickly (and to discipline myself to look for something every day) I've been following May's prompts. And with that bit of help, TA-DA! I reach 1000 gifts this week, a journey I began on July 2010 with "a dose of thankfulness."

I will repeat the prompts from her May Joy Dare list, along with the blessings I found through it:

May 7th: Three gifts about my home:
971. The upstairs laundry.
972. A sunny kitchen.
973. Two decks and a patio—with lots of through-breezes, sun and fresh air.

May 8th: Three gifts inside a closet:
974. Our summer quilt, now out of the closet and on the bed.
975. My gardening shoes, now also often out of the closet and on my feet.
976. Summer T's and other light clothes for warming days.

May 9th. Three gifts in the dark:
977. The fridge  and the food it holds. It's always light when I ope the door and look inside, but most of the time the door is closed and it's dark.
978. Piano notes—hammered out in the dark.
979. God's secret plans. When I'm in the dark my faith is stretched.

May 10th A gift outside, one inside, one upside down:
980. Outside—my hanging baskets from Costco.

981. Inside—my quiet office. How much has been wrought here.
982. Upside-down—my feelings as I anticipate the journey ahead for my book: happy to be done but a little dismayed by the publicity/marketing job ahead.

May 11th three gifts from parents:
983. My mom's push to do things early, do things now.
984. My mom's love of plants.
985. The memory of Daddy talking to the farm animals.

May 12 - Three gifts held in hand:
986. A bowl of roses and baby's breath (a wifey Mother's Day present from hubby).

987. Ibuprofen.
988. Washrags, for cleaning up the patio furniture on a summery day.

May 13 - Three gifts in my mother:
989. Her creativity and how she encouraged us to be imaginative and resourceful.
990. Her kindness—she was very aware of hurting people's feelings and didn't often do it.
991. Her enthusiasm for her current project, showing us the attractiveness of a zest for life.

993. On Mother's Day, I'm so grateful for my family, who honoured me in many ways. Thank you, my lovely peeps!

May 14th - A gift picked, put away, and put back.
994. I picked up my white flower-painted enamel teapot, a daily pick-up I use all summer to water my patio baskets.
995. I put away folded and fragrant laundry.
996. At the end of the day I put back all my pens and pencils. They now rest in their respective mugs on my desk, waiting for tomorrow.

May 15th - Three gifts about me:
997. I'm usually on time.
998. I try to finish things
999. I'm healthy, more or less—mostly more.

May 16th - Three gifts about God's Word:
1000. It is the source of wisdom - James 3:13-16 gives a good definition.
1001. It gives direction - Proverbs 3:5-6.
1002. It gives us fodder for hopes and dreams - Zechariah 8:20-23.

I will stop at this point. But thankfulness doesn't end at 1000 (or 1002). I know that this project has sharpened my awareness  of how much good fills my life. So, though I won't continue to list any more of last week's gifts here, I don't know if I'll be able to completely kick the habit of broadcasting such lists on my blog.  I hope you'll indulge me if  I share more of  my gratefulnesses here from time to time.

And now for the last time:

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If  you'd like to join me and many others collecting One Thousand  
Gifts,  please do. Some members of this gratefulness community post  
their gifts  on blogs, while others list them in private journals.  
Instructions on  how to join are here.

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