The Beauty Of Being A Goat At Thanksgiving. . .

There is real beauty in being a goat at Thanksgiving. . .

Mostly because I've never heard of a Thanksgiving goat. . .



I might not be having such a good day if I looked like this guy though. . .

***Okay, I know this is stretching my theme a lot  a bit but I'm feeling under the weather so. . .

I decided to lean more towards fun than beauty today.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Thanksgiving weekend.

An Unexpected Opportunity To Create

A month ago, my niece Rebecca, better known as Opera Diva, came to me with an unexpected opportunity to create. (and if you click her link, you will see another unexpected opportunity I was given to create. . .check out the garden. . . it's the first  time I've been asked to make a garden indoors!)

Her sister-in-law was getting married and she wanted to surprise her with fresh flowers for the wedding party.

Did I know how to do that, and if I did, did I want to?

The wedding was in three days. . .

Seriously??? You want to give me the opportunity to play with flowers you paid for and make something pretty?

I am so in!

Luckily this was not the first time I have done wedding flowers. My sister Lisa and I were given the chance to be assistants for Rebecca's mom Tamara, (our sister) when she took on flowers for a cousin's wedding.

Tamara and her husband are in the whole greenhouse trade so she able to buy flowers at the flower auction and we beautified violin cases and music stands as well as making bouquets and the like.

While I do not have access to an auction, I am able to buy at the wholesale florists, so Rebecca and I made a quick trip over to scope out what we might use. Thankfully they had the blue hydrangeas the bride had wanted in her bouquet. For the rest we just choose what we thought would look good and crossed our fingers and hoped that we would have enough stuff to make everything.

Fresh corsages, boutonnieres and bouquets must be made as close to the wedding as possible, so the night before we filled my workroom with flowers and ribbon and got to work. . .

*You are going to have to excuse the quality of these pictures as the lighting in here at night  is. not. good.

** Faces have been obscured to protect the identity of the innocent. . . Who would kill me if I allowed  unflattering pictures of them out on the 'web'. . . you'll notice there are no pictures of me anywhere in this post. . .

As you might be able to see, a fabulous time was had by all. . .

I have to admit, if I could do this one over, I would make the eucalyptus seed stems shorter. . . . sigh. .  live and learn.

 And, because my pictures turned out so poorly, I am going for broke here and I'm 'borrowing' an official picture Rebecca posted on her Facebook page.

 If you are looking for a talented, fun photographer. . .

Jan did Jesse's grad pictures. The grads had a great time, crossing a very busy road all decked out in their finest, heading for the river and more  interesting locations. . .   and the pictures were amazing. (And yes I know that  this has nothing to do with my post. I just couldn't resist giving Jan a plug and posting a few grad pics. . .)

Don't you love it when you get the opportunity to create?

Beauty in Fall Leaves

Today's post is a pictorial one.

Because I've spent most of the afternoon playing with concrete in the greenhouse. . .

No reason Jada should be the only one having her picture taken. . .

And one to let you know that fall in Alberta is not entirely gold. . .

This last one's just because. . .

 I love this mouse (a Christmas gift from my mom) and I thought the striped rock I found in the driveway was meant to be displayed along with my little friend .  (an exotic cheese perhaps?)

Happy Thanksgiving weekend !

Lunching With A Friend

I was very spoiled today as a dear friend took me to lunch at the Enjoy Center.
The Enjoy Center is a new venture by the second generation of the Hole family in St Albert.
Nicole and I have always loved shopping for plants at Hole's greenhouses and now there's a whole lot more going on than plants!

 My theme for this month is Beauty in the Everyday, but, I have to tell you that eating lunch in a greenhouse overlooking the wetlands is something out of the everyday. . . But, since it was a part of my day I am going to post about it anyway. . . .!!

See that wine bottle? It's not wine, that's how they serve water!

How cool is it to be served ginger ale in a mason jar???

I just loved this tiny label on the flower jar and you can buy this little  arrangement and bring it home with you!

Most of the food on my plate has been sourced locally. . .

Sugar in a vintage tea cup and the bill came on a saucer!

A view of the wetlands from our table

Lunch with a long time friend is a beautiful thing. . .

 Unless you are our waiter. . .

We were so busy talking that he had to come back three times before we were ready to order.

We chatted for such a long time after we had finished lunch, he finally gave up on us ever leaving and we had to chase him down to pay the bill.

 Thank you Nicole for a lovely afternoon.

Beauty In Concrete

 A sneak peak at what I've been working on for the last few weeks. . .

Click to see full sized

Day 2 Homemade Bread

Flour, water, yeast, butter and a bit of salt.

 Milk powder and an egg if you really want to go all out (and I always do. . .)

Out of these humble ingredients come the most glorious food in the world.

Bread.

I love bread. All kinds of bread.

 But I especially love homemade bread.

It's odd how food can become so tied to memories of people and places we love.

Bread speaks to me of my dad, son of a baker. I spent many hours in the bakery growing up and watched him make countless loaves of bread and shape bun after bun at the speed of light.

Bread speaks to me of his mom, my sweet Oma who would get up in the wee hours of the morning during weekend sleepovers just so there was piping hot bread coming out of the oven when we woke, the end piece cut just for me and slathered with butter. . .

Dad gave me a bread baking lesson at home when I was ten, but I had already had learned all I needed to know, just by watching him make loaf after loaf in the bakery.

Kneading bread and playing around until the texture is just right is such a joy for me. I feel a thrill each and every time I start a new batch.

Using my bench scraper to cut the dough brings to mind dad and his bench scraper. I weigh out my dough because I was always so fascinated with his ability to cut the dough so evenly that he almost never had to add extra bits to bring it up to the right weight. (I do. . .)

The smell of baking bread,

 the sight of it's golden crust,

 the sound of the pan banging against the butcher block counter releasing it's loaf,

 the taste of warm bread dripping with melted butter. . .

These are all the things I love about homemade bread. .

I just have to give it a little pat as it cools. . . every. single. time.

Homemade bread is a beautiful thing.

31 Day of Looking for Beauty in the Everyday

Last year I enjoyed the Nestor's 31 days series.

(Links to 31 days posts. . .)

Day 2 Homemade Bread,  Day 3 Beauty in Concrete, Day 4 Lunching with a Friend  Day 5 Beauty in fall leaves,  Day 6 An Unexpected Opportunity to Create, Day 7 The Beauty of Being a Goat at Thanksgiving
Day 8 The Beauty of Family at Thanksgiving  Day 9 Surgery Today Day 10 My Recovery Nest Day 11 Beautiful, Helpful, Big Boys  Day 12 Getting Ready For Halloween Day 13Another Sneak Peak at Concrete Leaves  Day 14 The Process. . . Concrete Leaves  Day 15 A Fall Visit to Wellington Garden Center  Day 16 The Beauty of Acreage Fresh Eggs

Day 1

This year I was determined to participate as well, because this year, I had a topic close to my heart and I was very excited (and a little scared. . .) to write about it.

This past year has not been an easy one. Approaching menopause caused my hormones to start doing a crazed version of the Hokey Pokey a few years ago, leaving me with serious anxiety as a result. (did any of you know that hot flashes are not the only symptom of changing hormones??? I sure wish I had. . .) I was having anxiety attacks out of the blue and had to constantly question whether my feelings were reasonable or  a result of the Hokey Pokey going on in my body.

Driving a bus load of school kids through one construction zone after another became a real challenge and I was so very grateful when my youngest graduated last year, as that meant the end of school fees which allowed me to retire, beginning a long held dream of  putting my Master Gardener's certificate to good use by going into business for myself.

 Of course, the fact that I was no longer in a stressful job didn't mean that the Hokey Pokeying had stopped.

 It just gave me something else to be anxious about. . .

When I left bus driving, I  left my bus kids and their parents with a  bit of a problem.  A lovely young woman was willing to drive the bus for that year but she had small children and was only able to provide a shortened version of the bus route. That meant most of the parents would have to drive to and from a common pick up point rather than getting the near door to door service they were used to.

Guilt and anxiety seem to go hand in hand for me. I spent months feeling guilty, which in turn caused more anxiety. . .

A lot of it. And not just about retiring. About everything I did.

I baked bread? But I didn't bake cookies. We ate store bought.

 I grew lettuce? But half of it ended up in the compost because I didn't make a salad with dinner. (or worse yet, I threw it into the garbage because it was quicker.)

 I started flowers from seed? But half of those ended up in the compost pile when I waited too long to transplant them.

The year I had looked forward to for so long was just. so. hard.

So I prayed. And prayed. And searched God's word. And prayed some more.

And then. . .

Slowly. . . quietly. . .  I began to see beauty again.

In the midst of a hard day something small would catch my eye, and the simple beauty of it would wash over me, leaving me certain of God's power and majesty right there in the everyday.

More and more, I would see beautiful bits of everyday:

 Seeds that sprouted. . .

  Light shining through the kitchen window, throwing a magical glow on a pot of tulips. . .

The astounding color found in the yolk of my farm fresh egg. . .

 A bear hug from one of the boys. . .

 The gleam from a freshly washed glass cake stand.

Dog walking became a favorite activity as Jada and I would jump into the truck, making a quick drive to a spot in the city filled with gracious old houses, well tended gardens and a view over the river valley.

 God spoke to me in these beautiful bits of everyday, reminding me over and over that He was in charge. He created the world and everything it and he wants and commands me to live my life joyfully, not filled with anxiety.

I look for beautiful things now.  Through the lens of my camera more often than not these days.

A few months ago God threw a new challenge my way.

 I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.

I spent two months waiting for answers. Answers came. At least, some of them. So far so good. . . 

Next week's surgery and the resulting biopsy report a few weeks later will, God willing, give us the whole story.

Beauty in the everyday has become even more precious.

And. . .

Odd as it sounds, my anxiety has slowly slipped away to be replaced with a deep down certainty that, come what may, God is in control.

 I never was.

He never meant for me to live a life of I should and I must.

God gave me life to live to the fullest, talents to use for his glory, and love to pour out on everyone he sends my way.

However long or short that life might be.

Because really. . . any one of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow.

All we ever really have is today.

And I intend to spend  a part of every today I am given. . .

 Looking for the beautiful.

Check back each day this month as I post on Looking for Beauty in the Everyday. (at least. . . I hope I meet the challenge of posting everyday. . . !)