Eclectic Tastes

Boy, does this take me back to a time when life was uncertain,
big decisions were being made, moving out on my own,
coping with the loss of a younger brother,
and excited about what may lay ahead.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.

Saturday Morning Post

A 'close-to-home' kind of week.......

Yesterday morning I unpacked a few items plus two paintings at the shoppe

 (as you can see from the container).

I added those two 'paint-by-numbers', Blue Boy and Pinkie that I did in 1962.....

they lived at my parents house until a few years ago.

They are becoming very popular once again....at least these 'old' ones are.

Peony from behind.

Rocks at the beach.

The delicacy of the colours is truly amazing.

Soaring over mist.

A pink wild rose along the trail.

Another wild rose.....slightly darker in colour.

Sophie and Ron last evening at the Hill.

Sophie is almost back to herself since her surgery a week ago.

Stitches will be removed this coming Wednesday.

The brown spots on this tree was caused by Tropical Storm Arthur last week.

It is caused by the salty winds that whipped through this area at the beach.

It is similar on the new growth of many trees that were exposed directly to the storm's winds.

A para-surfer enjoying the surf.

Heaven.

Our Clivia is in bloom.

We've had this plant for for a while now.......maybe ten years.

We take it indoors in the fall.

On A Rainy Day

Mondays are my 'work days' at our shoppe MCM (Mid-Century Maniac) for the summer.

This past Monday it rained all day and kept people away till the last hour from 4 to 5.

So, what does one do after cleaning and polishing everything in both shoppes?

Well firstly, they stare out the windows in the 'work room' at the rough

north Atlantic Ocean.

Then they take a few photos of some items on those window ledges.....

Staying Afloat

"Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force
equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object."
.....Archimedes of Syracuse

A buoy at Black Rock Beach in Halifax.

Disappearing Act Hits The Shores of Nova Scotia

Last week when Tropical Storm Arthur left our area, he took all the sand with him!

This happens after every storm actually. I believe it is hiding just off shore

and with the help of currents and wave action, it will return soon.

I hope so because whatever will Sophie do if she can't 'dig dig dig'?

Evening at the Beach

It was late afternoon on Sunday as we were heading back to the car

walking through the dune grass at the beach.

It was almost perfect.

Contemplative Monday

The following is taken from 'Heart Advice, Weekly Quotes from Pema Chodron'.

JOINING HEAVEN AND EARTH

"Recently, in a friend's kitchen I saw on the wall a quotation from one of 

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's talks, which said:

"Hold the sadness and pain of samsara (the repeating cycle of birth, life and death)

 in your heart and at the same time

the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun.

Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea."

I was struck by it because when I read it I realized that I myself

 have some kind of preference for stillness. 

The notion of holding the sadness and pain of samsara in my heart rang true,

but I realized I didn't do that;

at least, I had a definite preference for the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun.

My reference point was always to be awake and to live fully,

 to remember the Great Eastern Sun --- 

the quality of being continually awake.

But what about holding the sadness and pain of samsara in my heart at the same time?

The quotation really made an impression on me. It was completely true:

if you can live with the sadness of human life (what Rinpoche often called the tender heart

or genuine heart of sadness), if you can be willing to feel fully and acknowledge

continually your own sadness and the sadness of life, 

but at the same time not be drowned in it, because you also remember 

the vision and power of the Great Eastern Sun,

you experience balance and completeness, joining heaven and earth,

joining vision and practicality."

Exploring a Peony blossom.