Isn't this a pretty scene outside our windows this morning? 

Sunshine after some days of rain! And our neighbors' cute little house which I like to pretend once was a schoolhouse when the property was sliced and sold from ours decades ago.

There's no note on our deed saying it was used for a schoolhouse after the sale, but that's the lovely thing about pretending--you can imagine anything you want. And create little stories, all inside your head, even though you like the sweet little family who lives inside what you imagine to be a Laura Ingalls Wilder-type of schoolhouse.

Inside your head, you can have it both ways. And no one can stop you.

Happy Saturday! Tom and I are considering starting-up our yard sale habit again today. We'll see how that goes.

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Look who flew in for a visit yesterday afternoon! For a long time I hung out over our kitchen window, icy breezes caressing my face, and just watched this quiet couple paddling idly, one of them stepping up into the marsh and disappearing amongst the reeds. The other, probably the female, became all nervous at her mate's adventurous trek, but she calmed down when he reappeared. (Rather like some other couples I know. heh.)

When they rose up into the grey skies their honking sounded exactly like, "Good-bye! Good-bye!"

Guess who returned this morning? And Tom was here this time to watch them, too. You should have seen us excitedly tip-toeing through the dining room and kitchen so not to startle them away.

We do love this nature preserve we've got going here in our own backyard. Birds, frogs, deer, rabbits, bats, snakes, squirrels, a fox and now geese. All are welcome as long as they play fair. :)


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It's easier than you think to create a nature preserve in your own backyard, no matter how small. Our last yard was about the size of a normal master bedroom--and in the suburbs--yet we had all sorts of animals back there. Check online for ideas such as toad houses from flower pots and bee condos from holes drilled partially into small posts and of course birdhouses and birdfeeders, etc.

Go here for more ideas of how to attract and care for the wildlife in your own backyard.

Gifts to Myself

When I clear the kitchen counters at night and straighten the dish towels so everything will look pleasant and sweet in the morning, that's a gift to myself.

When I don't stress-out about my poor ol' over-50 memory, that's a gift to myself. (Stress worsens memory.) And when I forgive my forgetting and also research online ways to improve it, that's a gift, too.

When I clean-up around the house after Tom without any resentment, but only chuckling acceptance, that's a gift to myself--and for Tom, also. (Anything which keeps me from nagging and inciting bad vibes around the house is a Great Thing.)

When I take good care of my body, give it real food, exercise and hours of moonlit sleep, that's a gift to myself.

When I take breaks throughout the day to rest, read favorite books or to walk our country lanes, those are gifts to myself. When I approach my chores with acceptance and playfulness, that's also a gift.

When a friend and I chat for hours over coffee, dessert and a pretty tablecloth and china, that's a gift to myself.

I notice a pattern in those gifts. They tend to be gifts from God, arriving from wisdom, but appearing as though they came from me. But true wisdom comes from God, even though He sometimes disguises Himself, unselfishly, in the giving. He's funny that way.


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Wow. And here is an amazing gift for you from Anne.