91. 14 for ’14

January 1, 2014October 20, 2014 / Apple Hill Cottage / 4 Comments

Reblogged with additions for 2014. Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for reading.

There are two kinds of people in the world:

1. those who would go to Times Square for New Years Eve, and those who couldn’t be paid enough to go… last sunset of 2013

2. those who go out for New Year Eve, and those who stay home…

3. those who would rehab an old vacant house, and those who would look for a new one instead…

4. Cat-lovers and Dog-lovers… Henry bugging Michael

5. Savers and Pitchers…

6. Dreamers and Doers…

7. those who love city streets, and those who love dirt roads…

8. those who stay, and those who go…

9. those who love snow, and those who, uhmm… don’t…

10. those who take naps, and those who feel superior to those who take naps… Henry the cat

11. those who believe and those who scoff…

12. those who look up and those who look down…

13. those who eat their fruits and vegetables, and those who eat their meat’n potatoes…

14. those whose glass is half-empty and those whose glass is half-full…

At different times in our lives, we can be any of these.
Me? I have been all these people–a city lover, a country girl, a scoffer, a believer, an optimist, a pessimist, a cat-lover, a dog-lover, a dreamer, a doer…(Though I would have to be paid a lot of cash to go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.)
Can we remember this?
Can we remember that our differences make this beautiful world what it is?
Can we let go of our prejudices, our prides, our preconceptions, our (fill in the blank here)… and love each other?

May grace and peace be yours in abundance in 2014.

For my friend

December 23, 2013March 23, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 20 Comments

My friend Nancy died last night after a long fight with cancer. This is for you, Nance.

A blue jay came to sit on my window sill

as my friend was dying.

I thought

Do birds take our spirits to heaven?

And as I ponder this

I see

cardinals everywhere —

five of them dashing, splashing, in and out of the birdbath and the cherry tree.

The birds are full of life and chatter

though the cherries are long past.

Even leaves are gone,

fallen to the cold earth.

A gray rain falls — the first day of winter —

the whole world is crying silently dying,

I shake my fist at God.

Why now?

Why her?

I think of bright spirits and laughter and sunlight and time.

For my friend

Time gone.

and when it comes upon us all, there is never enough time.

This earth

these friends

that love

is all we had

and the future becomes the present unknown and unknowable

to us who are left with tears.

Lord, be merciful to my friend

who is journeying on a cardinal’s wing

a flash of red through a gray sky.

sycamore branches

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. — Matthew 10: 29-31

90. Blessings on your house

December 15, 2013October 20, 2014 / Apple Hill Cottage / 8 Comments

For the rest of Advent and Christmas I will be finishing up my gratitude project for the past year. It was never intended to be anything but for me to document my gratitude and blessings, and help me be intentional about living a joy-filled life for the year. It worked! And if I can encourage anyone else to do something like this, with my December “gratitudes”, then Amen!

What follows are photos from the year with Advent scriptures for reading, studying, or just enjoying. Each photo is captioned with the full scripture — the Advent scriptures from the website handmaden. (Thanks Lauren!) I’m not a photographer, but my IPhone camera has given me much joy this year as well…

I will be updating every day through December instead of writing regular blogposts. Merry Christmas everyone. Peace and blessings to you all.