goosey goosey gander

1) the geese and gulls in the commons paddle through the pond - maybe they're looking for fish that aren't there. a gull flaps his wings, rises up, and bobs down into the shallow water, trying to get something. a bug?

2) a child and her mother walk by, the little girl squeals and claps her chubby hands in glee at the birds so close by. she toddles down the steep incline - almost too steep for her little legs - hands outstretched, grabbing. the geese move away from her reach slowly, waddling along to safer terrain.

3) the groundskeeper is filling water in buckets at the far end of the pond; he pours powder solvents into them, and then pours them out splashing around the pond. i like the sound; it startles the geese. they line up on the other side of the pond, as though in a face-off, and stare down the groundskeeper as he wheels his cart and buckets away. territory successfully defended.

check out the original three beautiful things blog.

three so beautiful things

1) so very thankful for everyone who attended jess' baby shower yesterday - for their support and encouragement, and of course, for the oh-so-generous gifts. she and jose are truly blessed. xo

2) my time on saturday was spent just the way i like it - getting a few errands done and then settling into doing something creative. my original plans were to paint, but i wasn't quite feeling it. besides, it was high time to do some redecorating 'round these here parts, and i'd been meaning to learn some basics of Illustrator. after spending a bit of time googling the HTML needed to make some changes and downloading various Illustrator swatches and Photoshop patterns, i managed to pull it all together and finally get it looking more like how i'd been wanting it to look. for all of you restless kindred spirits out there - i'll be posting a tutorial up tomorrow - it's much, much easier than you'd think!

3) am enjoying some delicious coffee that i bought on the weekend from timothy's - caramel vanilla nut. it's love at first taste. yum.

image by me

pumpkins and porridge

hi lovies - how was your weekend? i realized yesterday it's been a while since i did a 3 beautiful things post.

and so, without further ado, my three for this weekend are:

1. wind and clouds and grey sky all day today. i stepped outside to pick the rest of my tiny tomatoes and, to my surprise, the sun had come out and cast a golden glow over the early october evening. the freshly-planted marigolds rejoiced.

2. pumpkins are at the farmers market. piles upon piles on wagons and bales of hay.

3. homemade porridge for breakfast; just a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar along with a cup of earl grey vanilla gets my day off on the right foot.

how about you?

images from here, here and here

it's a literary type of day

great things are blooming today. i can feel it.

the first thing that i meant to mention yesterday that i totally forgot to: marta's write club has begun! i'm excited to get rolling with the first week's assignment. ink, meet paper. woot. it also seemed highly appropriate (might i venture to say fateful?) that the ever-talented jennifer jeffrey has posted a super-insightful post about decoding what it means to be a writer, and how exactly one would get a professional triple-word-score if you were to be one of these types of individuals. the above photo is hers, too. i thought it fitting with today's theme.

special note: check out the links at the end, too. good times. particularly for this bookwormie-slash-former bookstore-employee girl who's biggest goal in life at one time was to be an author of a bestselling non-fiction book. more on that another day.

thing numba two: it was actually sunny out this morning when i was driving to the bus station. not just a lil bit, but brilliantly cloudless-day sunny with pastel coloured skies and crisp* air. awesomeness abounds.

thing numba three: roll up the rim at tim horton's. nuff said. it's a national phenomenon that really can't be explained. you've gotta live here to appreciate it.

it's a short post today, but sometimes things are like that. i've got a meeting with my boss right at 9:15 and a notebook full of ideas to pitch to him. in the words of kal barteski, go!

*crisp might be considered an understatement, considering the -22 celsius windchill.

the biggest beautiful thing

lying on the couch last night, stuffed up to the eyeballs with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, asparagus and beans. feeling so full that i could barely even think about leftovers of any kind in a positive light.

then remembering how lucky we are to complain about being too full.

and furthermore..

enoughist philosophies seem to be following me everywhere.

in the same vein as yesterday's post, here's another gem that i ran into on martawrites, with the image sourced from heartdew. check out her serene muted images at her etsy shop.

i've been making a concerted effort to slow down and notice certain things in my day, taking a minute - however brief - to stand, ankle-deep in that moment, refreshed and reflective. pollyanna as it sounds, it been getting easier and more natural as the days fly by.

today, walking back to my office from a morning meeting, i could smell the same faintly rich pungent smell that the lake at my cottage has, and it reminded me of my childhood spending those everlasting summers paddling in the water, having campfires and smacking mosquitos as we roasted marshmallows.

what are some little things that you might notice in your day that momentarily might take you away for a brief escape?