Late afternoon, lily of the Incas, heavenly bamboo, Nana’s jardinière, memories
facing west, twilight on its way
‘The night is for stillness.
…….
It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done;
let it be.’
from © A New Zealand Prayer Book He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa 1989 p.185
Brace yourselves for some surprising news.
Gallivanta is about to attempt something very difficult …for her….which is to write a simple, straightforward post. Will she succeed? You can be the judge.
Here we go.
My plan is twofold: to give thanks to a kindred blogger; and to propose a toast in her honour.
I want to acknowledge and thank Pauline, The Contented Crafter, for a beautiful giveaway. Pauline is a multi-media artist, and a devoted companion to the irrepressibly joyful Siddy, and to the stately and dignified Orlando. She is a compatriot of mine and she lives in the south of New Zealand. The giveaway was in celebration of a very important birthday for Pauline and the beginning of her official ‘retirvivement.
The giveaway package arrived,
just before my sudden departure to Cairns at the end of September, which meant I didn’t get to appreciate it fully until my return home at the beginning of this month. And, my goodness, when I opened the parcel, what a spread there was to appreciate. I was overwhelmed by Pauline’s generosity. There were cards, postcards, a bookmark, all lovingly created by her own contented hands and heart,
Contentment
The Faces of Contentment
and sweetest of all were the Bunnies; a pair of handcrafted Hugging Bunnies, which Pauline had knitted in response to my Happiness in a Bag post.
Kisses and Hugs and Lots of Love and Happiness
After my harrowing goodbye to aged loved ones, can you imagine the comfort and delight I found in coming home to the fruits of Pauline’s gentle, joyous crafting?
Sometimes the smallest things take up the most space in your heart
Now for a toast.
To Pauline; to her continued contentment, the best possible health, and a long and fruitful retirevivement. I raise my cup of chocolate, in my best Bunnykins mug. Please join me with your favourite beverage/tipple. 🙂 Let us be upstanding. To Pauline!
A Toast to Pauline; hot chocolate in a Bunnykins mug 🙂
With love from Gallivanta and Jack to Pauline, Orlando and Siddy.
Ps. How did I do? Only two links. That’s pretty good for me, don’t you think? 😉 But perhaps still not that straightforward. Sigh!
© silkannthreades
This post is an unabashed excuse to use the term ‘postprandial’. For, after my visual feasting on so many lovely, virtual Thanksgiving dinners, I am in a postprandial state of being; which means, in my case, replete, satisfied, satiated and inclined to tread the hours, softly, softly, ever so softly.
Yesterday was particularly postprandial , even though it was some 36 hours since I first sampled the smallest imaginary sliver of sliced turkey (one has to sample judiciously when such a huge repast is on offer via the interweb)……and I tried to move in a quiet and orderly fashion through the tasks of the day: a little internet banking, some bills to pay; some online shopping; a few cards to make; a birthday card to write; and, then, a tiny time of tidying and trimming and weeding in the garden…….which, although brief, suddenly seemed lack lustre, so I did this, in a moment of whimsy : I scooped up all the clippings and trimmings of Portuguese Laurel, heuchera, fern and borage and teucrium fruticans , as well as a few handfuls of sage and mint, and placed them in my precious Royal Doulton bowl.
Dressed Up Leftovers
And, I thought, “What fun!”, and proceeded to post this photo as my Facebook profile.
Whereupon, one of my astute and very practical-minded Facebook friends, who knows my garden well, immediately commented “Looks like a lovely bunch wild growth! ” Oh, how I laughed, for no matter how I might try to style my floral/foliage arrangement, its base material is just that: the wild (over) growth from the garden; the trimmings and leftovers that were originally destined for the compost heap, before my imagination grasped them and gave them another life.
However, laugh as I did over my friend’s reaction to my act of whimsy ( or was it folly?), I did think this: that we can’t always fill our vase of life with beautiful, elegant, perfect roses; sometimes we simply have to do the best we can with the leftovers, the dregs, the crumbs from the table. And, why not, make the most of them; my dog thinks they’re delicious. He spends half his life begging for them 🙂
© silkannthreades
silkannthreades 