Email Notification Ending

In September 2019 I wrote a post called Now What? concerning whether to continue blogging or not.  I had a wonderful response that encouraged me to keep at it.  But those who follow this blog know that I made an attempt, then petered out.  

Perfect Moments

IDEALISM:  The practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically

This pretty much describes me.  The Pandemic is helping me give up my idealist ways because it has limited my pursuit of the ideal life in many ways.  It has also forced me to re-evaluate many of my ideals.   Just this morning, through reading inspiring messages by others further along the way than me and then writing about it in my Morning Pages I've decided to change my whole view of life!  Instead of seeing my life as a whole-----and judging whether it was a success or not------I'm going to start looking for, and creating whenever I can, my own "Perfect Moments"  such as this one.....

The view from the swing in my woods on a winter's day

Making Connections

Dear Reader,

Did you know that Agatha Christie wrote novels in addition to her well-known mysteries? I didn't until last week!  She used the pseudonym Mary Westmacott in case you want to search your library for them.  The story I am reading at the moment is  "Absent in the Spring" published in 1944. . . .

Welcoming in the New Year - 2017

Dear Friends and Readers,

I've had a full day writing New Year's posts for my various web journals.  I hope you will look in the side bar to check them out and join me there.  I have a new series started for Another Perfect Day 365 called Thanks-Living.  It is an adjunct web journal to Another Perfect Day where I introduced what I will be doing on APD365.  I will continue to post once a month on Another Perfect Day, and as the spirit moves me on I Come In The Little Things.  Freedom in Christ is a daily devotional I posted in 2011.  You can't sign up for it since it is not "active" but you can go to the site and read the devotionals each day.  Take Joy Society features the group's get-togethers as well as a monthly piece on Susan Branch this year on the first of each month.  I also add links to the tabs at the top of the page that I hope will inspire and uplift the reader.  That leaves this web journal, Morning Musings.

I started this web journal so that I could connect with people out in the world.  I've grown quite fond of you all and appreciate the feedback you give me in the comments.  I say all this because I hope you do not jump ship if I do not post as often as I have in the past.  I have no plans to continue with the monthly artist feature.  As for the other monthly features, they may also go by the wayside, as well, if I find I do not have any ideas left after I've spent them on the other web journals.  I'd rather not post, than post something not up to my standards.

The Annie Dillard quote above expresses what I hope this year will be for me--a time of discovering how to get in touch with who I really am and live that life.  Writing helps me do that--writing about what matters most to me.

Part of that will be to finally illustrate my Gabriel's Tale story and self-publish it.  Along with that will be an updating of my Poetry & Gabriel website--the ever-changing technology has rendered it's features inoperable.  It contains the prequel to Gabriel's Tale.  I've already written a second adventure and have ideas for a third.  In addition, I have a dozen other children's stories I could illustrate eventually.  This has been a dream of mine for a long time and I feel the time is right to put all my energy there.

Until later,

❤️Take Joy❤️

View Outside My Window - November

♫Getting to Know You♫

The view outside my living room side window this afternoon shows just how sunshiny it is today.  What it doesn't tell you is it's also 73° in November!. . . .

Third Anniversary

This Thursday it will be three years since I did my first Morning Musing post.  It was about my garden and my children. . . .

Looking Back Looking Forward

Wishing you a year of new growth. . . .

via

View Outside My Kitchen Window - July

♫I'll Be Seeing You♫

Summer is officially here.  The two H's--heat and humidity--have descended upon and enveloped our area.  It's the time of year I hide in the air conditioning.  This is why I prefer winter.  If I'm going to stay indoors, I'd rather it not look so pretty outside!  I look out my window and want to be out there, until I open the door and feel I'm about to walk, fully clothed, into a steam bath.

We did not always have central air in this house.  The first six summers we had to rely on the whole-house attic fan. I'd close up the house and open the basement door to draw up the basement's cooler air.  But that never really helped with the humidity.  I am SO grateful for my A/C!!

Here's the view outside my kitchen window right after an afternoon thunderstorm this week (hence, the steam bath). . . .

Dream and Imagine

♫I'm Yours♫

Resolution: figure out how to use all the features available on Blogger.......✔

I'm so proud of myself!  I finally figured out how to set up tabs at the top of my Blog!  Please note that once you finish reading this post you can click on "Our House" or "My Summer Garden" to see photos of same....

I Resolve To....

♫Auld Lang Syne♫

Do you make New Year's resolutions?  I think I quit making them somewhere in my 30's--which is a long time ago.  But sometimes one has to resolve to do something in order to make it happen, and by making it public, I'm making it a little harder for me to renege on it.  So here goes.....

I, Cathy, resolve to:

• figure out how to use all the features available on Blogger that I see other bloggers using
• be more creative with my blog
• blog more often
• lose the extra pounds I put on over the holidays (this one has nothing to do with my blog, but, hey, I'm on a roll!  (Yikes! I'm already thinking of food...I LOVE rolls with butter!)

That should be enough to get me started.

So, would anyone like to make some resolutions that I can hold them to?

Let It Be Easy

♫Let It Be♫

Alan Cohen in his book "A Deep Breath of Life" asks this question about his life:  How would I be doing this differently if I were willing to let it be easy?  By easy he means "honoring your aliveness.....acting from the place in you where life is meaningful.....and releasing any notion that you must participate in activities that deaden you."  With this in mind I examined my own life....

How do I honor my aliveness?

Caring for pets....

Poetry and Gabriel add a richness to my life that is special because animals have no guile and love with their whole hearts.  They get along with one another, but the times when their wild side emerges they never hold a grudge afterwards.  It is pure entertainment when both are feeling frisky!

I especially love it when they join forces in their escapades!

Making a home...

My home has always been very important to me.  Over the years I've enjoyed finding ways to make it more comfortable for my family and me.  It has been a place to express my creativity.

Gardening...

Making a garden engages all 5 senses--sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.

Playing with dolls...

I love miniature things.  Decorating a miniature house is like having a second home to dote over--and much cheaper.  Finding just the right items, especially when it's been found in a yard sale, is very rewarding.  Making it myself is even better.  I made the kitchen rag rug, straw broom, and kitchen and coffee tables.

Collecting...

I collect children's picture books whose illustrators appeal to my love of pretty pictures.

In my basement my husband had to build shelves for all the books and matching dolls and stuffed animals I'm collecting to share with my future grandchildren.

I collect the books of my favorite illustrators like Susan Branch...

And Beatrix Potter...

And Tasha Tudor

Reading...

I read instead of watching TV.

Writing...

I write stories about Poetry and Gabriel.  

Travel...

The Arizona desert is breathtaking.

And driving through West Virginia in the Autumn is always inspiring.

What makes my life meaningful?

My family and friends...

My family is all grown up and on their own now, but they are still very much a part of my life.  

My family history...

I've researched my roots and written my ancestors's stories.  They've all contributed in some way to who I am and show me I, too, have a legacy to leave.

My blogs...

This was my first Blog, a daily devotional.  I actually wrote it in 2004, but did not post it until 2011.

My second Blog filled my need to continue looking for the ways in which God is in all of life.

The stories on this website were written between 1997 and 2003.  They are very special to me and I just wanted to share them.

This is this Blog.  I wanted a place where I could share my thoughts about my life.

And finally, what activities have I released that deaden me?  

Anything that doesn't fall into one of the above categories! There will always be something you will have to do that does not appeal, but when you have a choice, ask yourself, will this make a difference in my or someone else's life.  Life is too short to waste doing things that really don't matter in the scheme of things.  

♫The Beatles - Let It Be♫