This & That - November

November began with a show of colors, finally. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - November

I hope you haven't minded having to stay at Derwentwater since October because I only realized later that I had not told you that Jemima would be staying on until this month!  If you did not want to stay you would have had to find your own way back to Near Sawrey, so I apologize profusely if that was, indeed, what you had to do!  Today Jemima will be taking us on a tour of Cat Bells.  You can see it on the map (lower left corner) just south of Lingholm and west of Owl (St. Herbert's) Island where we were last month with Squirrel Nutkin. . . .

More or Less - November 2016

I've been thinking more about the past lately because I'm realizing I have more time behind me and less time ahead of me.  Today is the 50th anniversary of when my husband and I first laid eyes on each other.  I was 16 and he was 20. I had no idea that day he'd ask me out later in the week and that I'd fall in love with him.  Seven months later I moved out of state with my parents.  We almost didn't meet.  This got me to thinking about my Hungarian grandparents and how they met.  This was their wedding day in 1920. . . .

This & That - October 2016

October has turned out to be mostly about animals in our yard.  First it was these two bucks that I saw one morning outside my desk window. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - October

Between 1885 and 1907 the Potters spent nine summers at Lingholm along Derwentwater.  Beatrix was free to wander in the woods.  Here she could let her imagination play.  It was the summer of 1901 that she first did the sketches for today's story.  In this photo from the movie "Miss Potter" you can see St. Herbert's Island, which became Owl Island in Beatrix's story. . . .

credit:  Momentum Pictures

Path to Green Gables

🎶Anne's Theme🎶

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 

― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Beams Rock, Forbes State Forest

Scenes from Playa del Carmen

Our last two days in Mexico were spent in Playa del Carmen, just an hour south of Cancun where we'd need to catch a late-morning flight home.  Our small hotel was just 7 blocks from the beach so we walked down the first evening and again the next morning hoping to catch the sunrise.  We missed it by about 15 minutes, but it was still a lovely time to walk along the shore before the crowds.  I've collected a few scenes to share. . . .

                  

Thank you for coming along with me on my Mexico adventure!  Be sure to check out my Take Joy Society post where I share more of my experiences in Mexico.

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Take Joy!

Mayan History & Culture - Part 2

Francisco de Montejo y León, "el Mozo" (the younger), founded the city of Mérida, Mexico when in 1542 he led the conquest of the Yucatán and built his house there.  We toured the house (Museo Casa Montejo) which was built using the stones of the Mayan pyramids that were destroyed. . . .

More or Less - October 2016

CREATIVITY

Elizabeth Gilbert begins her book, Big Magic, with this Q&A:

Q.  What is creativity?
A.  The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of                    inspiration.