"Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday. It is like standing in a newly planted garden after a warm rain. You can feel the silent and invisible life."~~~~ Marilynn E. Robinson, Gilead
Tom and I went to the Good Earth Home and Garden show yesterday where we discovered amazement down each aisle and around every corner. From compost/chicken coop combos where chickens can enter the compost pile to forage in scraps while leaving a bit of fertilizer behind, new-to-us solar ideas, green construction materials, rich reclaimed lumber for flooring and countertops, millet pillows for a good night's sleep, divine smelling botanicals, incredibly efficient soapstone wood-burning stoves, intricate fountains, even wicker coffins (that one creeped me out for some reason).
Marvelous the way we earth-dwellers, children of a creator God, dream and create as well! Made in his image. Particularly appealing to me is the marriage of beauty with efficient invention. Special touches which not only invite lingered savoring of senses but cash and energy conserving, too.
Happily we had another chance to speak with one of our favorite local authors, William Sullivan, who writes books about our area along with excellent hiking guides. He autographed a copy of Cabin Fever: Notes from a Part-Time Pioneer for Tom and me. He and his wife began a twenty-five year cabin building journey, starting small and enlarging as their family grew. Using only hand tools and trees from their land to build what would become their summer home the cabin cost only $200.
Cabin Fever looks like a good read, sitting there on my bed-side stack with Gilead, Life of Pi, and The Way of Chuang Tzu. (Am I weird for reading multiple books at once? Moods, you know. Got to respect the moods.)
Creativity shall be pursued again today when daughters and I visit the Starving Artist Sale where we hope to pick up a painting or two. We've purposefully left walls in our addition blank knowing that eventually beauty would find us. Welcoming spaces await.I hope you are enjoying a pleasant day, taking a bit of time to rejoice in beauty without...and within.
11 comments:
Cherie,
Thanks for all your thoughtful comments on my blog. I thought I'd just say I love your profile pic with you and the girls.
I can certainly tell you all love each other dearly.
Yeah wicker coffins kinda creep me out too.
I'm glad you and Dad had fun at the show thing!
Cassie is always reading more than one book at a time to!
Caroline
Haha! I like the chicken coop! I agree about the coffins though.... eek!
I have to read more that one book at a time! My bedside table would look so empty without it!!!
Cherie, I think we should release each other to read as many books at the same time as we like! I'm holding back on one because I already have, hmmm, let's see, 1,2,3,4 (maybe more) on the go!
Love the sound of your artist sale and garden do. I'm getting more and more into cooking by the season and doing more for ourselves. Love it - and I reckon those two places would fit the spirit of this simpler, more in-tune living!
Hey TN, thanks for stopping by. We do love each other dearly - that's for sure. Just like you and yours.
Carrie: You would have been freaked by the coffins, yep, it's true. I guess Cassie gets that multiple book reading from me, eh. You, though, you're tackling a huge book right now, aren't you. Good for you! It makes me happy to see you reading books of your own choosing even while reading the books I've assigned for school. I know a lot of kids don't ever read for pleasure and that, to me, is just sad.
Cassie: And you, like your sister, would have paled a bit around the coffin corner. It was kind of funny - Dad and I walked around the corner and I saw all this wicker. You know how I like baskets. Then I thought, "Man, that's huge." Then, "It looks like a coffin - oh gosh, it IS a coffin!" Then I saw a bunch of little ones and that's where I got really creeped out. About the books, yes, you know what I mean about the moods, then, don't you. Some days it's this book, some days that. It all depends.
Cecily: Thank you for releasing me! You, too, are released. Go and read! In multiples of your own choosing. :)
I have been cooking for the seasons lately, too, and it's not only enlightening, but quite enjoyable. There is a balance that is achieved which leads to a certain contentment. I don't know for sure what it is other than merely being in harmony with life's cycles.
Yes, the places we went fit the spirit of simpler, in-tune living. You would have LOVED the home and garden show. It was awesome. The art sale was fun, too.
We LOVE starving artists sales! The only problem is making our final selection out of hundreds of amazing paintings.
I gave my millet pillow to SME. It was too noisy for me. Comfortable, but noisy.
Tshs: There sure were tons of paintings to choose from! And in differing sizes. Was a fine way to spend a bit of time on a gray day.
Looks Like I Will Be Making A Trip To My Local Library to Check Out Those Books You Mention.
Today (at last!) A slight hint of Spring here.........Things Are Begining To Stir!
Sizes can be a problem sometimes. My favorites are always too big. :(
Tony: Happy reading!!
Tshs: Oh yes, every now and then I get a big book that takes forever. Good reading - and writing - is worth it, though.
Every day I wake up is a beautiful day. My eyesight has temporarily curtailed my book reading, but when I'm done with the docs I hope to get back to reading 3-4 books at a time. I've got a buncha very full notebooks that I started keeping after being accused of lying about reading a book in 4th grade. It's got every book I've read since listed. Most are in deep storage in out cellar storage area, I just started a new one, but it usually takes me about 2 years to fill a notebook with a single spaces column per page.
Reading makes the world much closer;)
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