Today I am grateful for:
Getting hay delivered. It looks good, and it’s all tidy and organized.
The incredible stretch of autumn weather we’ve been having.
Such good interactions with people today.
Today I am grateful for:
Getting some tasks done surrounding getting hay for the horses this fall. I needed to burn a rotten bale, and mow the weeds and clean up the area the hay will be stored. I got this done, and the hay should be here tomorrow. I always feel good about getting this task done.
Lovely warm baths, and getting clean again after being filthy.
Things that smell good, like my horses, autumn smells, and good perfume.
Today I am grateful for:
A quiet, relaxed day.
My animals, who are such good companions.
Good conversations with my neighbour, and my Mom.
post random questions daily and see if anyone plays with me and answers them :) (read all 158 entries…)
Is there a particular painting or artist that has had an influence on you? You know, every time you see that painting you just end up absorbed in it, the color, the space, the meaning, or the personal story that led you there?
For me, that artist is Georgia O’Keefe, especially her painting “Red Poppy”.
My Mom had a poster print of this painting, and it was so striking and different from most of the art I had seen that I was mesmerised by it. Keep in mind that in rural Canada, most people’s idea of art is paintings of barns and horses, and abandoned farm houses. Nothing wrong with it, but for some reason that’s all anyone ever hangs in their homes or public places. Or Ducks. Everyone had art from Ducks Unlimited.
So, a big blazing slightly stylized poppy was really different.
It led me to learn more about Georgia O’Keefe when I was older, and I loved her plain hair in a bun, her ferocious gaze, her independance, her success as a painter in a mostly male-dominated area, her singleness, childlessness, living alone in a desert painting blazing flowers. That looked like vaginas.
It was my first real look at the wholeness of art, and how it could be so much more than just a representation of a scene. My first big, expensive art book was a catalogue of her works in two volumes.
Today I am grateful for:
Getting a bit more work on the barn done.
Taking the remaining items from the shed clearance to the “give and take” area of the dump. Some ladies took several items the second we unloaded them.
Some gorgeous fresh corn right out of a friend’s garden.
Today I am grateful for:
Getting the kickboards up in the barn. Grateful for the barn in general. It will be a very useful building, and will help me take good care of my animals.
Making some arrangements yesterday for fill, to bring the floor of the barn up to the bottom of the sill plates (this person is also a friend, so it was nice to catch up with him, he’s crazy busy).
Giving a few things to our neighbours, and getting them out of our shed.
Today I am grateful for:
My husband is home.
A great riding lesson. I’m learning about getting the horse to collect and use her back muscles. I can be quite a challenge to get a horse to collect. I love learning things like this.
So nice to visit with everyone at the riding barn. Great weather too, one of those wonderful autumn evening
Today I am grateful for:
The barn is finished…mostly. There are some problems, like they only sent one big door (there’s supposed to be one front and back) and it’s the wrong door. Other than that, it’s great, and I’m sure we can straighten this out.
Getting another shed cleaned out to the point where it’s easy to walk around in. My husband needs to go through it and get rid of some of his stuff, there’s tons he never uses.
Another gorgeous warm day. We’re getting to the time of year where these are precious.
post random questions daily and see if anyone plays with me and answers them :) (read all 158 entries…)
As you all know, I am an epic packrat, and I’m working on that.
What’s interesting, is that I see a lot of people with too much stuff. Everyone I know is trying to clean out their homes, their garages, having yardsales, donating.
Farmers are often terrible packrats, only most of their stuff is out in sheds. Often, it is stuff from GRANDPARENTS, when they ran the farm. Piles of rusty tools, rotten wood, jars, and even old farm equipment. It gets this way because they have a ton of space, and it doesn’t matter if they have ten old sheds falling down and full of junk. They just let the bush grow around it, and build a new shed for their new junk.
It makes me wonder if at some point, we will change our relationship with owning things, now that consumer products are relatively cheap and accessible.
What do you think, will we keep buying things at the rate we are now, or will we become pickier?
What about the fact that we could likely live for the rest of our lives on the stuff we already have?
Where will it all go?
Thoughts?
Today I cleaned out a different shed, and I was able to come up with nearly a truckload of stuff that was just outright garbage!
I am also setting aside a few items to go to the dump, but to the “take it if you can use it shed”. I think that’s where a lot of the stuff from the other shed will go too.
I also have some things stored in the wood shed that could go there.
My husband and I are going to go through what’s left in the sheds and make one trip to the “take it if you can use it shed” to make it worthwhile.
Now the garden shed is much emptier, and I have half a chance of finding what I need instead of stumbling and tripping over everything.
Today I am grateful for:
The pole barn is now in the process of being built by the crew. So far the holes have been dug, and most of the poles for the frame are set.
The goat that was attacked is doing well, today she was out with the rest of the group eating, and she is moving well. It makes me so glad that she’s healing.
I got some beets pickled last night. It’s a lot of work, but I love beet pickles.
Today I am grateful for:
A warm, sunny day that left me feeling more relaxed and at peace than I have had for days.
A good conversation with a woman who feels similarly towards animals.
A good trip into town, getting a few things done.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Anne Frank.
“Live with compassion
Work with compassion
Die with compassion
Meditate with compassion
Enjoy with compassion
When problems come,
Experience them with compassion.”
Today I am grateful for:
A gorgeous warm fall day.
My little goat is doing well. I’m keeping a close eye on her wounds for any sign of infection.
Getting some cleaning done.
post random questions daily and see if anyone plays with me and answers them :) (read all 158 entries…)
I would love to have a dedicated meditation room. Something plain, with a hardwood floor and big sunny windows. Nothing else in it, except maybe a fountain or some plants.
Do you have the equivalent of a meditation area?
A small shrine, a window bench or a porch that you go to think, or be still?
If not, would you like one? What would it look like?
I would love to have a dedicated meditation room. Something plain, with a hardwood floor and big sunny windows. Nothing else in it, except maybe a fountain or some plants.
Do you have the equivalent of a meditation area? A small shrine, a window bench or a porch that you go to think, or be still?
If not, would you like one? What would it look like?
Today I am grateful for:
It’s my birthday! I got lots of happy birthdays on Facebook, and my husband, Mom, and sister over the phone.
My goat seems to be a little perkier, trying to walk around on her sore leg.
My neighbour. He’s helped me so much.
post random questions daily and see if anyone plays with me and answers them :) (read all 158 entries…)
In what way are you a compassionate person?
Are you compassionate towards the vulnerable?
Are you compassionate to animals?
Is your compassion selective? (I.e homeless people, but not obese people, cats and dogs but not cows or tuna, neighbours, but not from people across the highway).
To strangers?
To people you don’t like?
Does your compassion ever get expressed in the form of an action?
Do you think compassion is an important trait?
How could we cultivate compassion?
Do you ever make an effort towards cultivating compassion in yourself?
