16 Friday Aug 2013
Posted in Aging, Art, Design, Garden, Reflections
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African White Iris © Joan Currie
When Summer, lingering half-forlorn,
On Autumn loves to lean,
And fields of slowly yellowing corn
Are girt by woods still green;
When hazel-nuts wax brown and plump,
And apples rosy-red,
And the owlet hoots from hollow stump,
And the dormouse makes its bed;
from Is Life Worth Living? – by Alfred Austin
This poem brought me back to the delicious summers of my childhood…
08 Monday Jul 2013
Posted in Aging, Art, Garden, Health, Photography, Reflections, Relationships
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Aging, Coming of Age, Daughters, Memoir, Mother-daughter, Relationships, Self-help, Things I Taught My Daughters
© James Currie
Sometimes I wonder if what I taught my daughters over the years will adequately prepare them for going out into the world on their own.
This last weekend I made a list of some of the things I taught them (it made me feel better):
1. How to draw a face, mix colors, carve soap, blow bubbles, make a wish, and chalk a hopscotch board on the sidewalk.
2. How to ride a bike, drive a car and motorboat, sail a Laser, paddle a canoe, ride a horse, skate, toboggan, throw a ball, and use a tennis racquet.
3. How to write a thank you note, compose a poem, keep a journal, make a speech, say hello in five languages, read a map, and wrap a gift.
4. How to snuggle up with blankets to watch movies on the sofa, sing Broadway songs, play the piano and guitar, tap dance and waltz around the living room.
5. How to bake and decorate a cake, make a French pie crust, mega chocolate chip cookies, maple fudge, and butter tarts.
6. How to needlepoint a pillow, knit a scarf, sew a quilt, and draft a pattern.
7. How to spot constellations and satellites in the night sky and look for the green flash just before the sun sets.
8. How to use a hammer, screwdriver, saw, drill, and car jack.
9. How to use a camera, computer, iron, glue gun, vacuum cleaner, mixer, coffee machine, and hair flattener.
10. How to apply sunscreen, foundation, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, and nail polish.
11. How to do CPR, dress a wound, and prepare for an emergency.
12. How to make a bed, clean a floor, paint a room, and refinish small pieces of furniture.
13. How to wash the car, use duct tape, cut grass, plant bulbs, and make a flower arrangement.
14. How to make a budget, use coupons, recycle and upcycle, and roll change.
15. How to keep their word, obey the law, vote, volunteer, continually learn and discover, work, and pray.
Try making a list yourself – your child or children could help!
06 Thursday Jun 2013
Posted in Garden, Reflections
≈ Comments Off on Warm gestures…
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Sun Balls – Craspedia globosa © Joan Currie
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
Mother Teresa
Thankful for the smiles from strangers today…
21 Friday Sep 2012
Posted in Garden, Photography, Reflections, Writing
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© Joan Currie
Nothing is more fleeting than external form, which withers and alters like the flowers of the field
at the appearance of autumn.- Umberto Eco
I passed these lovely flowers on my walk today – even more beautiful now than when they were in full bloom.
25 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in Garden, Photography, Reflections, Relationships, Writing
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© Joan Currie
I never heard
Of any true affection, but ’twas nipt
With care, that, like the caterpillar, eats
The leaves of the spring’s sweetest book, the rose.
by Middleton
I have a rose for every tender new dream.
11 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in Garden, Photography, Writing
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Again and Again - However We Know the Landscape of Love, Garden, Hydrangea, Photography, Poetry, Rilke
© Joan Currie
Again and again, however we know the landscape of love
and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names,
and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others
fall: again and again the two of us walk out together
under the ancient tree, lie down again and again
among the flowers, face to face with the sky.
from Again And Again, However We Know The Landscape Of Love by Rilke
Glorious palette of colors, glorious day of love…
26 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Garden, Photography, Reflections, Writing
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© Joan Currie
Longing is like the Seed
That wrestles in the Ground,
Believing if it intercede
It shall at length be found.
Emily Dickinson
Little did I know how long it would take some seeds to emerge.
18 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in Art, Design, Garden, Photography, Reflections
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© Joan Currie
Wabi sabi art is a distillation of their [the monks’] humble efforts to try and express, in a physical form, their love of a life balanced against the sense of serene sadness that is life’s inevitable passing.
from wabi sabi, the japanese art of impermanence by Andrew Juniper
Perhaps I find the burst of blossoms so beautiful because it will not last.
16 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in Art, Garden, Photography, Reflections
© Joan Currie - My Valentine Roses
She comes not when Noon is on the roses —
Too bright is Day.
She comes not to the Soul till it reposes
From work and play.
But when Night is on the hills, and the great Voices
Roll in from Sea,
By starlight and by candlelight and dreamlight
She comes to me.
by Herbert Trench
The sweet fragrance of last night lingers…
26 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Garden, Photography, Reflections, Writing
© Joan Currie
The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I’ll put a trinket on.
by Emily Dickinson – Autumn
My garden cherub beholds fall’s dramatic show of color.
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