...the new year..

Today a new sun rises for me;
everything lives,
everything is animated,

everything

seems to speak to me of my

passion,

everything invites
me
to cherish it

~ Ninon de Lenclos






Today, this last day of 2008
may something speak to your passion

in 2009. I look forward to sharing mine
with

you.

May your blessings flow.
robin

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes a long their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Today the letter is F........

"F" is for fog. And "I" would be for ice. And "H" would be for hill. And "S" would be for stuck. And "A" would be for angry that I would have to go out on this day to pick up my daughter from basketball practice that she is unable to participate in because she has a sprained ankle!!!! Wow...sorry for the run on sentence. To continue. "A" is for ashes that we threw under the tires that were on the ice. "S" is for the shovel that dug out the tires that were in the wet snow. "D" is for dumb!!! Dumb me who took my 4-wheel drive out of 4-wheel drive when I got on the pavement and didn't put it back when I got back on the ice. HOWEVER!!! I had the 4-wheel drive ON when I went out to the High School...and I was still sliding...see the word we need to concentrate on here is ICE. NO 4-wheel drive in the world is going to keep me from sliding on the ice. It would have, however, probably gotten me up the hill!! I called my husband...who is driving in the fog, 2 + hours away to watch basketball today...and he says..."You didn't make it up in 4-wheel drive? I did earlier!!" Which lends me to look...and of course, I'm NOT in 4-wheel drive. To which I said...I gotta go!!! Now calling him on the phone to complain that you are stuck, and to complain that you shouldn't be out there in the first place...doesn't bring any gratification when you don't have your vehicle in 4-wheel drive. So just let this be a lesson to you!!
By the way...it's 50 degrees here in Northern Michigan today!! Dripping drops of rain does not sound as pleasant in the winter as it does in the spring and summer. Yes, I was out taking pictures all the same. A photo op, is a photo op, is a photo op. If you go to High Button Shoe later I will have pictures up in "Farm Update". I leave you now...trying to find the right words to text my husband...at the game...that I indeed did not have my 4-wheel drive on!!

Humbly~
Robin

three b's

Big B, little b. what begins with "b"?

black-eyed susans, bittersweet and birch.

I hope for you...

to just Be.

...still, still, still...

today...
the snow is gently falling...
covering the farm in a blanket of marshmellow fluff...

...the kind of snow that makes snowmen smile....

...and makes snow flowers out of those from summer past.

Season's Greetings...

I'll be home for Christmas (click here)

May your loved ones, both near and gone,

be with you and in your heart

during

this blessed Christmas season!!!

I imagine this is what is playing in the background when Mack is with Sarayu in the festival of friends. All the brilliant colors he is seeing...how keen his senses were...

...and somehow, in the middle of the exploding storm, he found himself running across the meadow to find his father, running toward the source of the colors and emotions... (The Shack-Wm. Paul Young)

Amazing Grace... If this doesn't give you goose bumps... I don't know what will!!

Blessings~Robin

These lovely things are two of my birthday presents. The doll is from

my mom and dad. Mom got her in Kentucky from an awesome doll maker...Jeanne Stowers. Jeanne is actually from Maryland. We met her at Frannie's gurlfrenz weekend!!! She is a Very talented lady!! I love her creations!! Behind the doll in the first picture is an antique wire Christmas tree with very old ornaments. I got this from my brother and sis-in-law!! All in all yesterday we received 13 inches of snow...with more coming tomorrow. We have enough of the white stuff for EVERYONE to have a white Christmas!!

Summer breeze makes me feel fine...

today is my birthday...

AND...

it's back to snowing AGAIN. Winter storm warning actually AGAIN.

I chose to represent my day with the wonderful picture of the clouds. This type of photo has become a passion of mine. Tho I don't think of myself as one who has her head in the clouds...

I love to photograph them.

Today I am 44 years young. I sent my thanks to Papa God this morning that he has

blessed me

with 44 years.

When I turned 35...I was sad! Wanted to rebel with a tattoo or a piercing somewhere...I do believe that my very brown hair became blond for a while...and got a thumb ring instead...anyway

The thing that shook the knot out of me... was that a well liked Dr. in Cadillac had died in a drowning accident in Lake Superior...at the age of 41. And I thought...I bet he wishes he could be back here, and that he would be GRATEFUL for his 41 years. Life is about perspective. Life is about choices. I CHOOSE to be happy with who I am and what I have been given.

It's that simple...

happy birthday to me!!!

Silent Lucidity

no matter where you are...

i will find you.

no matter who you become...

i will know you.

...just like it was yesterday.

Do you have a person like that in your life?

No matter where they have gone...

or

how long they have been gone...

you could pick up right where you left off...

I hope you have a person like that in your

life.

Cool stillness warms the heart...

After many days of snow, snow, snow...

we had sunshine. When I was

out it was zero degrees. Crazy me... then

I notice the neighbor, Tilda, out doing the same thing!!!

The sun made delightful shadows and glistening

snow. Hope your weekend finds you

well.

May your blessings flow.

Robin

Peace..

As always....but especially
now...
during this busy season of our lives...
PEACE.

May your blessings flow.
Robin

Let Freedom...

Tree GaThering

We wanted to

wait

until there was PLENTY of snow

on the trees before we went and cut one. The snow was beautiful on the trees...Always a blue spruce...nothing else will do...

the bluer the better.

What is your Christmas tree tradition?

Blessings~Robin

Blue

The beginning of WISDOM is

silence.

The second step is listening.

This is our cat Blue, named for his beautiful, often sleepy looking, eyes.

He happened into our lives four years ago.

I was in the bathroom getting ready to head to Ludington, (Lake Michigan)

with the family...when I

heard a tiny meow.

I went outside to my flowerbed to discover this tiny little creature there.

He had the look of Oscar the Grouch...he

wasn't sure he wanted to come out to us...but with the

coaxing of a bowl of warm milk and us backing away...he did.

We left to enjoy a day at the beach and when we returned that night

he was gone!! We lived in town...He was a Town Stray!!!

But to our delight he was back in the same spot in my flowers the next day!!

More warm milk and bread!! We inched our way closer to

him as he drank...we won him over!! We were hooked... he was ours.

Actually...I'm saying he, him...we thought he was a girl until one day when he decided to perform his "boy act" on my arm!!! Hubby told me I was crazy!!! I said...I'm pretty sure I know what one of those things are!!!

He is a house cat. In one of the pictures you can see a ring on his collar. He goes outdoors on a leash!! When we lived in town...I did not want him being the cat about town...so he has always know the leash. He has it now out here in the country also.

He appears to be a chocolate, Himalayan Persian...but I think it is more of a "mutt" with all the characteristics of the more exotic breeding line.

So that is my story of Blue. No matter what...we love him...he tolerates we humans in his life.

It's snowing again today...it's a good day to have a chocolate himalayan persian in my life to sit on the couch watching the snow fall with.

Blessings~Robin

When you change your thinking

you change your beliefs

When you change your beliefs

you change your attitude

When you change your attitude

you change your behavior

When you change your behavior

you change your performance

When you change your performance

you change your life

I know it's not easy and we all have a hundred excuses...

But what if you dare...

You are the key to change!

"Never fear shadows.

They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby."

I love this picture of the tree on the peely paint doors. Sometimes...the simpliest thing makes me happy...go figure!!!

May your blessings flow.

From inside...

"The major value in life
is not what you get. The major value in life
is what you become." -unknown

What have you become...or like most...are you a work in progress??

Look up

i have been inspired...
i am going to pilot this blog..








one simple frame
one word
or two
or maybe nothing...

you leave a comment on what the picture says to you...or not...it's simple...
it's that simple.

i am a lover of thought provoking quotes, stories
i will be sharing those too...

it's that simple.