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Summer Fruit

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

Summer is just about gone, and soon, with it will be the wonderful bounty that we love so much this time of year in New Jersey – peaches, corn and tomatoes.

I’ve been enjoying all three as soon as they hit my local farm market, but had yet to do anything special with them. Time flies! I really wanted to make something delicious with peaches before they’d no longer be available.

I perused a bunch of recipes I’ve yet to try, but instead settled for a fabulous favorite, German Plum Cake. It is usually made with Italian prune plums when they are in season, but works equally well with peaches or apples, and is so easy to make.

Lots of butter, lots of sugar, lots of peaches. One of my favorite recipes, especially because it takes almost no time at all. Yum!

Happy end of summer!

Seeing vs. Looking

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

Looking is what we do all the time. It’s how we negotiate our world. But seeing … that’s something special.

Sitting out on my back porch recently, I suddenly saw these incredible shadows made by the hydrangeas and porch railings. I saw a parrot, a rabbit, maybe a dragon, an acorn. Because instead of just looking with my eyes, I saw with my mind, my wider perception.

Not long ago, I’d taken a photo of my kitchen counter, because I became aware of the color of the shadow on the Thermos and the mug – so blue!

I love this photo of the hydrangeas because the shadows are so very soft and blue-grey, but also because it seemed to me that the leaf was in love with the hydrangea flower. Yes, my imagination, but when we really look at things, we see more deeply.

If we stop, we might see patterns all about us, lines and shapes that we casually pass by every day, until one day, we really see them.

I guess what I’m saying here is that our world is so much richer than we know or acknowledge. And all it takes to open that richness is to be in the present moment and see what’s around us.

Christmas in July

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

Trying something new with my Etsy shop – a Christmas in July sale to reach some French Bulldog lovers with my Christmas/holiday cards, and possibly some “everyday” ones as well.

I have some wonderful ideas for a whole new avenue for my art, maybe requiring a second shop due to shipping/mailing challenges. I’m envisioning prints! How about prints! But before anyone in business gets too crazy about expanding, they need to have a good/better understanding of how to attract customers.

And that’s what I’m doing now … research. How to more effectively use social media, Pinterest, Etsy itself, and Google. It seems so simple, but every avenue of promotion is a field of knowledge in itself.

So if you would like to contribute to my research (of course, I’m smiling!), please stop by my Christmas in July sale on Etsy, on the dates above, and take advantage of a 35% off storewide discount! Or send a friend. Or two. I am appreciative of all support!

Restless, But Reading

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

Do I write this post with a tad of guilt? I do. I feel like I have neglected my wonderful blog and disappointed … who? I notice that many of my contemporaries in blog posting have not been writing either. Hmmmmm …. (* Please see P.S. below.)

An effect of the pandemic? Are we all on to different things? Just not writing?

In the kitchen, keeping Jazzy company while she ate her lunch, I realized how restless I am. I want to do everything, but yet I really want to curl up with a good book and do nothing (but read). Life had been so crazy busy for so long, and then I left my very-often-intense work in the humane field. It was exactly what needed to be done, and along with some of that work was the pandemic. Working from home, staying at home for my safety, getting all too used to being home. Not liking it. It’s very comfortable and I live in a beautiful part of the state, but needing more. Restless.

Now that I can actually think, what do I want to be when I grow up? (You may have read about my ponderings on this subject in previous posts.)

Working on that, but meanwhile … I am always reading and always listening to music. Two constants. So while I work on the direction of my life, here are my 2023 reads so far, and all recommended unless otherwise noted. Not in order of being read.

The London Seance Society – Sarah Penner (currently reading)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer – Excellent!
The Lost Apothecary – Sarah Penner
The Lost City of the Monkey God – Preston Douglas – didn’t finish, non-fiction, but not my type.
Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng – Excellent!
The Book of Longings – Sue Monk Kidd
Now You See Her – Linda Howard
Night Music – JoJo Moyes
Secluded Cabin, Sleeps Six – Lisa Unger

Perhaps you will find something of interest. Perhaps you will share something of interest, as I know any followers of mine are also readers. Whatever you may be doing, I hope you are happy in your days. I am always hoping you are as content as possible in our so-often-challenging world, and finding the small and simple joys that are right there in front of us, waiting to be noticed. Till next time …

* p.s. In reading a comment on this post, and following up, I see that I have not been getting any notices of posts from my blogging buddies. Went into my settings and see something different than I remember. I hope this solves the problem, and my apologies to my friends who may have thought I was not reading and responding. That explains what I wrote above!

The Season

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

It seems that the holidays feel different every year. It’s not a matter of growing older, but maybe of seeing the world through different eyes.

Some years have seen good-sized gatherings, some years, small and intimate ones. Some years bright and merry, others quiet. There have been years where gift-buying was a big deal, others when it barely mattered at all. Years with COVID in play, years not.

The common thread? Change. Everything is always in motion, including how we spend our holidays, where, and with whom.

The other thread? Feeling grateful … for all the experiences the holidays have brought, and those they will bring.

Here’s hoping that you will not get lost in the rush, but lost in the peace, joy, and sweet calm of the season. I’ll be joining you for these.

It wouldn’t be the beginning of December if I didn’t mention that I have adorable Frenchie items for sale in my Etsy shop, or that my magical and beautiful picture book, Where Do Butterflies Go at Night?, would make a great Christmas gift.

Cheers!