a battle

                  repeatedly we are asked

                  to embody or consume;

                  to be in kinship with everything larger

                  or to order and manage everything smaller.

                  we are asked, everyday, to align or separate;

                  to coordinate our will with everything living

                  or to impose our will on everything we meet.

                  and not choosing is a choice. acquiescence

                  is different from patience or surrender.

                  all this leaves us needing to know;

                  whether to better the song through practice

                  or to better ourselves through singing.

                                               

                                     - mark nepo

yesterday, 

while i was contemplating the task of cleaning my windows...

i scored better than front row seating

to the most amazing battle.

i watched for a couple of rounds,

there were a whole lot of kicking and jabbing and 

actual stinging-like-a-bee-ing !!!

....the spider won

...the whole wasp was devoured

...the window remains to be cleaned.

erica

xoxo

thrifted threads: purple iris

welcome to 'what i wore wednesday'

today, i'm linking up with lindsey 

for some fashion fun.

at present, the irises are standing tall and are in full bloom .

the regal purple ones are so stunning they make one want to wear it!

HA...that's just what i'm doing...

do the colours of nature inspire what you put on for the day?

i have to confess that i have this thing for camouflage 

and i don't mean army fatigues!!!

both purple top and cardigan were thrifted (as are 99.999% of my clothes)

even though i found them separately... they match perfectly.

part of the fun of thrifting is the delayed gratification of actually matching pieces.

the jeans- i live in, so you've seen them before!!!

i should really name these posts 'what i wore yesterday',

because they were taken before i met my mom-in-law for lunch.

yes... she is still here (and is in awe of all the irises).

she says she isn't going back until all the snow back in the east coast is gone.

erica

xoxo

fun stuff 04/28/15

knitting:
if you had read my previous post... 
you would know that i am up to my ears with elephant's ears !!!
the last few days have been spent transferring bergenias (also known as elephant's ears) from my friend's garden to mine.
i'm afraid that my fuchsia blanket project did not get much action and is still on the needles.
but look... doesn't it photograph well with the fuchsias of the bergenias???

reading:
i finished celeste ng's everything i never told you .
it is a beautiful story - delving into numerous issues among family members.
i was really impressed at how ng dealt with breakdowns in communicaton within a family and the difficulties that rise when parents project their own issues of lost potential upon their children.
it is definitely worth picking up!!!

now, i'm reading gillian flynn's gone girl
after mentioning that i enjoyed paula hawkin's the girl on the train so much, the librarian said that i might enjoy this too.  
i'm not that far into it yet...but so far, so good.

i'm also reading martin pistrorius' ghost boy.

i was returning books to the library and couldn't resist picking it up when i passed the fast read display

so far, it's turning out to be a really interesting autobiography so.... it will be my stationary bike book for the week.

what are you knitting? reading?

care to share?

erica

xoxo

joining frontier dreams and small things

bergenia windfall

it was like 

...winning the lottery 

...manna from heaven 

...a stroke of good luck
...christmas in april !?!

a long-time friend called to say that her street is going to be upgraded 

and that she will be losing her front boulevard.  

(not to worry - she assured me, the street is going to look great!!!)

then she asks, "do you need some bergenias ?

if you want them- come and dig them up and take them away!"

i rallied up my troop, and with shovel in hand -off we went to bergenia heaven.

did i mention that my friend is a goddess of the garden?
everything she plants just seem to thrive and multiply...
her section of the boulevard was packed with the healthiest crop of bergenias!!

we filled the back of our sedan with as much as we could carry 

and then we spent a good portion of our weekend, in our own yard, 

digging and planting our windfall.

  poor harlow

"when are we going for that walk???"

after all the plants were is in the ground, we were so dirty and tired.

but it was all worth it... the bergenias look beautiful in the garden.

ian is back to work this monday morning...

but guess where i'm going ?????

miraculously, i found some more empty spots in the yard.

so i'm off to save more bergenias from going to the dump !!!

wishing you a lovely monday

erica

xoxo

the purple-ing

check it out...

our wisteria went ballistic this past week!!!

for fun, i photographed the same spot off of our back deck 

to track its purple-ing process.

m o n d a y

w e d n e s d a y

yesterday- s a t u r d a y

 we are currently shrouded in purple.

to celebrate... i did some purple laundry !!!

wishing you an efflorescent sunday!!!
erica

xoxo

fallen blossoms

the roses that you gave me

kept me awake

with the sound

of their petals 

falling.

                      - jack gilbert

spring arrived unusually early in victoria this year.

so much of our garden city was in full bloom by the end of february !!

now...the petals, like autumn leaves, cover our path ways.

these pictures were taken a few days ago 
while walking harlow, on the way to our local library.

the camillia had finished with its bloom and laid its petals to carpet this alleyway.

i have to admit... i thought the petals were more stunning in their fallen state.

oh...we really must embrace each moment !!!

lucky me - for capturing these few pictures,

because i went back the next day to take some more

but some industrious someone had already come through with their rake.

erica

xoxo

wishing you all a beautiful weekend !

moment 04/24/15

a moment
a friday ritual, a single photo, no words, capturing a moment from the week
a simple, special, extraordinary moment
i want to pause, savour and 

remember.

erica

xoxo

inspired by soulemama

feeling appreciated

we each got an invitation

to come, gather and have some tea....

we met just after the christmas holidays.

there were fifteen of us who took the training...

in order to volunteer at victoria's transition home 

and work with women and children who have

experienced violence or are at risk of experiencing violence.

the table looked wonderful.

filled with lots of goodies (both gluten-full and gluten-free)

i got there early enough to take pictures before all was devoured...

the tea was hot and milky...just perfect

tea cups were refilled at least a couple of times,

and maybe a third, when the cake was cut!!!

these women are pretty special...

as we sipped our tea and munched on our goodies,

we shared stories of our times spent volunteering.

there is one who have already clocked over 450 hours over 4 years !!!

isn't that amazing?!?!?

it was great meeting up again and sharing experiences... 

because most of us work alone to fill our shifts.  

after numerous cups of delicious tea,
and the steady inhalation of those miniature scones filled with cream and jam
(did you get a look at those???)

we all left feeling soooo appreciated.

erica

xoxo

thrifted threads: mellow yellow

it's another 'what i wore wednesday'

i'm linking up with lindsey for some fashion fun.

ian's favourite tree is blooming!!!

the flowering dogwoods are really putting on a show right now.

i was so inspired by their mellow yellows that 

dug through my closet to see if i had some.

this thrifted cardigan and top were from my working days.

they were thrifted finds from way way way back.

it feels good to put a freshly ironed shirt on- once every 10 years !!!

i was off to meet some special women for tea

so i thought i would emulate the mellow yellow dogwoods that i walk past everyday.

(i'll tell you more about the tea tomorrow.)

did you know that these yellow petals aren't actually petals at all?

the dogwood petals are modified leaves 

that surround a cluster of 20 tiny yellow flowers.

cool huh?

happy humpday everyone !!!

erica

xoxo