Beckon the Lovely

I tend to believe whatever you decide to look for you will find, whatever you beckon will eventually beckon you.

(Amy Krouse Rosenthal)

This morning I read of the death of Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

She was an author, filmmaker and public speaker who died yesterday from ovarian cancer at the age of 51.

Her passing immediately hit home with me since I turned 51 last month.

At the age of 40, she began calculating how many days she had left until she turned 80.

How many more times, then, do I get to look at a tree?” she asked. “Let’s just say it’s 12,395. Absolutely, that’s a lot, but it’s not infinite, and I’m thinking anything less than infinite is too small a number and not satisfactory. At the very least, I want to look at trees a million more times. Is that too much to ask?

Her favorite line from literature is spoken in  “Our Town,” by the character, Emily, as she bids the world goodbye:

“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?”

A believer in the magic of numbers, she started The Beckoning of Lovely Project on  8/08/08 at 8:08 p.m. and continued it annually for the next few years (9/09/09; 10/10/10; 11/11/11).

You can find them all on her website here.

I found them all to be so inspiring.

Make the Most of Your Time Here

is a message that she shared many times in her TedXTalks and videos.

Her last article for the New York Times was published March 3rd entitled,

You May Want to Marry My Husband.

Right up to the end, she remained passionate, humorous and kind.
And she believed in magic.

May she rest in peace.

Two Weeks Ago Today

February 26th, 

1966

a baby girl was born.

Another birthday celebrated in Sri Lanka.

The day started with coffee and a lovely view.

Then a walk around Beira Lake in the center of Colombo.

Standing Buddha with hands facing forward represents “Stopping the Ocean” or “Causing the Waters to Subside”.

On our walk around the lake, we saw an Indian palm squirrel,

 a crow,

a water monitor lizard,

a duck

a little egret,

and a muscovy duck.

 We also saw pelicans on the way back to the hotel.

There's always so much to see and experience while in Colombo.

 

And I'm always happy to celebrate my birthday there with our adopted family.

Happy Sunday!

Crafting on a Gray Day

It's ironic that on Wednesday I had a conversation with one of my craft group friends about the fact that we hadn't had a dust storm in quite some time.

Perhaps it's actually better not to talk about such things.

We awoke to a gray morning and the dust arrived this afternoon.

Because of the weather, our plans to meet at The Secret Garden for our crafty morning had to be changed, so we met at a coffee shop instead.

One of our newest members brought a lovely homemade saffron cake to share.

Three crocheters and three knitters at this morning's meeting.

Although there were garden activities planned this afternoon, I wasn't too keen on being out in dusty, windy weather, so stayed home cozy on the couch with Jingles instead.

Happy Caturday!

At the Garden

Besides the normal activities you would expect to find at a community garden, like watering plants, composting, harvesting, there's been a whole lot of other activity, too.  

Did you know that March is National Craft Month and National Crochet Month?

To celebrate, my craft group decided to meet every Saturday this month at The Secret Garden for crafting, crocheting, knitting and yarnbombing.

Rene (you can find her on Instagram @whiskersandyarn) made some very pretty hanging ornaments for the garden.

And armed with the granny square contributions from last year (that I took down and washed from the previous season) we began to yarnbomb benches.

We met again yesterday at the garden for 4 hours and Rene managed to finish all the benches there.  This week was her first ever yarnbombing experience; she really accomplished a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Skies weren't as blue yesterday but the weather was absolutely perfect for spending quality time outdoors with friends.

Happy Craft and Crochet Month!

Coffee Connections and a Couple of Walks

This morning I met my friend, Patty, for coffee.  

I was the first to arrive, so while I waited, I crocheted.

It's amazing how many connections I make with these simple little hearts.  As a young lady was leaving, she stopped to ask me what I was doing.  She said her mom crochets but she doesn't.  I explained to her why I make the hearts.  She loved the idea and thought it was great that I keep myself busy while waiting.  Of course, I gave her a heart and she was most appreciative.

It's those kind of random encounters that let you know you are doing something right.

As you can see, the weather was glorious once again, so I am making the most of these days while they are here.

This gaggle of geese who live at the marina were having a mighty fine time showering in the sprinkler system.

I managed two afternoon walks.  The first around the neighborhood.  And the second to the Boulevard where there was a free seedling distribution.

Young children were given geraniums rather than seedlings.

This boy seemed extremely proud of his potted gift as he walked by with a big smile on his face.

It was 5 p.m. when I headed back home.  From the pedestrian bridge, I saw traffic backed up, and there was a whole lot of honking going on.

Needless to say, I was very happy to be walking.

Hope you are having a terrific Tuesday!