One of my favorite places in Portugal was the hamlet of Aljustrel. It was home to the young seers of Fatima. I loved walking through this sleepy village, loved steeping into these old stucco and stone buildings with spartan but still cozy rooms. I imagine life there, simple but not easy.
"Lest I ever lose perspective on what's important, may the small details of daily life serve to remind me:
The sweetest memories are right here, in the moments we create and share with one another."
– Mitten Strings for God, Katrina Kenison
I began a longer post but finishing is going to take from tomorrow which is promising to be full enough. So instead, little 'details of daily life' lately.
"The kingdom of home, as the kingdom of heaven, is within us. It is pleasant and happy or the opposite according as our minds and hearts attune themselves to the beauty and joy around us or vibrate to thoughts of ugliness and discomfort."
- On Wisdom & Virtues, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Kicking off November with a gratitude challenge. Thanksgiving is not for the fortunate few. It is for those who are tuned in.
When I looked out the kitchen door one chilly, damp morning the mare's blanket against the recently reseeded pasture took my breath away. So today I am grateful for little bursts of color in gray days. Figuratively and literally.
By all accounts it was a banner year for Halloween around here. No doubt it helped a lot that we began to think about costumes sometime before the week of.
We've seen a lot of great ideas over the years. Every year as we follow the kids around we muse about all the potential group costumes we could pull off. Every year we shelf those plans until we are walking around the next time. This year we started tucking away props well in advance. We won't always have the numbers at home to be able to pull this off so I didn't want to put off good ideas any longer taking for granted there will be other years.
Starry Sky Journal 