Cold Coming - Year Ending

Wow! Cold this morning. Just went up to turn on heat at the Yogatorium wearing hat, coat, etc. And, even turned on the oven a few minutes to warm up the living area! A mug of hot tea and I'm ready. I've still got bedroom windows to cover with plastic so I'll get to that today. Looks like the cold is about to become more constant. Still, not in the teens yet - and that's fine with me. It is weather for making soup and staying inside at least early in the morning. Already the sun is peeking through the trees and soon my cottage will be warm as toast as it pours through the windows. ....Hard to believe there are only three days left in this year - and so many things uncompleted that seemed important last January. But, then, many things for me have gone far better than expected - the important ones have all gone well. Thanks be to God!

BELIEVE - Every day is the prayer.

First we have to believe, and then we believe.....G. C. Lichtenberg
SO, keep on believing that you have the passion, intelligence, brilliance, creativity, wisdom, clarity, depth, and savvy to find that quiet center of solace, serenity, and strength necessary to create and sustain an authentic life. Every day is the prayer. An authentic life is the most personal form of worship. When you start believing, you'll discover that all things are really possible.

These words come from my Daybook by Sarah Ban Breathnach. They speak to me very clearly at this time of year when I am considering making changes in my life - I do this every year about now. I have finally come to understand that no successful change in my life occurs without faith. That's what believing is all about--having faith that I can make positive changes.

Last Day at Seaside Villa, Hilton Head 12/2011

Late getting to this today. Busy going back and forth to the beach from about ten this morning till just now. Luckily my villa is only a couple minutes walk to the ocean. It has been an absolutely beautiful sunny day all day long! I even got an hour-long sunbath and you can see where my straps were!!! On December 20. I love getting some Vitamin D and a bit of color in my face in December! And most years I manage to do so at least once. What a kick to live in SC where the weather is so often pleasant.........Tonight we're going to dinner and jazz - I've never been to the Jazz Center restaurant, but Jim and Anne went years ago. The leader of the group is the owner of the restaurant and has been there for many years.....been a long time since I've had the pleasure of dinner and jazz! Probably back in the 50s when Bob and I went to Hermosa Beach to hear the Lighthouse All-Stars. And we didn't eat then - except snacks. I remember the table being just large enough to hold a saucer, an ash tray, and four beer bottles---maybe 12 inches in diameter. And the place was packed full....tomorrow it's back to the Pond. It's been a great week - exactly what I had hoped for. Ready for yoga class at the Yogatorium tomorrow evening.

Farm Visit at Sylvania, GA

Wow! What a fun day yesterday! Jim, Anne, Rich (Anne's father) and I went to Brad and Kate's farm near Sylvania, GA. Brad took me and Jim on a grand tour of the farm via ATV and at one stop I got to hold a new lamb, less than a week old. The nanny had gone a short distance away to eat. .....Lunch was a "meat-tasting" of food from the farm: goat, lamb, pig, and cow! Of course sides of veggies, too. If you're interested, go to www.ljwoodsfarm.com for photos and a few facts about the more than a hundred animals living there - special breeds adapted to living in the piney woods.....Today is another writing/beach day and it's time to get to that before mybrain shuts down and I end up just beaching!

Harbor Town at Hilton Head

Here are photos taken from the top of the Harbor Town Lighthouse yesterday. Jim and Anne live in the building on the top floor far right behind the pine tree. The other scene is just to the right of their building - 18th green and Calibogue Sound in view. ....Today we are going to the farm - Kate and Brad's farm - looking forward to my first visit there. Did my Chico's shopping last evening. Writing still going well. Weather is spectacular! Looks like it will last till Wednesday when I return to the Pond. My villa isn't spectacular, but entirely adequate. Have a happy Sunday!

Gulls at Coligny Beach, Hilton Head

I have some lovely photos from my beach walk yesterday. I spent nearly an hour sitting on a wooden storage cabinet (several stationed along the beach, probably for chairs) watching the gulls. I counted 86 at one time. If you look closely (or enlarge) the photo with 4 in front, you will see a whole host of them at the top of the photo. Enjoy.

Riding horses at Lawton Stables on HHI

I'm taking a break from writing - going extremely well right now but burned out and getting set to go take a walk on the beach. The weather is beautiful. Yesterday I didn't want to leave the beach it was so warm and the ocean roar was so peaceful. But I did. ....... Jim and I went riding at Lawton Stables, here on Hilton Head Island. Karla, the guide, took the photo of us after we returned and before we stepped off onto the stool they use - for everyone, not just old folks. I guess it's a safety device. The horses are really beautiful and the trail through the Forest Preserve is lovely. We saw the biggest alligator I've ever seen here sunning on the grass near one of the ponds.....Off to the beach for my mid-day break!

Christmas Cross Stitch

Here's needlework I did many years ago and enjoy seeing it again each Christmas. I've been working on a second one, a different design, (so I'll have one for each of my sons) ever since and still haven't finished it. Perhaps this is the year to do that - before the cloth turns yellow from age!......Busy writing yesterday. Trying hard to devote at least two full days, or at least several hours on those two days, to writing. ......Getting excited - week at Hilton Head begins Wednesday! So fortunate to have Martha and Susan and Joanne to substitute for me in yoga classes - THANKS, Friends! Looking forward to time with Jim and Anne and Bella and hope to see Kate and Brad. Family has reached a high priority level with me - it's about time! Fun buying gifts on line - get to enjoy them several times - when I order, when they arrive, while wrapping them, and when they are opened.

Santa and his Sax

So, here I am back at the writing again and so late getting to blogging. Today I'll upload my favorite Christmas item - a windup Santa Claus playing a saxophone - reminds us all of Bob - looks much like him with his gray beard and sax. There is a sad note to this time of year since he left this Earth on December 17. Still, seeing this sax playing Santa brings back fabulously delightful memories. We began dating by my tagging along to dance jobs with him in Columbia. ....Nothing like a rainy day for some quiet time to reminisce!

Christmas Tree 2011

Hey! Here's Christmas tree grandchildren made decorations for last year and the year before. Somehow or another they didn't get to that this year at Thanksgiving time, but the tree still looks just fine to me. Whoops! Forgot to rotate it! Here's an upright one. I'm hung up on book writing still - but at least you get a look at one more of my favorite Christmas decorations. More tomorrow.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Here's Santa! By the way, a mirror is on the opposite side. A piece of costume jewelry I bought years ago in Easley at the factory where a young woman was making all kinds of delightful beautiful jewelry from some kind of plastic. It sold in Neiman Marcus, Macy's and so forth for big bucks. At her "Before Christmas" sale one year I bought a bunch of lovely pieces - which now have been passed on to my granddaughters for the most part. But, this one, I still enjoy wearing each year......Big physical day today - yoga morning and evening with a strength circuit this noon - and a nap I just woke from. Love days like this. Everything in my body seems to be happier when I move most. Writing still going well. Just hope I can keep the words flowing for a while. I'd like to think I might actually finish this book some day.

Nativity Set by Mother

Good book writing yesterday - again today, the feeling is good for writing. Strange how my inclination comes and goes. I have learned to take advantage of the times when it seems right to write. But, wanted to check in and show you the nativity set Mother made for me many years ago. She also gave a beautiful set of much larger pieces to the church which is always displayed at this time of year. The longer I live the more I appreciate all the contributions she made to the world. Each Christmas I enjoy that recollection when I live with the nativity set for a month. I'm sure you, too, have Christmas items that originated from an expression of love from someone else. ENJOY! Remember, if you click on the photo, it will enlarge and you'll be able to identify the Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the three wise men and the shepherds and animals, a couple of cows who lived in the stable and the Angel to the far right. May God bless you all!

Positive Psychology

Here's my front door wreath. I purchased it from a Mennonite bake shop in Greenwood when Anne and I were buying a cake for either Mother or Dad years ago. I love the natural grapevines. .....Whee! It's still only 28 this morning at 7:45. Pleasantly surprised that the Yogatorium's insulation works really well - 54 in there with only one heater on the lowest setting last night following our yoga class. So, by 10:00 it will be plenty warm enough for this morning's class. Another new student - Sherill - came last night. I am very pleased with the number of new students that are attending classes. Had a record attendance at the church on Tuesday evening - 10, where five or six is the usual number...Yesterday was pretty much a stay-at-home writing research day rediscovering truths in Learned Optimism and Minding the Body, Mending the Mind. (Martin Seligman and Joan Borysenko). Margie (Friend from Kinsale, Ireland) mentioned Seligman's book Flourish in an email and, of course, I went to Amazon and ordered it immediately. The whole field of Positive Psychology fascinates me and Seligman is one of the proponents whose writings are a pleasure for me. And Joan's book is filled with useful information I use in my classes and in my own personal life. After a day inside studying, I'll go in for a circuit at the Y and a massage. Perhaps my writing brain will kick in again in full force for the weekend. Lisa, my coach, just sent back some of my recent writings with new ideas for me to try. - like writing a Strategic Plan as an example for the book. Timing couldn't be better...this is usually the time of year I rethink my life's plan and putting it on paper always ups the odds of my actually making it happen.