Category: Sometimes Mondays

sometimes mondays | 12.9.19…

Published on by Honoré9 Comments

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… come around sooner than expected…hmmm, let me see, last Monday, the last day I blogged, I noted the weather was cold and windy; today it is cold, windy and wet! I wondered what the week was to bring; it was busy!

  • I pulled out Christmas stuff and decorated the living room except for the tree. We need a new one… and we need to have a meeting of the minds: I want real. Need I say more?
  • Saturday’s house tour was fun. Most of the 7 houses on the list were owned by young couples, with one or two preschoolers. It’s always interesting to see current trends and how people decorate their homes. Horizontal chandeliers (with 3-5 individual lamps) and beaucoup (5-8 ) pillows on the bed seemed to be the décor of the day.
  • I only attended one concert – yesterday – Handel’s Messiah. Superb!

Today was my quilting group’s annual holiday potluck luncheon; everything was good. Entertainment consisted of our singing two songs about quilting – one sung to Let It Snow and the other, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – and solving the holiday word scramble (pictured above). Have fun!

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This photo was taken at one of the houses; of course I couldn’t resist!

 

sometimes mondays | 12.2.19 …

Published on by Honoré11 Comments

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… are super quiet, primarily because it’s so durn cold out. Despite a 42° F temperature, clouds, 78% humidity and winds NW 10 mph make it feel more like 36° F… I’m glad I had no reason to go out… and I didn’t, not even to my regular Monday quilting meeting.*

I have used most of this cold and quiet day purging paper: old receipts; statements; notes written on any available piece of paper (that was before I began to make a conscious effort to eliminate that bad habit ), etc. And taking time out to reflect on some of the things on this day for which I am grateful:

  • tea this morning in my Scotty dog Christmas mug  – given to me by a friend of many decades, many decades ago;
  • the scent of my morning candle;
  • the luscious color of this week’s bouquet of alstroemeria: a deep red;
  • the warmth of the hearth and the fact that I didn’t need to go out;
  • tackling the looong overdue paper purge job.

This week is shaping up to be quite busy: two concerts, a house tour plus the added activity of preparing for Christmas…and, other than the Scotty dog mug, not a single bit of Christmas has been pulled out of storage.  So, to my list above, I add a big

  • gratitude to Mother Nature. Today’s weather gave me the space to take a deep breath and tackle a project that’s been on the agenda for way too long. I am energized.

Cheers~

 

* I fell asleep last night watching Hallmark Christmas movies and awoke about 1:20 am – then went to bed!

 

 

 

 

ode to my mug …

Published on by Honoré12 Comments

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~11 may  2014~

All good things come to an end and this morning, my beloved ceramic tea mug*  bit the dust. I’d washed the cup in the dishwasher and emptying said, picked up the mug, out of the top rack, by its silicone sleeve whereby the mug slid out, landing on the granite counter – of course! Result: the rim of the cup chipped on two sides – opposite, mais oui! – thereby rendering the cup useless.

A quick web search this morning yielded many replacements but none quite measure up. A while back, I bought a similar mug from IKEA and it seems to come closest to the real thing! With Christmas coming – just 30 days away – I will soon be using my fave Scotty Dog mug – best for hot tea and hot chocolate – until I find a suitable replacement or Santa brings a new mug.

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In every cloud, there is indeed a silver lining; a post for today plus a zillion – I exaggerate a wee bit – mug shots (pun intended) above, taken over the years, through all seasons, morning, noon, and night. Seldom has my mug been beyond arm’s reach. I suspect the mug is still serviceable as a pen/pencil holder. I’ll consider.

Cheers~

 

*gifted to me by my dear friend Linda in Oregon, May 2014.

sometimes mondays | 10.28.19 …

Published on by Honoré9 Comments

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This photo, tho’ actually taken, Friday 25 October@ sunrise: 7:19 a.m. EST, was almost replicated this day, Monday 28 October, @ sunrise: 7:30 a.m. EST. This morning I did not take a sunrise photo because:

  • a) I knew I already had the above in my photos collection … or
  • b) I was too preoccupied with setting up for an 8:30 am online weekly planning session … or
  • c) ’cause just minutes before today’s sunrise I’d read these words in Ryan Holiday’s new book: Stillness is the Key , p 26:

“Even during a quiet evening at home, all we’re thinking about is the list of improvements that need to be made. There may be a beautiful sunset* but instead of taking it in, we’re taking a picture of it.” 

That passage stopped me, caused me to think: Can one take too many sunrise/sunset pictures? Am I indeed guilty?

And yes, I am! Why? Because

  • it’s not only what you do – take a picture in this always have a camera phone age but also…
  • perhaps it might be my last, ever…
  • because it is so glorious, so wondrous!

So, I concluded,  I would continue to take sunrise/sunset photos for as long as I can  because its a way of tangibly experiencing, appreciating and sharing the awe, promise of a new day, of giving gratitude …

Cheers~

*or sunrise

sometimes monday| 10.14.19 …

Published on by Honoré9 Comments

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October’s full Hunter Moon at 7:20 am today

…comes on the heels of a busy, busy weekend that began Thursday:

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…Hostess Hilary of my Thursday Stitching group served us “high tea,” inspired by our afternoon the  previous Thursday at the movie, Downton Abbey…

… an unplanned trip Friday to the Honda dealer to have my car’s lane signaler checked – it wasn’t working…fortunately, all things checked out A-OK. The dealership provides a courtesy shuttle within a 5 mile radius so I went to IKEA and had breakfast while I waited…

… Saturday, Cissy  (my niece/namesake) and I went to the opening of the Met Live in HD 2019-2010 season, Puccini’s Turandot; c’est magnifique …

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… Sunday, Friendstitchin’ day, a tad early this month. We celebrated Margaret’s birthday with a delicious brunch: shrimp + crab salad; a huge assortment of cookies, made by our resident cookie baker, Michelle. And oh yes, champagne for the occasion. Despite all the good food, each of us was also productive…

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… slowly, the leaves on the maple trees are changing colors. I think it’s really Fall, yall …

Cheers~

sometimes mondays | 10.7.19 …

Published on by Honoré7 Comments

 

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this is week # 41 of 2019…and if you are like me, you are wondering where did the time go? During this year, for ten weeks of each season, I’ve begun and ended the work week, Mon -Fri, with two online journaling practice activities: Mindful Monday and Journal Club. Created and facilitated by Jamie Ridler  (more here), I find both to be great grounding activities as well as being fun and insightful. This morning I couldn’t find my earbuds (stuck in my shirt pocket from yesterday’s walk, natch), so I was a tad discombobulated … but my frazzled nerves were calmed by our opening  meditation session.

after Mindful Monday, I drove to my weekly quilting group meeting. on the way, I stopped at Starbucks for a cuppa decaf with pumpkin spice… they had no decaf coffee and it was going to take at least 5 min to brew. I think I was a tad chagrinned… after the meeting, I decided to treat myself to lunch at Nordstrom since I’d not been all summer. My meal: shrimp arugula salad and tomato bisque soup was delish and filling… in fact, half  of the salad came home with me. by the end of the meal, my nerves were no longer frazzled so I decided to walk around a bit – as I was also looking for a birthday present. I didn’t find a present but I did discover a new store, pictured above! quite dramatic.

and that’s the way it was this monday. oh, and by the way, I did finally have a decaf coffee with pumpkin spice at Nordstrom; coffee was brewed…

cheers~

 

sometimes mondays |8.19.19 |…

Published on by Honoré7 Comments

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I recall seeing these lilies last year and was delighted to stumble across them again

   Noting that today’s temperature was on the way upppp, I took my daily walk early … and I’m so glad I did! The temp, as I pen this, is now 97° F …and climbing. Yuk! After I walked, showered, had brunch, I went upstairs, about noon, to attend to today’s @computer/calls tasks. First on my list: today’s blog post. Hah! It is now 2:50 pm – I’m not sure where the time went. I recall reading an email that directed me 1)  to a book that  2) sent me down a rabbit hole. And now, I’m up for air… can’t even say I’m any wiser and I’m definitely not ahead with today’s agenda possibilities…but, hey, that’s just how sometimes mondays  roll.

Guess I’ll replenish my iced H2O and resume my list. One done and next? Hmm, let’s see: guess I’ll throw the dice and see what’s next!

Hope your Monday is cool and relaxing.

Cheers~

sometimes mondays| 8.12.19 …

Published on by Honoré7 Comments

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I took an earlier than usual walk this morning, at the tail end of morning rush hour. The sky was as clear as crystal and the temperature, in the cool 70s. As I wended my way, I saw a gift bag, sitting on the ground at a bus stop. Of course, I had to take a look-seek : the bag was empty, save for some sort of advertisement. Amusing… curious … why was the bag there? Oh well, tho’ I’ll never know, I thought: perhaps this day was the gift. Yeah! I think I like that thought, a lot!

What gift/s did this day bring you?

Cheers~

sometimes mondays | 7.29.19…

Published on by Honoré7 Comments

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Since last Fall, I’ve participated in Mindful Monday – setting the week’s course with mindful intention. This is an offering from Jamie Ridler, who also hosts the weekly Journal Club sessions. Each weekly gathering is scheduled for 10 sessions and then there’s a break. I find that both are not only great bookends to the week but also set the stage for examining both the planning, implementation and assessment of how I live my days on this planet earth. Each is a practice that I can and do carry on during break times, aided by access to the recordings of our sessions. Being able to “playback” the sessions is invaluable in helping me continue the practices.

Today marked our last Mindful Monday for the summer season. T’was a good session and I was ready to move on with the week: wrapping up July and preparing to welcome August. My plan:

  • write and publish this post after breakfast ( the session runs 8:30 am to 9:30 am) …
  • make a few calls to set up some appointments …
  • go for a walk to beat the heat -sadly it has returned – and then …
  • stitch on the journal cover (I found the grommets!), maybe even finish …

You are no doubt familiar with this famous saying: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agle … Yep, that’s what happened in this house. Norman’s mouse ( computer) died. We thought it was a simple matter requiring a new battery. Check! Replace. Test. IT DID NOT WORK! What??? I’ve been a Mac person for ten years; my intimate knowledge of PC and Windows  – zilch.

Our only recourse:  off we went to buy a new mouse: So not on my agenda. Fortunately, the office supply was about a 20 minutes’ drive …and the sales person who helped us had working knowledge of what was no doubt the problem…as did Microsoft and every other maker of the computer mouse: probably the usb dongle (transceiver) was bad because the new mouse came packaged with the dongle and a free battery! Would you believe the whole package was $19 dollars and change!

We returned home, a tad apprehensive, fingers crossed all would work. I inserted the battery in the new mouse, removed the old dongle from the PC, inserted the new one and moved the mouse! IT WORKED! Yay! Big sigh of relief. Norman a happy – albeit a poorer camper. Honore´ – a happy camper too: back to the real business of the day!

All’s well that ends well and Norman’s mouse has a new home!

Cheers~