Sunspill

Image by ecstaticist via Flickr

I was badly in need of inspiration when I started this post and decided to check out some images from Zemanta. I found this one, which I think is beautiful and illustrates so well what we all wish that summer could be.

Mouse Rescue

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday evening the cat brought a mouse into the house. I love cats but this is an aspect of their behaviour I find difficult to deal with, even while being aware that it is part of their nature. Quckly, once the cat had put the mouse down, I grabbed it with my hands and put it outside of the opposite door from which the cat had brought it in. It was such a sweet little animal and I was probably in time to save its life as it looked uninjured in any way. How the mouse would interpret the occasion I can't imagine. Probably a couple of large yellow hands (I was wearing my household gloves) are something outside its range of experience and then finding itself free must have been quite a strange event. I wish it well.

Yoga - Kitty-style

I do yoga every morning and recently my cat has joined in. He will sit on the mat and then lie and roll around, purring frantically. He then affectionately headbutts me. He's so sweet and his behaviour always makes me laugh even if the yoga does take longer. It's definitely worth it.

Encounter with a Dragonfly

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday, when I was gardening a dragonfly flew into the house and was struggling to get out again. It was a beautiful sight and if I hadn't been so concerned about its welfare as it beat its head against the windows in its effort to escape I would have tried to photograph the dragonfly. Finally I managed to rescue it with the help of an old sauce pot and a fish slice and return it to the garden. I looked it up in one of my reference book and found out that it was a Golden Ringed Dragonfly. It was certainly very beautiful and surprisingly large. Later I looked up 'dragonfly' in the Medicine Cards and found that it referred to the need to see beyond the illusion and making changes, both of which seem very relevant to me in my life right now.

Floral Inspiration

I couldn't think of what to write today so I looked at my digital photographs to come up with some ideas. I found this little flower which I think is so simple and beautiful that it is inspiration all by itself. There is so much unacknowledged beauty in nature that sometimes we really have to look.

Fog

Grey and moist
Shrouding everything
No July sun today
The fog descends

Lafrowda Day 2010

Yesterday was Lafrowda Day in St Just and we were lucky with the weather after quite heavy showers in the morning. There was sun, music and processions throughout the day as well as stalls and entertainment. It was a very enlivening experience with a chance to meet many friends again and to chat.

Just Another Day

Image by brendan.lally....away via Flickr

Sometimes when we're going through a difficult time, it can feel like we're treading water, trying to exist without drowning. Then perhaps we don't always appreciate the opportunities that just another day gives us. It's OK to feel down when that's where our emotions are, to give ourselves permission to experience our feelings without trying to alter them, to be with the experience for a while. At the same time, wallowing is not too productive either. But to acknowledge that we feel the way we do is fine whilst also allowing ourselves the opportunity to enjoy the fleeting joys that can spontaneously emerge. This is all part of the rich experience of life, the lows and the highs.

Summer Showers

Image via Wikipedia

Well, we certainly have been having quite a few of those in West Cornwall today. It's like April only more muggy. And there was me thinking of perhaps getting out in the garden to sort out some of the weeds and brambles that keep invading. Some of the showers have been remarkably heavy but at least it clears the air a bit. The sunshine has been beautiful and quite hot. I'm glad I'm not down here camping as it could be very confusing with the ever-changing weather. But this is fairly typical July weather, disappointing only in that it followed such a dry, warm, sunny spell.

Photography

I've been interested in photography for a long time. I really enjoy going out for walks or on festival occasions with my camera to take photos of what's going on. It gives me a real buzz. Of course now it's so easy to take photos and I use my mobile for pictures more often than I would have imagined. I have found out that it is often better for close-ups than my digital camera! Now with Facebook and Blogger it's also so easy to share the pictures we take with other people, which is fun.

White Fuchsia

When I lived in my previous house, I found growing red fuchsias very easy - they were everywhere in my garden. But I really wanted to grow a white fuchsia. I took cuttings, did everything to get one to grow but had no success at all. Now, in my new house there are white fuchsias everywhere, which is beautiful and when you think about it, quite ironic. Don't have any red ones now in the new house but you can't win 'em all.

Gardening

I'm currently going through a phase where I find gardening oddly comforting. Of course the dry weather does help and it is pleasant to be outdoors even if it does mean having to cut or prune shrubs or strimming the front garden. We have a St Johns Wort bush in our front garden and that has just come into flower with beautiful yellow blossoms. It really is at its best at this time of year.

Friends

Image via Wikipedia

What a true blessing friends can be. As I'm going through a difficult period at the moment and have told my friends about it, they've been so wonderfully kind and supportive it's been inspiring. It just goes to show how wonderful people can be sometimes. We see so much in the news about the bad things that people do to each other but much less often about how wonderfully supportive friends can be for each other.

Music

I'm going through a difficult time at the moment and I'm finding the ability to play music on my keyboard or flute a every healing experience. There's something about the vibration of music, its melodies and harmonies which are very uplifting indeed.

Relationships

Image via Wikipedia

Probably the most difficult area of anyone's life. Getting to know a person and then being in a relationship is a learning process and one that doesn't really end. But then something can happen and you can wonder whether you really knew the other person in the relationship at all. People can show many different facets of their personalities, according to the situation and usually the one that they show in most circumstances is that which will make them appear most likeable. Come to that who of us know ourselves deeply enough to realise who we truly are. It's all a bit of a conundrum. No wonder one of the ancient tenets was 'know thyself'.