The one thing about having a blog is that I compose a lot of posts in my head - while driving, while waiting in line, etc.... I hate to admit it but when I sit to meditate or I'm in yoga class and my mind wanders I find myself composing a blog post.

Today, I had a fine and interesting day that I'd love to tell you about, but actually I think it is several compositions long and I all I want to do is get off to bed.

I don't know how other bloggers do it. I cannot seem to manage the time and manage my real life too. Soon, I will have a shift in my life. I won't be driving an hour and a half 5 days a week. Until that time comes I guess I'll just have to live my blogging life in my head. Too bad you my readers cannot leave comments there - well actually that's probably a good thing. Your comments are all very nice and I enjoy them but really I want them to remain on the blog - 'cause I got enough commenting and composing going on with myself in my own head.
Ah....so now, I just sound insane so I think I'll get off to sleep.

In the Kitchen.......

And the winner is...........Mom's flour sifter! I've been doing an informal intuitive test between my own flour sifter and the one from my Mom's house. I didn't really think I needed my Mom's flour sifter as I stood in her kitchen discussing it with my sister. My sister didn't want it. I wasn't sure? - it was a slightly different design than my own. So I brought it home and over the weeks I've been using it - then using my own - then using it. Tonight, after I used Mom's sifter, I was about to put it back in the cupboard when it occurred to me - no - I know already that this is the one. This is the sifter I want. I like using it - it has a design that feels good. Although my flour sifter worked and I never had any problems with it I actually have a preference for this one.

My mom cooked like most mothers of her generation. Since I came along so late in her life I have a lot of memories of her struggle with cooking. Her hands were always so sore and it was a struggle for her to prepare the food. I know she felt relief when my Dad would be away on a business or fishing trip because it gave her a chance not to have to cook. I also know she enjoyed cooking. It was sad to go through her pantry after she died because it made me realize how much she craved her own cooking and baking and how little energy she had to follow through with it.

I was making my grandmother's banana bread recipe tonight. This was the one my mother always made - it came from her mother in law. Now, it's the recipe I always make. Now I can make it using the sifter my mother used. When I realized that I had the urge to get out my camera and take a few pictures. There is something I really cherish about this fact that my mother held this sifter and baked with it. This thought hadn't really entered my mind when I was debating the merits of which sifter feels best. Now it seems so obvious that I wasn't just choosing a flour sifter - I was also energetically holding a memory. It seems as if my preference isn't so much about which works better but one of the heart and the hands the continuation of a mother's love.

This is my offering for the Sunday Scribble #52 read more stories by following the In the Kitchen links

It's official

I can now wish you all a Happy Spring! The Equinox arrived just a few hours ago, but the plants around in this area haven't been waiting for that exact moment as my pictures are below to prove it.
This first bush/ tree I forgot the name of..........Help me sis?
Some little bitty jonquils.........
Lastly, the oak tree is leafing and flowering
All of these photos are brought to you via a trip through my sister's yard. Up where I live we mostly have junipers................achooooo.....did I mention they are making me sneeze......achoo......anyway a Happy Spring to you!

I know you've been looking for a new post.......

I hung a vase at the entrance to my studio -

Things I feel good about:
daffodils (gave some to my neighbors too)
new projects (working in the moment towards a future show and a retreat)
warmer days (and a new weather station to keep track of it all)
phone call from a friend who brightened my day

These little red things hold the juniper pollen and as they open the wind carries it around

Things that are more challenging:
allergies to the juniper/cedar pollen in abundance right now
not being able to go outside to clear my head because the pollen only congests it more
not being able to keep up on my own blog much less stay in touch with other bloggers
work on my Mom's estate that is STILL ONGOING

Life is good. I'm not really complaining but those are my current challenges. I've been keeping up with the meditation. It suddenly occurred to me one day that - holy wow - I'm putting in 3 and 1/2 hours of meditation time a week now. 15 minutes at the top of the day and at the bottom of the day really adds up. It may be a coincidence but I'm sleeping better - except when I don't due to allergies.

I know you all are probably sick of reading about meditation. I have to add just one more thing about it. Sometime after I started this new meditation routine I went to my book shelf to pull out Martha Beck's book The Joy Diet. I wanted to reread the first chapter menu item #1. It's an instruction to do nothing for 15 minutes a day. IMHO, it's one of the funniest, loosest (is that a word?) and wisest meditation instructions found in any book. First of all she doesn't call it meditation - it's doing nothing. And she offers lots of techniques that aren't what you'd traditionally think of for meditation. So if you have the chance to check out the book from the library, which is what I originally did before buying the book, do yourself the favor of reading the 17 pages of instruction to do nothing daily. It opens up a whole lot of possibilities to cultivate stillness on a regular basis.

One of my favorite shows on TV is Extreme Home Makeover - occassionally they miss the mark - like promoting a Robin Williams movie last year - ugh! Yet most of the time it's a show that makes me feel so grateful. I sit next to my husband and feel so grateful for him by my side and the home we live in. And take note that one day suddenly things can change and so I spend a good hour on Sunday night just saying thanks for what I do have right now. It's also an excellent way to clean out one's tear ducts. The woman on last nights show had lost her son in a car accident. At the road side where the accident happened she wanted a sign that says "Slow Down" She made such a poignant comment that it isn't just slow down in your car - but slow down in your life. Take the time to love the people around you because you never know when it will be your time to go. I guess that is why I like to meditate - it is a way to slow down in my life, take it in, love it, and say thanks. And hopefully, God willing I will then express all that out there and help others.

Thanks for all the comments - even though I may not always have a chance to respond specifically they always enrich my life and I want you all to know that!