New Shoes, so beautiful and good things happened

This is a postcard that has been affixed to the side of my refrigerator with a magnet since last fall.  (Click to enlarge)  It was for an exhibition of paintings reflecting on the work of Flannery O'Connor at her home, Andalusia Farm, in my hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia (wish I had gone to see that).  I loved the image so much that I finally had it framed and will probably hang it with a grouping in my bedroom.  The image on the front of the postcard is from a painting by Jude Harzer, called "New Shoes" and was inspired by a line from the O'Connor short story, "Everything That Rises Must Converge."  "Even a child with normal feet was in love with the world after he had got a new pair of shoes." 

These flowers from the grocery store have been so beautiful that I finally snapped a photo of them.  (All photos taken with my iPhone these days.  Note - not sure why my dining room wall and ceiling, there in the background, looks pink, when they are painted white.)

How about that?  I exercised almost every day in June, except for Sundays, which I decided to take off.  I give myself a sticker on the calendar in my home office on the days I work out.  And that's a lovely quote by Franz Kafka on the calendar, which I hadn't really noticed until this morning, "Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Front door view, life is beautiful and belated

It seems as if the rain never stops lately.  Last evening, I opened the front door of my condo and just stood, thinking how beautiful it is.  One evening last week, during another downpour, the power went out around 5:45pm.  I took a sitting-up-nap on the sofa for about an hour, woke to see the power was still out, and ended up lighting candles and reading the book on my Kindle with candlelight flickering around.  It was quiet and peaceful and I was almost sorry when the power came back.  :)

But it was sunny last Saturday at the Greenway park.  I love these Oak Leaf Hydrangeas bordering the walkway.  My walking partners were busy, so I had a rare, solitary walk, listening to music, which I never mind at all.

Spotted on that walk:  they had repaved part of the sidewalk, after installing some drainage, and someone wrote in "Life is Beautiful". 

And my birthday was in February, but it was delightful to receive a gift bag from friend Barbara, who said she had had it all this time.  The spoon there on the right makes me think of my late mother, who loved teapots.  

I took a wee blogging break, but am back now.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Sister time, sweetly singing and beautiful

My beloved baby sister came to visit last weekend.  This time last week I was making lunch for us while she sat on the kitchen stool and kept me company.  (Spring Onion Pie and Cucumber / Avocado salad.  Yum.)  I told her, "This time next week I'll be at work and thinking about how much I was enjoying this time." And so I am, so the least I can do is blog about it.

We both like this market in nearby Decatur, Georgia, whimsically named Kudzu.  I was salivating over the blue pots there on the right.  There was lots of shopping that afternoon and a visit to a candy store. 

While she paid for her purchases, which included a vintage board game, I let the car cool down and listened to the birds singing sweetly inside these beautiful crape myrtle trees, which border the parking lot.

We packed a lot into our two days, including the Virginia Highlands Summerfest on Saturday.  If you look closely, you can see the crowd of people goes on forever.  Lots of wonderful vendors and neither of us bought one thing, but we both enjoy people watching, and there was lots of that.

The main reason for the visit was to visit close friends, who have a new baby boy.  They are new parents, so it was sweet to see them interact with him, while listening closely to my sister's sage advice (as she rocked their wee one in her arms.)  I got a little choked up when she left on Sunday, but it was a beautiful visit.

Lovely day, enchanted and walk about

There was another visit to the river house last weekend, and this was the view on Friday afternoon when I drove in - the Friday Market in the town square.  I couldn't wait to get my stuff in the house so I could come back here and peacefully mingle.

My only real task was choosing a new hanging plant to take back home, and I found it at an enchanted plant nursery, which was completely off the beaten path.

The delightful lady who helped me pick this out said it is a dipladenia, here in it's temporary parking place by the river, until I took my leave on Monday.  In a true Good Things Happened moment, she tucked it away in the back seat of my car, and said to it, "Now you behave on your trip home."  I thought she was talking to me at first.  :)

The river was beautiful on Sunday morning, so I walked around the banks of the Hiwassee River a bit.  I flushed out a phantom egret that we see now and then.  We both startled each other and then it flapped away south.

My internet is down at home (since last week), so I am not able to visit blogs as much as usual.  Waiting for a technician to visit and things will be back to normal soon, I hope.