keeping a merry heart

he that is of merry heart

hath a continual feast.

~

proverbs 15:15

I have much more I want to share with you all today, but for now I'm off to

the city with my sweetheart to visit the lumber man, gather up paint swatches and

look for antique lighting fixtures.

Then off to the greenhouse & nursery to buy a thyme topiary for my kitchen.

....dinner at the old Pine Tavern down by the Deschutes River.

This is the most delicious way to spend the day that I can imagine for myself.

I hope this day finds you all doing something that you love, doing something delicious

and hopefully with your sweetheart and those you love.

keeping a merry heart...

and maybe a little chocolate in there somewhere,too.

a happy Valentines day to you all,

with love,

Christine

hyacinths for a winter weary soul

If you have two loaves of bread, give one to the poor,

sell the other and

buy hyacinths to feed your soul.

~Mother Teresa~

every year at this time, after the holidays have been put away and the lack of anything

green outside my windows begins to feel tedious,

the old farm house seems to be just begging for fresh flowers to warm her chilly corners.

She doesn't really mind what they might be,

as long as they're fragrant and they must be white.

I found pots and pots of my very favorite white hyacinths at our little mercantile yesterday.

Stepping inside from the chill air, their heady scent greeted me before I saw them.

Immediately, I could feel the knot in my neck begin to relax

and myself just drinking it all in.

ahhh...fresh flowers.

I do believe its true, that we need hyacinths for our souls, whether it's a potted bloom, a bouquet of lemony daffodils, a tiny green trailing ivy or the sight of tight bundles of pink edged white roses.

The coolness and freshness of flowers, alive and blooming against the chill.

a balm for our winter weary souls.

So here they are in an old ironstone punch bowl, scenting the room while we read

by the fire. My husband with his book, me with mine~

a new book about 18th century houses & gardens.

those are balms for my winter weary soul.

wishing you all a bright and shiny first day of

February and hyacinths for your soul.

yrs,Christine