Tag: appreciation

Stage 1 complete

Cabinets done, and in time for Christmas. Faye is thoroughly cleaning the sink and counter (if you want a job done thoroughly you can count on Faye.).  The counter is tile which we’d like to replace; it will have to wait until the next refresh.

The next stage will be painting and installing the ceiling and base trim. We’re taking a break from kitchen work so we can prepare our Christmas dinner at enjoy it.

I may or may not post during the next few days. If I don’t, I want to wish each and every one of you, my readers, followers, and commenters, a very merry Christmas, a happy New Year celebration, safe travels, a prosperous 2015. I am deeply appreciative and grateful that you find my photos and comments worth seeing and commenting on, here and on Facebook. Thank you very much.

Cheers and best regards, Andrew

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Grey

Today the sky will be various shades of grey. That’s quite all right, I cannot control what the weather will be, I accept it. Days like this heighten my appreciation of those are full of colour.

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Sun

This morning, I decided to take a photo of our neighbour the pine tree reaching out for the clear sky shortly before sunrise. If the weather forecast holds true we will see little of the sky for the next few days. The sky will be grey instead, and we may get a lot of rain. Our Christmas is unlikely to be white. That’s fine, I don’t need snow to appreciate a special day.

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Sweeping

Cirrus swept across the sky on a recent morning, adding texture and colour to the canvas of the sky.

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Dull?

This season’s colours are muted. The sky is often cloudy, blue-grey for days at a time. Fields are shades of tan, brown, dun. Dull? Perhaps, to some sensibilities. My sensitivity to shades and grades of colour is heightened, sharpened. I try to appreciate these muted scenes for their own beauty.

Halo

This halo, as all are, is a product of reflection and refraction.

It is also a product of art.

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Laundry time

Taken with the PlayBook

Despite the busy and hectic few days mentioned, when I saw this photo I was compelled to make time to comment.

This photo is from from last January. Yes that’s right, Faye is hanging laundry and yes, the ground is snow covered. Though a cloudy day the humidity level was probably low and as you see from the sheet slightly billowing, there was a slight breeze.

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Laundry does dry in subfreezing weather. Not 100%, but enough that a short session inside on drying racks removes all residual moisture. I did not believe it until I witnessed it.

We hang laundry because we do not have a dryer, which must seem amazingly primitive to some people. Even when our small town had a laundromat we used the ‘solar and wind powered dryer’. Even if we did have one (and it would be nice), we’d still hang laundry. Hanging laundry smells fresher. It endures less wear and tear. It costs far, far less money. There are also two somewhat overlooked attributes to hanging laundry.

One is that is that you pay a little more attention to the weather. ‘Do I have an opportunity to get laundry done tomorrow, before that chance of rain?’ Related to that, you have to get outside. To get off the couch, to be active, to live in our real world of warmth, cold, sun, clouds, wind, no wind.

I must confess. Faye takes responsibility for doing laundry, which means that she’s the one much more often than not who is hanging, un-hanging. I’m very, very grateful and appreciative that she does it. And am reminded when these chores fall on me how very blessed I am to have a partner to take on this responsibility.

Hectic

Life requires a little more of my time over the next few days. Not a complaint, a statement of fact. It’s possible, even necessary, to be grateful for a very full schedule. My appreciation for the eventual bit of down time coming soon is heightened.

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Turning

Another sign that the season is turning, the first significant snow. It’s beautiful to see, though the cold – minus 14 wind chill – is unseasonable and biting. It’s good to experience such cold. Makes me feel more alive and much more grateful to have a snug home.

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Air, brushed

A variety of shapes and textures graces the late afternoon sky, as the sun blazes one last time.

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