Just thinkin’ and smilin’ :    AIN’T LIFE GRAND  ???????

Take a minute to reflect on those simple things,  those things that give you pleasure,  but you take for granted.  Try  thinkin’ and smilin’ ,  and  you might find that life is , truly ,  grand…………….

For example :

Sitting in my comfortable chair in my comfortable den in my comfortable home———and thinkin’ and smilin’ !     Ain’t life grand ?????

Oh, I could spend hours complaining.    I could spend hours whining.   I could spend hours griping.   I could spend hours wishing for better days, long-ago years, more money, less expenses, no aches and pains ,  and on and on.     Sound familiar ?

But I am sitting in my comfortable chair in my comfortable den in my comfortable home——-and thinkin’ and smilin’.    Ain’t life grand ?????

I see the woods, all thirteen acres , in all its naked wonder.  We have few evergreens, but I am grateful for the green of the volunteer magnolias that are sprinkled throughout.  And the beech trees.  Oh, how I love the beech trees!   Bronze all winter long and green again in the spring.  Such a contrast to the gray and dreary hardwoods, which, from my view, offer their own sort of beauty.

Everything unto a season….

And then there are the birds.  Most are familiar, so they become  friends.  We have the black oil sunflower seeds and the suet hanging at our den windows——-with the thistle sock further away.  I find that the Finches are less friendly  ( actually angry fighters ) , so keeping their preference away from the others is a good thing.  But the Downies at the suet are my favorites.

Cardinals are pretty, but, much like people, they are not always nice !  Anyway, I am entertained by the birds day in and day out many times more than I am by TV or the internet.

Truly God’s gift…………

And then there’s my needlepoint.  Have been working canvasses since my mother brought me my first one when I was hospitalized at Emory some 50 years ago.  I purchase on-line now and only select hand-painted ones, a self-serving expense, for sure.

I get my thread in Hartwell at Elsie Bee——-and feel like a cousin of the mother-daughter duo there.  Such an upper to shop in a locally owned store where people know you by name——–and ask how your dog is doing !

Needlepoint : my therapy, my relaxing journey, my tangible success………

And I cannot muddle through the uppers without mentioning my high school sweetheart !  Choosing him when I was 11 years old and chasing him over two continents have proved that love is not a destination but a journey.

Our ups have overcome our downs and after 62 years of marriage, two children, six grandchildren, many Cocker Spaniels, life in various towns and states, diversified careers, and moving from poor  ( SERIOUSLY POOR)   to comfortable, I can say , without a doubt :

AIN’T LIFE GRAND ???????