Get Up

Song - Get Up Stand Up by Playing for Change - Song Around the World

Dance at Bougival is an 1883 work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Get up and dance!

"Happiness is the friend

who'll dance with you

to the song

that's not meant for dancing"

--thatonerule:#2887

Love Is In The Air

Song - Steppin' Out With My Baby by Tony Bennett

Several days ago Mr. B told me that he saw two Mourning Doves on our fence checking out our ladder for a nest - once again.  Since I put up this nesting box last fall under our eves, I was hoping that they would use it instead. 

So Mr. B moved the ladder so it wouldn't be so tempting. Now the squirrels are using it to climb up and down and chase each other around.  Oh boy....a toy!

Mr. B wanted me to start a nest for the birds so that they would get the idea of what to do with the nesting box - ha!  I think Mother Nature provides them with their own nesting ideas!!!

And the very next day - sure enough they had begun their work - at least I thought it was just the beginning.  Apparently they think it's finished!

This morning when I checked on them, mama was on the nest and daddy was watching from the fence. But I didn't have my camera with me.

Then later in the afternoon, I checked on them and daddy was still on the fence but mama was up on the roof of our house just above the nest.  I hope they enjoy their new home. I'll keep you posted.


Some interesting facts about Mourning Doves:

--the oldest known Mourning Dove was 30 years 4 months old

--they tend to mate for life and both parents incubate and take care of the young

--they have 3-5 clutches each season

--they have 2 white eggs that are born 1 day apart

--the eggs hatch in 14-16 days

--the fledglings leave the nest in 11-12 days and on day 12 they are cut off from food to encourage them to leave - talk about tough love!!!!!

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."

 ~ Margaret Lee Runbeck

A Little Garden in the Woods

Song - Ain't No Sunshine by Aaron Neville

On Sunday Mr. B had his baseball draft at our home.

This is his presentation of the condiments.

This is his Wild Venison Chili (served with Wild Boar Sausages) Mmmm....

This is Mr. B calmly studying his baseball stats before the crowd arrives

 because his party was kept simple.

This is my presentation.

Silver, 

linen tablecloth, 

bouquets, 

candles, 

handwritten place cards, 

games for the kids

and

clean bathrooms!

This is my "keep it simple" meal.

(This is just the ice water and the dessert....I am always too busy to snap a shot of the meal!)

You won't find a photo of me calmly doing anything prior to a party 

because it never turns out simple!  

I wonder why? 

But afterwards I'll be in a horizontal position on the couch with a glass of wine!

So on Sunday I left the men-folk to their important business of drafting a fantasy baseball team, while I headed down to the Santa Cruz cabin to do a little gardening. Mika came along as my assistant.

 

I replanted the large ferns next to the cabin where we had transplanted them about 6 months ago to do some work on the cabin.

Mom's Five-Finger Ferns are doing beautifully.

I put in three new Mother Ferns and transplanted several Spider Plants in between. 

 

Then I planted Foam Flowers (which love the shade) along with some Begonias 

in front of the living room window. 

 I planted 3 six-packs of Mckana Giant Columbines along a semi-sunny side of the cabin. They grow those beautiful long-spurred blooms and will reseed for next year. 


 

Wax Leaf Begonia which can grow in sun or shade.

Mika and I had a wonderful day in Santa Cruz and Mr. B's party was a big success.

Now it has stormed for the last two days.  I hope my little flowers don't get washed away.....

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open." -- John Barrymore

There Are Places I Remember

Song - Sweet Pea by Amos Lee

 

Sweet pea

Apple of my eye

Don't know when and I don't know why

You're the only reason I keep on coming home

 

 

 Lyrics by Amos Lee "Sweet Pea"

"Happiness enters our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open."  -  John Barrymore

Bee Happy

Bee being happy....

Yesterday a friend mentioned something she had recently read that had stuck with her....

"You are one thought away from being happy"

 Mmmmm... Does this mean I just haven't come up with my perfect * personal** happiness thought yet or that maybe it's not about the thought but something deeper? 

*Clue 1 

**Clue 2

 

Today I came across this poster in Pinterest and I figured it was a "sign" for me to do a little excavation on the subject.

                                                    

Is there a difference between being happy and being fulfilled and maybe, just maybe happiness is not something that you "work" on and obsess over but you relax and enjoy the bumpy journey because happiness is right in front of you, should you choose to look?

In Susan Krauss Whitbourne's article in Psychology Today she states "The question to ask is not "Am I happy?" but "Am I making a difference in the world?"

Garden Zinnea

A wonderful source of ideas on happiness that I recently stumbled upon is - The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin at www.happiness-project.com  I especially liked the quote by Brene Brown - "For me, working on being happier is all about making sure that I'm heading the right way on that journey. I believe (professionally and personally) that self-worth plays a critical role in happiness. It's hard for me to be happy when I'm perfecting, pretending, pleasing and proving myself. I'm too exhausted."

What makes you happy?

 

A Very Happy Dog Playing in the Surf at Carmel

 And remember -

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”  
- Oscar Wilde