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The Best Mentor of All

The whole idea of going outside to paint really appeals to me. I love being outside. I love painting. I love all the beauty we have around us. So going outside to paint the beauty I see and wallow in the gratefulness of it all, just like a pig in mud, is a win/win for […]

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White Noise

It was the line in his poem ‘To The Mountains’ that I have had going round and round in my head. To The Mountains Peace whipped around by the wind warmed by the winter sun sung to by the battered flax frowned upon by the commanding mountains But peace, easy in its age old form […]

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His Turn

THE PAINTER For all of its strength the sun can barely keep at bay the chill of the alpine breeze. She sits in front of her easel as her brush dances pauses then dances again As she captures the freedom the majesty the emotion Only to be released again into the hearts and minds of […]

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A Grateful People

The Hebrew term for gratitude is hakarat ha’tov, which literally means ‘to recognise the good’. The neat thing about recognising the good is that when we start with even the smallest of things it multiplies and we find ourselves with more and more things to be grateful for. We are told in scripture to give […]

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Oh, Romeo & Juliet, What If…?

Don’t we all love to celebrate our mothers on Mother’s Day? Whether with a phone call or flowers, brunch or a gift, it doesn’t matter except the opportunity to acknowledge the great gift they have given and are in our lives. My family are the same. This year two decided months ago to take me […]

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The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

As you grow up you get to observe, both consciously and unconsciously, the mindset of your parents and caregivers. They are, after all, the most prominent people in your life from whom you learn how this world works. My experience was no different to any other and I got to watch my dad and his […]

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I haven’t stopped

It may have been ages since I have been posting on this platform, but, rest assured my need for being grateful has not diminished at all. In fact, with all the busy happenings in our world, I have actually been more reliant than ever on taking the time to fill out my ‘grateful list’ each […]

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Gardening of a Different Kind

“Make a list of the jobs you’d like some help with and I will give you four days over Easter to get as many as possible done”. What a gift! It wasn’t hard to think of them. If I can chip away at something and do it myself, I will, but there are some jobs […]

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Joy Sparkles

It’s not been a week of great events. Nothing out of the ordinary has really happened. Yet, I’ve found so much joy in seemingly insignificant things. The warm sun on my hand while driving. Autumn leaves swirling in the wind. The quiet. In noticing it, I’ve begun to wonder if, when big events happen, our […]

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‘To My Dear and Loving Husband’

This week I heard about a mid-seventeenth century poet called Ann Bradstreet. Ann lived in the new world (now the United States of America) and was the first, not just woman but person, to have a book of poems published there. In her book was a poem entitled ‘To my Dear and Loving Husband’. If […]

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