lavender festival

On Saturday some friends and I ventured out into the English countryside for a lavender festival. It was an extremely scenic drive out to the lavender farm, on a gloriously warm day.



First we were greeted with this sweet booth, where a woman was crafting lavender wreaths. Each sold for about £24.



A few steps down was a large barn filled with little stalls selling local produce. There plenty of delicious things to sample - cheese, chutneys jams...





Obviously, there was lavender everywhere...


Next, we took a mosey out in the fields.






The scent of lavender mingled with the slightly more delicious frangrance of roasting meat. Overpowered, we gave in and had lunch. Delicious burgers made from the farm's cows...



I almost felt guilty.



Almost! They were very good burgers though, slathered in a selection of those aforementioned locally produced chutneys and sauces.



Rejuvenated, we returned to the fields to enjoy the lavender again. We weren't the only ones enjoying the flowers!



Incidentally, we sampled some of the lavender honey so kindly created by these industrious bees. Good effort, bees, but a little too sweet for my liking!



The farm stalls were doing brisk trade. Everything, especially the fat bundles of lavender, seemed to be flying off the shelves.





An absolutely perfect day out!

shine

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16

laughs

Earth laughs in flowers.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

(maybe God does too)

laugh

The earth laughs in flowers.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

fruit

potential

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the small act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
Leo Buscaglia

outgrow

Grow we must, if we outgrow all that loves us.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

extraordinary

photographer unknown, quote by Aaron Rose

a little longer

This song is beautiful.

moment

Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.
-Thomas Merton

daisy diptych

Another daisy sort of day...

the friendliest flower

for Rachel

ahead

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
- C.S. Lewis

enough

04/03, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough. No record of it needs to be kept and you don’t need someone to share it with or tell it to. When that happens – that letting go – you let go because you can. The world will always be there – while you sleep it will be there – when you wake it will be there. A dead hydrangea is as intricate and lovely as one in bloom. Bleak sky is as seductive as sunshine, miniature orange trees without blossom or fruit are not defective; they are that. So the windows of the greenhouse can be opened and the weather let in. The latch on the door can be left unhooked, the muslin removed, for the soldier ants are beautiful too and whatever they do will be part of it.

- Toni Morrison (from Tar Baby)

lunch

03/03, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

In the spirit of full disclosure, here's what I'm having for lunch. I know, my life - it thrills. I blog this mostly because I just love the colour contrast of that jade green plate and the shocking orange of the clementine. That, and I have the appalling urge to overshare.

Well, this blog is all about enjoying the little things, so don't say I didn't warn you.

a light exists in spring

02/03, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

A light exists in spring
Not present on the year
At any other period.
When March is scarcely here

A color stands abroad
On solitary hills
That science cannot overtake,
But human nature feels.

- Emily Dickinson (from A Light Exists in Spring)

smallest things

01/03, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart
- A.A. Milne

Friends, my little corner of the world is bathed in the most glorious sunshine. The park was calling to me, so I slipped out of the office in my lunch-break for a little caper through the greenery. Snowdrops and crocuses everywhere; it was delightful. Will have to go back with my camera if this sunshine persists.

The crocuses in the photo above were found tucked snugly under the hedge just outside the office I work in. They obligingly offered to be the subject of my photo of the day.

pretty things

baubles, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

The viral plague now has me in its grip. Will I ever be well again?
Histrionics aside, I've been consuming vast quantities of water and vitamins, as well as food for the eyes and soul. Thought I'd share some loveliness with you...

1) Want a handmade gift for a little girl? Here's an adorable project.
2) Tip me over and pour me out... Teapots are some of my favourite things.
3) Some reassurance.
4) I love everything about this photo.
5) Lady Susan, a short novel by Jane Austen. I read it in one delicious evening.

{craft project} bird cage lanterns

Oh, I have so many photos to post - I just need to get around to processing them. Seriously sleep-deprived, and that's spilling out into home and work life. Blah.

My father is in the midst of a big India trip. Actually, he's in Bangladesh at the moment, ministering with my cousin who is a pastor in India. As always, he values prayer. My mother at present is tucked up in bed, battling a hideous virus that has her in its evil grip. Her chesty cough is the source of my sleep deprivation! This lunchtime, she seemed to be feeling slightly better, sitting up with an enormous mug of ginger tea and a good book. In some ways, this illness is a good thing as it is forcing her to get some rest; something she is loath to do otherwise.

Today, we had a visit from a family who are praying about taking over as wardens here at the office. They are so lovely; the dad is German, the mum is from the Philippines, and the 3 kids range from 8 years to 15 months old. Please pray that all will go smoothly as they'll join us in May, moving here from Wales. It will be so good to have a more permanent warden situation here, and having a family here is always great.

The sunshine today is simply glorious. It's still so cold, but all that is forgiven. I caught sight of some golden crocuses making their tentative way out of the ground, and our magnolia tree is threatening to bud. Yay!

Anyways, the main point of this post...

Here's yet another craft idea that I'm so inspired by - Bird Cage Lanterns. It is just such a gorgeous yet simple way to decorate a space. A fun project for a spring afternoon, right?

imagination

snow3, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things." Isaiah 40:26

The people of God in Isaiah's day had starved their imagination by looking on the face of idols, and Isaiah made them look up at the heavens, that is, he made them begin to use their imagination aright. Nature to a saint is sacramental. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in Nature. In every wind that blows, in every night and day of the year, in every sign of the sky, in every blossoming and in every withering of the earth, there is a real coming of God to us if we will simply use our starved imagination to realize it.

The test of spiritual concentration is bringing the imagination into captivity. Is your imagination looking on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Your work? Your conception of what a worker should be? Your experience of salvation and sanctification? Then your imagination of God is starved, and when you are up against difficulties you have no power, you can only endure in darkness. If your imagination is starved, do not look back to your own experience; it is God Whom you need. Go right out of yourself, away from the face of your idols, away from everything that has been starving your imagination. Rouse yourself, take the gibe that Isaiah gave the people, and deliberately turn your imagination to God.

One of the reasons of stultification in prayer is that there is no imagination, no power of putting ourselves deliberately before God. We have to learn how to be broken bread and poured out wine on the line of intercession more than on the line of personal contact. Imagination is the power God gives a saint to posit himself out of himself into relationships he never was in.

- from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (1935), February 10th reading