Welcome back!

Thanks for spending a few moments of your day with me. Each week I will share excerpts from my current writing, quotes from others that have really resonated with me this week, plus what I'm reading, listening to, watching, creating and excited about this week.

Morning Page Musings

(Excerpts from my daily journaling)

On Presence and Action: "How do we set about to do something, which requires looking to the future, while keeping our feet (and mind and heart) firmly planted in the present?"

On A/C vs. Fresh Air: "They just seem to move through life from one climate-controlled situation to another."

On Nature Deficiency: "When you look around you and all you see is artificial light and technology, how can you get a sense of awe from a blade of grass?"

On Feeling Stuck: "I struggle to move ahead because I'm stuck in wanting things to NOT be as they are."

On The Energetic: "He was full of energy as usual. I am quite jealous of that. Maybe one day I'll have tons of energy again."

On Precipitation: "Woke up to find it had rained a bit overnight. Best news ever!"

On Stubbornness: "I ended up doing it almost entirely by myself because I wanted to do it my way."

Quotes from Others

"To relinquish the futile effort to control change is one of the strengthening forces of true detachment, and thus true love." Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness, The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

"OK, these are all of our options." 2-year-old Clara looking at a pile of colorful Lite Brite pegs.

"Our friends show us what we can do, our enemies show us what we must do." Goethe

Listening

QWERTY Podcast. In Ep. 120 Janet Skeslian Charles, host Marion Roach Smith talks to Janet about her newest books. Both are based on true stories from the WW1 and WW2 eras and feature daring women who are determined to get books back into the hands of those to whom they've been denied.

Reading

Speaking of reading, May 12-18 is Little Free Library Week! The Chez Slay Book Nook is proud to be a part of this important work of making books more accessible to all. If you want to find a Little Free Library box in your area, or even start one of your own, visit the Little Free Library website for more into.

Watching

Baby Reindeer on Netflix. I will give you a disclaimer right up front. If you are easily offended in any way, you may not want to watch this. But, if you love watching slow motion train wrecks, then it might be a good option for you. This seven-episode series follows a would-be comedian through a ridiculously long and absurd stalking situation. Just when you think it can't get any worse...it does. It's not my typical genre at all, but I binged it in one day because it was so compelling.

Cooking

German Potato Salad from Recipe Tin Eats. I am a huge fan of Chef Nagi, and of course, her aspiring taste tester and golden retriever, Dozer. I'm sure there are a gazillion German potato salad recipes out there, but I always seem to come back to this one. Sweet, savory, tangy smoky. It's got tons of flavor and the creamy texture of the potatoes is divine. The recipe states six servings and I can vouch for that. Danny and I had it twice with dinner and I've been working on the last two servings alongside my scrambled eggs for breakfast. That's been a surprising combo too.

Growing

Central Florida is in full-on Spring, heading into summer mode, so plants are plentiful. We are just starting to get some rain, after a couple of dry months, so everything that's been holding out for real rain will bloom and grow now too.

• Cactus Flower: I was standing at the kitchen sink yesterday morning when I caught a glimpse of what looked like a fake white flower on the front porch. I went outside to investigate only to find that out of this little, tiny cactus a giant flower had bloomed! One day only event. Was deader than a doornail this morning Echinopsis ancistrophora AKA Dominos.
• Plumbago: I picked up eight gorgeous plumbago plants in the clearance section of Lowe's. These are not technically Florida native, but they are pollinator-friendly, full sun and drought tolerant, so a perfect addition to our backyard landscaping project.
• African Violets: Walking through Bok Tower Gardens on Mother's Day and saw a grouping of flowers that looked like African violets. My mom always seemed to have a purple African violet plant somewhere in the house. When I stepped into the greenhouse area of the gift shop, what did I find? A pretty African Violet plant of course. My mom usually had a purple one, but there was a pretty pink one that was calling my name. Now looking for the perfect pot.

Going

I stopped by Tracy Stone Company to pick up some flagstone pieces that I am using to make a walking meditation circle. This was quite a production. I had to park, find a wheelbarrow, then take it to the bins where they have all the flagstone pieces. I chose twelve pieces and set them in the wheelbarrow. Then I pushed it to the giant industrial scale, put all the stones on it to get a total weight (68 lbs. @ 35 cents per pound, if you're curious), then find someone to take my money. Put all the stones back in the wheelbarrow, push it back to my car and load in the hatchback area. Drive home, place all the stones on the driveway for a couple of days until we loaded them in our own wheelbarrow, pushed it to the backyard and placed them in a circle. That seems like a lot longer version of "I bought 12 stones."

On Mother's Day morning, my daughter and I went to Bok Tower Gardens, which is one of my favorite places on earth. We wandered through the native wildflower beds, then through the children's area, then finally made our way down the expansive back lawn of the El Retiro house and found a lovely bench in front of a peaceful pond setting. We got our watercolors all set up and spent about an hour just painting and chatting. She painted a scene from the pond, and I worked on my floral nature studies and color matching. One of those moments in time that was a slice of heaven.

Creating

In addition to my love of plants and flowers, I have discovered a new creative passion in Lego Flowers. Who knew this was even a thing? I got the sunflower, roses and lotus for my birthday and enjoyed putting them together last week. I even dug out the kids' 25th anniversary Lego tub (which is now more than 25 years old itself) and made myself a square Lego vase to display all my flowers. Now that these are on my radar, I see all the amazing sets that area available. I think the wildflower collection will be next on my wish list.

Until next week...I'll be finding happiness in the pursuit.

Betsy

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