CATCHING UP

It's been a busy few weeks amidst a long heat wave 
Today seems to be a little cooler 
but I won't hold my breath 
since every day has turned into a scorcher

The storm that didn't...

Bella and Digby are relishing a cooler morning
Diggers doesn't particularly enjoy the heat

This week, I worked hard getting commissions ready 
for fumigation before shipping them out 
across the world to two different continents
It's a good feeling knowing my totems 
are travelling to countries I long to visit. 

 Packed for fumigation

When it's too hot to work I have a good excuse to catch up with my reading 

Wild by Cheryl Strayed,  Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale,  West with the Night by Beryl Markham,  Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. Click to read reviews.

... a little journaling 

.... and endless discussions about wedding plans with the bride-to-be

 Wedding chapel at iNsingizi

It's a relief that we've booked the venue
the photographers
the cake
the dj

..... and that's as far as we've got
but it's a start

 View from the chapel deck

Inside the chapel

A beautiful setting for a wedding

It's going to be a busy year!

EARLY MORNINGS

Amanda Boe. See more of Amanda's photography on her website, here.

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello you who made
the morning and spread
it over fields...
Watch now, how I
spread the day in
happiness, in kindness.

-Mary Oliver

St. Charles Sunrise by Dale Janzen. See more of Dales images here

I love early mornings
before the world awakes
Everything is quiet and fresh
and then slowly
creatures begin to stretch and sing
greetings to the new day

Early Morning Web by Mike Autry. See more of Mike's work on Flickr, here.

Morning Mist

"I get the invitation every morning to live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy. It's ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee .....  It's the invitation to live, to participate fully in this amazing life for one more day."  -  Bob Goff

Mornings by Billy Collins

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,
his many-pointed stars?

This is the best --
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso--

maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins--
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,
the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,
a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows--
trees fifty, a hundred years old
out there,
heavy clouds on the way
and the lawn steaming like a horse
in the early morning.

I'm watching you by Kim Kocinski (Please don't pin this image... All Rights Reserved). See more of Kim's photography on Flickr, here

for some reason I imagine Billy Collins tapping out poems on an old typewriter

"Is there anything I can do to make myself enlightened?"
"As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning."
"Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?"
"To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise."

- One minute wisdom

(Images without links are from pinterest. If anyone knows the name of the photographer please let me know)