Weekly Bird in the Hand

Here is this week's Bird in the Hand - the things I am grateful for:

WWI Carrier pigeon

• My nephew Matt.  It was his 17th birthday yesterday.  Seems difficult to believe - but he's still as cute as ever ;-D
• Achieving my 10,000 steps a day goal every day this week - totalling walking more than 40 miles.
• My new walking shoes!
• The fun of learning new things. I'm busy building a new website for my Health Coaching business but as many things have changed since I built my Birdland Creations site, there is quite a learning curve.  I often feel I haven't much to show for a day's work, but I am getting there - and enjoying the challenge of it all.
• All this wonderful sunny weather here in California.  We've had practically no rain at all since the beginning of December - only 1 day I think - and this is supposed to be our rainy season!  I'm thinking it'll all catch up soon enough - but for now, I'm enjoying the 65 degree sunny afternoons and frosty mornings.
• The support of fellow artists and family when I had an unreasonable customer to deal with.
• Getting back to singing after a week off over New Year.
• Time with friends.

I hope you've had a good week too.  What was the highlight for you?

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's list of things I am grateful for - my "bird in the hand":

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

• Crisp frosty mornings with sunshine.  Puts some color in your cheeks!
• Making time to play with food! I made igloo cakes and penguins for my book club Xmas lunch yesterday.  I'll show you them on Wednesday for my "bird a week".
• A good bird vet.  Poor Harold hasn't been feeling well this week.  Lots of feather loss and not eating. Hoping that the vets advice will sort him out and have him feeling tickety-boo in no time at all!
• Dinners out with friends.  This time of year it seems we eat out with friends nearly every day!  Lovely to see the friends but next week we need to eat less food!
• Sad movies.  Watched "Sarah's key" last night. I'd read the book for our bookclub ages ago, but loved watching the movie too.  In fact, the journalist annoyed me much less in the movie than she did in the book! 
• The anticipation of becoming a grandmother.
• The excitement of putting up the Xmas tree this afternoon!

Hope your week has been exciting too.

Weekly bird in the hand

This week's bird in the hand could include lots of things on my list, but instead, I've just decided to choose one thing that I am grateful for - and that is my blog "Merry Go Round" friends.

I started the Merry Go Round on September 25th, 2008 as a monthly blog post where a group of artists/craftswomen could all blog on the same topic on the last Friday of every month.  There have always been between 8 and 12 of us blogging. Originally the group formed by my inviting people who also sold on Dawanda and who's work I liked. They then invited others to join in and so it continued with new people joining when others left. Sadly, I have never met any of the "merriers" face to face.

There are 4 of us who have stayed the test of time from the beginning - myself, Mariana, Sara and Agathe.

I've now decided to leave the group, as things are changing and my mind just doesn't seem quite in it anymore.  But I am SO grateful for all that the merry go round has done for me.  I have "met" some wonderful people, made great friendships, felt supported, felt inspired, felt understood, felt cared for and many other things too.  It's been a wonderful group of people.

Our questions/topics each month have made me think carefully and differently about subjects and I've enjoyed the challenge of writing down my thoughts and ideas.

It has been a great journey during which we've seen each other and our businesses change and develop.  I hope to do something similar again in the future, as it truly has been a fascinating experience for me.

So thank you to all the present and past Merriers.  I hope the merry go round keeps spinning and you all stay merry. xxx

Weekly bird in the hand

This week's "grateful" list is all related to our trip over here in England:

• My parents - and being able to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary with them.
• My Aunt and Uncle who celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary today. 
• A safe flight over to England.
• Spending time with family.
• Getting to visit John's cousin who has been ill.
• Knitting - a great way to pass the time on a flight.
• Genius gluten free bread.
• Remembrance day and taking time to think of those who have given their lives. 
• Mild November UK weather with no rain so far!

Hope you've had a great week too and had something to celebrate and get grateful for.

Weekly bird in the hand

It's been a tricky week this week, that has made me aware of things I am grateful for and often don't fully appreciate. So here is this week's list:

• Peter, my nephew. It was his birthday this week. Hope you had a great week P.
• Autumnal weather - going for a walk and coming back with rosy cheeks!
• Marshall's - the local car body shop who repaired my car this week after I'd be rear-ended recently and the driver didn't stop. 
• Conversation - I've had laryngitis all week and thus haven't been able to have conversations.
• A good night's sleep - I've been waking with coughing and thus my new favorite thing is a good night's sleep.
• Singing - you get the idea!!
• Feeling better!
• Peace and quiet- but not too much!

Hope your voice has been heard this week!

Weekly bird in the hand

Here's this week's grateful list:

• Meeting new friends and having fun getting to know each other
• Eating fresh sun-warmed figs from our tree
• Making fig and ginger chutney
• My friend Marly whose birthday it was this week
• Catching up with old friends
• Soft tissues - I've been sneezing all week so having soft tissues is something I am extremely grateful for!
• Warm autumn days
• The changing color of the leaves

Weekly bird in the hand

Phew! This week's bird in the hand is easy! I may be missing a few other things this week that I have been grateful for, but the thing I am most grateful for this week is that harvest is done!  We picked all the grapes today - around 20 tons of Merlot grapes.  We'll find out the final weight tomorrow.

It was tiring, sticky, and a long exhausting day, but very satisfying!

Off the little grapes go on their journey to delicious wine! 

Weekly bird in the hand

Here's this week's good stuff - the things I am grateful for:

• A passerby who wished me "have a great afternoon".
• Spending time with good friends who are up visiting us for the weekend.
• Taking a class and learning something new.
• Going to my friend's art show.
• Warm weather (helping the grapes along) and still enjoying eating dinners outside.
• Cooking quince and enjoying all their flavors.
• This time of year. I just love it.
• Picking fruit off the vine or tree and eating it, warmed by the sun.
• The conversation between myself and my hair stylist.  It's such a different relationship from all others and  I always look forward to our chats.
• Seeing frogs jumping.
• Planning our trip back to the UK in 3 weeks time.
• Sharing green smoothies with friends!

One thing I am sad about this week however is that our friends from England who were due to arrive yesterday and share the grape harvest with us, had to cancel their trip due to ill health.  Here's hoping J gets better soon and that they can come another time instead.

Hope you've had a week full of things to be grateful for too.

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's things that I am grateful for:

Kingfisher photo by Rathika Ramasamy

• The wonderful news that the second baby in our family due in January will be a little boy. That means  the new year will start with a little girl and a little boy.
• I was rear-ended at traffic lights this week.  The guy behind, just drove straight into me.  He then drove straight off without stopping.  While I'm not grateful for this, I am grateful that I wasn't seriously hurt and the car wasn't terribly damaged.
• Karen for helping me calm down after my car accident.
• The opportunity to learn. I'm at a conference this weekend - lectures from 8am until 9pm.  So nice to just focus on that and nothing else.
• Camerata - the choir I sing with at Grace cathedral. We started the season again this Wednesday after a summer's break. It was lovely to be back singing great music.
• The past year.  A year ago Monday, my husband had a heart attack. He has recovered really well. I am soooooooooo grateful.xx

Hope your week has been full of positive things.

Weekly Bird in the hand

Saturday comes by so quickly! Here is this week's "grateful" list:

Photo by Alan Vernon.

• Sharing our garden with the quails.  We have two group of quails right now whom we see everyday.  The first group is mummy and daddy quail with two little babies. These were late offspring but Daddy Quentin is taking such good care of them. He is always on the look out!  I've stopped using our front door now as they are so often out there and it upsets them when we go close!  Also, we have a covey of older quail in the garden - more than 20! If we come across them because we too, happen to be in the garden (!), they panic and can't decide which way to run!!! I'm sure they'd all be happier if we just stayed inside!!
• Having a wonderful meal out with friends yesterday.  The chef made a dish especially for myself and my friend - not on the menu - and it was yummy.  
• Our friends Don and Janet.  They were due to come up and stay with us this weekend, but sadly Don isn't very well.  Feel better soon my dear and hopefully we can catch up soon.
• Hiking in beautiful places, with no one else around.  
• Finding a picnic table after a big climb and enjoy some sustenance.
• Aqua yoga class.  About 6 weeks ago, I started an aqua yoga class.  Yes, you can tell I live in CA!!!!  I am loving it.  There is a great feeling about the whole class and it's wonderful exercise. It's my new Sunday morning activity and a great way to start the day.
• My parents, who have decided to move home!  I think it's a wonderful decision and although it might seem scary - it's the perfect time for them to do it.  They will move to be closer to my sister.  
• A new discovery with base metal clay!  And successful firings of steel and bronze clays.
• Getting my first commission in steel clay.

How about you? Have you had a lot of things to be grateful for this week?  I do hope so.

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's list of things I am grateful for:

"Shall we dance?"  Photo by mikebaird

• Matt, Peter, Mary and Fin - my sister and her family, who arrive back in England today :-(. We'll miss them. After staying with us, they enjoyed a few days in Yosemite and some in SF. We had dinner with them on Wednesday night.  We so enjoyed our time together.
• Our pond. I've taken to trying to find a little time each day to sit at our pond. It's so peaceful - apart from all the wildlife!  I love watching the great blue heron; the turtle on the duck platform, soaking up the sun; the kingfishers; the red and blue dragon flies; the frogs; the fly catchers; the fish and tadpoles; and occasionally, when I sit quietly, Quentin and his new family of tiny quails wanders by.  
• My voice lesson. I had such a great voice lesson this week.  Just exciting! Thanks Karen.
• My dear friend Clare whose birthday it is today
• My dear friend Fabienne whose birthday it is today
• Walking in a quiet area and listening to the silence.
• The joy of learning

Weekly bird in the hand

This week's bird in the hand - the things I am grateful for  - is easy!

Photo by mikebaird

Yes, it's family.  My sister Mary, her hubby Fin, and my two nephews Matt and Peter have been staying with us for the past week.  We've had a great time and the time has gone really quickly.  It's been so lovely to share days together - some with different activities, some more leisurely.

They head off to Yosemite tomorrow and then SF on Wednesday.  We'll have dinner with them Wednesday in the city and then they fly home on Friday.

Thanks for coming sweeties. We'll miss you a lot. xxxx ...but not before an action packed day today!!

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's things that I am grateful for:

 (A birdie photo for all of you who had birthdays this week and are feeling their age):

Photo by digitalART2

• My friend Andy in the UK who is 50 today.
• My friend Diane in Sonoma whose birthday it is today.
• My brother in law Bro Bert whose birthday it was on Monday.
• My friend Dunx in the UK whose birthday it was on Monday.
• Good sales of jewelry this week and two new commissions.
• Being asked to be a featured artist in a new book that Dawanda is producing
• Have Vitamix, will travel. I took my Vitamix to my friend Jennifer's house yesterday and made a healthy smoothie lunch for us.
• Finding new fruits to try, like the mango nectarines.
• The search feature on computer! Where would we be without that? 
• Friends coming up to visit for the day.
• Having fun in a warm swimming pool on a hot day

Weekly Bird in the hand

Here is this week's things that I am grateful for:

Harold, my pet parrot.

• Fin, my brother in law who celebrated his 60th birthday this week.
• My friend Marion from Germany who is celebrating her birthday in her new home.
• My Vitamix.  I bought a Vitamix a few months ago and I absolutely love it.  I use it at least twice a day.  I'm loving my homemade hummus and just now, I made my own cashew nut butter!  And that is in between all the green smoothies I'm making with it!  Yes, it was an expensive machine - but it brings me a lot of joy!
• The fun of mixing paint colors!  (see yesterday's post)
• Meeting new friends and catching up with old friends.
• Getting excited about my sister and her family coming to visit in 2 weeks.
• Finding some unusual greens at a farm stand - including amaranth, sorrel, purslane....and then finding micro greens at the farmers market - including purple amaranth, sunflower, kale, beets, broccoli.  They were all so colorful with so many shades of green and purples.  A delight to the eyes as well as the taste buds.  It's made me want to try growing some of my own micro greens....

I hope you've had a colorful week too.

Weekly bird in the hand

This week's things that I am grateful for:

 

• All the nests with eggs and newly hatched baby birds!  Above, the top left nest is tiny - about the length of my thumb, with brown speckled blue eggs.  Top right is in the new Godello vines with four pale blue eggs.  Bottom left two little babes have just hatched - you can just see them to the left of the third blue egg. Bottom right, the bluebirds in their house, with one especially hungry one. These are the same bluebirds that I showed in last Saturday's post. You can see that their eyes are now open and they have more feathers. It's such a delight to watch nature.
• A successful farmer's market last Sunday with good sales and lovely people.  
• Some aluminum commission work.
• Going to the art museum with a friend.
• Lunch with a friend.
• Acupuncture.
• Creating our latest wine label for our 2009 Birdland Merlot. It's at the printers now!
• Seeing Quentin and Queenie numerous times with 11 babies. Today they can fly and jumped up on our dining table outside.  Phew, they are much safer now they can fly.
• Sitting by the pond after gardening and watching the great blue heron catch frogs and the baby swallows squalk continuously for more food!
• The pleasure of gardening - but I could have done without the reaction I had all over my arms to one plant! 
• Sharing in 4th of July celebrations at a friend's home.
• The lives of Craig, Adam and Charlie, who all shared a birthday on 4th July.

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's list of the things I am grateful for:

Four newly hatched bluebirds in our bluebird box.  We have a camera and sound in the box, so we can watch their progress!

• Our friend John Randall whose memorial service it was yesterday.  He was a lovely man who devoted so much of his time and energy to others, especially youth. He was one of the first people I sang with when I moved to CA, so it was fitting that I could sing for him yesterday.  He leaves many big holes.... but also many wonderful memories.
• Caroline and Jamie who's first wedding anniversary it is tomorrow. They married here at Birdland on 3rd July 2010, on what was an amazing and touching day.   So many lovely memories of that day....and also their visits here beforehand to arrange everything.
• Finding a new acupuncturist to work with.  I have my second appointment today.
• Finding John Dowland's music to sing. I am working on some of his solos and just loving them. They tend towards melancholy and sadness, but are still gorgeous.
• Having dinner and lunch with friends. This week seemed a week full of catching up with friends with two lunches and three dinners each with different friends.  What a great way to spend time.
• All the baby birds we see in our vineyard - including the bluebirds and also Quentin with his flock of little ones!

Weekly bird in the hand

Here is this week's list of things I am grateful for:

I've run out of "bird in the hand" photos so here's a "Dance of love" photo by Kjunstorm

• My Dad. It was Father's Day last Sunday so even though I'm grateful for him every day, it's nice to have one special day for him.
• The Merry go round group. You may have read yesterday's merry go round blog post. It's a lovely group of artists and it's fascinating to learn, support, be inspired, create etc with them even though I've never met any of them face to face. 
• Cashew nut butter.  You can tell I didn't grow up in the US as I absolutely detest peanut butter and popcorn.  The only reason we have peanut butter in the house is to put on mouse traps!  A couple of weeks ago however I did try homemade cashew nut butter. What a different product that is from yucky peanut butter!  Occasionally I now have a little on my toast, as my portion of nuts for the day.  Who'd have thought I'd like that! Just shows you that you have to keep trying new things!
• Seeing Quentin and Queenie (our California Quails) this morning on the driveway with a new big family. Big in number but absolutely tiny in individual size!  The little chicks looked like they were less than an inch tall!
• My new iphone! Yes, I got an iPhone 4 this week and I'm loving!
• A reliable internet connection.  I know I said a few weeks ago that I thought Comcast had sorted us out.....finally....after years of bad service...but it turned out that they hadn't and the connection only lasted a few hours.  Thursday however, fingers crossed, they seem to have made progress..... Let's hope it lasts.....

Weekly Bird in the hand

Saturday is here again!  The weeks go so fast.  Here are the things I'm grateful for this week; my bird in the hand

Photo by whologwhy

• The life of John R.  He died earlier this week.  A lovely friend from Sonoma. We will miss him. And Sonoma will miss him too as he gave a lot to the community - especially in his work with youth.
• The life of Doris, my friend Jill's mum, who also died this week.  I went to her lovely memorial and tribute service this afternoon.
• The roses.  You may hear Californians moaning about the wet spring this year, but all that rain has brought the best show of roses.  Some of our bushes must have over 200 blooms on each one! I will take some photos next week. They are stunning.
• Camerata - the group I sing with at Grace Cathedral.  We finished our singing for the summer with a lovely service last Sunday. It's been a great season.  Lovely people and lovely music. 
• The excitement of planning a trip. We are hoping to go to New Zealand in January and so this week I've found some time to read up all about it.  Still lots more to read, but I'm excited already about going!
• Finally getting our internet connection back again! It went out on Sunday and the repair finally seemed to work by Friday! Comcast spent a lot of time on it and, maybe foolishly, I'm hoping they have really sorted it out this time.  
• New creative ideas using new materials!
• Green smoothies, green smoothies and green smoothies! I'm really into them right now. They taste like fruit smoothies but are packed with healthy green leaf veg too. A tasty way to get fruit and veg easily each day!

Weekly Bird in the hand

Here is this week's list of things I'm grateful for - my "bird in the hand":

Photo by iJammin

• Family and friends whom we've been seeing during our trip in England.  We had some lovely days and too many good meals!
• Uncle Archie, whose funeral we went to yesterday.  It was a good send off for him.
• New experiences - but more about a fishy one next week!!!
• Our fascinating visit to a big bronze foundry - again, I'll tell you more about that soon!!!
• Gooseberry and rhubarb yoghurt
• Genius gluten free bread - GF bread that actually tastes like bread and doesn't need to be toasted.  A special bonus is that I also heard this week that Genius will soon be available in the US! Yippee!
• My friends Angie and Marly who are back in California looking after Harold my parrot and singing with him :>
• Seeing all the wildflowers on the roadside
• Good pubs and English cider!

Weekly bird in the hand

Today's list of things I'm grateful for this week - my bird in the hand:

Photo by '|'||'| '|'[]||{

• My friends Angie and Marly who have been staying with me this week and will remain here when we go back to England tomorrow, to take care of Harold (my parrot)

• Great old movies. We all went to see Lawrence of Arabia on Monday night.  Gosh - what a long movie!  Nearly 3 3/4hours long!!!  Good old Peter O'Toole!

• Dr Fuhrman's book - "Eat for Health".  A wonderful inspiring book.  I highly recommend it.  

• Green smoothies!  Yummy! One of the recommendations in Dr Fuhrman's book.  I love the fun of making up different combinations of fruits and greens, depending on what I have on hand.   My favorites all seem to have lots of celery in them!  I think celery could become somewhat of an obsession.

• My new Vitamix! Obviously this came along to help with the green smoothies, but is already busy making other things too!

• Taking time before reacting.  A little nap one afternoon this week helped me find my way through a difficult situation, resulting in my not taking action.  I'm hoping it is the right decision.

• Friends who support my singing.  My quintet Vajra Voices is singing in SF this evening and three of my girlfriends are all coming along to listen.

• Singing with my parrot Harold.

Yes, we head back to the UK tomorrow for a couple of weeks to catch up with family.  We'll see how my daily blogging fits into the schedule while I'm away!!!  Hope you had a good week this week.