Walk in the Park

This morning I purposely took the camera with me to caputure some trees in the neighbourhood for their striking autumn colours, but most of their leaves had now fallen down.  So instead I went to a local park.

I had seen people earlier at the parking lot of the grocery store wearing heavy coats and gloves and thought that looked a bit too much, but once I was in the park even though it was sunny it was cold.   A hoodie does not constitute as a jacket.    But the park was beautiful.

Enjoy your day wherever you are.

Alice xox



The Search Continues

I had promised I would continue where I left off in my book "Everyday Zen", love and work, by Charlotte Joko Beck,.  She is a Zen teacher addressing her students who are practising meditation:

"If we cease looking, searching, what are we left with?  We're left with what's been right there at the center all the time.  Underneath all that searching there is distress.  There is unease.  The minute we realize that, we see that the point isn't the search, but rather the distress and unease which motivate the search, but the magic moment-when we realize that searching outside of ourselves is not the way.  At first it dawn on us just a little bit.  And it gets clearer over time, as we continue to suffer.  See, anything that we search for is going to disappoint us.  Because there are no perfect being, perfect job, perfect places to live.  So the search ends exactly in one place which is.... disappointment.  A good place.

I we have any brains at all, it finally dawn on us:  "I've done this before."  And we begin to see that it isn't the searching that's at fault, but something about where we look.  And we return more and more to the disappointment, which is always at the center.  What's underneath all that search is what?  Fear. Unease. Distress.  Feeling miserable.  We're in  pain and we use the search to alleviate that pain.  We begin to see that the pain comes because we are pinching ourselves.  And just this knowledge is relief, even peace.  The peace we've been searching for so hard lies in recognizing this fact:  I'm pinching myself.  No one's doing it to me.

So the whole search begin to be abandoned and instead of searching, we begin to see that practice (meditation)isn't a search.  Practice is to be with that which motivates the search, which is unease. distress.  And this is the turning around.

It never happens all at once.  Our drive to go after things is so powerful it overwhelms us.  No matter what I say, after we all leave here, in five minutes we'll all be looking around for something to save us.  As the vow says, "Desires are inexhaustible." But you won't exhaust desires by searching; you will exhaust them by experiencing that which  underlies them."

I'm typing this from the book, so I hope I have not missed anything.   There is a bit more so I'll post that under another day.   Of course you don't have to be in a Zen Center to be doing this practise of being with what is, but it does take  discipline to push yourself through your self-created illusions.   

Thank you for reading.

Alice xox

For the love of yarn

I like to introduce you to Moxie.  She is one of my cat's (we have 2).    This is my knitting basket.     I managed to get a picture of her on her way out..but for a moment she was laying in it..then kneading my yarn..way too cute!!!   First time ever doing this little trick.  Moxie likes to get herself into things..sometime it gets her into trouble.  But this time she did not get into trouble..just a good laugh by me.

As soon as I turned my back from watching her climb out of my basket, I find her in this position.  This girl loves her yarn.  

Alice xox



The Search

Wanted to share some reading I've been doing..this is a book I've had for years:  I plan on sharing some points that I find very powerful, here is the first, hope you find in it meaningful:

"Every moment of our life is a relationship.  There is nothing except relationship.  At this moment my relationship is to the rug, to the room, to my own body, to the sound of my voice.  There is nothing but my being in a relationship at each second.  As as we practice what grows in our life is this first, our realization that there is nothing but being in a relationship to whatever is happening in each moment, and second, our growing commitment to this relationship.  Now that seems simple enough - so what interferes?  What blocks our commitment to a specific human relationship, or to studying, to working, to having a good time? 

Because we don't understand what it means to be in a relationship to the present moment, we search.  What are we searching for? Depending on our particular life, our background and conditioning, what we search for may seem different from one person to another but really we're all looking for an ideal life.  We may define it as an ideal partner, an ideal job, and ideal place to live.   Even if other people's ideals sound very foreign to us, people are sure of what it is they think they have to find.  And they are searching for it".     (to be continued)

 - taken from Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck.

Alice xox



Summer Vegin

The summer has warmed considerably the last couple of weeks  Wanted to share some more of the lovelies still shinning their beauty:

Here are a combination of yellow onions and shallots, the package called them gourmet onions, being that I have never bought shallots, that's what I'm calling them.

We've had probably 4 of our own cucumbers this summer.  Gave a few away too.  A couple of weeks ago, one of neighbours down the street came by with her little girls to check out the backyard.  The girls had fun seeing the veggies grow.  I gave them each a carrot and a cucumber  to take home.  They were so cute, they began to eat the cucumber like it was a popcicle.  Apparently they love their veggies. I was so impressed.

Green peppers are big, we are just waiting for them to turn red ! 

Sunny Sunflower, I had to get on top of ladder to get this picture.

First time growing gerberas, but did really well, lots of flowers!

These are grapes that my dad had given us many years ago,   We don't make wine with them, but they are good to eat, if we ever have a chance at getting at them before the raccoons.  They are not fully ready yet, but raccoons are making a fine mess of checking them out. 

In the last week or so, since our temps have risen I have started a scarf.   A knitting friend who has written a pattern asked me  to test knit it for her.   I would say I would make a good test knitter because it wouldn't take long for me to find something I don't understand.   The pattern has not been fully completed,  but so far I am  enjoying  working with cables, it's an easy pattern to memorize, but you do need to keep an eye on your row counting.   Sorry, I can't show you a picture of it, or at least I don't think I should !

May summer continue to shine !



The Gentle Art of Knitting

 Got my copy last night from Chapters "The Gentle Art of Knitting" 40 projects inspired by everyday beauty, by Jane Brocket. I've followed her blog for a couple years,great writer, photographer in all sorts of subject, now she's put out a knitting book too. Looking forward to making one of her funky colourful throw pillows..or socks..or pull over etc.

I have been baking biscuits for 3 days in a row.   I can say that I have been baking more in this week than I have in years.  I have also made muffins as well.   This is the blog/blogs that have inspired me Joy the Baker and Shutterbean, they also produce a fun, energetic podcast together. 

I made them a bit thin, but they have been delicious with Jam.  Super easy !!

Look who's got a new perch..Pixie !!   Jim built her a bigger "cat deck" so she wouldn't fall off, it's about 10 ft high.    She get's out through the window and sits perched out high and checks out the local wildlife.   She somehow can jump out the window, but wants us to pick-up her up to get her in..haven't figured that out it..I think she is spoiled ???   Only the best for Pixie..the construction of her "cat deck" is cedar boards.   They had been used elsewhere and now got put to good use.  She loves it !!

Hope all is well with you.

Alice xox

Gone to the beach

This is where I was at today.   White Rock Beach.    Haven't been there in years.   Today I packed a towel and lots of change for parking and off I went this morning.  

One of signs for me being in a happy  place is that  I go to the beach , to the ocean.   I don't necessarily go to lay out in the sun but more for the expansiveness of the ocean and the sand.    I did sit out in my  skimpies for awhile and then ventured out for look about.   Another sign I'm in a happy place is that I enjoy what I eat.   I had not intended to stay there through lunch hour (I didn't really have much plans for the day) I picked a hummus sandwith at a cafe and sat promped on a log and watched the passers by and happily ate my lunch.  

The sun was warm and the ocean breeze was fresh.   I packed my camera too, and hoped to catch some unusual shots but at the end they all looked the same...the ocean.

Love the colour of  this shell.

Bathing beauties



This a retired train station that is used as the local museum.   It's also a great place for souvenirs and local artisans.   This is one of my fav shots of the day, I still don't know what I'm doing with the camera with it's angles and zooms, but it's always a surprise when I see the shots I've  taken.

Close up of the beautiful basket at the stationn

 This was the extent of my body in the water.

 I  stayed into mid afternoon soaked up lots of sun, felt the quiet solitude of the ocean and had some fun chatting with other people hanging out too.   Being outside like that reminds of how vast we really are, and it takes nature to reminds us, we can't be contained in small boxes.

Alice xox