Serendipity

Life can sometimes offer up surprises, sometimes not happy ones, but then others can be full of delight! Saturday provided a couple of the latter, with a routine trip across town to my client's to drop off the updated bookkeeping file. Suddenly, a portion of road I travel often was the site of a roadside "sale." I put quotes around this because once I'd turned around and pulled up in front, I learned it was a GIVE-AWAY!

Nana was able to pick up for free a bedside table with drawer and shelf beneath that was the perfect size to hold my new serger. The drawer became home to the bits and bobs of equipment that help to keep the serger in good running condition, and the shelf will hold cones of thread. It was in excellent condition with only surface blemishes that could be sanded out easily enough (tho' I'll probably leave it all alone).

But even better, because it wasn't anything I'd been looking for, was this:

I've always wanted a goddess for the front door, specifically Hecate, guardian of entrances...The little black long-haired kitty seems to approve.

And while the addition of things to my life doesn't quite meet with my "simplicity" for the year? They're filling a spot in my life. The serger needed it's own dedicated space, and I couldn't have paid for one better that had everything this one did. The statue is something I've often fantasized about having in my life, but could never afford, so it wasn't even on a wishlist. I truly believe that this might even have been hand-cast, and since I'm in an artist enclave of sorts where I live, I'm not totally surprised to find it on the side of the road. But I'm absolutely delighted that it entered my life on the basis in which it did.

I'm hoping I can dedicate a bit of myself out here once again and maybe let the blog come back to life. Knitnana, I fear, has posted her last, as I can't see myself posting without The Meezer to assist. The boys are rambunctious and definitely not the sort to grace that space, but here, freewheeling will abound. We'll be Tonk, and Moji (Sock kitty), Nana, and sewing, knitting, papercrafting, space making, thought-provoking...right here, periodically.

Do drop by now and again, won't you?

2017 One-Word: Simplify

So it is that I've finally gotten around to writing up the One-Word I'll be using to remind me of the changes I'd like to make this year. Since I started the One-Word journey, I've considered every year whether to choose "Simplify" or "Simple." I've always moved away from it to something else: Ahimsa (non-harming, specifically towards myself), Joy, Santosa (contentment or "enough"), and finally, Change & Sparkle.

But after the year that 2016 turned out to be, and the nasty political race that was completely pervasive to everything we did, I decided the only choice was "Simplify."

It's a huge component of voluntary simplicity, which, if you've known me long, you know is a philosophy (and movement) I've struggled with - one that is intrinsically part of my mindset, but clashes with how I live my daily life. Getting clear on that is really important, I think, now that I'm entering my 6th decade of life.

So I keep coming back to this quote from Marion Nestle (which used to be up in the header to this blog, but because of the changes I was forced to make, has been "disappeared" and I can't figure out how to put it up there any longer - ah, Blogger, you have always made me nuts).

"Get organized. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Get political." Marion Nestle

(That last one, I've got down pat.*wink*)