Anne with an E

...and the sun is shining high, and strong, and the garden is the peaceful, quiet sanctuary where my soul spends the best of every moment.  

This afternoon I filled every birdfeeder out there, and birds have already discovered all that goodness gifted for their enjoyment.  Oh, that my soul be like birds, always prompt to discover God's blessings scattered along the paths of my life...  

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26. 

The geraniums are in bloom, and the bird of paradise plants are aiming high in their search for the sun under the blue bluest of skies of the end of May.

Our little white cottage is a jewel under the sun, and we love it more and more with the passing of days... there's no antique bead-boards here, no clapboards, gingerbread trims or crown moldings.  No antique hardwood floors, French doors, fireplaces or windows with wavy glass and sash cords.  No large front porch, no window seats or glass doorknobs, and yet I cannot love this little enchanting place of our any more than I already do!  I'm afraid I'm scandalously in love with it!  Yes I am!

Oh, look, here’s a big swallowtail just tumbled out of a orange Hemerocallis. Just think what a lovely place to live–in a daylillie blossom!  Oh, and could you please call me Cordelia? ;)

What can I say?  With everything that’s going on in the world and around me these days, a journey to the simpler world of Anne of Green Gables is what my old soul is seeking lately... and I am!  I've been walking towards that direction through Netflix, and the new adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved 1908 novel, Anne With An E.  Have you watched it yet?

Oh but you must! You do you do!  Watch it if you haven't done so yet, I know you'll love it!  You'll fell in love again and again with the old story, and the little orphan girl whose beautiful, inquisitive spirit is so kindred to ours. The music is fantastic, and the original paintings amazing.  I love Amybeth McNulty, the girl who plays Anne. She is my absolute favorite among all the young actresses who have ever played the role.  She's a real find and the true essence of Anne’s spirit and doubts.  She's the Anne Shirley you know and love, still spunky, but in a whole new light.  

I know you'll love it!  Lucas Jade Zumann, the boy who plays Gilbert  Blythe is just adorable, and he's the perfect dreamiest male character in all of English literature.  Well, maybe second to Mr. Darcy, of course! ;)

...and take a look at Anne's room!

It cannot be any more perfect, can it!

I love Matthew, and Marilla Cuthbert, and every actor/actresses who play each roll are just exactly what I'd always envisioned them to be on my mind... forget about the previous versions of Anne and Gilbert.  I never really liked them anyways.  I always thought Megan Follows was too old, and crusty for the lively young Anne of Lucy Maud Montgomery.  But you'll not be disappointed with this new Anne.  I promise! 

Oh and please come back and let me know what you thought of it after you're done watching it, OK!

Until next time!

The garden of life...

Where has time gone?  Here we are, trapped in the amber of time.  And everyday has been a Monday this week.  Twists and turns and ups and downs all week.  The garden is another world outside my world—magical, and brimming with life and undisturbed in the quiet acceptance my soul craves.  This is exactly the place I chose to live my life.    

In my mental scrapbook I'm arranging rose petals and bird songs, and the air is bringing on swift wings the scent of wild honeysuckle and faraway fields of greens...

On Tuesday, I decided the garden needed to have a pruning day, so immediately out came the shears and wheelbarrow.  Every rose bush got a shaping that not only have improved their appearance, but also gotten rid of a lot of the damage performed by bugs.  Why do bugs enjoy destroying the beauty found in our natural ecosystems, escapes my imagination.  And then again, isn't it the same with our 'human' world as well?  Dealing with people who put you down on a  daily basis can be a hard thing to bear.  Ah, always those specks of bad moments and bad people among the good!

On Tuesday I wore my clothes inside out to work.  The entire outfit inside out!  Just before heading out to the main court room to translate for one of the senior judges, my boss pointed out to me that I was wearing my sweater inside out and, he didn't think I wanted to go out there showing my labels and seams. I was so appreciative that he dared to say something. But that was not it.  Just before going home at the end of my day, I stopped at the restroom and only then realized that I had also been wearing my skirt inside out all day long.  The colors and designs on the material are so similar on either side that I hope nobody noticed it. How in the world I managed to do that it escapes the best of me, however!  That can only testifies of what an unmindful soul I've been all my life.

 

I made some bouquets with the roses I pruned, and brought them inside.  Pink roses, red roses, big, small.  What a treasure they all are to me, and how their simple beauty brings such joy to my home.

Tuesday was also the day my eyes were opened to an infinitude of mysteries that finally set my spirit free. You see, after another setback with one of those condescending souls at the workplace whose goal in life is to only make herself feel she's in control by pointing out your mistakes and talking down on you, or making you feel belittled so she can feel superior at your expense, I finally resigned.  Or tried to anyway, because my boss refused to let me go and wouldn't accept my resignation.  And what a benevolent, generous soul this judge is, and how he was able to opened up my eyes right there and then by letting me see what I have come to represent for my superiors, my co-workers and the people I get to help on a daily basis in just the few months I've been there.  I am leaving a sparkly trail of glitter behind me, and I hadn't even realized it.

The following day this Wednesday, this same woman was suspended by another of our judges for the entire day.  Apparently for a huge slip on her part and an attitude that was getting to be too tiresome. She collected her belongings and went home.  I felt sick thinking that I may had something to do with her departure, but the incident could had only proved that even the 'important' and the 'know-it-all' do make mistakes too.

Ah yes, to every thing there is a season—whatever God does, it will be forever—God will judge the righteous and the wicked. I am thankful and glad that this woman is coming back.  I didn't want to see her fired, but my soul had been freed after the incident.  I have freed myself emotionally from her burden and now my spirit can shine freely.

What I've learned:

My little world

Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with the beauty of a sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage. Thomas Kincade

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. David Hobson.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! Luke 12:27-28.

These are beautiful, but fleeting flowers.  One day they are, and the following have withered, and are no more.  "People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades". 1 Peter 1:24.

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.  Voltaire. 

God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.  Francis Bacon.

Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade.  Rudyard Kipling.

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.  Gertrude Jekyll.

“I felt a pang -- a strange and inexplicable pang that I had never felt before.  It was homesickness.  Now, even more than I had earlier when I'd first glimpsed it, I longed to be transported into that quiet little landscape, to walk up the path, to take a key from my pocket and open the cottage door, to sit down by the fireplace, to wrap my arms around myself, and to stay there forever and ever.” Alan Bradley

It is such pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, and feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season. ~Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden 

Roses in the magical woods

And close beyond, the little white cottage...

and the pond...

where fishes swim and frogs sing

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

“What is the name of your dream? A lovely wooden cottage in the middle of a forest? Or walking in an endless autumn path? What is the name of your dream? Don’t give a name, always give a list! Fill yourself with dreams because dream is the path to reality!” Mehmet Murat Ildan

Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get roses...

In a simple and a peaceful cottage with a beautiful garden, you will not be dreaming about the palaces, because you already have a perfect thing! 

I am enjoying the free hours of my days sitting in the garden, enjoying the views, the tiny roses that grow in pink clusters overnight, the little critters that wander off the woods, the Eastern Box turtles that have their mind set of a specific course unknown to humans and the feral cats that stroll by, stop to look at me for a zilch of a moment and keep on their ramble to mysterious magical places in the wood.  Reading "Drowning Ruth", while sipping a latte and listening to the birds talk their bird talk. I cannot be any more thankful for life's blessings, for everything I've been given and for the wonderful, marvelous Presence who follows me everywhere I go... It is too high and too difficult to understand...this Presence.  And yet, it is ever so close, and so marvelously present. 

"Oh, beloved; God has given us Christ. And does God want me to have Christ every moment? Without doubt. God wants the presence of Christ to be the joy of every hour of my life, and, if there is one thing sure, Christ can reveal Himself to me every moment. Are you willing to come and claim this privilege? He can reveal Himself. I cannot reveal Him to you; you cannot grasp Him; but He can shine into your heart. How can I see the sunlight tomorrow morning, if I am spared? The sunlight will reveal itself. How can I know Christ? Christ can reveal Himself. And, ere I go further, I pray you to set your heart upon this, and to offer the humble prayer, "Lord, now reveal Thyself to me, so, that I may never lose the sight of Thee."