A Place for Quotes

For a long time I have collected inspiring quotes and kept them inside a notebook. Recently I have chosen a different spot for these snippets of wisdom. When I run across a quote(it's usually in a magazine), I clip it out and place it in this holder. 

Here's a sampling:

"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day."  -Henri J. M. Nouwen

                          Dutch priest, professor and writer

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent." -Carl Sandburg

                                                                    poet

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance." -Epicurus

Browsing

When it is extremely hot outdoors one of the best places to visit is an air-conditioned antique mall. Booth after booth of goodies and oddities. Because of the anniversary sale every booth had discounts.

 

 cute stained glass teapot

Of course, I enjoyed seeing another 

Walter Firle print.

I looked at this Jennie A. Brownscombe print but there was no price tag on it.

Wish I had asked someone at the front desk about it.

Sometimes I wish I could afford different house furnishings.

Love this gorgeous dining table and chairs.

My friend and I took time out for lunch at the tea room there. Each table setting had pretty mismatched dishes, cups and saucers, butter pats, and knife rests.

Refreshed it was time to look some more.

Someone had taken an old sewing machine and turned it into a bar serving area.

  Old books tied together in a wooden box looked charming.

  

I have a soft spot for children's chairs. This red one was sturdy and sweet.

lovely wood pieces to this silent butler

I could have taken hundreds of photos. There was such an abundance of stuff.

But I did manage to snap a few pictures. Hope you enjoyed browsing with me.

I wanted to buy this tiny frame, but the back wouldn't open to hold a photo.

My only purchases were a piece of pottery and a very small handmade corner shelf.

Another World

These past few days I have escaped into another world by reading Sue Miller's The Senator's Wife. Meri and Nathan and Delia and Tom are the two couples whose lives are woven together. In one passage Delia is looking at the changes in her grown son Evan -

"And yet the love she felt for him was unchanged, was based on who he'd been and who he still was to her. This is how it is with your children, she thought. You hold all the versions of them there ever were simultaneously in your heart." 

Recently my daughter Lauren flew into Memphis for a few days. My once little girl is now a talented professional woman. We had some mother-daughter time to talk, relax, and shop. I have loved every stage of her life, every version of her.  Soon she will be a wife, and I will have to see her in this new light. But the love will remain without end.

The child's cabinet is back where I like it best - on top of a desk/bookcase combination. When the four boys were growing up at home, each one had this furniture combo. I wanted each son to have a place for books, personal treasures, collectibles, and homework. 

Staying in more than going out due to the excessive heat.

Corners of my Mind and House

Sadness and happiness have made up this past week. I lost my sister-in-law to cancer on Saturday but had the delightful company of these two precious little ones that same weekend.

 

We took a Sunday drive and viewed several subdivisions and properties. This home near the Mississippi bluffs always gets oohs and aahs. Les and Pennee are contemplating a move back to Tennessee.  

 In our humble home I've been rearranging AGAIN! 

I have tried several arrangements on the mantel and have not liked any of them. HELP! I think it's time to go antiquing and find something totally different. I promise to stop boring you with my mantel problems. 

Glad you came by. Hope your week is free of troubles.

Day by Day

I was in Memphis yesterday visiting my brother whose wife is seriously ill with cancer and may have only days to live. I stayed up late last night trying to write in my journal about our hours together. We embraced each other in the warmest of hugs. We talked with emotion. We brushed away tears while she slept fitfully, unaware of our distress.

Sometimes all you can do is just be there,

offering support and love.

Turning Another Calendar Page

... and realizing more time has slipped away.

 The stages of life go by quickly.

This old-fashioned print caught my eye at Goodwill last week, 

as did this black and white framed photograph.

Such concentration on the little girls' faces.

I added this page to my Simple Journaling notebook.

It is enough to know how far I've come. Accepting oneself is a huge part of the journey.

I do not ask for any crown

                  But that which all may win;

      Nor try to conquer any world 

        Except the one within.

                                                                              -Louisa May Alcott