Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Winterscape

A frosty winter's day...
A cup of hot chocolate...
The country house glowing from the inside with warmth...
Memories of childhood Christmases gone by...
Carols filling the winter air with the sound of holiday...
The magic of the season
can take us to Christmases of yesteryear,
thinking of loved ones
and
blissful reminiscences...
All on a frosty winter's day
while sipping my hot chocolate.
Snow is on the way,
and I can't wait to experience the magic of a true
winter wonderland...
May you have blessings of a beautiful winterscape...
Yaya

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Home and Hearth at Christmas Time



Welcome Home...
Oh how I love those words
when we return from far away...
After a busy day of shopping,
wrapping presents,
it's time to slow down and relax...
Christmas music fills the air...
Hot mulled wine in hand,
candle light,
a warm fire...
It feels so go to be home by the hearth,
getting ready for Christmas
and family
to arrive at the old country house.
Blessings
Yaya

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Home For Christmas


No matter where you are
out there in the big beautiful world...
Paris...
London...
Old New York...
There is no place like home at Christmas time.
Merry Christmas Blessings
Yaya

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Harvest Blessings



Welcome!
It's harvest time at the country house...
I love the autumn fruits and vegetables,
and many of them will be used in our country kitchen
as Thanksgiving dinner is prepared.
Of course,
the quintessential autumn main course is roasted turkey.
Bliss is going to the Farmers Market
and coming home with baskets,
and baskets,
of sweet potatos, squash, apples, pears, pumpkins,
cabbages, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower,
eggplant...
And don't forget to pick your persimmons,
if you should be so lucky to have a tree.
Yes, the country house does have a persimmon tree...
Don't you love picking fresh sage for your dressing?!!
Ohhh so good.
May you all have a blessing of plentiful harvest!
Yaya

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Savouring Autumn

Mornings start slowly, but early,
with coffee and conversation...
Country life has a rhythm and heart all its own.
Some thirty miles out of town...
I love having a place to retreat from the hectic world.
Music fills the rooms,
and flows out onto the porch.
Sounds of Mozart or Chopin,
and so much more...music from around the world.
We play Rook...we read...sip hot mulled wine.




A home is where one puts all one's favorite things...
A home is where family gathers together for the holidays...
There is no place I would rather be,
than in the countryside
savouring autumn,
and waiting on the arrival of family
and
Thanksgiving.

Blessings
Yaya

Autumnal Palette

Colors of autumn
suffused
with
beauty and warmth...
I love filling the old country house
with
vivid hues from outside my window...
Set a beautiful table with warm colors of fall...
It looks as if it would smell of spice...
It does.
The smell is cinnamon and apples...
Spice cake...
The perfect place to sip warm cider
or
hot mulled wine.
Open your home to family,
and celebrate the season of
Thanksgiving.
Blessings
Yaya

Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Beautiful Mess


And oh so worth it!



"Weed, Yaya...Weed...Tay?"
Tay.
MmwahMmwah...KissesKisses
Beautiful Blessings
Yaya

Friday, November 19, 2010

Autumn Sunset


Our world is so fast, and hectic...
When I come here to the countryside,
I feel the peace start to flow.
I STOP.
I sit on my country house porch,
and
sip wine
at
sunset...
An autumn sunset.
Running here, dashing there...
We can feel so scattered and pulled in every direction.
I love sitting here...
Just being still...silence...
Every part of me starts to feel grounded to the earth's core.
The sunset looks like a brilliant, but soft light of energy.
Energy from God...
It fills me with such peace.
Find your place of peacefulness and connect to it.
Let it carry you along.

Peaceful Blessings
Yaya

Don't Forget to Live


Let go...
Stop concentrateing on work...bills...difficult people.
Give yourself a few minutes of leisure time,
if not each day,
several days a week.
Set the alarm 15 minutes early...
Program the coffee pot (you will awake feeling pampered),
when you smell the fresh coffee drifting throughout the house.
Slip into your fuzzy slippers...
Grabe your favorite throw blanket...
Take your coffee outside into the crisp autumn mist.
Breathe...
Sip your coffee...
This is your time...
Take it...
Make time for precious, quiet moments.
And,
don't forget to live...
Enjoy life.
Fill it with beauty, and grace...tenderness...
Fresh flowers...wine...sunsets...
Oh the list is long...
Don't forget to live.

Blessings
Yaya

Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Countryside Haven


That is what our old country house feels like to me.
As comforting as a snuggle blanket,
or an old cashmere sweater.
And every country house in the deep south
has a front porch.
A place to have morning coffee,
an afternoon cup of tea,
wine at sunset.
Just being here soothes my soul...
Country blessings...
Yaya

Friday, November 12, 2010

Fall Flowers and a Candle


Oh so pretty...
Oh so simple...
OouLaLa...
Make your space beautiful,
One little area at a time.
Blessings
Yaya

Elixir


My fountian of youth...
My healer of disease...
There is not a better way to step into your day.
And,
what a magical afternoon cocktail...
This elixir that looks like autumn.
This elixir that nourshes and rebuilds every cell in your body...
So pure...
So healing...
So delicious...

1 pound of organic carrots
2 organic apples
1 organic pear
Place into juicer.
Enjoy your healing elixir...
May you be blessed with good health...
Yaya

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Home in the Countryside

And so they arrived from far away...
It always feels so good
to
walk barefoot over the old wood floors...
Smell the smells of home...
Sip a glass of wine,
and
relax,
but,
not for long...
It's the season
of
holidays.
It is time to decorate
and
make everything beautiful...
Blessings
Yaya

A Touch of Beauty


It doesn't have to be much,
or expensive...
Just a touch...
One candle...
One crystal vase...
The ambience of the room is immediately changed.
Just a touch of beauty,
And the extraordinary is there...
Waiting just around the corner...
Only a candle and a vase away...
Oh so pretty,
Just a touch of beauty.
Beautiful blessings
Yaya

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

God's Artwork

Autumn in all of its glory...
Inspiring us...
How I love this time of year.
The air is now crisp,
the holidays are almost upon us,
and it's time to decorate the old country house.
One last look at our serene lake view,
before heading to the countryside
and
full speed into the holidays.
Let's get to baking and decorating!!
Autumn Blessings
Yaya

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A Perfect Moment


One with Mother Nature
and
man's best friend.
That does make
A perfect moment...

May you be blessed
with many of life's
perfect moments.
Yaya

Monday, August 16, 2010

A Country Lane


A country lane will take you to a place
where
songs of birds
and gentle breeze are all around...
With little kids climbing trees
and getting scrapes on knees...
Popsicles and lemonaide...
Iron skillet fried potatos
and front porch rockers...
All of this
and
more
will be waiting at the end
of
a country lane.
It's called
home.
Country Blessings
Yaya

Through A Garden Gate...


Everyone needs a garden gate...
And a beautiful place
filled
with blooms and butterflies
and
the sweet scent of summer...
A fountain...
The peaceful sound of trickling water...
A chair in the coolness of a shade tree...
A place to sit
and
ponder upon life...
A place to renew the spirt.
Blessings
Yaya

Thursday, August 5, 2010

A Summer Afternoon


If only once...
Just one
afternoon,
out of the whole entire summer,
YOU
should spend it
like this...
Doing nothing...
Nothing,
but listening to summer birdsong,
and
silence.
Renewing your soul...
Sleeping...
Reading...
Sleeping...
Bliss,
on a summer afternoon.

Summer Blessings
Yaya

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Not As I Planned...

But oh so beautiful...
Like life.
Take each day as it comes,
And find the beauty and joy.
Beautiful Blessings
Yaya

Monday, August 2, 2010

Beauty Is Everywhere


Even in the tangled webs we weave...
It is there,
if only we look.
Blessings
Yaya

Friday, June 25, 2010

Escape



Close your eyes,
and in your mind's eye,
see your perfect place of beauty and tranquility.
See every little detail...
Feel the heat from the sun...
Smell the sea...
Hear the fountain in the courtyard...
Create your perfect place of escape.
Keep it locked in your mind's eye,
and go there when you need to remove yourself from the world.
Step through the gate
and close it behind you.
The ugly, harshness of the world cannot come here.
Only beauty, kindness, peace, love, gentleness.
This is my place of peace.
My hideaway.
My escape.



Blessings
Yaya

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Simple Summer Supper


Summertime in the south...
Refreshing ocean breeze...
Golden sunsets...
Pasta Salad...
Cool watermelon...
Vine ripe tomatos...




Mix spirl vegetable pasta
with bacon, eggs, tomatos, and black olives...


Roasted red pepper Italian dressing...
Mix...
Serve with a cold, elegant Sauvignon Blanc...





Take a walk along a narrow island lane...
Along the bay...
Passed the marsh...
and into the golden sunset...
A perfect ending to a beautiful day.




Blessings
Yaya



Sunday, June 13, 2010

Black Tide

The southern sky
hanging out there
clear as crystal
suspended over a summer beach...


My island in the sun...
Catch me in the sunlight
standing by the sea,
thinking,
thinking...There isn't a sound...
There are no seagulls here today...
Oh maybe...just one...
Only one.


There are no fishermen...
No, not one...
We feel let down.
I know what's happening to us
and I know why.
Outside myself I stand
looking back in amazement...
Parts of the writings are Rod McKuen...
"Seasons in the Sun"
Parts are me...
Standing in the sand,
at sunset...
Thinking...
Knowing what has happened to our mother ocean,
looking back in amazement.


As I return back to the island cottage,
I keep imagining my island in the sun,
whole,
pure,
healing...
The way she was...








Out beyond my window,
the fan palms move in the island breeze,
and the oleander puts on a colorful show...
I saw a falling star last night,
as I sat out under the night sky.
The birds were singing this morning,
and everything seemed normal...
Everything,
that is,
but
the
black tide...




Yaya




Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Is It Here Yet?












No, son, the oil isn't here yet...
It's just a matter of time...
Just a matter of time...

Rambling thoughts from the island cottage...
Use candle light instead of electric...
A candlelight dinner...
A candlelight bath...
Movie by candlelight...
Wine by candlelight...
Linedry clothes...
Use fans instead of airconditioning...Open the windows...
Hand wash dishes...
Just one hour a week , or...
one hour a month, or...
one hour a day...
At the end of the year,
YOU
have made a difference...
Don't drive if you can walk or ride a bike...
Drive a scooter...Making a difference can be fun!
Blessings
Yaya