IT’S A NEW SEASON – WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

What inspires me today are two quotes found on the WordPress site and here they are:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

Both quotes are credited to Steve Jobs.

Five years ago I left a conventional life in Vancouver for a new journey, actual destination unknown – very risky for a woman of 55. So, here I am at 60 looking back on that five years. My husband and I decided to try living in the country.
Close enough to the city to manage family relationships with my parents, children and grandchildren, and maintain my job, but far enough away to be able to set our own course, live on our own terms. So, what have we done and how does it feel now?

We learned how to grow our own food, bake our own bread, compost everything possible, recycle the rest, harvest rainwater, operate a Bed & Breakfast, make my own preserves and generally appreciate what this kind of life has to offer.

No matter what happened in my city life, I could handle it. Artists get their fulfillment from their work, I get it from digging in the earth, watching my garden grow and the sheer joy of harvesting my own food. And; I really love opening that canning cupboard and seeing the gorgeous jars filled with summer bounty.
On a grey winter day the bright yellow peaches, beautiful hues of various jams and jellies, relishes, tomatoes reminds me of summer. It is almost too beautiful to disturb.

Now that summer is over and all the harvesting and preserving is finished I focus my creative energy on knitting. My maternal grandmother taught me many things, most of which I appreciate more now than when I was young. She spent hours teaching a left hander how to knit. There were many years between projects but once the grandchildren started coming, the knitting needles re-emerged. I have taught myself to knit socks, sweaters, mittens and get the most pleasure from making it and then giving it away. The current project is a shawl for my best friend.

Over the last few months I have felt my Grandmother’s presence often. It usually happens when I try to revive one of her recipes, and then remember all the wonderful things she would do with me. This month is the 8th anniversary of her passing. She always encouraged me to follow my heart and I thank her often for that and many other things.