Sweet Things

A watercolor warmup

Today I thought that I would share some things I’ve encountered or done during the past week that I thought you might also enjoy. They are

Sweet Things

And these days I think we can all use a few sweet things in our lives.

“The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things . . . the trivial pleasure like cooking, one’s home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.”
― Barbara Pym

So here is my list for the week:

• The movie Lost in Paris. I watched this movie this on Amazon Prime and found it strange, quirky, sweet, and almost like poetry in it’s blend of silliness and graceful physical comedy. Since I am studying French with the Duolingo app I also enjoyed the simple French phrases in the movie, especially when I could say, “I understand that!” to most of the phrases and sentences. I have to say that movies like this usually don’t appeal to me but this one caught me at the very beginning with it’s opening which seemed half fairy tale and half cartoon. You immediately realize that this movie does not take itself seriously. Here is a link to the trailer for the movie

• The book The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. This is a gentle book about a group of mostly strangers who meet together once a month at a cooking class at Lillian’s restaurant. Each person attending the class has a challenge of one sort or another. Slowly the story of each unfolds along with lovely ideas about cooking and food.

• Steve McCurry’s most recent blog post The Geometry of Joy  which features beautiful photographs and quotes about joy.
• A blog that I enjoy, Transactions With Beauty written by Shawna Lemay, author, poet, librarian, photographer, and sometime philosopher
• The photography and art of Catherine Just. I am fascinated by her recent work with cyanotypes and her addition of gold foil, thread, and other art materials to photographs. I just bought a package of sunprint paper to play with and it arrived yesterday. Stay tuned for some cyanotype experiments.
• Cherry tomatoes from my container garden are so-o-o good!
• Deck time. I’ve been spending lots of time out on the deck this week enjoying the beautiful weather.
• Fresh flowers from the farmers market this morning

“I live to enjoy life by the littlest things, feeling the grass between my toes, breathing fresh air, watching the wind sway the trees, enjoying the company of loved ones, a deep conversation, getting lost in a good book, going for a walk in nature, watching my kids grow up. Just the feeling itself of being alive, the absolute amazing fact that we are here right now, breathing, thinking, doing.”
― Marigold Wellington

What sweet things have been brightening your days lately?

May you walk in beauty.