Full of Joy Friday | Week 8 of 2021

Friends – I hope you found some joy in your week. Each Friday I do my best to round up the little moments that ushered happiness into my life. I’m a firm believer that joy comes from embracing the small things and writing these posts each week ensures that I keep my “joy radar” up all the time. Here’s what stood out for me this week:

+ All of the positivity and patience that you sent me on Monday arrived… we are wrapping up an excellent school week. I’m sure many of you know (or can imagine) that making the choice to homeschool is rife with self-doubt and worry. Weeks like this assure me that we’ve made a good decision.

+ I tried to donate blood on Wednesday, but my iron level was too low. The bummer is that I’m only two units away from the 2 gallon milestone and was excited to move closer to my next pin. The positive is that I was able to get home nice and early and start our schooling without losing much time. I can always reschedule and perhaps eat a steak the night before? Or maybe not – I’ve been following a nearly vegan diet for over a month and the thought of a steak isn’t very appealing. {It occurs to me that this is why my iron was low – I think I’ll make a pot of beans this weekend.}

+ I’m grateful for everyone’s response to my Stillness post this week – to those who left public comments and those who sent private emails. Those monthly one little word posts can be gut-wrenching and leave me full of second thoughts – thank you for your reassurances.

+ I don’t like to blame others for the missing pieces in my reading life, but really. Why haven’t any of you told me that I must read Mary Oliver right away? I borrowed White Pine from the library this week and am over the moon. Pure joy; completely approachable; straightforward; beautiful. These lines from Hummingbirds made me laugh out loud:

“I had meant no harm,
I had simply
climbed the tree
for something to do”
Hummingbirds found in White Pine by Mary Oliver

+ And I finished May Sarton’s The Journal of a Solitude (more about it in next week’s Unraveled post) and now I just want to read poetry and plant flowers all day long. Forever and ever, amen. After reading Joyful last year, I was really taken with starting a flower farm. Combined with my love of Tasha Tudor’s Garden – I’m done for. And as I found the links for those books, I’ve now discovered English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners – I’m doubly done for. It’s nearly March. May will be here soon!

+ I’m digging into my notebooks this week. I’ve even put in a little time with my gardening notebook, which has been ignored since the summer. I am so looking forward to starting these seeds:

+ All Creatures Great and Small ended on Sunday. I was thrilled to hear that there’s going to be a second season! I squealed when those border collie puppies were born – oh my goodness. Truly – this was the best Masterpiece series that I’ve ever watched. Completely heartwarming, funny, and beautiful. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

+ And I’ll leave you with this video from Monday. Bronwyn loves our little sledding hill and you can see Colton on the front steps to the right playing with a ski. There’s a lot of joy to be found in winter when we’re brave enough to face it!

And that’s about it from me until Monday. But tell me – where did you find joy this week?