FEBRUARY, AT FIRST LOOK...

At first look, 

through my window this morning,

 all I could see were shades of gray. 

 Not the gray 

that I might see 

in a beautifully appointed room, 

but a gray,

 that at first glance,

 would only seem

 dull and depressing...

...a gray 

that magnifies 

the drops of rain 

on an errant rose cane...

...or a gray 

that is washing away 

the dust and grime 

from the leaves of the camellia, 

leaving it bright and healthy

 for the days to come.

"What good is the warmth of summer

Without the cold of winter 

To give it sweetness."

John Steinbeck

Now that February is here

 that is most likely what we all see 

at first look.

 For such a short month,

 February probably holds us prisoners 

more than any other. 

 January

 is taken up with

 getting the aftermath of Christmas 

put to rights, 

and March starts 

the signaling of spring

 so that leaves February

 to hold the brunt of all

 that comes between...

...and it is up to us 

to look inside and see the "colors"

of our life 

for what they are.

"We bring roses, beautiful fresh roses,/ dewy as the morning and colored like the dawn."

Thomas Buchanan Read

(1822-1872)

At first look,

 I should have seen 

how even a gray sky

 can still shine through glass 

and make it sparkle...

...or just by flipping a switch,

 a lamp can

 fill your soul 

with warmth...

...or by turning on another lamp,

 the light can focus 

on a painted rose and 

make it come to life 

before your very eyes.

Beautiful roses 

that don't need any other introduction.

 They will bring joy and brightness 

into your life 

no matter how you look at them,

 whether in a vase,

 to shine in the moment,

 or as an everlasting

 that will be added next fall 

to a familiar garland.

From one room to another, 

you can gather your rosebuds

 where they may 

and they will always be 

a source of beauty

 in your day.

One thing that February has

 that no other month has 

is LOVE, 

and I will leave you today

 with only thoughts of love.

  I appreciate your following and

 all of your 

wonderful and constructive comments,

 but above all else,

your friendship. 

 It is enough

 to make me see

 beyond the gray skies.

BTW, 

how do you spell gray anyway?

  With an E or an A? 

That is something 

I will contemplate 

as I lay dreaming 

of spring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of the above 

took place over the past weekend and

 into Monday morning...

...this is where we are today

 as I publish

 this post.

Pretty and pristine...

...and with 

the bare necessities 

taken care of...

...back to 

Cottage comfort.

...Judy...

Take heart...

Gray skies are gonna clear up.

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DINNER AND A MOVIE, WITH LOVE...

There are moments in life, 

unfortunately,

where the line between

 hate and love becomes blurred. 

 Not everyone subscribes to that idea, 

but there are some that do,

 all too often. 

 It would certainly be 

a perfect world as,

 the old saying goes, 

if we could all 

just get along.

I am going to try 

to live up to that old saying today.

  February is coming around quickly 

and that means a sure sign 

that love is in the air.

  I present to you, 

a Valentine's Day table and,

 even though it appears to be

 a table for two,

 it is much more than that, 

and you all have a seat

 at this table.

If I do say so myself,

I am obsessed with the garland 

that is fast becoming a staple 

at the Cottage.  

I have moved it back 

into the dining room and included

 more flowers and ribbons 

that proclaim a 

statement of love.

The pink flowered place settings

 are included in my "best dishes" category.

  They are by Wood & Sons of England. 

 They were acquired, specifically, 

when the dining room's decor

 leaned to the more traditional. 

 Now they only come out

 when romance is the issue. 

 Also included are 

candle sticks and sherbet dishes 

in hob nail milk glass

 patterns...

...and pink glasses,

 of which the smaller size 

was a beautiful gift from 

Jake and Jacenda

 at Christmas.

Festive paper pinwheels 

hang from the chandy 

above the table.

The food 

is the least of the equation.

  First and foremost 

is the presentation and

 all the rest 

comes later.

Now 

that all of that has been 

figured out and put in place,

 I want to tell you about a movie 

that we watched the other night. 

 It is called "Maudie" 

and we got it through Netflix, 

but not the streaming part. 

 I checked 

and it doesn't seem to be available there.

  The following is a short run down:

Maud Lewis 

was born in South Ohio, Nova Scotia, 

in 1903. 

 She died in 1970. 

 She spent the last three decades 

of her life 

painting in a corner of a one room house 

where she lived with her 

fishmonger husband, Everett.

 The couple was destitute 

and she painted on anything 

that she could get her hands on,

 shingles and pieces of wood,

 using house and boat paint.

 She sold her paintings

 out of her home 

and also when she went door to door 

with her husband 

while he was selling the fish he caught.

  Over time 

she covered every surface of her home

 with bright and charming flowers and birds.

  Her paintings were

 happy and cheerful and

 certainly belied the fact that 

she must have been in constant pain

 from rheumatoid arthritis and 

curvature of the spine

 that she suffered from all of her life.

 I had never heard of her and, in fact,

 until I read in the credits

 at the end of the movie,

 that her paintings are on display 

in the Nova Scotia museum, 

I didn't know that the film was based

 on the true story of her life. 

 This was a sad, 

and at the same time, 

uplifting story 

about two people that were 

social outcasts, 

who found each other under 

unlikely circumstances and 

who made each other's lives 

bearable and productive, 

although not always in the best of ways.

  To me,

 in spite of all the dysfunction,

 it was a love story.  

Not an ideal one,

 but one carried out in ways that 

only these two individuals could and,

 in the end,

 I found myself so happy 

that they had found each other.

  (After doing some research on Google,

 I read that some critics

 were unhappy with the way

 the story was depicted, 

but I thought that

 all of the parts in question were addressed,

 maybe just not to the extent

 that the critics felt satisfactory).

  The acting is wonderful and 

the cast very believable in their parts. 

 I was not familiar with 

Sally Hawkins, who played Maud,

 but she was remarkable, and

 I have always enjoyed performances 

by Ethan Hawke, 

who portrayed Maud's husband, Everett. 

 This was a rather simple, 

but well done film 

of a story that deserved to be told 

and a life that deserved 

to be appreciated. 

 I hope you get a chance to see it,

 if you haven't already. 

 I would love to hear 

your thoughts on it.

Now, 

on to menu planning and more.

 See you next week and

 I appreciate

 your stopping by.

"It is not only necessary to love,

it is necessary to say so."

French Saying

...Judy...

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