..before the rains came

...some shots from my garden...you can see the images clearer if you click on them!

...my symphony

I've never been one for 'keeping up with the Joneses' - it doesn't really matter to me if a neighbour gets a new car...I never lose sleep over someone having a better salary...it doesn't annoy me that my clothes haven't a designer label. I listen to people whose aim in life is to better themselves...to get the best and be the best (and sometimes that's not a bad thing)...but it seems that they are so sad and stressed all the time! Though I have to admit it's sometimes very difficult not to get sucked into the whole materialism thing...I want to be content with my lovely life...my family..friends...job...health...home...books...art...coffee...faith...music...whatever is happening right now...I want to be thankful and content...that's what I'm aiming for.

I read this recently and adored it...

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony."
William Henry Channing's Symphony