When I should be asleep

I should be in bed.  Maybe not sleeping just yet but in bed.  I'm tired, really tired but somehow inspired at the same time.  I love that life provides this strange mix, both stress and joy, tension and relief, exhaustion and energy.
In the midst of rain and cool temperatures,  too much work and too little sleep, overwhelming housework and guilt around not seeing my friends enough, here are some things that have inspired me enough to keep me going over the last 7 days.

This little parsley plant came out to say hello this week.  Typically parsley is not a perennial in this part of the globe.  It may come back if the plant has flowered and spread some seed but this little guy is growing right out of the same plant that was his parent last year.  By rights he shouldn't be here... but he is.  Huge sigh, warm heart.

Who doesn't get a little smile on their face at the sight of this?  I've always preferred the in-your-face yellow of the traditional daffodil.  I managed to get two of them this year after the squirrels sampled a couple to see if they were edible.  It's like a seasons worth of sunshine packed into a little tiny flower.

These are the faces that meet me every morning.  They ask me when I'm making waffles or pancakes.  They hustle along with me when we have to be out the door early.  They rely on me to make sure that they are taken care of and in turn they bring me a lot of joy and give me a lot of love.  These faces help me find motivation to move out the door and do it for another day.

This week's food box.  The colour, the choices, the fact that I can feel good about what we're all putting into our mouths.  I'm supporting local business, local farmers and sustainable practices.  I have to remind myself that this is happening and it's inspiring... it does make a difference.

This is my sister and for a 36 hour period we got to be together almost exclusively.  It's the first time in about 4 years that this has been the case.  She is now just 45 minutes away but I won't see her again before she heads back home, half-way across the country.   We're holding each other pretty tightly here in this picture, just drinking in having a sister again.  Fingers crossed, we won't wait another 4 years to do it again.

This book has been putting a spark of excitement in my mind and my heart.  I sometimes wish that I could do what this family choose to do.  I honestly don't know if I'm 'man-enough' to be able to do it although a half century or so ago I might not have had a choice about that.  You'll have to check it out to know what I'm talking about here... We've decided though that we have some decisions to make with regards to all this food stuff (if that's not a bizarre sentence then I don't know what is)... our next step.

Take a moment to think of some things that have touched you this week.  It's important.