Tales from a February…

Hello loveliest friends♡

I have some tea & life tales to share today. I wanted to sneak a visit in with you before this month disappears into memory.

You may or may not have been wondering where I have been. As many of you know, Poppy was injured, then I was injured, and more importantly, the world (near & far) has been filled with tragedy.

Poppy had a relapse, I did endless physical therapy, and with all the world happenings filling my brain, I felt truly overwhelmed.

I had to stop and ask myself what I needed in order to find some peace and balance within. The answer was, unplug, nest, tend gardens, do morning workouts in the garden with good music & birds.

Be present & calm.

So, that’s what I did and what I am still doing. I am spending so much time at the country house watching my poppies grow. Playing with my dogs and watching Mister Lovee painstakingly put up a fence on a portion of our property where there never was one. This is because our new neighbors to the west have a small farm, and the stress with the chaos of our dogs and their horses, their many dogs, donkeys, chickens and roosters created suuuuper stressful madness. The good news is, we love the wood picket fence, it’s a revelation. And we love their animals, but it’s better if they all can’t see each other, especially because Poppy is healing from what will be a life long issue. Knee tendons, etc. But she will not stop herself from running like a crazy woman and barking at the new odd (to her) creatures she sees, so we had to somehow intervene to keep her from major life altering surgeries (We are trying so hard). Enter the fence, hooray!

We have always had horse neighbors to the east of us, but they put up a wall decades ago. So now we are surrounded by sounds of happy critters everywhere & the dogs on both sides are much calmer. Phew♡

Life is so busy, always something going on. And, the donkey to the west now has my heart, such a sweetie.

All that to say that this month of self-care & self-preservation has been glorious. I have devoured the beauty of each one of my days & immersed myself in the cool sunshine mornings of strength training, yoga & stretching. I spend hours on my mat in the garden, with birds, breeze & music (even a little painting in the garden). It’s the most delightful thing, I can’t even describe it. Feeling wonderfully alive♡

I have spent the better part of my life searching for light and goodness and filling my life with wonderful things as much as I possibly can. But sometimes you can get caught up in everything happening in the world at large, and at some point you have to stop and regroup.

As one of my dearest friends, who is now in her 90s (and was a psychotherapist) used to say to me while we were making pottery, you cannot ever worry about things that you have no control over – that is not an option. You can pray about it. You can hope about it. You can offer good vibes, you can care, you can do your part to insight change, but you cannot drown in worry about things that you have no control over.

I think about that all the time and how those words she gave me are invaluable to my life.

Sometimes it is very difficult to do, but it is also very important to take the time to care for our own well being.

Spring is on the horizon here. We are having a warm spell, the apple blossoms are in full bloom and I am up to my ears in garden tending to prepare for the new season. It is a beautiful time to spend all day outside.

I hope that you are doing well in your neck of the woods. I know it’s still very cold for many. The high desert has left winter, no snow this February for us. But it did snow on the mountain top per usual, which is lovely to look at. We’ve had rain & fluffy clouds galore this winter & now the ground is bushy & green.

Healthy deep breaths in the sunshine continue♡

Sending you my very best, always♡

Hope to see you again very soon.

Love,

Vanessa

PS: Below is a little tea-time video from the cozy nook at the country house♡