Pages

09 February 2011

little treasures of different sorts...

This past few days have brought little treasures, all special and wonderful in their own right...
* A very generous and thoughtful package from April of White Apple. She knew that I was collecting secondhand books from the 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' for Natalie and found a handful of them for us. Not only that but she sent a few extra niceties like a pair of wooden bird ornaments and a pretty patterned seahorse brooch. I'm always astounded and filled with warmth when I come across sweet souls from around the world. Thanks so much April (and now all we need is 3, 5, 7, 8 & 11; getting closer)!
*Making paper valentine's for Natalie's classmates. If we have the time and the resources, I always much rather make our own valentine's than purchase them from a store. I love that Natalie is always on board with this idea, even to the point of reminding me everyday that we need to make time to make them. Yesterday she stay home from school (she had a very difficult night of sleep and congestion) and we found our opportunity for crafting time. With pretty paper, scissors, hole puncher and glue, we got busy and made twenty three sweet little folded hearts for her friends.

*Mail is always a delight, especially little postcard surprises. I recently joined the project Postcrossing and already received my first postcard from a kind stranger afar. It was from a girl in Germany and now it was my turn again, to send some out. I could send up to five postcards but opted for two (for now). The little owl and hedgehog will be on its way to the Netherlands and the old map to Russia. Also, a little package will be going out to Canada for a certain giving gal named April ;)
*I recently found out that Good Reads hosts constant giveaways of prerelease books from authors and publishers. Any member can enter to win and if you do, you have the option to write a review (which is encouraged since it's really the main reason for the giveaways). I had entered myself in a handful but the very first one I entered in, I found out that next day that I was one of the winners! I received my copy of Journal of a UFO and am so thrilled! I am in the middle of several other stories but they might just have to wait a bit longer to finish...
*Our parakeet PJ is a delight. I never thought we would be pet bird people (which I suppose sounds weird considering how much we enjoy birds) but we are. PJ is truly a part of our family (she even made it in my holiday family portrait) and we love her cheerful twitters and playful interaction with us. Since she is such a beautifully colored bird she leaves us with the prettiest (and sometimes tiniest!) feathers. I do collect feathers but now I love that I have my very own parakeet collection that will continue to grow from my own personal supply!


*I do take pleasure in the small things. Like yesterday evening when Rick and Nat came home after softball practice bearing gifts of blueberries! We love blueberries so much but I kid you not, these were the mother load of blueberries! One package had the biggest blueberries I had ever seen, like the size of medium grapes. I washed them and mixed them together with the regular sized ones for our evening snack. So, after Nat's shower, we settled in together to watch a movie and devoured these bite sized goodies!


*Earlier this week, I put on Facebook how it's the little things that make me happy (like my soup pot!) and someone left me this awesome quote:
"One for whom a pebble has value must be surrounded by treasure wherever he goes."
Par Lagerkvist
It instantly became a favorite and I will hold that thought in my heart as long as I can. To find joys in the small things, in nice things, in shared things....

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

absolutely love this post. thank you.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post. I'm a member of Postcrossing and I love it! I have received so many beautiful cards and it's also fun to make others happy too!

Alexandra MacVean said...

What a super fun post!! :) And I am with you...I LOVE old books.

Happy Wednesday!

mathyld ▲ under the pyramids ▲ said...

What sweet treasures ! April is a doll !

When I THINK that when I worked at the English bookshop, I could have gotten almost all the Unfortunate Events books for free ... Boohoo ! Too bad I didn't know you back then ...

On the bright side : I am sending goodies your way *very* soon and some might both cheer Nat & you up <3

Oh ! And please congratulate PJ on the beauty of its feather ! Oh my !
And this UFO book looks / sounds fabulous !!! Eeep !
Too much excitment for one single post :)
x x x
-m-

Jessica said...

You have no idea how much I love that little hedgie. :)

Crystal said...

It's so wonderful that you and your daughter are collecting books together. It's amazing to receive a package, isn't it? I recently did a couple of swaps and my little heart is still all full of sunshine.

The Plath Diaries said...

I used to be a member of postcrossing and loved it! Glad to see that community is still thriving:)

Teeny said...

It has been such a long time since I commented here, and I always mean to! Real mail is so exciting isn't it, we all race to check the mail everyday in this house - just in case! Your blueberries reminded me of our blackberry picking outing, we made blackberry jelly with the spoils, it was wonderful. It is the little moments and small things which lift our spirits that we must always keep close and dear. x

Unknown said...

First, thank you all for leaving such nice comments! They really made my day...