Sylvia's Simple Life: picnic

This wide world is rich with beautiful minor miracles. I am a dweller of this world that is so wonderful and simple. My life is full of beautiful sights and there is nothing in this fine day that is too much for me. My heart is a waterfall. My mind is still water. When I come across all the lessons of Nature, all the solitude and goodness on a grand scale – boundaries melt away and I feel like a significant tiny part of a wholeness – beautiful, resilient and ready. I love to be a student in her classroom, to listen to the silence that whispers with every movement of a leaf and every splash of a water droplet. I love when my being is just about to burst with love and gratitude - for such a fine day when the closeness of my little family wrapped together with all the beautiful minor miracles of the world. When unexpected joys give fertile ground to the hope that there is still so much good to come...

These photos are taken at Elora Gorge, one of the most beautiful natural areas in the Grand River valley, when we spent the last day of the Labor Day weekend, just before my son's last academic year in high school began.

I hope you are enjoying all that the changing season has to offer.

Sharing with Home Sweet Home

September 15, 2015
life and family

One Fine Day

I hope you are enjoying all that the changing season has to offer.

Sharing with Home Sweet Home

July 16, 2015
food

Cherry Season

Life gave my family and me the most amazing days of Autumn and elementary pleasures. The abundance of colors and beauty made me want an extra pair of eyes. My heart was wide open, but still with no capacity to collect all the joy and overwhelming wonder running through my body.

I lost my mind in

the gentle whispers of the wind,

in the lake's aquarelles stamped with dancing leaves,

in the glorious sun sprinkling gold over the world,

in the ancient wisdom of the trees,

in the kindness of the earth,

in the laughter of my favorite people,

in the heady quietness of the afternoon,

in the warmth of the pie made with freshly picked apples,

in the humble Nature's reminder that there are a million reasons to be thankful...

I breathed in light

and breathed out love and gratitude.

It was Thanksgiving and we counted our blessings, from sunrise to sunset with every precious moment in between...

We had our little afternoon picnic in Ken Whillans Resource Area in Caledon, ON

I am giving thanks to all of you, who find time to "stop and smell the roses" with me.
You, dear friends, keep me inspired.

Sharing with Be Inspired/ Home Sweet Home/ Simple Things Sunday

October 15, 2013
autumn

Giving Thanks

I lost my mind in

the gentle whispers of the wind,

in the lake's aquarelles stamped with dancing leaves,

in the glorious sun sprinkling gold over the world,

in the ancient wisdom of the trees,

in the kindness of the earth,

in the laughter of my favorite people,

in the heady quietness of the afternoon,

in the warmth of the pie made with freshly picked apples,

in the humble Nature's reminder that there are a million reasons to be thankful...

I breathed in light

and breathed out love and gratitude.

It was Thanksgiving and we counted our blessings, from sunrise to sunset with every precious moment in between...

We had our little afternoon picnic in Ken Whillans Resource Area in Caledon, ON

I am giving thanks to all of you, who find time to "stop and smell the roses" with me.
You, dear friends, keep me inspired.

Sharing with Be Inspired/ Home Sweet Home/ Simple Things Sunday

A summer lake,

tall spirited trees,

young sun's rays,

calm water,

patches of blue sky,
wildflowers,
dragonflies,

canoe picnic,

mini pitas,

olives,

sun-dried tomatoes,

cherries,

sparkling lemonade,

swimming clouds,

the earth beneath your body...

It is all you need for a perfect day

of paddling with the safe current,

of entering the silence of your inner being...

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."

- John Burroughs

Thank you!

Sharing with Seasonal Sundays/ Our Sunday Best

July 27, 2013
being YOU

Canoe Picnic

A summer lake,

tall spirited trees,

young sun's rays,

calm water,

patches of blue sky,
wildflowers,
dragonflies,

canoe picnic,

mini pitas,

olives,

sun-dried tomatoes,

cherries,

sparkling lemonade,

swimming clouds,

the earth beneath your body...

It is all you need for a perfect day

of paddling with the safe current,

of entering the silence of your inner being...

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."

- John Burroughs

Thank you!

Sharing with Seasonal Sundays/ Our Sunday Best

There is something magical when the sun is shining on the snow after a heavy snowfall. I want to see my footprint on the freshly glowing snow and listen to the sound of silence... Brilliant sunlight makes the Earth glistening, the air is crisp cool and a white peaceful serenity wards off my worries and calms my mind... It seems like everything in the world is in perfect balance and nothing can destroy this moment... Rejoicing in the morning sunlight, I feel empowered to confidently take the next step in the brightest day... Mark Oliver Everett's thought (from Things The Grandchildren Should Know) comes to mind simply to give a poetic shape of my experience "Life is so full of unpredictable beauty and strange surprises. Sometimes that beauty is too much for me to handle. Do you know that feeling? When something is just too beautiful?... When someone says something that moves you..."

That is exactly how I feel on this wonderful February Monday. It is Family Day and I am in the woods with my family, hardly walking on a narrow almost invisible path while my son is following me with the dog and my husband is holding a basket full with everything we need for a sweet winter picnic. I had prepared the melted chocolate, minutes before we left home, made from this recipe. My husband suggested using the burner from the fondue set to roast the Tahitian vanilla marshmallows. Hot coffee and hot cocoa in a thermos are keeping us warm. We haven't made S'mores since our son left his Scouts group more than two years ago...

It is a comfort to know that all it takes to make me happy is a handsome group of loved people and a dog to laugh with, untouched snow and fresh air to breathe in and a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker to indulge in ...

At this moment I can't think of a better way to enjoy a simple winter afternoon together in nature...

S'mores

You will need:
graham crackers
pieces of chocolate or melted chocolate
large marshmallows

Directions:
Take one graham cracker and spread it with melted chocolate.
Put a marshmallow on a stick and hold it over the flame until roasted. Turn the stick until the outside of the marshmallow is golden brown. It tastes better caramelized.
Take the toasted marshmallow while on the stick, and lay it on the side of the graham cracker with the chocolate. Take another graham cracker and cover the hot marshmallow.
When the S'more is fully assembled, let it cool for a few seconds. Squish the S'more between your fingers and ... enjoy it!