And because she was ...

 

When she was a little girl

they told her she was beautiful

but it had no meaning

in her world of bicycles

and pigtails

and adventures in make-believe.

Later, she hoped she was beautiful

as boys started taking notice

of her friends

and phones rang for

Saturday night dates.

She felt beautiful on her wedding day,

hopeful with her

new life partner by her side

but, later,

when her children called

her beautiful,

she was often exhausted,

her hair messily tied back,

no make up,

wide in the waist

where it used to be narrow;

she just couldn't take it in.

Over the years, as she tried,

in fits and starts,

to look beautiful,

she found other things

to take priority,

like bills

and meals,

as she and her life partner

worked hard

to make a family,

to make ends meet,

to make children into adults,

to make a life.

Now,

she sat.

Alone.

Her children grown,

her partner flown,

and she couldn't remember

the last time

she was called beautiful.

But she was.

It was in every line on her face,

in the strength of her arthritic hands,

the ampleness that had

a million hugs imprinted

on its very skin,

and in the jiggly thighs and

thickened ankles

that had run her race for her.

She had lived her life with a loving

and generous heart,

had wrapped her arms

around so many to

to give them comfort and peace.

Her ears had

heard both terrible news

and lovely songs,

and her eyes

had brimmed with,

oh, so many tears,

they were now bright

even as they dimmed.

She had lived and she was.

And because she was,

she was made beautiful.

Author: Suzanne Reynolds, © 2019

Photo credit: Nina Djerff

Model: Marit Rannveig Haslestad

This came up in my Facebook Memories from last year, and I just had to share it with you. I hope you like it as much as I do. 💖

Sue xx

Find Your People

 

Art by Inge Löök Oy Ab #ingelöök

FIND YOUR PEOPLE

They are out there you know….

waiting to be found

or even just to be seen

perhaps they are hiding in plain sight?

When you do find them

they will like you, on impact

just as you are

because they are your people.

How will you know when you come across them?

It’s a little fizz

a tiny little spark of something

that zips unseen

between you…

One soul recognising another.

Stop trying to be liked

by those who don’t see your worth

chances are they never will.

Find your people

they need you too.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘I Wish I Knew’ : https://amzn.to/3JVMJlZ

I was only thinking to myself the other day that here on Blogger and a few other platforms, we have developed a nice friendly little band of like-minded people. We support each other, we sympathise when necessary, give advice if it is asked for and generally pop up on each others posts and feeds on a regular basis. Just like friends popping round for coffee ... but we all make our own and occasionally eat a crafty custard cream when no-one's looking.

Yes, there are some real twallops that pop up to try to spread their negativity and vitriol, but by and large they get weeded out pretty quickly and sent off to wherever it is that deleted twallops live.

So I'd just like to say a big thank you for reading my wild and occasional wacky ramblings and now I'm off to read some of yours.

Have a great weekend ... and happy hula-hooping.

Sue xx

Wise Advice from a Farmer's Wife ... and a Link

 

Wise Advice from a Farmer's Wife.

Whenever you return a borrowed pie pan, make sure it's got a warm pie in it.

Invite lots of folks to supper. You can always add more water to the soup.

There's no such thing as woman's work on a farm. There's just work.

Make home a happy place for the children. Everybody returns to their happy place.

Always keep a small light on in the kitchen window at night.

If your man gets his truck stuck in the field, don't go in after him. Throw him a rope and pull him out with the tractor.

Keep the kerosene lamp away from the the milk cow's leg.

It's a whole lot easier to get breakfast from a chicken than a pig.

Always pat the chickens when you take their eggs.

It's easy to clean an empty house, but hard to live in one.

All children spill milk. Learn to smile and wipe it up.

Homemade is always better than store bought.

A tongue's like a knife. The sharper it is the deeper it cuts.

A good neighbour always knows when to visit and when to leave.

A city dog wants to run out the door, but a country dog stays on the porch 'cause he's not fenced-in.

Always light birthday candles from the middle outward.

Nothing' gets the frustrations out better than splitting' wood.

The longer dress hem, the more trusting the husband.

Enjoy doing your children's laundry. Some day they'll be gone.

You'll never catch a running' chicken but if you throw seed around the back door you'll have a skillet full by supper.

Biscuits brown better with a little butter brushed on them.

Check your shoelaces before running' to help somebody.

Visit old people who can't get out. Some day you'll be one.

The softer you talk, the closer folks will listen.

The colder the outhouse, the warmer the bed.

 These are not my words, they popped up this morning on my Facebook Memories.  You can tell a few of them are from experience can't you. 😄

 Oh, and none of my chickens ever ended up in the skillet!! 

HERE is the link to today's post on my Challenge blog ... Days Six and Seven. 

Sue xx

Just Words and Pictures

 

William K Blacklock - The Morning Post

Disclaimer -  She is a real person.  She struggles and she sparkles.

She is no longer afraid to say what makes her angry, sad or what she thinks is unfair.

She's not afraid to admit that at times she feels worthless, lost, or not enough.

She's refusing to hide from love, beauty, aliveness, magic and abundance.

She won't edit the sad or messed up parts of her story, or the magnitude of her triumphs, to make anyone comfortable.  She is a real person.

She struggles and she sparkles, she is a real person.

Tanya Markhul

Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned to do.

Sue xx

Edited: She sat at the back ...

 

The Mud Maid sculpture, representing a sleeping woman.

Located in The Lost Gardens of Heligan, in Cornwall, in the Southwest of England.

The artists are brother and sister Sue and Pete Hill.

"She sat at the back

and they said she was shy,

she led from the front

and they hated her pride.

They asked her advice

and then questioned

her guidance.

They branded her loud

then were shocked by her

silence.

When she shared no ambition

they said it was sad

so she told them her dreams

and they said she was mad.

They told her they'd listen

then covered their ears

and gave her a hug

whilst they laughed at her

fears.

And she listened to all of it

thinking she should

be the girl they told her to be

best as she could.

But one day she asked

what was best for herself

instead of trying to please

everyone else.

So she walked to the forest

and stood with the trees,

she heard the wind whisper

and dance with the leaves.

And she spoke to the willow,

the elm and the pine

and she told them what

she'd been told,

time after time.

She told them she never

felt nearly enough

she was either too little,

or far, far too much.

Too loud or too quiet,

too fierce or too weak,

too wise or too foolish,

too bold, or too meek.

Then she found a small clearing

surrounded by firs

and she stopped and she heard

what the trees said to her.

And she sat there for hours

not wanting to leave -

for the forest said nothing,

it just let her breathe."

Becky Hemsley, Breathe

Edited to add:  I am absolutely fine, I just LOVE poetry and this one resonated so deeply with me.  

As girls and women we are so often told that we are this or we are that, and are led to believe that we are who they say we are.  When we find our voice, our feet or our freedom and break away to be ourselves, there are almost always those who would try and cram us back into the original mould.  The sooner we learn to break that mould, the sooner we are ourselves.  I broke mine many years ago.

The trees know the truth. 🌳

Sue xx