The Friday Exhale: 5 Thoughts on the Week

Every week, I look forward to seeing and reading what my sister will decide to photograph and talk about. I’m always surprised. I love the little insights I get into her mind and life. I hope you’re enjoying them too.

Crocheted cotton wash cloths. I made all of these years ago, in those down times when I needed something to do with my hands to keep me preoccupied. Now they’re sitting in the drawer waiting for the day my kids will need them.

I made a few for me at the beginning and gave some away, and then could not stop making them. So I started watching crochet videos like this one and learned a few new stitches, and kept making them. They are one of a kind. Some stitches work better than others, but it was a fun process. -Cris

Do you crochet or knit? What do you like to make?

This plant is pretty much all that is standing between me and the plantkiller Hall of Shame. It has been a member of my household for over 40 years. My children, playing “the running game” many years ago sideswiped it, one cat also knocked off a branch and the other has sat on it. I have given one of these broken branches to my mother who, of course, has it thriving in front of a south-facing window. Mine faces north, gets little light and water when I remember. Nevertheless, it has stuck by me. Maybe it’s because we share the same name?! – Maria

Do you have a favourite plant? In your opinion, what is the most durable plant? the most easy to care for plant?

Canada geese make me smile. I admire their self-confidence, their cockiness. Drivers pause to let them stroll across the street, and humans approach geese’s nests at their peril. They fly so gracefully and smoothly. Although their call is not particularly musical or soothing to the ear as they check in on one another, it is a reminder, as they fly in formation above us, that the seasons are changing. -Maria

Are there Canada geese where you live? What is your opinion of them?

I don’t tend to wear polish or make-up. It’s very infrequent that I will take the time to put on nail polish, although lately, I’ve been browsing the polish aisles in the drug store a bit more often. For a while I thought that I wanted to be just like Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper fame and wear black polish. I love the way it looks, just not on me. Or at least it’s not “my” colour. Then I thought I would wear just a clear coat, but it wasn’t enough. So I bought this lovely shade of pink polish and I love it. It’s subtle, and it has colour. And it’s feminine.

What colour polish do you like to wear? -Cris

Elton John and Joni Mitchell: coordinated?

Aren’t they cute? I look at this photo and I am in awe of their confidence – or is their flamboyance a desire for attention, to stand out from the crowd. If the opportunity ever presents itself to dress up in outlandish clothes like these, I hope I am old enough and wise enough to go for it and have a good laugh doing it.

This photo reminds me of “Warning,” a poem I have often thought about by Jenny Joseph, a Scottish poet, which begins “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple/With a red hat which doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.” Purple is already part of my wardrobe, but although I have often promised and threatened to start wearing a red hat, somehow I have never had the courage to do it. Something to look forward to when I’m old? Maybe I should try it out now and see if I can find one that goes and suits. – Maria

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2 Comments

  1. Nic

    I got chased around by geese TWICE. they’re majestic, but don’t get close, even when they decide to take up an entire path to themselves, they’ll lower their head and come chasing after you 😮 , so just pick an alternate route instead

    • Cris and Maria

      They are majestic, and graceful in the air or on the water, but try not to get in their way on land!

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