• coffee life,  coffee shops,  Food,  fountain pens,  journal,  journaling,  writing/reading

    Spiritual Adventure

    I read a statement by Ilia Delio that says, “We are not called to maintain the existing order but to engage disorder as it lingers on the edge of new order.” Somehow that resonates with me. Seems nature is that way. Instead of accepting the chaos that is a part of my life, I want and try to keep things in order. Which doesn’t happen. What many consider chaos in nature is really the change, growth, transformation, metamorphosis, where something new is arriving. At the present I’m living with a certain level of anxiety, uncertainty, and doing my best to embrace faith, trust, hope, acceptance and even surrender. Let’s call it living this spiritual adventure.

    It has been overcast all day. The eclair in the above image is called an almond apricot eclair. I’ve never had one before today. It has an almond cream filling with apricot preserves over the top. Not as rich as I expected but had that sweetness that excited my taste buds. I will probably need to collect more data for my final analysis. Hope you had a good weekend! Stay warm!

  • Food,  gratitude,  writing/reading

    Grateful for…

    This mornings avocado toast at Mugs

    … the breath of life, family, friends, sobriety, journaling, photography, nature, coffee shops, solitude, quiet, prayer, meditation, books, serenity, courage, an open mind, willingness, avocado toast, chocolate and …

    mws

    I would like to invite all who read this post to add to this short list above those things which you are grateful for. You do not need to add them in the comments necessarily but maybe find a piece of paper and write them down as you go through the day. Sunshine and blue skies here. Happy Monday!

  • clouds,  lake,  landscape,  quotes

    Oh the Heartburn

    “Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?”

    Charles Bukowski

    This is from last Friday. I made a trip to Loveland and stopped at Lake Loveland for a photo of the blue sky over the frozen lake. They were also doing some controlled burns west of town and you can see the smoke rising up in the foothills. Yesterday and today have been beautiful days but still on the coldish side for me. Please be careful at the Super Bowl parties and don’t over eat on chips and salsa or any other addictive foods that are spread out on the table. Enjoy your day!

  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  Food,  lifestyles

    Thank you Alyssa!

    To continue with the coffee shop theme from yesterday’s post I thought I’d mention one other factor that entices me to coffee shops. At most of the shops I patronize there is usually some pastry, breakfast sandwich or breakfast burrito as part of their menu. Almost every morning the Starry Night Espresso Cafe has a tray of freshly made scones on the counter. The aroma from these fresh out of the oven lemon cranberry scones filled my nostrils as soon as I walked in. They place them on the counter right in front of you so when you order you have no choice but to make eye contact with them. (Yes, they do stare.) And, they’re warm enough you can watch the icing dribble down the sides! Yes, there are other factors to my coffee shop excursions besides a mocha latte. Thank you Alyssa for baking the scones and making my mocha latte this morning!

  • coffee shops,  Food,  lifestyles

    Two Scones

    profile in mirror
    shows obvious girth increase 
    two scones too many

    ms

    Shout out to my barista, Jack, for this image. After they make these scones and have cooled down, they wrap them, place them at the counter, temping everyone who enters. Obviously practicing good marketing. Anyway the word for my #haikuchallenge today was “obvious.” So, while trying to be creative this morning I came up with the above haiku and then the idea for the image. Jack helped by putting two scones on the plate and I took the image. No, I did not eat either but made my Irish oats with raisins when I got home. 😁

  • landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  sunsets,  trees

    Walking off the food coma

    Sunset at Reservoir Ridge

    Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and overate like I did. I came too from my food coma early this afternoon. After clearing my head and realized how much damage I did yesterday, I knew I needed to walk it off. I drove out to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area for the walk and sunshine. So did half the city. Anyway, I got my walk in and my steps. I cooked two cornish hens for the first time and first time to eat one. Pretty simple actually. I invited my friend Joan over at the last minute and shared one with her. Have a great weekend!