Weekend musings...

Good morning and welcome to the new week! Do I sound perky?  Because, truly, I am not.  The time change absolutely wipes me out for a few days.  Here's what I would have liked to see out my window this morning:

Isn't that gorgeous?!  But sadly, here is the view that greeted me:

It's um....just not the same....

Random facts I learned this weekend:

1.  My house is not self-cleaning.  There are, sadly, no fairies that magically appear to whisk away the clutter and leave everything clean and tidy.  Heck, I'd even settle for a house elf from Harry Potter if he'd scrub my kitchen and bathrooms for me.

My dreams, of course, were cut short by one hour!

2.  The sport of curling originated in Scotland in the 1500s.  My son invited my husband and me to watch him play in a tournament on Saturday.  I asked where the sport had originated (since I noticed several men in kilts, so the answer seemed kind of obvious, but no one seemed to know).  Google is a useful tool, isn't it?

The sport is a little more prosaic, now:

That's my son in the hack (circle) getting ready to release the stone

3.  A gathering of geese is called a gaggle of geese.  So what is a gathering of mourning doves in my backyard called?  A delegation of doves?  Nope!  It's a dole of doves!  (who thinks of these names??)

We counted twenty-six of them!

4.  Reading English gothic romances on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon turns a dreary day into a pleasant escape.  Think Cornwall, an old castle, Cornish customs and superstitions, a proud and arrogant master of the house, an unsolved mystery/death, and a young, naive governess.  Thank you, Victoria Holt, for classics like Mistress of Mellyn.  What's not to love about spunky governesses, especially one named Martha?!  And a cup of Lady Jane Grey tea and a lemon biscotti accompanied the book...ah, Sunday bliss!

5.  Sometimes life verges on the mystical.  I gathered up enough courage to tackle learning the rudiments of my new sewing machine on Saturday afternoon (and, by the way, my machine is awesome!) and as I reached for my scissors in my new owl vase/scissors holder, my backyard friend started a soft whoo-hooing that felt like he was sending encouragement my way.  You know...kind of a you can doooo it thing...

And then I looked up to see the plaque I had bought months ago and hung in my closet and had one of those shivers-down-your-spine moment.  Here's the little tschotske I bought months ago because I liked the saying:  Do the things you never thought you could do.  See the little owl?  Wow.

Don't you love it when life makes you smile?  I'll try to find my smile once I wake up today, and I hope you can do the same!  I think it's going to take a couple extra cups of coffee...