“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” 

Mary Oliver

Hope is

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all

~Emily Dickenson~

Just thinking

"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place." 

- Miriam Adeney 

I have found this quote a few weeks ago and it explains exactly how I feel. When I returned to Germany last year, I was excited and thrilled to be back. After only seeing my family and friends sporadically for the 10 years that I lived abroad, I am exited to spend more time with family and friends, sharing important moments in each others lives and mundane details like getting coffee on a Saturday morning or cooking together. I am exited and grateful about the warmer climate that Germany has during the summer compared to chilly Newcastle, as it enables me to spend more time being the backyard farmer I would love to be. Despite all the excitement and gratitude about being 'home', the desire to leave (again) is as strong as ever. I really want to settle down and ground myself in a community, that enables me to live the 'Simple Life' that I am graving for, yet at the same time, I am thinking I can also do this abroad in Newcastle. 

This quote made me realize that what I am feeling is natural due spending so much time abroad. Meeting amazing people that impacted my way one way or another, making friends and best friends that will last a life time, means that I will never truly be at home anywhere. It's a constant pulling back and forth and despite knowing this, I am already thinking about returning to Newcastle for good one day. Most likely not for a good few years but still.... 

It often scares me that I feel this way and I keep wondering what is wrong with me. Right now I am exited to be going back to Newcastle in a few weeks. I am exited to spend time with my best friend and her family. I am exited to see my cousin in a few weeks time, who just arrived back in the UK for a 6 week holiday from New Zealand. 

But I am also scared, I can remember how homesick I felt after I returned from my Au pair year in the US, how depressed I became afterwards and how long it took to actually 'get over it'. Yes I am 10 years older now and more mature but since I am returned to Germany, there are the odd days that I again feel like that girl. And it all drills down to the fact that due to the people I know all over the world, my heart will always be elsewhere.....

Quote

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it."

~ Mother Teresa

Quote

A Little Bit of Land

A Little Bit of Land

 A little bit of land is all I ask.
Just a small place to call my own,
Where I can put down roots, so deep, so deep,
That great-grandchildren will still call it home.

Is it so much to ask? A lane of trees,
Bringing birdsong and colored leaves,
A grape arbor, the roses beyond,
Sweet lilacs, holding in their arms, the lawn...

Tulips and yellow daffodil,
Spattered up and down the cedar hill,
Sweet gurgling brook, fresh and cool,
The brush beyond, sheltering grouse
And sage, and shy, sweet deer.

Oh aching heart, hungry, hungry soul,
What little bit to make a grateful whole.

Is there no spot in all this Universe?
A little valley, with a cabin home,
A bit of garden I can call my own...

I would not bruise the land, or tear it apart,
But keep it beating with a happy, blooming heart.
Each bit of soil, which God had surely blessed,
Would be a cozy home for seeds to rest...

And grow and nourish, comforting all men,
With fruit and shade, and food for every soul.
A little bit of land, to call my own,
Within its small confines, a loving home...

And fertile soil, no matter the toil,
I would so grateful be, if God
Would take a little chance on me,
And give me a small plot of lonely sod
That needs a gentle hand, and God.

(By Jennie Senrud Hutton)

Thinking about the people in Boston

” When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

~ Fred Rogers

Quote

May you have warm words on a cold evening,

a full moon on a dark night and

a smooth road all the way to your door

 

~ Irish blesssing

Quote

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. this is my symphony." 

 

W.E Channing

Quotes around the house

kitchen

Entry hallway

Quote

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote

You've got to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you've got and remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. Learn from mistakes but never regret - unknowen

Quote

All Outside is dark and cold

But just beneath the earth

Sleep seeds from which new life springs

Bringing nature’s gifts to birth

– Betty Jones

Quote

Don't dwell on those who let you down...cherish those who hold you up. Unknown

Quote

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucius

Quote

"Living your own life is creative.It's about daring to be yourself,daring to be original ,daring to dance to your own tune and to write the tune while you are dancing!"