Thursday, January 23, 2014

Ottawa and Home Again



Theophany was beautiful; the service the night before...


And the liturgy the day of... 
*
I had been processing some homesick/Ottawa grief
before I came...
Being back in Ottawa, esp. at church,
felt very peaceful and I was really blessed 
and felt supported;
I was glad to have faced a lot of the grief beforehand;
I am sure I will feel grief again as I love my Ottawa parish so;
today I am listening to their CD and am glad I can 
still feel so connected.
*
I am grateful for my life here in NJ 
and that I have been given the Orthodox church
and various churches as points of 'home' in this journey of mine... 


My three Ottawa munchkins got swords for Christmas.
Very Tolkien and they are very loved.
I have great pictures of all THREE of them doing
sword fights.
You should of seen my little godson, who is currently two years old,
with his sword,
so excited to take part with his older brothers.
Very dear and precious.


I had a very special meal with dear friends of mine.


The yummy cake ... ! ... I was given some to take home
and am loving it. 
*
I was also gifted with some tea and chocolate;
my friends know me well! 
*
Bridgehead, the Ottawa only fair-trade coffee shop,
now sells a tea they call 'minty love' ...
rose petals and mint.
I opened my bag of this tea today and the smell of roses
was so strong and lovely.
*
I cleaned out and used the last bit of tea in a tin I got from
Hartmans in downtown Ottawa years ago... 
(Hartmans is an Independent grocery store...
I did not go there this time around... was trying to limit myself a bit, 
though perhaps I failed on that score.)
I love keeping tins that have memories for me;
I remember my sister-friend having some of the tea from that tin
and loving it... when I lived in my U shaped apartment, 
years ago...
*
Now the tin has a bunch of the 'minty love' tea in it, 
ready to be brewed...
*
I had a great time with my friend Mary.
Here is a picture of her cat Cleo! :)


Such a dear pet!
*
Today is first day back...
running laundry, unpacking, being by my Cleo Cat...
*
I love the Canadian store Smart Set and finally got a new black 
dress jacket that is long; 
jackets had been shorter for quite some time and I was so happy
to get one that was longer... 
there was a really good sale going on...
the scoop neck long sleeved 'Ts' that are so good for layering...
I had stopped myself from buying one for 10.00 in NJ a while back,
thinking how I don't really need it
and then bought three for 5.00 each. 
Do you ever struggle with the 
I really do have enough and all of a sudden buying more of 'enough'?
It's an ongoing battle for me.
*
I must admit failure there.
*
I have a lot on my mind that I am processing from my trip;
I am grateful for it and for Ottawa.

4 comments:

Juliana said...

*shoots hand in the air* yep, guilty on the shopping for "enough" here. I'm constantly trying to reign in my clothing budget. It is a struggle.

Laura said...

Beautiful photos! Glad to hear you are safely home again.

madeleine said...

glad you got to see the munchkins. wish i could see a swordfight pic! xo!

elizabeth said...

Juliana, I think we share a lot of the same struggles.
Lisa ~ thank you! you are a blessing to me.
M ~ picture on it's way!!