sunday grace

mercy is in your hands.  pour me a little.

-mary oliver

some days you have done all you can do.  all the good intentions, the good ideas, the good deeds and the good karma aren't quite enough.

these are the days of surrender.  to spirit, to magic, to love, to the power of grace, to that which you find most holy. these are the days when the only thing left a human can do is humbly whisper the word please.

{easter} sunday grace

happy easter friends!  it's a gorgeous spring day here in virginia.  we are excited to have our first picnic of the season and our first hike on the blue ridge for the season.  around here we celebrate jesus and transformation by being in nature.

and sometimes i celebrate these things in the soul kitchen.

i have been wanting to make pink deviled eggs for years.  a colorful easter picnic is the perfect time to make this happen.

i used the instructions from the kitchn.  if you are going to make deviled eggs anyway, it's really just one more step (the "pickling" in the beet juice...mine were in their hot pink bath for 16 hours as the guidelines suggest).

i used my go-to deviled egg yolk mix (mayo, grainy dijon, turmeric, salt and pepper) and garnished with fresh dill.

et voilà!

happy eggs!

happy easter!

sunday grace

grace this week is all about the wonder and beauty of spring.  she arrives suddenly but softly with color and light just at the moment hope is beginning to wane and we start to believe that life is just plain harsh.

she allows us to see with new eyes.  to touch and feel our world.  to experience our own rebirth that mirrors the thousand tiny births taking place each second around us.

for me, reconnecting with a familiar life:  the first farm market of the season.  there were easter egg radishes and pea tendrils.  children laughed and played.  organic farmers smiled even while telling tales of their hardest winter ever.  the air smelled of kettle corn and pear blossoms.

grace, grace, grace.

bonjour spring

thank you for finally showing up.

the magnolias are magnificent.  (we found the perfect one with fuchsia petals for gypsy hill.)

thank you for garden shops and the color green.

thank you for wellies, puddles and cherry blossoms.

thank you for perfect afternoons at the flea market.

thank you for easter egg radishes with butter and pink salt.

thank you for rainy day naps with the pups and endless episodes of the paradise.

thank you for ranunculus and anemones in blue mason jars.  when i look at them i catch my breath.

thank you for reminding me that all dark things end eventually and that light and colour and warmth and joy are always within our reach.

and for these words:

ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.
if your mind is not clouded by unnecessary things
this is the best season of your life.

-wumen huikai