I’ve been thinking most of today about what I wanted to write about in today’s Sunday Salon post. I’m in the middle of reading a fun paranormal mystery called Death Perception by Victoria Laurie. I wasn’t so sure at the start that I would like it, but as I got further in the story, I was hooked and suddenly, in just moments, I was deep in the magic of reading.

And I was thinking how much I enjoy that, that magical feeling of being deep within a book, regardless of what book it is. How it happens to me across genres, how it can happen whether I’m reading a literary novel, a thriller, a mystery, a romance, a YA book, a children’s book (especially children’s books, it seems sometimes).

For most of today, I’ve just been feeling so deeply appreciative of the act of reading, the wonder of it, and so I thought I would combine The Sunday Salon today with Three Beautiful Things, because tonight as I sit here thinking of three beautiful things, my thoughts are all focused on books:

1. The homey comfort of the stacks and stacks of books that form my TBR piles, and the pleasure I feel at the thought of all those books waiting for me to dive into them.

2. The joy of reading deep into the night, totally drawn into the story, while curled up in bed, glass of wine by my side.

3. The magic of words, how those specks of black on the white or ivory of paper can come together to build entire and complete worlds.

Reading is such a gorgeous, joyous thing. I can’t imagine a life without books.

Tags: 3BT, Reading, The Sunday Salon

What better day than today to play Three Beautiful Things?

1. The brilliance of the chance for change.

2. The power of this breath of hope.

3. The eloquence of a new day, birth to a new era.

Life truly is just so incredible, isn’t it?

Tags: 3BT, Life, Spirit

Here I go again, cramming everything into one post. I mentioned in my previous post that we went to Aberfoyle Junction on the weekend, and as usual, we took a lot of pictures. Dylan wanted me to post some here, so here they are:

As you can probably see, the detail is simply amazing. I didn’t snap a shot of Toronto’s downtown this time around - that’s one of my favorite scenes. My other favorite scene is the city street scene (it’s the first picture above).

We also took a few movies, including one during the “nighttime”, but luckily for all I haven’t figured out how to upload the .wav file and format it for a blog post. Yet.

The Big Draw

Dylan is still very much on track with the Big Draw, Mommy not so much. I’ve been feeling the need to just stretch out and read, more or less “me” time, in between deadlines and family stuff, so I’ve been honoring that. I’ve managed to polish off a lot of books on my TBR pile, which is nice - but haven’t really been doing much else, including drawing.

Ever since we went to Aberfoyle Junction on Sunday, Dylan’s been drawing lots of trains. Here are his two drawings, one for yesterday and one for today.

Colorful steam engine. Crayola markers.

Colorful freight cars. Crayola markers.

Three Beautiful Things

It’s been a while since I’ve written up Three Beautiful Things for the day, and it feels like the perfect way to end this post tonight.

1. Hayley and Heather working away on their schoolwork, so companionably, such wonderful friends.

2. Memories of the gorgeous focaccia (Rosemary and Sea Salt) that Ward made last night and we finished off tonight - beautifully flavored, wonderfully chewy and soft at the same time.

3. Finishing the day with a glass of wine and a good book.

Tags: 3BT, Aberfoyle Junction, Art, the big draw, trains

Haven’t had a chance to post anything all day! I finished my deadline in time to dash out of here to pick up Hayley for her hair appointment. I got my nails done too while I was waiting, so that was extremely relaxing and now I have beautiful, short (I like my nails short, polish or no polish!) cranberry colored nails to type with!

Hayley got green highlights. We were hoping for lime green but unfortunately they were out of the yellow that was needed to mix with the green. But the green looks great in her dark hair.

Now for the Big Draw!

Dylan’s Day 10 Drawing

I came back from the spa to find Dylan had already completed the drawing he wanted to post for today:

Bridge. Crayola marker.

Belle’s Day 10 Drawing

I tackled a face in pen, complete with shading. The shading didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. I might try dots next time instead of strokes.

Girl. Pen.

Three Beautiful Things

I’m ready to slip into bed for an early night, and thought it would be lovely to end the night with Three Beautiful Things:

1. A great dinner that went beautifully with the new organic California cabernet sauvignon that’s our current favorite, followed by some wonderful after-dinner conversation. So relaxing, so wonderful.

2. Mother-daughter time at the spa, then shopping. Picking up Chinese snacks at the store. Talking in the car.

3. The satisfaction of a day that included work completed, fun, relaxation and lots of love.

Tags: 3BT, Art, the big draw

Three beautiful things today:

1. After dinner conversation with my oldest son, loving so much who he is, how he’s growing and thinking, the person he’s becoming.

2. A gourmet meal on a Monday night, lovingly prepared by my darling husband.

3. Laughing and joking with my daughter, adoring who she is.

Tags: 3BT, Family, Spirit

It’s been a beautiful Sunday, the end of a perfect weekend. What a wonderful time to post Three Beautiful Things:

1. Ward’s home, back from his karate seminar in New York. He was away for four days, and we missed him a lot! It’s great to have him home tonight - he’s behind me right now, sitting at his computer catching up on episodes of the Japanese shows he’s missed while he was away. (No, he’s not Japanese. But he loves the Japanese shows that my daughter Hayley introduced him to - they have subtitles!)

2. The kids are home. My two oldest kids spent the weekend at their dad’s this weekend - they go every other weekend - and as always, the house feels so much brighter on those Sunday nights when I hear them come through the front door, chattering with each other and then racing into the office to see us.

3. My mom is upstairs, sleeping in Dylan’s room. I know I’m a grown-up now, with kids of my own (two teenagers, even!), but whenever she comes and stays over, I always feel so good. It’s like slipping back into childhood for a day or so.

Tags: 3BT, Spirit

Getting to draw today was a bit tougher - my mom is over for a visit, so we were kind of occupied for most of the afternoon. But we did sit down to draw (just not together).

Dylan’s Big Draw Day 4 Drawing

Dylan chose to draw an every day thing: a cup. Very simple, but I love the confidence of his line!

Cup. Crayola marker.

Belle’s Big Draw Day 4 Drawing

I did several drawings again. Quite a few faces, and I’m happy to say that sometimes I got the nose right, and sometimes I got the lips right (I almost always get the eyes right) but what I was looking for was a drawing in which the eyes, nose, lips and shape of face were all right or close to right (yes, I’d be quite happy with “close to”!), and I kept just missing it. It’s coming along, though!

I also drew some very simple things: a Coca Cola bottle, a cup and saucer, a lamp. The Coca Cola bottle wins (you can see the faint outline of the cup and saucer behind it):

Coca Cola bottle. Pen.

I have a book of fairy motifs, and I’m thinking I might try drawing from that. One thing that’s always eluded me in the past is drawing from my imagination. I’ve been loving all the beautiful and whimsical drawings and paintings I’ve been seeing online, and it would be so nice to be able to draw like that.

This is all so very good for me - with each day I’m gaining more confidence. That’s the way it works, right?

Three Beautiful Things

I also discovered Three Beautiful Things today, and it seems like such a beautiful way to end the day.

1. The strands of electric stars that serve as my office window “curtain”. We bought them one year from IKEA for Christmas, and when Christmas was over, we decided to just keep them up.

2. The view through the bedroom window. Right now the trees are showing all their beautiful colors, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Come winter, it will be another kind of beauty, a cold beauty but wonderful still.

3. The flavors of shrimp, cod and haddock puttanesca; leftovers of a dish that Ward cooked last weekend which we froze so that I could have a nice dinner while he’s away.

Tags: 3BT, Art, Spirit, the big draw