Festive Fun...

I've been purging extra 'stuff' in my studio and I came across these little tags I made months ago...little extras that came out of something else I was working on...so I decided to put little bits of decorative yarn on them and write a quick little holiday greeting on the back.

I've had a lot of fun handing them to random strangers as I've been out and about with Yoshi, running errands.








Yoshi and I wish you happy holidays during this wonderfully festive time of year. 

Be good to yourself and thanks for taking the time to pop in!

Hugs,

Kindness Chronicles

Today is the first Sunday in May and time again for the Kindness Chronicles.  

This month, I created a photo art piece that demonstrated the bravery of firefighters (see it here).  It wasn't my intention at the time to do something kind, but when I read the many comments and discovered how the piece had impacted some of my readers, I realized that it had touched people and they were thankful for my acknowledgement of what these brave men and women do for us.  I decided to send the photo to our local fire chief, as well as the fire chief in Magnetawan, where the original picture was taken, and asked them to share it with their staff as a way of thanking them for all that they do. 

It seems I can't talk about kindness without mentioning my wonderful husband.  As you may have read in previous posts, Bill is an amazing woodworker and he creates beautifully artistic cutting boards (see them here and here).  This month, while at the vet's office with our dog Casey, our vet was asking Bill about what woodworking he had been up to lately.  Bill told him about the cutting boards and Evan was most interested.  Later that afternoon, Bill returned to the vet's office and offered Evan a deal.  He would give him a cutting board with the condition that when someone came in with an animal that needed care but couldn't afford it, Evan would 'pay it forward' by offering his veterinary services for free.  Evan loved the idea and is now the happy owner of one of Bill's cutting boards.

Please drop by Lyric Kinard and Jane LaFazio's blogs to read about their Kindness Chronicles. 

The Kindness Chronicles

Hello again.  It's the first Sunday of the month and time to share The Kindness Chronicles.  This month I'm focussing on all the kindness that I've been noticing around me.

Two weeks ago I came across a blog post on a blog called, "What a Ride".  This wonderful woman and her two children spent her 35th birthday doing random acts of kindness.  In her post she describes their day.  Awesome!

I've decided that my husband is the poster child for kindness.  In addition to the wonderfully thoughtful things he does for me every day, he makes beautiful woodwork.  He goes in cycles, for a while it was beautiful pens with celtic knots in them, currently he's making end-grain cutting boards that are works of art.  The amazing thing is that although we see these sorts of things for sale for big prices (pens for around $50 and hand crafted end-grain cutting boards in the $300 dollar range), my husband gives them away.  Everyone from friends, family, our banker, his doctor, dentist, etc. have one of his wonderful pens, and many of our friends have received cutting boards too.  He's like a little boy on Christmas morning as he watches the expression on people's faces when he tells them it is for them to use and enjoy.

Our Golden, Casey, with her puppy friend, Buddy.

My neighbour Brenda and her son Rick probably have no idea how they've been affecting me lately.  You see, they got a new puppy three weeks ago and whenever they walk by our yard they always stop for a chat and visit so that I can have my "puppy fix".  There is nothing like a new puppy's snuggles to brighten my day!

I try to cycle for a couple of hours daily for my physical and mental well-being.  The other day while I was out, my chain came off.  In spite of the fact he was all dressed up to do an open house, a young realtor stopped to ask if he could help.  I wouldn't let him actually touch anything (no point in both of us touching that well greased chain) but he did teach me something that I didn't know about my bike which made it so easy to put the chain back on.  I can't wait until my son gets back from university so I can teach him this tip!
On that same ride, I stopped to get something out of my back pannier and a couple of minutes later another cyclist came along and asked if I needed any help before he continued on past.  How reassuring to know that if I really ran into trouble while out cycling there would be people offering assistance.  There are a lot of wonderful people in the world!

Please drop by Lyric Kinard and Jane LaFazio's blogs to read about their Kindness Chronicles.  Thanks for visiting.

'Tis the Season...

I love the message that Lyric Kinard has posted on her blog.  If we all make an effort to do some random acts of kindness, we can make such a big difference in the world!  As Lyric says:

Random acts of beauty, kindness, and service.

(It's certainly not an original idea, and certainly not mine - but it helps to be reminded.)

Ask your blog readers, your twitter followers, and even your facebook friends to do it too.

One kindness, one act of service a day.

It can be as small as a smile and a wave.

It can be as big as making a quilt for a charity.

P.S. Pass it on and keep it going all year long!