silver linings

oh my, the double mock orange blossoms are gorgeous / on the crescent beach at low tide / cosmos a favourite annual / Betty makes me smile lots - she loves to hide under a bush and then come racing out at high speed flinging herself up a tree :-) she's quite a little show off  / windswept seaside wild daisies / beautiful old brick cottage sunporch restoration (more photos to come) / my creative director hard at it / the double mock orange a little left of centre is laden with blooms & the scent ... heavenly / very cheery lantana in the sunny front garden / Sam, Miss D & me enjoying the shade & privacy of our huge, fenced-in backyard / more mock orange

Sometimes you have to fail–hard–to figure things out. Our most agonizing moments can usher in our most transcendent discoveries Naomi Barr 

I found this quote in the current issue of Oprah's magazine, the title of an article in the editorial section How to Spark a Breakthrough ! It's sums up so well many of the feelings I've been having lately, an appreciation & gratitude for the shitty stuff that happens in life because the shitty stuff helps you grow in leaps & bounds. 2013 and the early part of this year were really hard for me, at the time it felt like I was failing miserably, stumbling, falling & living inside of what felt like huge mistakes but now that the dust has completely settled all I can see around me are silver linings & really, really important growth and learning from that very difficult chunk of time - a time that definitely felt like failure. A huge hooray ! for all the good stuff that comes eventually at the other end of really shitty stuff ! My new mantra in life ... 'cause it's SO true.

Everything always works out in the end. 
If it hasn't worked out ... it isn't the end.

+ muzak heard in the grocery store this early morning - I LOVE this song, I'm an 80's girl at heart and this song is perfect dance-in-your-desk-chair music, come on ... hands in the air, shake that head, air drums maybe & let's spin that chair + check out Jimmy Fallon lip syncing this song (7:00 min. mark) too funny.