Today was a day of celebration for women around the world. I celebrated my dear daughters, brave, strong women are they, I celebrated the 4 women who are my closest friends and present in my life nearly daily — Noni, Katya, Bekah and Claudine, and I celebrated all the women I have come to know and love in this virtual world, I appreciate their kindness, generosity of spirit, and support more than I can say, and I have been celebrating all the women around the world all day long, the the grandmothers, the mothers, the aunts, all the women we have known and those we never will. It is a day of celebration! Happy International Women’s Day to all of you incredible women reading this. Brava Brave Sisters!
And then it all comes down to this, two women, at a table, sharing a meal, talking about their lives. hugging and laughing and talking and eating and helping one another. I had a real scare between last night near 11 p.m. and up to after lunchtime today. I won’t go into it, and it has now passed thank goodness, but awake and scared at 6 a.m. I didn’t know what to do with myself, by 7 a.m. I texted Noni and by 7:30 she had texted me back. We texted for awhile until I calmed down and could go back to sleep. She said she would come over after work, and she did. Knowing that she was coming was something I could hold onto all day long. By the time she arrived the storm had passed and all was well, I could enjoy our time together without the fears of the night before, and oh, we had such a lovely time.
Yesterday at the store I bought a big pork butt and brought it home and put it in the crock pot, simmering it in bone broth, and seasoned well it cooked through the night. It made quite a harvest, I will freeze half of it, and there was plenty to share a nice meal with Noni and send her home with a container for her lunch tomorrow. I also made keto coleslaw, the first time I ever made it, and it turned out so good and was perfect with the pork. Noni loved both and she had some coleslaw to go with her pork as well to take home. As she is now on the ketogenic diet too it’s fun to share this food with her. And as I am not big on cooking it’s nice to do something in the crockpot and have several meals and some to freeze.
Noni and I spent a year and a half sharing whole weekends, cooking, watching movies and shows on Netflix, playing cards, doing so many things. On Saturday nights she spent the nights and we had coffee Sunday mornings. It was the most extraordinary thing I have ever shared with another friend. I somehow thought it would go on forever but that’s not the way life works. By the end of October a number of life changes happened and she was not able to come at all. For 3 months she couldn’t come. Only recently have we been able to see one another once in awhile and I cherish every bit of time we have together. It wasn’t a long evening but she was coming over to help me through my crisis and I wanted to feed her while she was here. That she was here to eat and spend some time with me was a sweet gift.
Now it is a quiet evening here. I have a meeting online at 8:30 so I will get this post up and then take care of a few things before the meeting. I was going to get a new video up on YouTube today but because of what was going on earlier I wasn’t able to, I will do the video tomorrow. Gently I go through the day now. I keep reminding myself, pulling myself back from the edge when I go too far, learning how to maintain firm boundaries when people try to cross them, and learning how to love, more, the people I love so well. It is all about self care, and this is something women particularly seem to need to learn. I am learning.
It is a peaceful night at Dragonfly Cottage. I made it through the storm, and a friend came to show me that I was not alone. Really, is there anything more we can wish for but this? I think not. It is enough, and it is everything…
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
Ah, how beautiful, Maitri. I used to think “forever” was possible. Then friends started moving or dying or drifting away. I continued moving (34 homes so far). I cycled through two marriages, both fairly long lasting in contemporary terms (20 years & 13 years). Now I’m with a beautiful man who reminds me that nothing is forever, that NOW is what counts, that love can sneak up on us at any age, that gratitude is a blessing that returns to us a thousandfold. Life is so darned complicated and difficult…and unutterably beautiful. Your challenges have given you insight that sparks healing in others. Life…mysterious…overhwelming…beautiful.
Ah Cathryn, what a beautiful tapestry your life has been. And ohhh… the friends that move or die or drift away. I had friends in my 20’s and 30’s that I thought I would have forever and I was devastated to realize that that wasn’t so. And then we were the ones who moved away. And then it was so hard to make new friends in my 40’s. And then my marriage was over and due to so many changes in my life I was catapulted into a life alone that part of me had longed for but nothing in my experience had prepared me for. Now I sometimes long for love but am afraid of it at the same time. To simply be present and open is kind of terrifying but absolutely essential. Life, mysterious, overwhelming, beautiful. Yes.
Thank you for sharing these things with me, and oh, what a wonderful man you are with now. Now is what counts. We all need to remember that…
Oh Maitri, I am so sorry you had to go through whatever it was. I am glad you are through it. I have been having some uncomfortable times lately and I breathe and tap through it, then start thinking how much I have to be grateful for. It does help but boy are those times uncomfortable.
Your food sounds delicious and I am glad your dear Noni came over.
Love, Jean
Thank you Jean, it was a scary 12 hours and I don’t want to go into it but all is well now and that’s all that matters. I have done some tapping in the past, worked with a woman who did it, and found it interesting but there were so many things I tried I didn’t stick with it. It may be something I’ll return to. I’m so glad it works for you. And yes, our dinner was very good and I’m so glad to have it cooked and put up. I love having leftovers. It makes things so much easier, and yes, having Noni here is always such a blessing. I hope you are having a good evening honey. It’s time for me to get ready for bed and curl up with the pugs… 🙂
Darling M. Thank you so much for our time spent together. I’m glad I could help. You are becoming quite the chef! Remember it wasn’t so long ago you were eating frozen little “meals” 😜😫🤣 now look at you! I’m looking forward to making crack slaw. 😃 The one Helene shared.
Gotta sleep babe. Love ya. Rest well.
It was wonderful having you come over Noni honey and yes! I am beginning to learn to cook more things, it’s so nice and wonderful to be able to share some with you! And yes! Crack slaw! Helene is the only one in her family on keto but her husband and twin daughters love the keto food she makes and they all love the crack slaw! I can’t wait to make it myself! Let me know how it goes for you! 🙂
Dear Maitri
(and dear Noni),
this just reminded me of how important friends in “real life” are, even though being part of an online community is great for an introvert like me. The comfort of being able to hug a friend and even share a meal!
How wonderful you have each other.
Blessings to you
Silke
Ah Silke, thank you honey… and yes, real, in person friends are essential. But I don’t know what I would do without my online friends and in the end I spend more time online than with anyone else, such is my life, so I appreciate all of my friends so much. I’m so glad you are here, but yes, it is wonderful that I have Noni in my life, to sit and have a meal with a dear friend is like nothing else. In the end it’s the simple things that matter.
Blessings to you too dearheart, and a kiss for sweet Ben…
Maitri
How lovely! Happy International Women’s Day. I’m so glad you and Noni have each other. You have some very special friends. xxx
Thank you so much Jenny, and yes I have some lovely friends indeed, and YOU’RE one of them! Thanks for being here honey… 🙂
So lovely to have the support of a friend and to share a good meal. Mmmm….Yum!
I love the art you chose to head your post. It’s a beautiful painting.
Yes Joan honey, so lovely to share a meal with a friend, especially when they are keto too and can enjoy a good keto meal with you!
And I’m so glad you like the image at the top. I have a couple of sites I use where you can use the images for free and that was actually a photograph I put in a paint program! I like to play!
Have a wonderful weekend honey! 😀