Thoughtful Thursday

About a week ago I shared that a book that I was reading mentioned that we are always surrounded by angels.  I think that this is something I have known since I was a little kid, but reading that gave me such tremendous peace.  Since then there are moments where I will remember it all of the sudden and the thought of it makes me feel happy.  The thought comes to me if I am on a walk with Liesl, or making a meal, or stitching, or watering my yard.  It is very comforting and makes me feel like I am surrounded in love.  I have always thought that they arrive when I am in desperate need of help, but to know that they are around me everyday helps to remind me that each day is Holy. 

I do love angels from cherubim (especially the very chubby ones in some Renaissance paintings), the graceful and beautiful Seraphim.  Then there are the archangels.  I have a small collection but I have always felt drawn to the angels by Margaret Leavitt-Imblum.  Somehow she captured what I image of angels to look like in my mind's eye.  I have stitched three, with big plans to someday stitch more.  

So I am on a little research project.  I noticed this summer when I would sit in my backyard that I get a lot of visits from Monarch butterflies.  Nearby Pacific Grove is notorious for its Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary.  The Monarchs come to Pacific Grove every winter to mate.  The estimated count this year was about 10,000 in the butterfly trees.  Anyway, I usually see one or two in the area but not as many as I saw in my yard this summer.  I am thinking of creating a butterfly garden next year with plants that they are attracted to.  I have to find plants that do well in a coastal climate.  It made me happy to see them.  There was one in particular that would constantly land near my feet where I sit.  It was pretty cool.  What was interesting to me was that a certain furry girl will keep messing with bees, even with the consequences, but she left the butterflies alone.  

Speaking of my sweet furgirl, she has a weird little cowlick thing going on with her head.  She has always had it and it cracks me up.  When her fur gets to a certain point, this cowlick forms a point on top of her head.  It will not lay down no matter what I do to try to smooth it. It makes me giggle but is also very cute.  When I am walking her, all I can see is that point on her head.  She almost looks like a Kewpie doll.  She has always had it.  I would go ahead and trim her fur but it is starting to get cooler and I hate to see her shiver.  I let her grow out her fur a bit more when it is cold.  She gets all curly and looks like a totally different dog.  She looks more like a gray teddy bear.  I shall have to try to get a photo of that point on her head to share.  It is cute as all get out.

Well, guess I had better go tuck her in.