The Weekly Bleat: A Thing of Beauty

From Endymion BY John Keats BOOK I A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:  Its loveliness increases; it will never  Pass into nothingness; but still will keep  A bower quiet for us, and a sleep  Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.  Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing  A flowery band to bind us to the earth,  Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth  Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,  Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways  Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,  Some shape of beauty moves away the pall  From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,  Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon  For simple sheep; and such are daffodils  With the green world they live in; and clear rills  That for themselves a cooling covert make  ‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,  Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:  And such too is the grandeur of the dooms  We have imagined for the mighty dead;  All lovely tales that we have heard or read:  An endless fountain of immortal drink,  Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.         Nor do we merely feel these essences  For one short hour; no, even as the trees  That whisper round a temple become soon  Dear as the temple’s self, so does the moon,  The passion poesy, glories infinite,  Haunt us till they become a cheering light  […]

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Ruin is a Gift

We all know life can be challenging. But, we’re hopeful that most of the time, things go smoothly. And, to that end, we work to avoid disappointment and vexation. Maybe, if we modified our view of these challenges as a course correction, we wouldn’t be so upset when they occurred. Also, what if we stopped attaching to these experiences and interpreting them as positive or negative? They're happening, accept, and move through it. You know, stop judging the stuff. Of course, this is A LOT easier said than done. Some situations look really negative–even devastating. And, it's hard to be philosophical, especially when you feel like your life is a wreck. Which brings me to a quote by Elizabeth Gilbert that I absolutely love: “Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.” What if the hard times we’re facing are part of the journey to an authentic life? This is when our faith must be bigger than our fear. And, when we have to believe in our ability to navigate challenges with strength, competence, and grace. After all, it’s only when we’re knocked down that we truly learn how to rise. You may wonder where I’m going with all of this. I'll be the first to admit that I want to keep my life on course. I'm an all my ducks in a row kinda girl. I try to follow the rules, keep my word, and act decently, […]

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Find Joy

Speckled egg on Grandma Rieley’s vintage tea towel Green Hill Farm “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” ~Marianne Williamson “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” ~John Keats “Scatter joy!” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Wishing you a day full of joyful moments!

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Thank You…

Green Hill Farm     “Thank You” by Tonya Rieley Hengerer   Taking an opportunity to Honor someone by Acknowledging Noble or Kind gestures…   Your gift of this One small phrase of gratitude is significantly Uplifting to the spirit of the recipient.     Wishing you many thankful moments this week!

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A Morning Walk

“Walking Dash” Green Hill Farm June 2020   “To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards […]

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Green Hill Farm: A Retrospective #3 — Faith

  *This post originally appeared in September 2014.  It is the last post in a trilogy titled, Green Hill Farm: A Retrospective.  I posted the second part of this journey yesterday as I am celebrating the completion of the restoration of my home and sixteen years of living on Green Hill Farm this month.  A kind thank you to everyone who took the time to read or re-read Retrospective #2.   In looking back on the experience of saving my family’s homeplace, I’ve realized that not only was it a gesture of love, but more importantly, it was an act of faith. Faith, or wearing my rose-colored glasses as I like to say, sustained us through difficult times and propelled us forward. I don’t know where we would have been without it. At the beginning of this journey, shortly after my parents offered us the homeplace, my mom and I took a walk through the house. I remember walking through the dark, dimly lit downstairs hallway, the musty smell of rooms left undisturbed for too long, and cobwebs carefully covering yesterday’s treasures. I remember slowly climbing the stairs, counting each one as I went up. It made me think of Granddaddy. He once shared a story of the time his Grandmother Rieley visited when he was just a boy; She asked, “John, how many steps are there?” He quickly replied, “Sixteen!” He told me that he knew the answer because […]

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A Grand Thing

Green Hill Farm Spring 2020 “I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow; but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” ~Agatha Christie       Sending lots of love and good wishes from all of us at Green Hill Farm! xoxo

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