The Simple Pleasures

I love simple pleasures.

Like the beautiful, long-stemmed red roses Ray spontaneously bought me one day. I love the appearance and smell of red roses so much, I could just eat them. 

Or the lovely fresh flowers my friend Liz Zacharias blessed me with for my September birthday.

Or the Hello Kitty surprise birthday package my friend Shelley of www.RochelleValasek.com sent to me this past week.

Lately I’ve been feeling bored and burned out with life and business. So today I decided to take the day off and drive with Leah to the Louisburg Cider Mill in Louisburg, Kansas. We bought cider doughnuts and apple cider. Yummy!

Leah is a young adult and different from me, so she doesn’t always think the same kinds of things are fun that I do. Here she is, eating her cider doughnut, sort of tolerating things.

Here she is, indulging me when I ask to take her picture again.

I teased her with the words from a sign, “Now, Leah, don’t walk on the pumpkins!”

She wasn’t amused. She often tells me, “Mom, you’re not funny!” Well, I think I am!

I guess some people have to actually be warned against doing this. Why would anyone want to walk on top of pumpkins?

Leah was far more interested in the 2 cockapoodle puppies for sale at the cider mill, in a pen. This breed is a cross between an American Cocker Spaniel or English Cocker Spaniel and a poodle (usually a miniature or a toy poodle).

 They were only $650 – EACH! I couldn’t believe this.

The puppies were asleep most of the time. One was so cute with his little tongue hanging out of his mouth. Leah wanted to take them home.

A young couple asked me to take their picture in front of the cider mill, which I gladly did. They looked happy. I should have taken their pic, too (on my camera).

Here you can see them on the left in this pic. I loved her outfit – red plaid shirt, leggings, and tall boots. 

Leah took mine right after I took theirs. It was a perfect, beautiful, fall day.

The mill has a store where you can buy all kinds of goodies – apple cider in half-gallon and gallon sizes, tea kettles, raw honey, an assortment of herbal teas, doughnut mix, horseradish, sauces, orange and yellow corn candy, chocolates, toys, etc.

I just bought a half-gallon of cinnamon apple cider, 2 postcards, and a box of tisane ruby mist tea for Leah, besides our cider doughnuts and small cup of cider. 

Outside the store there was a unusual flower bush with pretty, pink flowers on it, that Leah and I couldn’t identify. Do you know what it is?

Flowers always make me think of our oldest daughter Heather. Her name means a plant with various colored flowers. It’s most often associated with Scotland’s rocky highlands, where it grows profusely where few other plants can survive. But it grows on nearly every continent. 

Two little girls dressed alike in yellow dresses were playing at the mill. One of them danced on a stage area by haystacks, and then ran on top of the haystacks when her parents called her.

She amused me. Children have no inhibitions and are so free. What an example for the rest of us.

The drive to Louisburg in the country was beautiful – rolling green hills, the tree’s leaves beginning to turn red and yellow, cows and horses.

It was so relaxing and fun. Just what I needed today. Simple pleasures -just heavenly.

Comments

comments