Last Thursday

If instead of a jewel, or even a

flower, we could cast the gift

of a lovely thought into the

heart of another, that would be

giving as the angels must give.

--- Anonymous

Today I would like to mention last Thursday's trip to Santa Rosa. As you already know I took Angel the Cat down to the Humane Society of Sonoma County (but had to pick her up on Saturday) and on the way home I stopped in Healdsburg at Olive Leaf. I had found them through the Mystic Paint website as a retailer of their paint. (closest to my home) Of course, that is another story about painting our bedroom (which is still not done and the decision was started in August! and now I will be painting the kitchen cabinets too.) Anyway, I wanted to get a no-smell paint as I would be painting it in stages and had no other place to sleep and also, because it is eco-friendly. For some reason they could not find the paint color in their computer which I had selected at my local paint store. (and which didn't offer a no-smell, no VOC paint) BUT it just so happened that my local paint store had another store in Healdsburg! So I walked down to them (it was a gorgeous Fall day and I wish I had my camera) and asked if they could please tell me the paint formula. I explained I had already purchased 5 different quarts and 1 gallon of paint from their Lakeport store, but I really wanted the no VOC kind of paint which they didn't carry. Well lo' and behold, they had their own brand of no VOC paint there! Now I felt like a trader to the other store (the clerk Ari, had been very helpful and nice), but I really wanted the color I had picked. They said it would take about an hour and a half to match the color (though it was their color) because they had just gotten in the paint and paint machine (which cost like $16,000.00 they informed me) and they hadn't had much practice with it and because the paint color I had choosen was not their "regular paint"....sigh. They could make any color that was offered in their 2 paint "decks" (color charts) in 5 minutes. So there we were trying to match the other color, which is nearly impossible to do when you are in a hurry. (I wanted to get back to Redwood Valley by 4 pm and it was close to 2:30 and Redwood Valley is an hour away.) So I just picked the closest color I could and they mixed it up. It isn't the exact color, but it will have to do!
So back to Olive Leaf. What a grand store, kinda like an eco-mercantile general store. They had the paint, rugs, furniture (mainly antiques & used) make-up and beauty products, lots of miscellaneous gift items, books, linens, etc. Really fun although I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked.(and I forgot my camera to take pics!)


In between all of this paint puzzling, I ate lunch there, within Olive Leaf, at the Cafe Gratitude. Have you heard of it? I love the name and all of their menu items start with "I am". I am renewed, I am worthy, I am eternally sweet, I am awed, I am festive, etc. (you get the idea) I think I might have heard about the cafe in my readings, but they are in the San Francisco area. (locations below) They are a mainly raw (they do offer a daily warm soup) vegan, organic restaurant......yum! I wish I could remember what was on the below picture. They had a large print of it hanging on the wall and it said something like, "the earth feeds us no matter what".....that is not what it said, but I remember it meaning that !

My server was Carrie and she was another delightful person, very personal and engaging. I had their Live Pizza which is not really a pizza, but cracker-based topped with different ingredients. I picked the I Am Mahalo Hawaiian Pizza, which consisted of pineapple & avocado with marinara sauce. I also asked for a bit of the olive tapenade which came with the I Am Sensational Pesto Pizza. Here is the description of their "Pizzas". "All pizzas are made with buckwheat-sunflower seed sourdough flatbread crust, topped with one of our hearty sauces, sliced tomatoes, cashew ricotta, sprinkled with brazil nut parmesan. Served with side salad."
When it arrived I thought it was small, though beautifully presented. With the salad it did fill me up and made me realize just how much we usually stuff ourselves! OK, enough of that...I did want to mention it because it was something different and healthy and if you are ever in the area of a Cafe Gratitude it is worth the stop, taste and price! Which is another thing, they are a bit on the expensive side, but since it is all organic and healthy ingredients that is to be expected at this time. I did stop there again on Saturday when I went to pick up Angel the Cat, but instead I had a green drink "I Am Healthy" which consisted of Kale, Celery, Cucumber and Lemon for 5.50 for a small and it was small. I opted to add avocado for 1.50 more so it was definitely more than I could spend everyday, but if you were traveling and needed a pick-me-up that was healthy and clean you couldn't ask for anything better.

Our poem for today is "How's the Weather?" It is the 20th poem in the book (remember there are 39) so we are half way through. :o)

How's The Weather

by Frank B. Whitney

The day is fair when hearts are light,

When in the heart the light shines bright,

When not a cloud obscures the mind.

When joy within we well can find.

~~~~~

The day is dark when in the soul

The storms of tumult surge and roll,

And there is tempest in the heart

And bitterness in every part.

~~~~~

The day is cold when, by this rule,

We find our thoughts are calm and cool

And in the mind no anger's heat

Can cause our pulse to rage and beat.

~~~~~

The day is one that we call bad

When nothing shows to make us glad

And, through distorted visions, we

Can only evil know and see.

~~~~~

The day is sunny when the sun

Within us shines on every one,

And when the Christ within us bright

Is free to shed on all His light.

~~~~~

When "How's the weather?" 's asked of you,

You then must answer to be true

Just how, within, you view the day:

If sunny, then "It's bright," you say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My spell check isn't working for some reason so I hope all of this makes sense! :o)

HAVE A MARVELOUS DAY!