It’s Springtime here in Australia, blossoms are blooming, Azaleas are in flower in a range of glorious colors with the scent of Jasmine, honey blossom & Gardenias are in the air.
Today, I have prepared a tea blend called Orange blossoms & ginger.
Our tasty treat is a Gf strawberry muffin made with homegrown strawberries, freshly picked.
Shall we go out to the garden to sit & enjoy the sunshine, surrounded by blossoms & the intoxicating fragrance of Spring.
The fruity taste of both the tea & muffins are a perfect combination absolutely delightful in this warm spring setting.
Now we are seated & comfy, shall we enjoy our time of reflection together.
A sweet journey
On my way to an appointment the other day, I decided to take a quiet drive on the back road that winds through the countryside, rather than the busy direct route via the highway.
As I was driving through the undulating hills & farmland.
Passed grazing horses & cattle with newly born calves & goats, with their new kids frolicking.
The aroma of the countryside combined with the scent of the live stock & seeing the farmers working their fields.
I found myself smiling inwardly & outwardly.
My mind had flooded with sweet memories of working on the farm with my late husband.
The familiar aromas of the countryside & farm animals had evoked memories of a time in my life when I had had good health & bountiful energy.
Working alongside my man, as we worked the farm together, on the days I wasn’t counseling.
I loved every minute of that time! You may enjoy reading about it in Home sweet home & Tea by the sea….
It was a sweet drive enjoying the moments of a time that are forever etched upon my heart refreshingly evoked by the aromas of the countryside that passed by that day.
I arrived on time for my appointment, feeling greatly energized & revitalized.
At times the past is not so far away, bringing an unexpected blessing, with it’s sweet fragrance, to the present & before we realize it we find ourselves smiling!
Have you ever caught yourself smiling lost in thought to sweet memories?
What causes you to smile dear friend? Please share…
Until next time,
Jennifer
You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook
Or in Prayer
© 2018 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photo on Pexels.com
Tea With Jennifer 
It is really beautiful time when we sit with God.
Amen Tara!
The tea and muffins sound lovely. I can just imagine sitting in the warm spring sunshine enjoying them in the garden surrounded by all of the beautiful spring flowers. What a blessing!
Lovely having you drop by Laurie, yes it is absolutely beautiful & restorative.
Such a blessing! 😀
This post was lovely. It always amazes me how a smell or a sight can bring back a memory and bless our hearts at just the right moment. Your photo is just beautiful. In New England, autumn is upon us and the colors are a bit slower in turning this year. Yet the smell of autumn is present and reminds me that our God remains constant through every change in life. Blessings!
Thank you for your kind words Joanne, yes our sense of smell is the strongest trigger for memories with sight being a close second 😀 .
Lovely having you drop by! Blessings to you.
Ah, for the love of spring… Autumn is fast approaching here on the farmstead in Maine. Each season has its beauty and I’m smiling as I ponder your spring drive along country roads. I often like to take the back way just for the restoring power of and serenity found in a quiet time with the Lord–he who makes all things beautiful in their season. Late summer brought many smiles for me–two monarch butterflies emerging from their chrysalises on the porch in late August had my heart leaping with joy and praising God for the wonders that abound. ❤ xo
How beautiful Bette & what a lovely treat! I found out when I recently visited my eldest daughter on their farm (also live 1000km away) that they have Milkweed & Monarch butterflies!
Oh, what delightful news to hear of our magnificent Monarchs thriving on your daughter’s farm in Australia! ❤ xoxoxo
I love this sweet remembrance and the truth that the past really isn’t so very far away. This week I had a lovely dream about a friend who passed away after a long descent into dementia, and it felt like a gift to have a “visit” with her again.
It is very sweet when we can celebrate a life lived & enjoy the special moments we had with them Michele, smiling.
Today, this makes me smile. The orange/ginger blend tea sounds divine. xo
Awww, thank you for your kind words. It was an invigorating blend…smiling!
It’s delightful that we move into opposite seasons and I get to hear the promise of another spring as we enter into the fall (my favorite season)…hopefully we will have a beautiful one, but at present it looks and feels like summer. I love when the Lord brings a sweet memory unbidden to re-experience. It causes me to smile as well. This week that happened when I revisited a 2013 journal. I was looking to see how the Lord began to move me toward retirement the following year. (He began speaking to me in 2013.) I found that, but I bumped into a journal entry from October 2013 that I had totally forgotten. In it I had been talking with Him about what the season of retirement would look like. Among other things, I sensed Him clearly speaking to my heart, “The book is within you. It is you who have not believed. The vision has not been about one thing only, but has been about courage and belief to use what I have placed in you and not bury that gift.” I shook my head and smiled because I had long since forgotten this. The Lord did not nudge me to write my newly published book until very early spring of 2015 and now in 2018 it is here despite more than a few obstacles. I felt Him gently reminding me I don’t have a clue of what He has in mind for me often and He looks at the long game while I see only a short part of the path ahead.
Journals are a wealth of past blessings…& as we read them a blessing in the present & causing us to smile, aren’t they Pam…Also to get a glimpse into God’s bigger plans for us & how He has led us into those plans.
Thank you for sharing that part of your writing journey… it is always encouraging to hear God’s leading… 😀 !
Jennifer, autumn will be approaching soon…it is my favorite season. I have so many wonderful memories of my mom and I still miss her terribly after eleven years. But thinking of her baking all of her fall goodies in her kitchen brings smiles.
Memories can be such sweet things, Autumn baking sounds a lovely tradition Pam…what a beautiful legacy your mother left you.
On our seven hour drive back from Maine I began to think about my late sister. I had a combination of joy and sorrow and just let the feelings intermingle at will.
Yes. That was a wise choice Elizabeth…we need to feel our grief in our own ways & that in itself is part of the healing process.
I really appreciate you sharing your personal experience, thank you.
You are welcome. Its funny how grief comes and goes.
I describe it like waves upon the shore, as time goes by the waves have longer periods of time in between but can still crash upon the shore catching us unaware…our emotions are fascinating things…
That is good. In Oregon at least we had what they called “sneaker waves,” which seems appropriate to those grief baths.
I love that analogy Elizabeth!
Thanks.
We are getting for the fall over here in NY and I love a drive along the lake or the beauty of the gold and russet colored leaves. I smile when I the smell of rain on the dirt. I love creation
How beautiful… Autumn has it’s own unique beauty too…I love His Creation also! Thankyou for sharing what makes you smile.