This post is part of a series called Thankful Thursday, where I list some things to feel thankful for. To some extent, focusing on what is wrong appears to come naturally to most people, who tend to complain, complain, complain when they get together with family and friends. (I’m no exception, that’s for sure.) So focusing on things to feel thankful for seems like good spiritual practice, a way to counterbalance the tendency toward negative thinking.
The last two Thankful Thursdays featured really big pleasures, a new driveway and a new electric car. It was the most excitement that has come to our home by the woods in a long time.
However, most of our pleasures are much more simple, and that’s the way it should be. Big pleasures only come around every so often, and if they were the only pleasures that made us happy, then our lives would be very glum indeed. But, I am happy to report that we are a family that thrives on simple pleasures, and in that way we are rich. Our lives are filled with so many simple pleasures that it is hard to chose which ones to feature.
This week I have narrowed it down to three.
The first is this wonderful hydrangea, a gift from my blogging friend Judy of NewEnglandGardenAndThread.
In June of 2023 Judy and I actually had a chance to meet in person. Not only did we have a wonderful time getting to know each other, but she also gave some hydrangea plants from her garden.
Longtime readers will know that I have one of the finickiest yards in Maine in which to garden. Lots of shade, much of it dry, and at the best only part sun/part shade in the backyard. I have lost more plants than I care to remember. But Judy assured me that hydrangeas like some shade, and with a hope and a prayer, I planted them last summer.
Glory be! Not only did they come up in the spring, but they actually bloomed this summer. I am thrilled to have these beauties in my garden. Judy, many, many thanks.
My second pleasure is another one that comes only in the summer, tomato sandwiches made with local ripe tomatoes.
These tomatoes come from Farmer Kev, and they are just as sweet as sweet can be.
I know there is some controversy over the proper way to make tomato sandwiches. Some like white bread, untoasted. Some prefer to have cheese along with theirs. Others want an open-faced sandwich. My take? Have them whichever way you like. Simple pleasures are personal. One size does not fit all.
Here is how I like mine: I use two pieces of Dave’s Killer Bread, 21 Whole Grains and Seeds. Then I toast the bread, spread a little mayonnaise on one slice, put tomatoes on the other, and finish it with a dash of salt. Oh, the joy.
My third pleasure comes from another blog I follow, Cimple, and one of the items on her Thankful Thursday list: “On the Nature of Daylight,” a song by Max Richter. I was so moved by it that I had to feature the song on my blog.
I just happened to find “On the Nature of Daylight” along with some other songs when Richter was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. “On the Nature of Daylight” is the first song that he plays.
This music makes me want to weep and be thankful at the same time. The language of music is powerful and mysterious. It is one of the best parts of us, and I am ever so thankful for the composers and musicians that bring such beauty to the world.
Notes From the Hinterland 
A good list, Laurie. I had my first tomato sandwich last week… sourdough bread and lots of mayo. 🙂
Max Richter is doing some interesting compositions… I don’t love everything of his, but his remake of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is an improvement over the original, IMO. I wonder if Vivaldi would agree? 😉
Oh, those tomato sandwiches!
I just listened to Richter’s take on Vivaldi. I thought it was just fine, but as a Vivaldi fan, I do appreciate a more traditional interpretation.
What a lovely list of things to be thankful for Laurie and thank you for sharing the wonderful music too 💛🎶
You are very welcome!
We love the simple things in life and my husband loves tomato sandwiches too. I have so appreciated this music you shared. Now I am full of gratitude. Thank you!
You are very welcome! Wonderful to be able to share such moving music.
Beautiful music Laurie ..as you have said The language of music is powerful and mysterious. Paul said to thank you for Olafur Arnalds (during Covid) which lead him to Max Richter.
My great pleasure! Wonderful to recommend such things and have them go around the world.
Yes, technology can be wonderful… a few years ago, we would not have had blogs!
Definitely the bright side of technology. And I am so very grateful.
Gratitude for the small, every days joys is a fine way to live life 🙂
Yes, indeed! Most people, even those with a lot of money, can’t have big joys every day to mark their weeks.
Shady gardens is the price we pay for those wonderful trees – a fair trade.
Absolutely!
That is a lot to be thankful for.
Always, every week.
I can’t argue with those choices to be thankful for! Music shows up frequently in my daily gratitude journal as do garden treasures
Now!! On the topic tomato samiches, I’ve always been one for Wonderbread, Dukes mayo, a sun-warmed garden tomato, and juice dripping down to your elbows. But one day I had a dab of pesto that needed to be used, so I spread it on one side of the bread. OMG! It’s simply divine. Try it.
Love the idea of a daily gratitude journal. Pesto and tomatoes are mighty good, that’s for sure
Cheers to the simple. And oh my – what simple, relaxing music. For me, it’s beautiful and calming. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, yes! Such beautiful music. Couldn’t resist sharing.
… and I realize you have good taste in music
Oh, thank you so much!
A good tomato sandwich — or tomato and bacon — is one of life’s greatest pleasures. I’ve yet to find a homegrown tomato this year, but there’s still a chance, since a second crop sometimes can be coaxed along once summer heat is gone. I like mine like yours: simple. I prefer whole grain bread, toasted, and a bit of mayo. Yum!
I grew up with hydrangeas in our yard in Iowa, and they were in dappled shade because of large maple trees. They thrived for years; I hope yours do the same!
Yum is right!
So hoping those hydrangeas will thrive.
Hi, Laurie – Your hydrangea from Judy is absolutely beautiful. And homegrown, fresh of the vine tomato sandwiches — what could be tastier?!
To my way of thinking, very few things beat a fresh tomato. 😉
That looks like very good bread in that sandwich. The hydrangea is lovely.
For commercial bread, Dave’s Killer Bread is very good. And nutritious, too.
I love the fact that tomato sandwiches feature among your things to be thankful for – it is the simple pleasures that need to be recognised to boost our spirits. The music is lovely too!
For a Mainer, fresh tomatoes are such a treat. We only get them for two or three months out of the year. ( Three months might be stretching it.)
And, oh, that music!
Lovely simple pleasures. When, in our teens, my brother and I went to watch a day’s cricket at The Oval our mother packed up tomato sandwiches in white bread for us. By the time we ate them they were nice and soggy – just how we liked them
Lovely memories of your wonderful mother.
What an uplifting feeling reading about your simple pleasures!!🙂 How wonderful to have that lovely flower blooming as a reminder of sharing our simple joys with others. Thanks for sharing the music, I’ll be playing his album The Blue Notebooks in the car today. I’ve loved watching all the Harris/Walz coverage this week and a favorite new theme of theirs that I love is “joy warriors.”🙂
A-w-w-w, how nice! And thank you for introducing me to that wonderful music. Listening to it it right now. So beautiful.
Onward and upward with the joy warriors!
Now, I’m smiling looking at that beautiful bloom. They will return each year bigger and better. 🙂 I wish you lived closer because I have a huge abundance of delicious tomatoes and no one to share with. Those are talented musicians you found there. Happy Thankful Thursday, Miss Laurie.
Wonderful! Can’t wait to see next year’s blooms. I wish we lived closer, too. Not just for tomatoes but so we could get together more often.
All wonderful things to be thankful for!
You bet!
Love tomato sandwiches ❤️❤️
Oh so good! Today’s lunch.
Oh, tomato sandwiches! Believe it or not, I had that exact sandwich for breakfast – right down to the bread. The only difference was my tomatoes were yellow cherry (they are swamping me right now & I try to eat them at every meal) – and I added some spring mix. Thankful indeed!
Fun that you had a tomato sandwich with Dave’s Killer Bread. And the best tomatoes are always the ones that you grow yourself.
It’s so good for us to be thankful, even if it’s not Thanksgiving Day! And I like your three choices. Those hydrangeas are stunning, and it’s not summer without a good, fresh tomato sandwich now and then. I prefer mine to be toasted, but like you said, to each his own.
Yes, being thankful is such a good thing. We lead very quiet, simple lives, but there is still so much to be thankful for.
Yes, when it comes to tomato sandwiches, toasted is best for me, too, but each to his own.
A good list Laurie. You are spot on when you say that if we are only Happy and Thankful for big treats then we live impoverished lives. There is so much to enjoy.
There really is, and much of doesn’t cost much at all.
The 21 grains kind, too ! And toasted! lol
We are kindred spirits in so many ways. 😉
❤
“Simple pleasures are personal. One size does not fit all.”
and sometimes it is the smallest things that bring us pleasure and not the grand gestures.
AS I write this I am listening to the music you shared. In some ways it reminds me of Bach.
Yes, I can see how the music reminds you of Bach.
I am listening to Max Richter now and enjoying it very much. It is very soulful music.
Do you remember an old Shaker song called Simple Gifts? I fist came across it an an episode of Alias Smith and Jones in 1971, so many, many years ago.
Soulful is exactly right. Yes, I do remember Simple Gifts. Perfect for a Thankful Thursday post.
And tomatoes…I was once told the best way to eat one was out in the field with the seeds running down ones face. 🙂
You bet! Deliciousness.
OMG, what a hydrangea! What a tomato! In fact, everything makes me feel thankful, too. So thank you.
My pleasure!
Lovely music. Lovely tomato too…I’d normally have cheese in a tomato sandwich, but I’m open to persuasion!
That music is so moving. As I mentioned in my piece, I think people should have their tomato sandwiches exactly the way they want them.
Always smile when I see your posts- I always feel inspired in some way after reading-Now tat song made me weep. I want to play my violin now. want a cello now. played one durng a summer off from school and and that became a goal for me. thank you for reminding me of all the beauty out there. xMichele
Oh, my pleasure!
Hurray for simple pleasures …. as you know, I am a big fan.
I am listening to Max Richter, as recommended, as I write this. It is haunting, moving and strikes a chord as I am unwinding from visiting my uncles in the hospital. Thank you. I am adding him to my Spotify list.
So chuffed to find tomato sandwiches in your space. Younger Child and I have been discussing how best to make one; we have never had one before. The recipe we saw sprinkled furakake on it. I like your take: enjoy it the way one likes best!