A Nod from Queen Ann

We went out for a bike ride yesterday and I enjoyed a positively royal ride. I have spent so much time with cardboard and cobwebs during the past month I think my brain overloaded on the beauty all along our path that day, and I thrilled at getting a nod from Queen Ann and all her attendants.

When we first set out for our ride I had to fight with myself to stop the spinning in my head of all the work to be done to get ready for this move, and also let go of the worry about Lady Bug. Eventually I was able to let my thoughts go with the spin of the tires against the trail and my eyes were opened to the beauty of the moment I was in; and absolutely beautiful it was.

We were treated to a day without humidity and blistering temps so it was a comfortable cool ride. The roads we travelled were lined with Queen Ann's Lace and they all nodded as we pedalled by. How neat to get a nod from the Queen and view her royal court in all its splendour.



She was surrounded by her Ladies-in-waiting wearing clear yellow and soft blue gowns. Her royal body guards, the ferocious Dandelions, were out in full force standing proud and tall beside her while other members of the court, the Monarch butterflies, flitted around their heads and tried to make them smile.




The emerald green fields fringed with feathery tan grasses spread out behind Queen Ann like a fine tapestry and added such richness to the scene. Her armies of corn soldiers were standing at attention in their perfectly straight rows all along the route, and they looked magnificent all decked out in their parade uniforms trimmed with the finest silk and golden tassels.

The sky was dressed in its best Cerulean outfit accented with the fluffiest whitest clouds, intricately designed for just this occasion.

The court jesters dressed as Gold Finches darted in and out of the procession and made us laugh.

Yes, it was a positively royal ride and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited while imagination embraces the entire world.
Albert Einstein

Imagination is the highest kite that can fly
Lauren Bacall

Let your imagination go today and fly that kite higher than you ever thought possible. Have fun and perhaps you will get a nod from royalty too!

Sign of joy

I was worried about Lady Bug yesterday and felt so far away and helpless. I just wanted to go to her and help her but couldn't. I got a call from Butterfly last night,Lady Bug's big sister, and she said she went into the city yesterday to see Lady Bug and brought her back to her house for the long weekend. Ah, Lady Bug is safe with big sister now and big sister will give her lots of tender loving care. She will even give her a hug from me. I feel so much better now.

What a gift of joy it is to me that they have such a great relationship and can be there for each other.

In moments of joy all of us wish we possessed a tail we could wag.
W.H. Auden

Yep, I do, and if I did, it would be wagging right now.

Random Summer Thoughts

I thought I would borrow an idea from Judy and Heather and just post some random summer thoughts today. Things are rather scattered and disjointed here and I can't quite pull my thoughts together, so random writing should fit quite nicely for this post.

1. Lady Bug had a rather serious tumble on her bike the other day and it knocked AC and me for a bit of an emotional tumble too. It is so hard when your kids hurt and you can't help them. I just spoke to Lady Bug and she sounded pretty down in the dumps today – two days post accident. I asked her where it hurt and she said everywhere. She can hardly move and is in quite a lot of pain. Sigh. I am too far away to go over and help her, so I will just have to send a hug across the miles. So hard on a mother's heart this is.

2. I went to the Bike Shop for my inner piece the other day and they couldn't find it!!!! With all that has been going on in my life these days, why am I not surprised? In the meantime, the old inner piece snapped into place and has been working fine. Inner peace and a new inner piece– I am working on both!!!!

3. I set a goal for myself to have the basement and den area sorted and packed by the end of July. Well, I am pleased to report that I am a few days ahead of schedule. Yes, it is only July 29th, and they are both done!!!! Yahoo! Not only that, but we also got the garden sheds and the porch storage area done. Double Yahoo! Four weeks to go until moving day.

4. Next big project is packing my kitchen. I won't start that until the second week in August though. That is a last minute job for sure. At least the cupboards were all cleaned out when we did the renovation project, so I just have to pack what is there, not sort it all out too. On that note, would you believe that my kitchen still isn't finished? We started it back in April and I am still waiting for the finishing touches to be done. Sigh. I must admit that the pace of getting it done is starting to wear on me just a tad! Well, more than a tad – a lot actually. I just want it DONE! It would be nice to see the finished project before we have to move!

4. The hot humid weather left us for a few days and we have therefore enjoyed a few marvellous rides on our bikes. Oh it is so nice to ride in the fresh cool early morning air. We just got back from a 50k ride this morning and we are both rather knackered right now, but it is such a nice knackered.

5. Mamma and Poppa Sparrow are busy, busy, busy these days. The babies are noisy and demanding and getting bigger every day. I saw five heads in there when there were smaller, but now I only see three. Maybe it isn't the same three each time I look in and we still have five healthy birds in the house. I sure hope so.

It absolutely amazes me how diligent and hard working mom and pop Sparrow are in their parenting roles. They haven't taken any courses, read any parenting books, or watched any educational videos, but they know just what to do and do it perfectly. They work without stopping all day, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It really is non-stop! Sometimes they almost crash into each other when one is just leaving and the other is coming in for a landing with fresh food. I get up some mornings at 6am and they are already hard at work and they are still going strong at 9pm when we come inside for the day.

6. I just got an interesting book from the library. "The Worst is Over - what to say when every moment counts. Verbal First Aid to calm, relieve pain and promote healing and save lives" by Judith Acosta and Judith Prager

I put in a request for this book months ago and it just came in on an inter-library loan so I am making time to read it before we move. I am only on page 33 and I already know that I want my own copy of this book so an order has been made to Amazon.

Oh the power of words and how they affect us. Without warning some day we might happen upon an accident and our words might be all we have to help someone in need. This book outlines what to say in times of crisis and how to administer verbal first aid.

Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. But they are shapes, they bring the world into focus, they corral ideas, they hone thoughts, they paint watercolours of perception.
Diane Ackerman

Well, I had fun painting a few random strokes of "watercolour words" on my blog. I feel better already.

Grilled cheese and the Cosmic Dance

We have the best neighbours in the world and I will miss them dearly when we move.

On the south side we have a young family; mom and dad, oldest child, a daughter, just going into grade nine this year and young son going into grade six. This couple lives across the driveway from us and has a bird's eye view of all the comings and going at our side door, so they keep and eye on the house for us when we travel. Their young daughter brings in the mail, waters my hanging baskets and keeps the front of the house looking clean and tidy while we are away. That is no small task when we are gone for a month at a time. In the winter she shovels the walk and makes foot prints to the side door to make it look like people are home. What a gem she is. I have watched her grow into a charming young lady and will miss seeing her go off to high school this fall.

On the north side we have a single mom with three delightful daughters. We don't see them as often as our, across the drive neighbours just because of the position of our doors. But the young girls visit me from time to time.

Both moms work outside the home full time and have a lot on their plates at home and at work. I stand amazed at these women and all they have to do each day. Both of them went back to school after their kids went to school full time and managed, house, home, kids and school. One is now a registered nurse and the other a professional business woman. My hat is off to both of these amazing women. Not only did they reach for their personal dreams, but they raised amazing kids in the meantime.

Because we are retired and home most of the time, we are the neighbours they call on if they need help. I have met the school bus, made after school treats for the kids when mom has been delayed, played host to the kids on PA days when other arrangements couldn't be made and just generally been there when they needed me.

The little girls to the north of us quite often have friends over for sleep-overs and other things and when they do they bring their friends over to say hello to me. I keep a bowl of treats at the front door for just such times. Maybe a candy necklace (the ones with pastel candy discs strung on a piece of elastic) or some other fun treat that mom might not buy for them. Because we don't have family in the area, I always considered these kids on both sides of us as my stand-in grandkids. They sit at my kitchen table and sip chocolate milk from a teacup while I sip tea from mine and listen to their stories.

The other day a knock came to the front door and it was the middle girl from the house to the north of us. She is in grade 10 this year and on this day was babysitting her younger sister while mom was at work. She told me she wanted to make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, but mom had forgotten to buy cheese, so could she borrow some cheese to make her sandwich. I gave her my chunk of cheese and told her to use what she needed and bring the rest back. Five minutes later she was at the front door with the bag in hand.

"Did you have enough?" I asked as she handed me the bag.

"Yes" she said "Thank you. Now can I ask you for one more thing?"

"Sure" I said. "What?"

"Can I borrow some bread?!!!!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth she burst out laughing. I started to laugh too. What a hoot. It was just too funny that she started to make grilled cheese sandwiches without any bread or cheese!!!

"Do you need butter too?" I asked.

"No" she spluttered

I am laughing again as I type this. I sure will miss these kids when we move. A house is just a house and we will make the new one our cozy home, no matter how small and different it might be, but I will miss these "grand-children of the heart". What a joy they have been to me.

"When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash- at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness" the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance."
Thomas Merton

Children being children do provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance. What a gift.

Weighty Issues

We have five weeks to go until moving day, and some days I feel like I have things well in hand and other days I feel like I will never be ready on time.

Goodness it is hard to pack your whole life's accumulation into boxes. I have discovered that nothing fits easily into a box. Handles are too long or bottoms too wide to fit into most boxes, and if something does fit on the first try, it won’t fit snugly with other things in the same box. I feel like I am working on the world's largest jigsaw puzzle, and don't even like ordinary jigsaw puzzles! I carry things from room to room and box to box to see if I can get a better combination than the crushable rose wreath snuggled next to the cast iron skillet!!!!!!

As hard as it is to fit things into boxes, I wish that was all I had to contend with on this move but it isn't. This is not just a move where I can put items into containers and move them, I have to look at everything I own and decide if I want to keep it or not because we are moving to a much smaller house, and some things just have to go.

Also, because of our bad backs, we cannot do the lugging and carrying of the boxes or furniture ourselves, so we are paying movers to come in and load and unload the truck. We are doing our own packing, but not the lifting and carrying. The mover calculates the cost of his part of the deal by weight and distance travelled so I have another reason to get rid of stuff, especially heavy stuff. I am literally weighing in my mind, almost everything I touch and asking myself if I really want to lug it across country with me. If I pick up an item and it is light it gets a fairly easy pass, but it if weighs more than a loaf of bread it demands lots of thought and has to pass a critical test – does its value to me weigh more than the cost of its weight to transport? If not, out it goes. In the battle of the cast iron skillet and the rose wreath, the rose wreath wins and the skillet goes to the Goodwill.

You can see from AC's post that we are getting rid of literally "tons" of paper!!! I must admit that it gives me shivers to shred all the papers I have so diligently filed and kept all these years, but it has to be done one day, and it is better that we do it now, instead of leaving it for our kids to do without us during a time of grief. I cleaned out my mother-in-law's house after she passed and it was a very difficult task to get rid of "stuff" she considered treasures. As I work away on my own house, I keep telling myself that I am giving my girls a gift by doing this instead of leaving it for them to do. As hard as it is for me, it is easier than it would be for them. Right?

Amazingly enough, as I weigh everything in my mind and put only what I think is really important into the boxes that come with me; and the boxes to give away get heavier and heavier, my spirit gets lighter and lighter. This incredible lightness of being is bringing such joy. There is a wonderful freedom in getting rid of the stuff that weighs us down, emotionally or physically. Clutter is clutter no matter what type it is – physical or spiritual, and both kinds seem to have the same affect on our lives- weighing us down, limiting our view and restricting our movements.

Here's to losing weight and feeling light and free. It is wonderful, positively wonderful. Almost an ecstatic experience.

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience. Emily Dickinson

Joy and the sharing of memories

Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions for me. Joy and sorrow all tangled up together but in the end joy outweighed the sorrow.

Let me give you a bit of background before I fill you in on what I did yesterday.

As I sort through all the "treasures" I have collected over the years I have to make tough decisions whether to take the treasure with me or take only the memories and leave the object behind. Handmade items crafted by loved ones who have passed are the hardest ones to part with. Sigh.

One such item that has really tugged at my heart is a rather large craft project my mother made over twenty years ago. I inherited this craft because Lady Bug had a teddy bear collection at one time, and, when my mom died, my sister thought that Lady Bug should have this item that her grandmother made and treasured. Lady Bug is a traveller and she likes to travel light. While she values this item she has no place for it and probably never will.

My mother was a very creative person, and I remember vividly all her forays into different crafts when I was growing up. During the whipped wax candle phase, we peeled wax off almost every surface in the house. The sequin ribbon Christmas trees were another wild craft that got out of hand; we had bits and pieces of sequin ribbon in every nook and cranny in the house. When we cut that stuff it would shoot like shrapnel all over the room. I would go to school with it in my hair and even find it in my sandwich at lunch. Yuck!

Sparkle dust was another dastardly craft item that would get all over everything, and all us kids would sparkle and glisten long before glitter make-up was even thought of. I wonder what the guys at work said to my dad when he showed up with sparkle dust in his moustache?

My mom took great delight in making something out of nothing. If you had to go out and buy expensive material to make a craft then it wasn't nearly as much fun for her, and for much of her married life she never had extra money to buy craft materials. She would collect egg cartons to make wastebaskets, orange juice tins to make pencil holders, plastic bags to make Poodles (don’t' ask), old greeting cards to make bowls, sequin ribbon to make Christmas trees — you get the idea.

Dear mom hated housework but loved to do her crafts and could sit in the middle of the rubble of a messy house and create beauty out of the "trash" she collected. Amazing really, but the messy house drove me crazy even as a kid. I hated the piles of egg cartons piled in the corners awaiting the transformation process and the rolls of plastic, soon to become Poodles, sitting in the middle of the living room floor. She didn't mind it, or didn't see it, I am not sure which, but she had to create and create she did.

One of her creations and the prized craft that we inherited is a Teddy Bear's Picnic made out of bread dough. Yes, bread dough. I don't know how many hours mom spent on this project, but it is an absolutely amazing piece of art. Each piece was painstakingly made out of bread dough, cooked in the oven, hand painted and arranged in this picnic scene. Every blade of grass, bottle of pop, piece of ice, hamburger, hotdog, sandcastle – is made of bread dough. The only things that aren't bread dough are the mirror used for the water, the paper on the kite, the string on the fishing pole, the lace on some of the bears' dresses, and the paper on the finish line sign.



I have had this sitting on a bookcase under a glass cover for thirteen years. Now that we are moving to a much smaller house on the other side of the province I have to decide what to do with this rather large piece of art. It is over twenty years old now, and rather fragile. Would it even take a move across country?

I woke up last week with the bright idea of contacting the Children's library to see if they would accept it as a donation to be displayed there. Yesterday was my appointment with the curator to talk to her about it. With heart beating a little faster, I walked into the library with mom's treasure and wondered what the librarian would think of it. Much to my delight she was absolutely thrilled with it. She took down all sorts of information about it and said she would tour it to all the other libraries in the county – twenty seven in all. I walked out of the library in a swirl of emotions. It made me sad to leave The Teddy Bear's Picnic behind, but I was also full of joy that it would be on display in the Children's library and enjoyed by so many.

We left the library and went down to the Bay for coffee and a few minutes of quiet by the water. I sat there and let the emotions of the day wash over me. I looked up at the sky and thought of mom and how pleased she would be that her work of art would be on display for the children in this area. It felt good and it felt right.

Joy and sorrow all tangled up together, but, in the end, joy outweighed the sorrow. How wonderful when that happens.

Inner Peace

The packing and sorting continues at our house, but AC and I have made it a priority to get out on the bikes as much as we can these days and enjoy as many trips as possible on these wonderful trails before we move to another part of the country. What a treat it is to ride out to the lake early in the morning and start our hectic days off that way. The ride in the cool morning air clears my head and helps me start my "packing" day on the right foot.

When I have a huge task in front of me I tend to go to bed at night with things that need to be done spinning through my head, and I wake up in the same spin. If I write down what needs to be done, set some time goals and have my plan of attack recorded in black and white on paper, that really helps to slow down the spin of thoughts in my head. So, I make list upon list and am always planning what my next step will be, but some days the lists don't help and I feel overwhelmed by the mountain ahead of me. The only thing for it is to go outside and calm down. Look at the trees, listen to the waves, feel the wind against my face. A ride on the bike does all of this for me.

Just before we set off for our ride the other day I grabbed my bike helmet and noticed that the plastic tension strap on it wouldn't tighten the way it should. I turned to AC and said "I need to go the bike shop and see if I can find a new inner piece."

"Hmmm," he said to me, "who knew that you could get inner peace at the bike shop?"

We laughed about it and set off on our ride. As I rode along I thought about what he said and realized that maybe I couldn't find inner peace at the bike shop, but a ride on my bike was sure helping me find some.
Joys come from simple natural things: mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of moon over water.
Segrid Olson

Joy does comes from these simple things, and with joy comes peace and release. I look at the mists over the meadows and sunlight on the leaves as we pedal along and feel full of joy.

I hope you find "Inner Peace" on your life's journey today too. Maybe even in a bike shop, or your kitchen or the grocery store.

Butterfly on my shoulder

Ah, sweet relief. This morning the humidity has loosened its grip just a tad and I actually have the windows open. What a treat! Fresh cool air is wafting in the patio door here beside me and once the air meets the fan it swirls around me in the most delightful way. I'm lovin' it

The humidex was in the 40's yesterday, so we stayed put in our air conditioned house and packed boxes. I am happy to report that we have finished the storage room/den area and that feels like a major accomplishment. Next, the basement, but not today, for today we dust off the bikes and head out for a ride. The winds are light and the air cool, so a ride out to the lake is number one on the agenda.

We last rode to the lake on Sunday and at one point we pedalled past a Strawberry field. Oh, I could almost taste the fresh picked wonders because the smell of them was so thick in the air. I had to fight with my bike not to veer off the path and plunge right into that field so I could feast on the bright red gems.

Further along the path we kept being assaulted by the thick rich fragrance of lilacs, but I knew the fragrance wasn't from lilacs because they were all done for the season. I looked around and could see plenty of wildflowers, and wondered which one was imitating the lilac. I soon had the answer to my question, and it had nothing to do with recognizing a flower, and everything to do with seeing a butterfly. Yes, I had a butterfly flit around my head and almost land on my shoulder as I pedalled along. What a gift. The Monarchs are back and that means the Milkweed must be blooming. I couldn't see any, but I could sure smell them. What a beautiful combination- butterflies, the fragrance of Milkweed and a ride out to the lake.

Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

He who binds to himself a joy
does the winged life destroy
but he who kisses the joy as it flies
lives in Eternity's sun rise.
William Blake

Whatever you are busy doing these days I hope you find time, or take time, to sit quietly and let happiness alight upon you, and you kiss the joy as it flies.

Daydreams

Does anyone know where Jennifer over at Daydreams went? I can't get into her page at all and I am concerned about her. Jennifer if you read this please contact me and let me know how you are doing.

All the time

Goodness Gina, I do it ALL THE TIME!

If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog.

Time for a shower

I was over visiting Katt at Bamboo Shade the other day, and found this quote that reached out and grabbed me.

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life".
~Pable Picasso

I am feeling rather dusty and dry in spirit from all the packing I have been doing in this hot humid weather and I long to pick up a paint brush and take a nice long shower. I packed my paints away yesterday and dreamed of opening them up in my new house. What fun it will be to start a new project once I get there. Oh I can almost feel that cool water washing over my spirit already. Just thinking about painting again makes me feel better.

In the meantime a sponge bath of music will have to do. Turn up the volume and splash, splash, splash!

H H H

Hot! Humid! Hazy! Yes it is summer here in Southwestern Ontario and I am melting. Help!

We have the house closed up tight and the air conditioning on during the hottest part of the day, but it still feels like an oven in here when I am up to my ears in cardboard and packing materials. I have fans going full blast in the room where I am working at the moment, but I am still melting and am sure AC is going to come in and find just a puddle on the floor where once I stood.

Time to take a break and cool off a bit. The fan is trained right on me and a tall glass of ice water is at the ready. Ahhhhh, that's better. Let the cardboard and packing material wait for a bit I need to escape for awhile.

I enjoyed my morning coffee out on the front deck this morning and that was good for my spirit. I sat under the shade of the huge Linden tree and drank in the beauty of it along with my coffee. I needed that long refreshing drink that only nature can give me.

At the end of a busy day yesterday we sat out on the back deck and watched fire flies play tag in the flower beds. Ah, another deeply refreshing draft for my spirit.

I hope you find a cool refreshing oasis in the world around you during this heat wave too, and you drink deeply whenever you can.

To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.
Jane Austen

Ring those bells

Yesterday, when I heard the news about the bombings in London, I was reminded of the day a few years ago when I was listening to a CBC radio program after a horrible car bombing in Israel. The radio reporter was talking to a Jewish lady about this terrible act and he asked her how she managed to go on with everyday activities and not be paralyzed by fear. She quoted words from a song by Leonard Cohen, and they stopped me in my tracks.

Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the life gets in.
Leonard Cohen

She said to the reporter, “You Ring the bells that still can ring and you go on. “

I think of the people in London today and send them my thoughts and prayers. My heart hurts for you and I pray that you will be able to ring the bells that still can ring and find the strength and courage to go on.

Cardboard and Cobwebs II

Yes, that perfectly describes my day yesterday. I was up to my ears in cardboard and cobwebs in the basement ALL day. And do you want to know something? It actually felt pretty good. Amazing huh? I had an encounter with cardboard and cobwebs last year too, and wrote about it here. That was a false start, but this time it is the real deal. Our house has been sold and we have a moving date to meet.

Once I got past the feelings of panic over this move and the mountain of "stuff" I have to sort through and pack, I started to feel a great sense of release and freedom about cleaning things out and downsizing. We road our bikes past the big opulent houses by the lake the other day and I realized that my spirit felt the same way as my body did as we road along. I looked at the big gardens and fancy lawn furniture and pools and I felt as if I was breezing away from all the things I had to dust, wash, paint, cut, weed, oil, trim, deadhead, and generally care for. It made me feel light and free.

This move to a much smaller house with almost no outside maintenance fills me with joy and freedom. I am loving the very thought of going to Riverwood this fall and not facing hours of work getting the house and garden ready to leave. Oh joy!

I have a mountain of work to do between now and moving day on August 29th, but I am finding joy in the anticipation of what I am going to instead of sorrow at what I am leaving behind. I am even enjoying sorting through my "stuff". With each box I send to the Goodwill, I feel like I am giving my girls a gift because I am doing this instead of leaving it for them to do without me one day. You can read about my Pack Rat tendencies here. This sorting and cleaning really needs to happen.

I have really enjoyed this free morning to read blogs and write a bit in the middle of this huge task before me. What a treat. I ran out of boxes yesterday afternoon and the car was in the shop, so we couldn't go get more. We thought we might go out for a bike ride but the sky opened up and rain poured down on us, so a glorious free morning stretched out in front of me like a gift to be unwrapped. I have enjoyed peeling back each piece of tape and ripping off the paper. Alas, it is now almost noon, the car is back from the shop and the day marches forward, so I must put this gift aside and get back to work.

I will write again on the next rainy day.

Talk to you all later.

Do you think the grass is growing so wild and thick for its own life? Do you think the cutting is the ending, and not, also, a beginning?
Mary Oliver

What joy that each ending is also a new beginning.

Sunday Morning

Good morning all. I just puttered upstairs with my first cup of coffee of the day to check email and blogs before rushing headlong into the rest of my day. I hit Sage to see who had a new post and started checking each one. What a nice way to start the day.

Oh, it is so nice to be back home and in a bit of routine again. Life spins at an ever increasing rate of speed, as we prepare for our move, but I think I have my footing again. The Sold sign went up last night, so that "I" has been dotted nicely. Whew! I got two bookcases packed, and two loads of "stuff" delivered to the Goodwill on Friday, and AC and I even got out for a nice ride on the bikes, so life is good.

The sun is shining again today and the hot humid temps are visiting another part of the country, so we will hit the bike trails again this morning and tackle another bookcase or two this afternoon. First things first after all.

Well I must run, but will talk to you all later. Heather over at Fumbling for Words posted an excellent blog this morning. Go and have a look at it.

Oh it is so good to be back and visiting with you all again. I have missed chatting with you all each day and feel hugged and loved by all your kind welcome back comments. Thanks.

Enjoy the sunshine today, I know I will.

I send you my thoughts - the air between us is laden. My thoughts fly in at your window, a flock of wild birds."
Sara Teasdale