A Triple Bonus

It's over, done, complete and the only evidence remaining are the leftovers.  And who doesn't like leftover turkey day nibblings.  And yes, it was a near perfect day.  Cold, but sunny....the aroma of turkey baking in the oven, a football game on TV, lots of loudness from both humans & animals...Cinder definitely did not like Mac (the Huskie) and she let him know by her growls that she wanted absolutely no part of him.  The little princess's kingdom had been invaded by not one but two strange dogs....and no amount of growling or barking convinced either of them to leave.

My daughter was a godsend in the kitchen, helping me with the remaining cooking, and my son & daughter-in-law and grandson & granddaughter-in-law...did the clean up. If you dislike (HATE) cleaning up the Thanksgiving dinner mess as much as I do, then you know what a blessing that was.

Family pictures were taken and I don't know what in the world I was thinking (I am blaming it on the excitement of having my entire family with me and the stress of my sweetie being in the hospital....I just have to place blame somewhere) but I guided everyone right out into the middle of the sun, in the middle of the day.  Now how smart was that???  I think I was also worried about the temperature since it was hovering around 30 degrees and no-one had their coats on.  I am disappointed in the pictures because of the brightness, but it's all my fault, dang it.  Bright spots, shadows, and squinting oh me oh my....but I love every uncooperative dog, every squint, every blink, every bright spot and shadows because this is my family, this is love.

My sweetie was released from the hospital today returning once again to the nursing home facility. He was in much better spirits and I even got a smile, a hug, and "I love you" from him today.  That makes my heart sing when I get a smile, a hug and a "I love you" a triple bonus.   For all of this I am grateful.

Hope your holiday weekend is filled with joy and left-overs....!!

"Expressed affection is the best of all methods to me when you want to light a glow in someone's heart and to feel it in your own,"  ~  Ruth Stafford Peale

PS  If you hop over to my collaborative blog Focusing On Life, I shared one of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes today.....

Sharing with

Until next time.....

One Step At A Time....

Yesterday morning as I was doing and planning my busy couple of days ahead, grocery shopping, turkey dinner prep, setting the table (with my newly purchased particle board), putting clean sheets on the beds, you know all that stuff that needs or you want to get done before the BIG DAY, feeling so blessed, however my blessed feeling suddenly made an about face and instead of feeling blessed, I was feeling stressed.

The phone rang at 8:30 AM, and checking the caller ID prior to answering (I always do that, too many unwanted calls from solicitors) I recognized the number was from the nursing facility where my sweetie is residing.  You know that pit that you get in your stomach when you know this might not be a call you want to receive, well that instinct was right.  The caller said that my sweetie had suffered a seizure and they were sending him to the hospital.  WHAT??!!  A seizure, never has happened before.

So without going into any of the details, brain scan was fine, blood work was fine, but he is in the hospital because he has would you believe it....another Urinary Tract Infection.  Now a UTI literally wipes my sweetie out, it has devastating effects on him, as well as many other elderly people, especially Dementia patients.  The Emergency Room Dr. suspects that he may not have had a seizure, but a reaction to the UTI.  But back in the hospital he is, confused, agitated and obviously uncomfortable.

I left the hospital after the diagnosis and while he was waiting to be transferred to a room, I went to Trader Joe's to buy all those extremely, delightful, delicious, and tempting goodies they always have during the holidays to delight my family on Thanksgiving.  Everyone else must have had the same idea, because the aisle were jammed.  Back home and after emptying the bags of groceries, I called to find out if my sweetie had been assigned a room, yep, just left.

OK finish making out grocery list for final trimmings and eating a very late lunch on the run,  I was off to the hospital, finding him still agitated.  I was there to feed him, and spend time with him, talking to the nurses, asking if maybe they could give him a little something to calm him down until the medicine kicks in to relieve some of his discomfort.  Done....now I am off for that second trip to the grocery store.

Oh brother, by the time I arrived home, emptied the car, put everything away, I was EXHAUSTED, crying exhausted, waves of weariness washed over me.  Do you ever get that way, just so dang tired and overwrought with things that crash into your heart that you just cry?  I know he will be well taken care of, it is just so difficult to see him when he is in such discomfort and not understanding what's going on.

I fixed a cup of coffee, heated up a chocolate donut (chocolate has a way of making things seem better) sat in my "hush harbor chair" with both kids on my lap (now that is no small feat since Toby is a little large for my lap) both giving me the lovin' I needed at that moment.

Picked up Sarah Ban Breathnach's book, Simple Abundance, turned to the page dated yesterday and it was just the chapter I needed to read.

   All shall be well
   And all shall be well
   And all manner of things shall be well

And yes, the sun does come up every day, with new possibilities both good & not so good, but life does go on, and I take it one step at a time....for that I am grateful.

Until next time....

I Found An Angel At Home Depot...

OK, you know that my whole family will be here for Thanksgiving, right (altho my sweetie will be here in spirit only)....and my dining room is rather smallish...in fact my living room - dining room is just one big room and not really all that big anyway.  The only thing that separates each room is furniture.  So I am trying to figure out how I could possibly fit the 9 of us around my dining room table that really only seats 6 comfortably.  And since this is our first, since my son got married, Thanksgiving together I didn't think a "kids table" in the family room would be the answer, in fact it wasn't even a consideration.  So what to do??  Well, I came up with this brilliant idea, I do that sometimes, not often but sometimes....to just place a large piece of plywood on top of my existing table and extend the size of it.  So I called Home Depot and talked to this really nice guy on the phone....you know, "let your fingers do the walking" before making a trip because the closest Home Depot is about 30 minutes, OK 20 minutes if my foot gets heavy on the accelerator. He suggested instead of plywood, particle board, it's sturdier and smoother than plywood.

OK, plan in action...drive to Home Depot, then what.  The particle board is 48x96 way, way to big for my car.  OK I was really thinking hard about how I was gonna get this large board home....probably going to have to bribe one of the kids across the street to drive down and pick it up.

As I entered the store a man with a Home Depot Orange vest just happened to be walking by the front door, how many times does that happen??  I asked him if he could show me where the particle board was.  He was guiding me to the spot just as another man was trying to load two pieces onto a cart, struggling, the Home Depot guy rushed over to help him before he and the boards toppled over.  As I see this big burly man struggling, I am thinking, Deanna what in the world were you thinking....no way on God's green earth are you going to be able to handle this. So you know, shy me, began talking to both of them, explaining my Thanksgiving table plan and they both agreed that it was a grand idea, but there was no way I could possibly get it into my car.  Mr. Home Depot man asked me where I lived and then instructed me to go to the Pro-Contractor Counter and tell them my tale and ask them for any "suggestions" they may have for me.  He just repeated that again....ask them for any "suggestions" they could give me for getting this home.

OK, I will do as instructed.  Walked up to the contractor's counter, an Asian lady was ringing up the purchases from an Hispanic man's cart filled with obviously stuff he needed for a job he was completing.  Now, neither one spoke clear English, the Asian lady had a very heavy accent as well as the Hispanic man, but they were both conversing together with no problem, I seemed to be the one with the problem of understanding.  The Asian lady asked if she could help me, and I explained to her what Joe (yes, I knew the orange vest guy's name, so observant that I am, it clearly was printed on his name tag) said about any "suggestions" they might have in helping me get this particle board home.  She looked at me rather oddly, which I would have done the exact same thing, and I repeated it again.  With that, the Hispanic man asks me where I lived, I told him and he said, no problem, he was going that way, he had a truck and would gladly drive it home for me.  The Asian lady says...."Lorenzo's a good guy." so they obviously knew each other.

We loaded up and I led the way with Lorenzo and my particle board in his truck behind me. As I was driving home, I began thinking about what a kind gesture for this man who had never set eyes on me before, did for me out of the goodness of his heart...we talk about angels around us and he was just the angel I needed at that very moment.  I was really touched by his kindness, in fact it brought tears to my eyes.  I was trying to wipe them away before arriving home, I didn't want Lorenzo thinking I was some silly weepy woman.  But that kind of kindness really tugged at my heart.  We arrived at my home, he backed into the driveway, unloaded it into the garage, making sure it would not tip and was ready to leave when I handed him some money.  He really did not want to take it, seemed totally surprised when I offered it.  I asked if he was married, yes, then I said, take your wife out to lunch, he kinda rolled his eyes, got in his truck and my angel drove away.  For the angels who find us when we need them the most, for that I am grateful.

I still had grocery shopping and more errands to complete so off I went again, stopping long enough to snap a couple of pics of the snow that was falling.  It tends to make everything look a little magical and I was in that light-hearted mood after my particle board angel happening.

  
Within a week I have had a Leaf Fairy rake all my leaves and an angel appear with a truck...can't get much better than this....for these moments in my life I am truly thankful and blessed!!

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."~  Marcel Proust 

Linking to Kim's 

Until next time....

  

My Attempt At Flashiness....

I am up to my  elbows and earlobes with stuff to do this week.  Decided to finally make a list...now I am and never have been a list-maker, I have always depended upon my brain to remember everything that needed to be remembered (except ofcourse grocery shopping) but woe is me, the brain has become way way overloaded with menu plans, table decor, stuff to put away (out of sight) stuff to buy, the pure joy of having my whole family together, that I thought it might be a good idea to make that list and check it twice....gonna find out whose naughty or nice, oh wait that's another story.

Anyhoos....I have a couple of pics left from one of my ventures to the Arboretum that I will share today, and then I am off in a flash.  Who am I kidding, I don't do anything in a flash, but I gotta try awful hard this week to put on my "super-woman" suit and get stuff done.  So for a full week ahead and my attempts at "flashiness" I am grateful.

This is such a magical place....too bad all that beautiful color is now gone for the year.  But it was a pure delight while it lasted.

 
"We are not given a good life or a bad life. We are given life. And it's up to you to make it good or bad." -- Ward Foley 

Hope your week is just full of "thanks" and "giving"

Until next time....

Hitting The Bottom....

"We usually feel emotionally we are hitting bottom but as we hit

the bottom, we fall through a trap door into a bright new world -

the realm of spiritual truth.  Only by moving fully into the 

darkness can we move through it into the light."

~  Shakti Gawain

When I finally felt as if I had hit the bottom as I struggled with caring for both my elderly Mother and my sweetie who was descending further and further into the darkness of dementia, and felt I couldn't do anything more I walked inside my closet, closed the door and cried and screamed silently.  I gave up trying to do it all myself and asked God for that help I so desperately needed.  I needed something beyond myself, and it was then that I began to grow.  

Once I accepted God's help back into my life, I knew that He would be with me with my daily struggles.  I had been angry with God for taking my sweetie from me so early, we had so many years ahead to enjoy together, and that was brought to an end far too quickly.  But that day in the closet, struggling by myself I knew that I needed to let that anger go.  

Life continued to be a struggle, the daily living of a care-giver has tremendous challenges, but I met those challenges and now 5 years later, I feel and see God's blessings through it all.  My Mom did pass away, but she had led a long and fulfilled life, my sweetie is now being well-taken care of in a facility not far from home, and I have a life full of friends, activities, my love of photography, a pleasant home, food on my table, clothes on my back (way too many clothes, I might add) my family who will all be here this week for Thanksgiving, my joyful kids (aka dogs)...life is good and I thank God for all of these blessings and his constant and assuring guidance  And for this I am grateful.  

Until next time.....

Lesson Learned

Once upon a time there was a lady who loved photography...now this lady loved to stage scenes that she thought would photograph well.  One particular scenario she decided to arrange for a Fall image, a large pumpkin posed on an old antique chair, was, in her mind, thought to be the perfect Fall still life.  However, before the lady photographed this "near perfect" Fall scene this happened....

Now she wondered what happened to her "perfect Fall scene".....the perfect pumpkin had been plundered, pilfered and plucked beyond recognition.  Looking around she spied who she imagined might be the pincher.....

Giving up on her dreams of the Fall Photograph, she aimed her camera at another subject, the "almost, without a doubt" pillager of the pumpkin.  Trying desperately to catch him in the act, she followed his every move.....

She could almost see his tongue ready to feast upon the remains of the "perfect Fall pumpkin"

 
But do you think that suspected pirate of pumpkins would go near the scene of the crime??  No way, he just sat and enjoyed the fruits of his earlier piracy without a care in the world.

Scampering back up the tree with an "oh so innocent" look on his face, without even coming close to the pumpkin, the lady decided the "stake-out" to catch the thief burglarizing in action was over. She would now have to find another perfect Fall scene to capture on her camera devoid of the pumpkin.

Lesson learned....do not leave a perfect pumpkin on antique chair in the middle of the yard that is known to be inhabited by snitching squirrels that pillage and plunder...enough said.  For that I am grateful.

Until next time....

I Was There.....

Fifty years ago today, I can't believe it has been 50 years, I can't possibly be that old,  I was there when President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, TX.  I was engaged to be married to my sweetie, our wedding date was the following January, so I opted not to return to school that September, instead to get a job and make a little money prior to getting married.

I worked for a professional campaign group to raise money for research for childhood Leukemia.  It was the ideal job, and rather interesting to be a part of such a worthy cause, and because it was only 6 months in length it ended just prior to my wedding date....perfect.  We were headquartered in temporary office space in downtown Dallas, just a block or two away from where the Presidential Motorcade was scheduled to appear.  It was lunchtime and a co-worker and I decided we would try and make our way thru the crowds to get a glimpse of President & Mrs. Kennedy prior to eating lunch.

Well, you can imagine the masses of people that were lining the streets prior to our arrival.  There was no way we could see with crowds being 10-12 people deep.  But, to our luck a large delivery truck had stopped on the side-street right in back of the crowd.  He was sitting behind his wheel and I could tell from the height of his truck he had the perfect spot to see over all the tall heads.  Never being the shy one, I politely asked if we could climb up and stand on the running boards..."ofcourse", he replied.  It wasn't but a few short minutes later that we could hear and then see the beginnings of the motorcade, horns honking, cheers, flags waving and then almost in a blink the car with the President and Mrs. Kennedy sped past and all the excitement was over.  They seemed to be traveling exceptionally fast but I do remember the pink suit and hat that Jackie Kennedy was wearing that day.

We thanked the truck driver, climbed down and hurried into the restaurant across the street from our office.  We ate a quick lunch, already running late to return to work, and as we hurried out of the restaurant a man was walking down the street with a portable radio.  He had a frightful look on his face and then began to yell, "the President has been shot".  No, we just saw him, how could that be??

As we returned to work, radios were on, someone found a TV and sure enough, just a few blocks from where we were waving and cheering the President shots rang out, hitting President Kennedy and also wounding our Texas Governor John Connally who was riding in the same car.  They were rushed to the closest hospital, where the President was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

Shock was the only way I can describe the emotion that hit us all.  How could this possibly happen? There was no more working that day, businesses immediately shut down, people went home to be with their loved ones.  We all remember where we were in those times when tragedy hits, ie: the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, when the Space Shuttle, Challenger exploded shortly after take-off in 1986, 9-11-2001...we all remember certain events in our lifetimes, and where we were when it occurred.

So today, I am grateful for those memories, the thrill of being part of that crowd that cheered and hailed the President of the United States, followed by the feelings of shock and despair after those shots rang out from the roof of the Book Depository Building.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."  ~  John F. Kennedy

Sharing with Kim at

Until next time....

Now I Am A Book Snob!!

I am very fortunate that I live in a town that has an independent book store.  Last night I attended a book review of good books for book groups...an event that occurs a couple of times a year and is presented by two of the ladies that work at the book store and actually read the books that they recommend.  Now I say that because many times if you go into a "big chain" store ala Barnes & Noble and ask for a recommendation the people there are not actual readers they just shelve books, and take your money. Now I shouldn't put them all into that category because I know there are many that work in large bookstores are readers and can recommend but my experience has been that many are not, or only read whatever happens to be on the "best-seller"  or "popular fiction" list at the moment.  Now James Patterson & Danielle Steele's books hit the best-seller lists almost as soon as they are published but I wouldn't call any of their titles book-club worthy discussions or consider them literary fiction.  Oh dear, now not only am I a pumpkin snob, but it sounds like I am a book snob as well.  I guess when I was younger, "those" books appealed to me, but as I grow older and appreciate a good story and a well written book I no longer read what is on the "best-seller" list.

Anyhoo, last night we were presented with a list of their latest picks and I thought I would share these with you today.  I love it when people share and recommend good books.  All of these are in paper-back, are great discussion books for those of you in book-clubs and are in no particular order.

Fiction

• THE STORYTELLER by Jodi Picoult (wondering how to pronounce her last name? "PeeKo"
• THE SILENT WIFE by A.S.A. Harrison
• FLIGHT BEHAVIOR by Barbara Kingsolver
• I AM FORBIDDEN by Anouk Markovits
• MRS. LINCOLN'S DRESSMAKER by Jennifer Chiaverini
• ARCHIPELAGO by Monique Roffey
• SCHRODER by Amity Gaige
• DEAR LIFE by Alice Munro - short stories
• MRS QUEEN TAKE THE TRAIN by William Kuhn
• ROUND HOUSE by Louise Erdrich
• ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline
• THE DINNER by Herman Koch
• TIGERS IN RED WEATHER by Liza Klaussman
• THE LIFEBOAT by Charlotte Rogan
• THE TWELVE TRIBES OF HATTIE by Ayana Mathis
• THE LOWER RIVER by Paul Theroux
• HOUSE GIRL by Tara Conklin

Non-fiction

• SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE by Laura Bates
• THE WARMTH OF OTHERS SUNS by Isabel Wilkerson
• THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB by Will Schwalbe
• THE INVISIBLE THREAD by Laura Schroff
• THE BOY IN THE MOON by Ian Brown
• QUIET by Susan Cain
• I NEVER PROMISED YOU A GOODIE BAG Jennifer Gilbert

And a couple of hardcover recommendations - 

• THE RETURNED by Jason Mott (the author was working in a Verizon store when he wrote this book and shorty after it was published it was picked up by Brad Pitt's production company to film a mini-series based on this book, needless to say, Jason quit his day job) 
• MUD SEASON by Ellen Stimson
• LONGBOURN by Jo Baker (for lovers of Jane Austen and Downton Abby 

Tonight is book club and this month we read THE LIGHT IN THE RUINS by Chris Bohjalian.  It was an OK book, I've read better and it left me unsatisfied.  Does that make sense?  It bounced back and forth between 1943-44 and 1955 in Italy during World War II when the Germans occupied much of Italy.  I will be interested to hear how the rest of our group liked it.  So for books, and there are many, and for book groups that inspire good discussions I am grateful.

Until next time.....

                   

The Brown is Settling In....and The Leaf Fairy!!

As I was driving to Bible Study this morning, I noticed that the trucks were out gathering the leaves for the Fall pick-ups.  In our community and in many surrounding communities we rake our leaves to curbside and these wonderful trucks with a huge vacuum cleaner attached travel up and down the streets sucking up all those leaves.  Sure wish those giant vacuums could come in my yard and suck up all the leaves so I wouldn't have to do that big chore in raking the leaves to the curb.  I know, I am definitely getting lazier and lazier as age continues to catch up with me.  I did spend time outside yesterday blowing & raking the leaves from the parkway out to the curb, but there was still a whole yard full left to do.  When I came home from Bible Study and running errands today, I was surprised that all the leaves from the front and side yard had been raked and are now in huge piles along the curbside.  It must have been the leaf fairy...is there such a thing?? I strongly believe in guardian angels (I overwork mine all the time) but leaf fairies are quite new to me.  I hope you are blessed with a leaf fairy if your yard is as full of leaves as mine was. So today, I am grateful for the leaf fairy, whoever that might be!!  And for those giant vacuums that pick up those leaves that the leaf fairy magically cleared from my yard.

There is still some color left on the trees, but a lot of the surroundings have taken on the 6 month brown look.  Now I love brown, it looks especially nice with red or that lovely shade of robins egg blue, but by March brown is no longer a look I love, but right now I'm likin' brown, especially when I can find a red barn for the background.

So what about where you live?  Has brown settled in for the long haul or are you still seeing plenty of color, or maybe Fall hasn't even reached you yet?

And I am apologizing right here, right now, I have been sooo very bad about visiting your lovely blogs and leaving you some love...I have been really, really busy editing photos for the photo shoots I have had lately, trying to organize myself for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday when ALL my children and grandchildren will be here, trying desperately to get ready for our annual Christmas Art Show where I sell my calendars and cards with my photography and keeping up posting daily for my month of gratitude.  And day to day living stuff....forgive me.  You know I will catch up as soon as possible.

And fyi, if any of you make those lovely CD calendars for gifts here is a link to a couple of templates for 2014.  Tracey Clark has one on her "Our Collective Page"  follow this link and click on calendar...it will automatically down load in a zip file.  And Lauri at Pride in Photos also offered a link for one as well, click here 

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite -- only a sense of existence." 

-- Henry David Thoreau 

Until next time....

I Can Hear You Groaning....

I know I can hear you groaning saying...what is she doing already posting Christmas mugs?  Well you know I have a "thing" for mugs & cups, especially Christmas ones.  As I walked through Hobby Lobby picking up some extra ornaments for the Christmas Tree I decorated for one of the "raffle" prizes for the Advent Tea, I came across this little guy.  Now I ask you, how can you resist that?  And ofcourse he was 50% off, even more of an enticement.  Between Hobby Lobby and Home Goods I keep my cupboards overflowing with those irresistible cups and mugs.  Drinking my coffee each morning and afternoon, I delight in sipping that warm drink from a pretty cup or mug, it just makes it taste delumptious and it makes me happy, for that I am grateful.

And yes, my leaves are still on the ground, I have been so busy lately that they are still laying exactly where the fell....and yes, those are my pj's and slippers, after my sketcher's go walks, these are my 2nd favorite foot covering attire.

And  yes, it frosted last night.  Feeling really bad and praying for those that are still without electricity and especially for those that lost their homes in our recent storms...

Linking with Kim for Texture Tuesday....

"Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness."  ~  Kahlil Gibran

Until next time....

The Storm Passed Me By...

As I sit here at my desk writing this post, the wind continues to howl and blow but I am safe and warm while others not too far from here are without power or have lost their homes completely. An unusual November storm pushed and I do mean pushed it's way through the state of Illinois leaving many areas without electricity and others in total devastation.  Wind gusts of 75 miles an hour were recorded not too far from my home.  I was not home when the heart of the storm reached my humble abode, and by the time I arrived home it was dark so I have not had a chance to really survey the property to see if there is any major damage, but as I can tell only small branches from the trees seem to be the only residue.  The "kids" were sure glad when I opened that garage door and entered the house.  I am sure there was some trembling going on while the storm moved through.

Sunday was the day of our church's annual Advent Tea and while driving to this event which was about 25 minutes south of my home I could see the storm clouds moving in...they were rather ominous, great images to capture on camera. The wind was fiercely blowing and I was all "dolled" up for this event so the thought of stopping and taking some pictures was not going to happen, at least if I wanted to look presentable when I arrived at the TEA.  Driving in pouring rain, hail, and wind gusts that shook the car I wondered, "what the heck am I doing out in this?"  Shortly after arriving at the country club (we have moved from the church's basement to a country club, a much nicer venue for a lovely afternoon) the warning signals that a tornado was in the area had us all descending to their basement for safety.  A big screen TV with the BEAR's football game for those that had gathered in the "bar" area for watching kept us informed as to the progress of the storm. Since the storm was moving from the south it hit us first then gradually made it's way to downtown Chicago where the football game was halted and everyone scrambled for safety. Can you imagine trying to clear a football stadium with thousands of fans quickly.

We stayed in the basement for about 45 minutes, the danger eventually passed so our Tea was back on track.  Lovely decorated tables by individual hostesses was a delight for the eyes. Ofcourse I had my camera, didn't stop for the clouds, but sure had fun capturing the beauty of the event.

So there was just a few of the many many pictures I took yesterday of the beautifully decorated tables....each one different, each one with their own individual theme and look....pure eye candy. And after oogling over these beautifully decorated tables we were served a tasty lunch and afterward a lovely spiritual filled program with beautiful singing by a mother-daughter duo (I swear it had to be angels singing) a narration of "Seasons" and a slide show with my images....images of the 4 seasons...I had so much fun putting that group together.

So today my gratitude is overwhelming...1) that the storm passed my home by without damage 2) that I remained safe eventho I drove thru the middle of that terrible storm, 3) that I attended such a beautiful Advent Tea, blessings abound!!

"We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery."  ~ H. G. Wells

Until next time.....