Summers End....

The view from my front door....

places me

beneath a Robellini Palm umbrella.

I see the pink and purple leaves,

of  the  Hawaiian Ti plants, and then a sea of

yellow and green Schefflera.

A large basket setting by the door,

has  pale green Coleus plants,

now gone to seed......showing tiny delicate

lavender blooms, finally...... 

-

I hope your having a good weekend.

Keep looking for His blessings....

they're all around you.

Dee Dee

Violin Lessons

Living vicariously through my grandchildren.

-

I've heard the good news, that

violin lessons have resumed.

As a lover of music, 

 I take great pleasure in and revere

many of the

 great composers of classical

music. I look forward to hearing

from the young violins

the  music of Bach, Mozart,

Beethoven and certainly Schubert.

It will happen with encouragement

and complete devotion to learning.

In the children....

already,

I perceive

considerable talent.

With grandmotherly pride,

I am quite enthusiastic about

their musical future.

-

Life is good....Dee Dee

Think On This

Unless in the first waking moment of the day

you learn to fling the door wide back and let

God in, you will work on a wrong level all day;

but swing the door wide....and pray to your

Father...and every public thing will be stamped

with the presence of God.

~A Continual Feast-Jan Karon

-

Blessings.....Dee Dee

Appreciating Our Nurses....

Florence Nightingale is often remembered as "the lady with the lamp" from making the rounds at night, while attending the wounded during the Crimean War.

-
Lo! in that hour of misery
A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
and flit from room to room.
~Longfellow
-

She was a warrior in her own rights, demanding decent medical care for Britain's soldiers. Her battle ultimately revolutionized Western medicine itself with her specializing in hygiene and sanitation. Nightingale laid the foundations of professional nursing, with the establishment in 1860 of her school of nursing at St Thomas Hospital in London.
A woman of deeply religious convictions, she believed the betterment of health services throughout Britain, was her divine calling.

-

These past few weeks,

I've been reminded of this "Angel of Mercy."

Ms Nightingale would be proud of those
that have followed in her footsteps.

Not only do they tend  to the sick and afflicted
they do so much more.....
Their caring and devotion to their patients
are apparent, seen in transparent

 hearts,  that are filled with pity,

compassion and

yes love......
-

 I've  heard it in their voices,  and have seen it in their eyes.

I have encountered them during my illness,

and they all  have the same thing

in common......

they care.

-

"I am of certain convinced, that the

 greatest heroes

are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs

 whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel."

~Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910

-

Appreciating our nurses....
Blessings...Dee Dee

Extreme Composition

Did you ever see a place more lovelier?

-

Favorite colors

compiled together....

orange

...umber...beige...turquoise

fuchsia white lavender.

-

Great architectural design.

Wonderful

old columns.....hints of

Roman design.

Wrought iron....

-

Walls stacked high

with heavy

pink stones.

-

What do you see?

I see

 composition......

that brings pleasure to

my visual senses.

An

arrangement in

extreme

artistic form.

-

Let's just say, I'm a

window-box kind of gal. Sigh.....

-

Thinking happy thoughts....Dee Dee

Photo...Google Images

Shabby Chic Memories

It hasn't been that long ago,

that I was caught up in

"Shabby Chic" style decor

 for my home.

My partner in this little endeavor was

my youngest daughter.  We had

ever so much fun and strived to

be and live like Rachel Ashwell.

It lasted about a year, and then we settled down

and got back to normal, as the Mister would say.

It was hard for some  of my family and friends

to understand, how it was that I could place furniture

in my home that had been "distressed." or shabbied.

New life to old things, became my moto and my passion.

It was during this time,

that I did the Saturday morning yard sale

route.  I called it "treasure hunting."

Bonding mother and daughter time,  took

place at antique shows and estate sales.

And then, one day,

almost

as quickly as it had begun,

it was over.
-

As I placed fresh flowers on the bedside

table this morning, I stood for a moment

or two and gazed at  two items

from my Shabby Chic days.....two items

I've been unable to part with.....

I like calling them

sweet mementos.

A small antique blue mirror, slightly

distressed and

 a sweet little l940's

dresser mirror.

They still seem at home for now, but

perhaps when the blue bedroom color is one day changed,

they'll no longer have the same attraction.

Hmmm.....remembering my Shabby Chic days....

Blessings....Dee Dee

......Susan Branch