Willow House

Rosemary that's for remembrance

The Laurel has done well this month which is more than can be said for ourselves. March has proved a long and difficult time. Earlier in the month one of our oldest and best loved friends, possibly my husbands' best friend, was taken critically ill. He woke with flu like symptoms and within 12 hours was on life support.

For weeks this beloved man has occupied our every waking thought and haunted our dreams as he struggled to live for his darling wife and beautiful little children. Inevitably the impossible, the unthinkable happened, he died.

The Laurel served as part of a floral tribute along with the Rosemary.

Rosemary that's for rememberance. That's for you Sy.

From my "in box"

Dusting                     

Remember...a layer of dust protects the Wood beneath it.

"A house becomes a home when you can write "I love you" on the furniture ."

I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect - "in case someone came over"
Finally I realized one day that no-one came over; they were all out living life and having fun!
NOW, when people visit,  I don't have to explain the "condition" of my home .
                              
They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun.    
If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice.

Life is short.   Enjoy it!
Dust if you must .......
                

but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter,
bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed,
ponder the difference between want and need?!
Dust if you must, but there's not much time . . . .
                              
with beer to drink , rivers to swim and mountains to climb ,
music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead. 
Dust if you must,
                                                         
but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes,  
the wind in your hair,
a flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come around, again.

Dust if you must ,
but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind. . .
                                              
And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!


Share this with all the wonderful friends in your life.
I JUST DID.
It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

A Chest Full of Delights

You know how it is in this virtual bloggish world of ours, we stumble across one another and before we know it we are sharing a part of our lives with each other. Sometime during the summer term Charlotte stumbled across me, it all started with these:

Charlotte found the English Peg Fairies via Etsy while searching for images that she could show to a class of children working on a World War II school project involving papier mache and peg dolls. "Did I mind if she showed the children the pictures?"

Did I mind? I was absolutely delighted and here is just some of the childrens work

Aren't they fab? You can see more of the school project here.

And here is a peg fairy made by Charlotte

Isn't she lovely?

Charlotte is actually a very talented papier mache artist, she makes all sorts of things including puppets and dolls.

She is even happy to show you how to make such wonders yourself, you can check out the tutorial on how to make this mermaid here

Charlotte has her own website here, do pop over and take a look at her work, there are some lovely dolls on it. The site also includes her journal where you can read about her and her families adventures including holidays in such beautiful places as this

I'm sure you'll enjoy getting to know Charlotte and her "Chest Full of Delights" as much as I have.