Happy Birthday Eli!

Can you believe that my gorgeous little grandson is four years old today?!  I certainly can't. Just where have those four years gone?  It really is quite frightening how quickly the time is passing by.  Has it always been so, or is it just that the general pace of life is just so much more frantic these days?

Whilst I am grateful to be in the stage of life that I am at the moment, a stage which I am enjoying enormously, with all the freedom it brings, with not having to get up with the alarm clock to go to work each morning, and no more running around after the children (!) or worrying what they were getting up to (!), I certainly don't like the thought that most of my life is now behind me :(  Oh dear, now that's not a very uplifting thought to be boring you with on this Saturday, is it?!  

I shall just carry on being silly, slapping the make up on to make sure that I can look as good as I possibly can, and generally trying to bring a smile to peoples' faces.

Talking about 'smiles', I saw this on a friend's facebook page a couple of days ago and thought at the time, how true it is, so I thought I would share it with you.

Wonders why people cannot be kind to one another? Is it really that hard to share a smile? A hello? How are you? Maybe a hug for those in need of their spirits being up lifted. Maybe even a prayer said in silence. Be the difference in someone's life today! You could change their whole world! Spread a little love it can't hurt. Blessings and don't forget you might be someone's sunshine.:)

Meanwhile, here are a couple of photos of my little boy, taken this week, as he was trying on his new school uniform.  Although he is only four today, he starts big school in September! Far too young in my opinion.  Bless!!  They always used to start school in the Term nearest to their fifth birthday but, for some reason, they now only have one intake a year.  Why is that I wonder.  Obviously, Eli is going to be the youngest in his class, whereas when Ruby starts school, she will be the oldest, as she will be almost five.  It doesn't make sense to me.  Hey ho! What do I know?!

He did go up to have a look around his new 'big' school last week.  When they arrived back home, he said to his mummy, "it's very nice, but I think I'll just carry on going to pre-school."  Bless!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.  I'm delighted to say that I am feeling a little less tired and weak with every passing day now, so I'm sure I will soon be back to normal.  Whatever 'normal' is!!

The Smell Of Rain ....

A cold March wind danced

around the dead of night in

Dallas as the doctor walked

into the small hospital room

of Diana Blessing. She was

still groggy from surgery.

Her husband, David, held her

hand as they braced

themselves for the latest

news.

 Complications had

forced Diana, only 24-weeks

pregnant, to undergo an

emergency Cesarean to

deliver the  couple's new

daughter, Danae Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and

weighing only one pound

nine ounces, they already

knew she was perilously

premature.

Still, the doctor's soft words dropped

like bombs.

"I don't think she's going to

make it," he said, as kindly as

he could.

"There's only a 10-percent

chance she will live through

the night, and even then, if by

some slim chance she does

make it, her future could be a

very cruel one"

Numb with disbelief, David

and Diana listened as the

doctor described the

devastating problems Danae

would likely face if she

survived.

She would never walk, she

would never talk, she would

probably be blind, and she

would certainly be prone to

other catastrophic conditions

from cerebral palsy to

complete mental retardation,

and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say.

She and David, with their 5-

year-old son Dustin, had long

dreamed of the day they

would have a daughter to

become a family of four.

Now, within a matter of

hours, that dream was

slipping away.

But as those first days

passed, a new agony set in

for David and Diana.

Because Danae's

underdeveloped nervous

system was essentially 'raw',

the lightest kiss or caress

only intensified her

discomfort, so they couldn't

even cradle their tiny baby

girl against their chests to

offer the strength of their

love.

All they could do, as Danae

struggled alone beneath the

ultraviolet light in the tangle of

tubes and wires, was to pray

that God would stay close to

their precious little girl.

There was never a moment

when Danae suddenly grew

stronger.

But as the weeks went by,

she did slowly gain an ounce

of weight here and an ounce

of strength there.

At last, when Danae turned

two months old. her parents

were able to hold her in their

arms for the very first time.

And two months later, though

doctors continued to gently

but grimly warn that her

chances of surviving, much

less living any kind of normal

life, were next to zero, Danae

went home from the hospital,

just as her mother had

predicted.

Five years later, when Danae

was a petite but feisty young

girl with glittering gray eyes

and an unquenchable zest for

life, she showed no signs

whatsoever of any mental or

physical impairment. Simply,

she was everything a little girl

can be and more. But that

happy ending is far from the

end of her story.

One blistering afternoon, near her

home in Irving, Texas, Danae

was sitting in her mother's lap

in the bleachers of a local ball

park where her brother

Dustin's baseball team was

practicing.

As always, Danae was

chattering nonstop with her

mother and several other

adults sitting nearby, when

she suddenly fell silent.

Hugging her arms across her

chest, little Danae asked, "Do

you smell that?"

Smelling the air and detecting

the approach of a

thunderstorm, Diana replied,

"Yes, it smells like rain."

Danae closed her eyes and

again asked, "Do you smell

that?"

Once again, her mother

replied, "Yes, I think we're

about to get wet. It smells like

rain."

Still caught in the moment,

Danae shook her head, patted

her thin shoulders with her

small hands and loudly

announced,

"No, it smells like Him.

It smells like God when you

lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes

as Danae happily hopped

down to play with the other

children.

Before the rains came, her

daughter's words confirmed

what Diana and all the

members of the extended

Blessing family had known, at

least in their hearts, all along.

During those long days and

nights of her first two months

of her life, when her nerves

were too sensitive for them to

touch her, God was holding

Danae on His chest and it is

His loving scent that she

remembers so well.

Angel of Miracles

Some Good Tips for Us Seniors today!!

I thought I would put my recuperation period to good use, so I've come up with some Lovemaking tips for all of us bloggies of a certain age! I have tried several of them myself, so I know they work!! Eeeek!!

Wear your glasses, to make sure that your partner is actually in the bed.

Set timer for 3 minutes, in case you doze off in the middle.

Set the mood with lighting - turn them all OFF!

Make sure you put 999 on your speed dial before you begin.

Write partner's name on your hand in case you can't remember.

Use extra Polygrip, so that your teeth don't end up under the bed.

Make all the noise you want ..... the neighbours are deaf too.

If it works, call everyone you know with the good news!

Don't even think about trying it twice ......

OLD is when your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs and make love", and you answer, "Pick one. I can't do both."

OLD is when your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes, and you're actually barefoot.

OLD is when going 'bra-less' pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.

OLD is when you don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.

Well my dear friends, I hope that some of these brought a smile to your face today.

HUGS!

I Must Have Slept With Around .....

Well, as you can see, I'm back! Hi everyone - I do hope that you are all well in your little corner of the world.  I feel that I've been out of the loop for so long, that I did wonder whether it was too late to come back at all!!  Anyway, here goes ....

I must have slept with around 46 different people in the past month, which is quite surprising really, because I am such a good little soul!  You're probably wondering what I'm talking about.  Well, I am referring of course to my sustained stay in Hospital.  Six beds in a Ward, people coming and going all the time, and I must have been shunted around to about six different Wards, so the number of people that I have slept with is probably rather higher than I thought.  

Let me tell you something, everybody snores!! It might be loud snores, or quiet little snores, or snores that you feel like chucking a pillow at the person making that particular noise! Suffice it to say, I didn't get too much sleep during that time.

Fortunately, I am now home again, mostly just resting and doing very little at all, as I just don't have the energy.  I am very much hoping that it is onwards and upwards from now on.  My big regret is that I had to cancel the holiday to Rhodes with my granddaughter, which was due to take place on the 11th July (I can't fly for eight weeks), but we are now looking to go somewhere hot at the end of October, so all is not lost.

I'm hoping to start visiting you all again in the next few days, as I'm anxious to see what you have been up to.  Although, to be honest, my blog page keeps telling me that I'm not following any Blogs at the moment.  I have tried re-starting the computer, but to no avail at the moment.  Hopefully it will sort itself out.

Wordless Wednesday (Jubilee Celebrations)

Royal Photos all courtesy of the BBC.

Sunday Snaps!

Ooops! I'm all behind with my Sunday Snaps today.  Desperation is starting to creep in, so much so that I am now actually starting to trawl through my holiday snaps.

"Oh no!" I hear you cry - "Not the dreaded holiday snaps!"

Most of my older (and I use that word very loosely) bloggy friends will know that I absolutely adore everything about Italy, and have been there many times.  It's actually been far too long since I was last there, so I really must do something about it next year.  Lake Maggiore is one place that I haven't been to, and the lakes in Italy are just so wonderful, that I think that must be my next port of call.

So, today, I have chosen some snaps of Venice and I hope you enjoy them.

Well, I couldn't resist this one, could I?!

Herself in St Mark's Square

Hubby and I, and I just can't believe how slim I look there.  I took hubby there for his 50th birthday, so this was 18 years ago. Eeeek!!

This is Florians - a very famous cafe right in St Mark's Square and, believe me, there is nothing better than sitting outside with a cappuccino and a lovely little pastry, listening to the music and just watching the world go by!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the trip to Venice with me and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Arriverderci!

Another New Book Release from a Crazy Blogging Friend

Hi again everyone!  I wasn't due to write a post today but news reached me that yesterday (the 1st June) as a very special day for one of my very special (and crazy! Yes, crazy!!) bloggy friends, Melynda over at Crazy World, as her second book entitled "More Nonsense" was published.

I have read a preview of this new book and it promises to be even funnier than her original which was entitled "Just Nonsense" - you can see that there's a theme going on here - right?!  Anyway, if you just type Melynda's name into Amazon, all will be revealed. (Well, the books anyway!).

Melynda writes a very funny blog, and really is a complete inspiration to all who know her.  I'm sure she would love it if you popped over to say 'hi' and tell her that her Dopey friend from Devon sent you over!

Meanwhile, I am off to order my own personal copy of "More Nonsense" as I guarantee that it will bring a smile to my face, having read the first book.

Bye for now and see you again soon.