Where Does The Time Go?!

I see that I last wrote a Blog Post on the 21st March, and here we are, almost at the end of April.....my goodness, time passes so much more quickly than it used to.  I suppose it must be because everyone seems to lead such busy lives these days.  I’m sure I’m not the only one that would just like to hold back time. So if that Magic Geni with the lamp suddenly appeared in front of me, that would certainly be one of my three wishes. My second wish would be for my mum and dad to return just for a moment in time, so that I could ask them all the questions I never got round to asking when they were still alive - and my third wish?  It would have to be that all my little family would have healthy and contented lives.

I’ve decided to post a few photos of my garden today - all these photos were taken in the last couple of weeks, and you can see that it has suddenly burst into life once again.  Am I the only one to feel really thankful at the start of each new Season?  Thankful that I am still here to see new life appearing everywhere and to take in the beauty of the garden at this time of year.

One thing is for sure - life is very fragile and precious.  You only have to look at the atrocity that occurred in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 on Easter Sunday.  Easter Sunday of all days.  But then that is why that day was chosen by the terrorists, to cause maximum death and bloodshed with so many people attending  Church Services.  Of course, they also targeted the tourists, which has happened so many times before, elsewhere in the world. Families sitting down for breakfast, and in an instant, half of the family was blown away. These attacks are always indiscriminate- no-one is immune.  I’m thinking here of the Billionaire who lost three of his teenage children.  Wouldn’t he give away every penny, just to be able to hold his children in his arms again?  How do families recover from such terrible losses?  It just doesn’t bear thinking about, does it?

That’s why I always say “I love you” to my children and grandchildren, whenever I see them, or whenever I message them.  You can never say it too often and you can never love them enough.  Never.

I hope you have enjoyed the little snapshot of my garden today, and I’ll be in touch again soon.  Look after yourselves,  wherever you are reading this.

This last image courtesy of Pinterest.com

Thoughts to Ponder

My husband received these thoughts (unattributed) in an e-mail, and he passed them on to me, as he felt that I might like to put them on my Blog. 

Today we have bigger houses and smaller families; More conveniences, but less time;

We have more degrees, but less common sense.  More knowledge, but less judgement;

We have more experts, but more problems.  More medicine, but less well-ness;

We spend too recklessly, laugh too little and drive too fast.

We get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired;

Read too little, watch TV too often and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values;

We talk too much, love too little and lie too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life;

We've added years to life, but not life to years;

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;

Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less;

We buy more, but enjoy it less.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet our new neighbour.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space.

We write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less;

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We have higher incomes, but lower morals;

We are long on quantity, but short in quality.

More leisure, and less fun.  More kinds of food, but less nutrition;

Two incomes, but more divorce; Fancier houses, but broken homes.

This is the paradox of our time today.  That's why I propose that, as of today, you do not keep anything for a special occasion, because every day that you live is a special occasion.

Search for knowledge, read more, sit on your front porch and admire the view, without paying attention to your needs.

Spend more time with your family and friends, eat your favourite foods and visit the places you love.

Let's tell our families and friends how much we love them.

Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life.

Every day, every hour, and every minute is special.  And you don't know if it will be your last.

Blessings

Dear Blog, I had my two young grandchildren here yesterday, and I realized how very blessed I am to have  three healthy grandchildren, who I absolutely love to pieces.  It's an absolute delight when they come running up to you, their little faces beaming because they are so pleased to see you.  I am certainly making the most of my time with them because, I know from my granddaughter who is almost thirteen, that the time passes just so quickly.

  I am very lucky because my eldest granddaughter is also still always very pleased to see me.  I am so very proud of her, because she moved to France with her mum and dad when she was six years old , so everything was very strange for her.  She works very hard at school and gets so much homework - much more than they do over here in England.  She has been speaking french fluently for several years now (she tells me that she even thinks in french) and has also been learning Spanish for the last two years, so she will be trilingual when she leaves school.

I see blessings in all sorts of things during my day.  What is the definition of blessing?  Well, I think it is something that cheers us - it might just be something simple like finding a parking space, contact from a friend, reading a good book, watching the sun set on a beautiful summer's day.  Good surprises really lift our spirits.  They happen frequently, but often get overlooked.

Do not seek Him only amid the stars in the sky,

for it is in the small things of life that you may find God.

As I am talking about blessings, I will quote the following verse which I have on a bookmark. 

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your courage instead of your fears;

Count your laughs instead of your tears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.