fff ~ happy times

Friday blessing list time! 

1. A wonderful Mother's Day weekend starting with a romantic dinner with my beloved on Friday. We ate at Sims, a wonderful restaurant in Charlottetown.  Kyle Panton, the award winning chef, is a family friend - we've known him since he was a toddler :)  If you're ever on the Island, and want an exceptional dining experience, make sure to visit Sims. 

2. Saturday was another special day - our daughter in law, Nora, graduated  with her B.Sc. in Nursing. We're so proud of her!

Nora's grad.

She has a proud hubby too!

James&Nora

On Sunday morning this puzzle greeted me over the kitchen sink :)  It was such a fun Mother's Day celebration  - a family barbeque and a noisy game of 10,000. 

3. Exercise I pulled a muscle in my leg bowling - honestly! Talk about feeling old . . .  :) But I've been faithfully doing  Pilates along with some stretching exercises and I'm finally able to sit cross-legged without wincing. This Pilates set on youtube is great - only 20 min long and it really targets the abs. I still can't do everything he does but I'm progressing and my stomach muscles let me know about it! They hurt.  I also pinned an arm toning exercise set. I noticed Ellen.B pinned it too. Let me know how you're doing with it Ellen. I don't know about the 7 days claim - but I measured my arm at the widest part yesterday so I'll report back next week. If you want to join me, let me know in the comments.

4. It's tulip time in Prince Edward Island. It's so lovely to drive by and see the rows of tulips  - like bright ribbons in the sunshine.

tulip time

tulip ribbons

5. Babysitting Josie. I'm so thankful they live close by. Josie and I had a lot of fun playing with blocks - I would build a tower and she would knock it down and then burst into gales of laughter. Oh my - she laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. Wish I could have captured it on video. 

happy girl!

Thanks so much for dropping in this week. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

with love,

PS ~ For more Friday Favourite fun, visit Susanne at Living to Tell The Story.

fff - May 10

Hi and welcome to  Friday Fave 5. I'm counting blessings with Susanne at Living To Tell The Story.

It's been a busy week here with both sad and happy times.

1. Saying thanks, with tears, for the life of Dallas Willard. Biblically deep and insightful, wise and endearing, DW was like the grandfather I always wished I had :)  One of his friends said to be near him was like standing in a ray of sunshine. I could feel that warmth as I read his books and listened to his DVDs and online talks. Hearing God was the first of his books I read - many years ago now. And I've read The Divine Conspiracy several times - just lately with my dear friends Tonia and Beth. What wonderful discussions we've had via email. DW stretched our thinking, enlarged our vision and drew us closer to the One he spoke and wrote about so eloquently. He will be sorely missed. 

Dallas Willard 

2. Springtime blossoms ~ everything is coming alive here and it's such a delight to go out every morning to discover what's new!

forsythia

grape hyacinth

cheery daffodils

Perennial garden coming to life!

3. The final celebration of our 1000 Gifts Women's DVD Study. I'm sad to see it end. What a wonderful group of women!  And such a powerful study! Highly recommended. 

4. Re-reading one of my all time favourite books ~ The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge.

The Scent of Water

I've done something different with this book.  I underlined favourite passages, writing dates and thoughts in the margins. A first for me! I think I've always had a librarian's horror of writing in books - but my sister, who passed away in 2002, always wrote in her favourite books. Now I love coming across something she underlined or reading a note she jotted. It makes her feel so close. The Scent of Water has so many lines and passages that I love - here are just a few . . . 

“…a silver tankard of lilies-of-the-valley stood on an oak chest. The flowers and the polished silver gathered all the light to themselves…”

“There are three necessary prayers and they have three words each. They are these, ‘Lord, have mercy. Thee I adore. Into Thy hands.’ Not difficult to remember. If in times of distress you hold to these, you will do well.”

“Most of us tend to belittle all suffering except our own,” said Mary. “I think it’s fear. We don’t want to come too near in case we’re sucked in and have to share it.”

5. A year in the life of Josephine Mae by Auntie Sarah. She wrote the first song in the video and called it "A Song for Josie". Sweetness!

Hope you enjoyed my favourites this week. Thanks so much for dropping in!

with love,

fff~ loveliness

Loveliness abounds

and I'm giving thanks again

with Susanne

and the Friday Fave friends

at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Sister time ~ rare, precious, priceless!

Deb and me

2. Leaving on a cloudy, cold, driving sleet day and arriving to bright sunshine, sparkling sea and salty scent ~ such a gift!

Ft Lauderdale

3. A sweet welcome home from my beloved! 

4. Spring arrived while I was away.

first daffodil blossom - 2013

5. John's  28th birthday celebration! Wish you were there too Andrew and Hyekoo!

 Some things never change :)

brothers

Thanks so much for coming for a Friday Fave visit. I don't think there are any "surprise" holidays in the near future, so I hope I'll be back to regular blogging! :)

with love and thanks for you,

surprise!

a birthday surprise from my sister

A week of sister time in sunny, warm, Florida.

How long do you think it took me to say yes?

beautiful hibiscus

Well, I hung up from her call at 2 in the afternoon and I was on the plane at 7:30 that evening!

The waves were calling me!

fff ~ hello!

It's been a while since I joined Susanne and friends for Friday's Fave Five and I'm glad to be back. Some very special events have happened over the last while and I couldn't miss documenting them. Plus, I miss you!

Easter Birthday Dayspring

I captured the beautiful dayspring on Easter morning  - perfect timing as I headed over to our sunrise service.

"Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death" (Luke 1:78, 79, NKJV)

birthday flowers

2. Easter was a double blessing this year because it fell on my birthday. I don't ever remember Easter as early as March 31st. We had a wonderful celebration and the kids cooked a delicious Easter/birthday feast for me. My sister Deb sent a lovely bouquet of tulips.  I received birthday roses and a gorgeous orchid plant (my first!)  so the house is filled with spring-time blooms. I love the bright colours and freshness flowers bring into the home.  

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  

3. I was so happy to find these wavy glass flower vases on sale for 94 cents each - what a buy!  And exactly what I had been searching for. They're tall and narrow and prevent the dreaded tulip droop :)

tulip vases

tulip droop

4. Speaking of great buys, I stumbled into the library book sale last week - a dangerous place for a bibliophile :) Thankfully, the prices were terrific - a dollar for hardcovers and 50 cents for paperbacks. Such fun browsing over the tables piled high with books.  I was thrilled to discover these titles!

5. and now for my final favourite - which includes two special birthdays celebrated over the last two weeks. Our youngest son, James, celebrated his 25th birthday and our granddaughter, Josie, had her very first birthday!

James & Josie

Here they are on James' birthday - Josie is looking at herself on James' phone - a favourite past-time. :) A week later the whole clan from both sides gathered to celebrate Josie's special day.

Josie's 1st birthday

Auntie Sarah loves me!

Well . . . I'm so glad to be back the FFF swing of things. I plan to make the FFF rounds over the weekend. Our weather sounds like I may have lots of time to spend online . . .

Severe weather warnings or watches in effect for PEI.

My poor little crocus . . . 

spring blossom

Thanks so much for coming by!

with love,