Springtime !

cold nights and frozen mornings have at last given way to warmth and sunshine... I even saw an artist sitting on a bench down by the river painting ! cherry blossom and magnolia trees beginning to show forth their flowers like nightlights against a dark hedge, or candlflames against a deep blue sky...what have you seen ?

during those few days of lovely sunshine last week I saw beautiful snowdrops and daffodils, as well as all the blossom on our almond tree down the bottom of the garden... but my greatest delight was the group of purple crocus near th front door... as they reminded me straight away of my son as a baby, just beginning to crawl and explore everything... and as soon as he say the grou[ of putple crocus in the middle of his grandparents lawn, of course he began crawling up towards them... only to stop in sudden amazement as he got near enough to notice their brilliant orange centres ! I shall never forget the look on his face : "Oh mummy LOOK...." such excitement awe and wonder ! I can hardly believe Iam now an octogenarian... and I hope I never loose that sense of awe and wonder at the beautiful creation we can enjoy all around us here in Wivenhoe... I hope you enjoy the wonder of Springtime this year too :)

Surprise

Yes... I know its long after Christmas, and Lent begins next week... But... I recently read a rport from Medecins Sans Frontieres that echoed a letter from the Church Mission Society where both organisations were surprised to find the chaos and humanitarian chrisis unfolding again in Sudan and Darfur is not being mentioned in the media at all and too many government cuts in aid recently have severely exacerbated the trauma being inflicted on so many people in this region of Africa... Hence this prayer painting... which I painted well over a decade ago during a similar crisis in Darfur and Sudan...

Our Amazing Doggiewog

Some of you have seen my daughter with her assistance dog since they have both recently come here to live with me...Her dog is very friendly, but when wearing her "assistance dog" outfit she is clearly working ! and needs to be left to get on with her job. Its been quite a revelation for me to see just how sensitive and helpful a dog like this can be... maybe one day I will beocme well trained enough to take her out for a walk too :}... but that is probably some long time in the future! [ dont they say its difficult to teach san old dog new tricks ? Well, I suppose as I'm now an octogenerian, that refers to me :{ OOps !! Oh dear...