WORDS AND PICTURES

Good evening and hello from the Hot Hot Hot City of Adelaide, where the sky is blue and cloudless and there is not much wind but the temperature is high.

I should not complain because we have had a wonderfully cool January and after all this is Australia and this is Summer.

Today was "Lunch on the Lake" day and we boarded the West Lakes Princess and headed for a cruise around the lake.  It was lovely to see the big and showy homes on the edge of the lake and to hear who lived where and to hear how the lake was planned and finally built.    This was not news to me - both John and I had heard plans for this "lake" for many years because we both had lived in the area on the edge of the swamp on which the lake is built .   It was good to view John's family home (albeit from a distance) and to hear descriptions of some buildings.     

We were stunned to hear that Escourt House had been a Nursing Home - Oh No it hasn't ever been that.   It was an annexe of the Children's Hospital and used as a convalescent hospital for children.  I lived two blocks from there and used to go up to The House and read stories to the children.   Thinking of those story days made me think of this quote about storybooks.

How are you writing your story and who is illustrating it ?  

It is lovely to think back of childhood days which both John and I did today - he recalled days of endless summer, playing in the swamp area and running free, recalled the names of neighbours and lots of his story came to mind as he recalled those who had illustrated some pages.

In memory I strayed back to living at Tennyson and leaving home for School and later work with my Father (quite early) because there was not much of a bus service there in those days.  Some of the people who have done illustrations on my pages came into view - men he worked with, girls I went to school with and so many more.

There are soft and beautiful illustrations done by gentle souls who cared and there are dark and grey pages done by not so gentle people.

It is amazing to view the volume of my Storybook, which is quite thick now that I am older and there are many illustrations for the people who have crossed my path.  There are bright and beautiful images and some images of days where the path was not easy, but always that have been people who cared and illustrated and illuminated my life - and I am thankful for them.

I love children's literature and story books and can recall many from my own childhood days?:

These two are clear in my mind:

In my mind I can hear the trains that frightened Black Beauty and I can hear the wind in the Pines on the Alps.

My own children's storybooks bring to mind a younger series of stories.

I still have these books and take every opportunity I get to find a child to read them to - in the hope that I am illustrating a page of their storybook and encouraging them to read.

Make your storybook exciting, and with colourful illustrations and when you turn the pages of memory, may it bring you smiles and comfort.  Be gentle and kind with those who have input into your life and make it a wonderful story.

Thank you for visiting the Musings of My Heart - a pensive and nostalgic heart tonight - but a happy one as I turn the pages of my Storybook.

Love and hugs,