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,

THANKFUL THURSDAY EVENING - FLOW GENTLY SWEET RIVER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Wb8HLZ2wU

Roger Whittaker - River Lady.

Welcome to Thankful Thursday and it seems rather strange for me to be blogging in the evening, but it has been a busy day and yet I don't appear to have achieved much.

I was out in the car this morning and took a drive past the river and found it cheerfully singing, babbling and rushing to the sea with gay abandon and it reminded me of the things that are constant in life.  The river kept flowing on every day I was away in hospital and all the other days I was not well enough to visit and spend time there.  This is an image of the River Dee at Chester in England and I haven't been there for many years and yet I know the river still flows towards the sea.  Constant indeed.

Is there a river in your life that stirs your memory? - listen to Roger Whittaker singing River Lady and think back to the times when our rivers were used for transport - Paddle Steamers, barges etc.  - all that energy used for transportation and to turn mill wheels.   There is something wonderful about water.

Although this morning the river looked grey and cold and very unwelcoming - the willows still stand weeping and the leaves still float down.  Truly beautiful.

Today I am thankful for the constant things in life - the things that don't change - the rolling of the seasons, the rushing of the river, the waxing and waning of the moon, sunrise and sunset.

I am also thankful for love and laughter and the chance to smile at myself and the silly things that I do, the things I forget, the times I repeat myself and in spite of these things I am still loved and cared for.

Find a river, lake, beach, pond, pool and sit beside it and let it wash your frustrations, anger, fatigue and sadness away.  Breathe in deeply and relish all your aquatic adventure brings your way.  Let your heart soar with the seabirds and come back to the shore refreshed in spirit.

I am thankful on this Thankful Thursday for you who visit and read "The Musings from My Heart."

Love and hugs,