Life after death...

Beneath your leafy branches full and broad,
I stand with face uplifted for my heart is truly awed
By everything you do and all you are
For I am certain that you truly are a superstar.

When I was young, I climbed among your boughs
And, snuggled in your grasp, I felt safe enough to drowse.
Today I wish that I could once again
Ascend among your branches to a place where I remain.

Spread your branches sweeping over me,
And let me hide for just a while from harsh reality.
The days are speeding ever swiftly by,
And if I could, I’d love to stay and watch the world rush by.

~ Esther Spurrill-Jones 

Tea time is a chance to slow down, with a good book

“I don't want tea," said Clary, with muffled force. "I want to find my mother. And then I want to find out who took her in the first place, and I want to kill them."

"Unfortunately," said Hodge, "we're all out of bitter revenge at the moment, so it's either tea or nothing.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

Nooit is 'n lang, lang tyd

A great read, couldn't put the book down!

Drie vriendinne gaan hou saam vakansie langs die see. En in 'n oogwink verander 'n jare lange, standvastige vriendskap in 'n stormagtige moeras.

Daleen skraap eindelik die moed bymekaar om die waarheid omtrent haar en haar lover, Jan, se verhouding te vertel; Amelia praat laat een aand haar mond verby oor haar affair met 'n getroude man; en Karien - Karien pak haar goed en gaan vroeër terug huis toe.

Want hoe kon haar twee, beste vriendinne haar soveel jare lank 'n rat voor die oë draai?

Dis 'n boek oor vriendskap, oor leuens, geheime, kinders, kilojoules en mans.

Who has not pleasure in a good novel?

That's me!

What do you do NOW?!

Read everywhere

It doesn't really matter where you are - at the bus stop, in bed, waiting in a queue - there's no place I can think of (except when you're driving!) where you won't have a spare moment to do some reading. People text while they're walking, so why not read? (Not really recommended, but you know what I mean!) It will be a bit difficult snatching a page or two while you're doing the dishes, but it's not impossible. The same goes for while you're folding the laundry or cleaning the kids' rooms. And what more opportune moment for catching up on your latest novel than when you're bathing!

Saying goodbye to 2016 with gratitude

Saying goodbye to the year that has passed has become a New Year's Eve ritual for me. There's something about the thought that a whole year has passed and that a new one lies on the doorstep, waiting for me to enter, that tends to make me nostalgic, makes me think back on all that has happened during the year. The good as well as the bad.

Bad things happen to all of us and we know that it's not what happened to us, but the way we handled it that matters. So, on the last day of each year, I  page through those "bad" happenings one more time and then put that book away, relegated to the bottom shelf, right at the back!

I spend a bit more time thinking of all the "good" things that happened - the visits to my family, feeling grateful that we had another successful business year, being thankful for the bountiful rain we've had, thinking of the joy I felt every time I sold a painting and thanking the Universe that another year has passed with no serious health issues.

I therefore wish you a new year filled with wisdom - the wisdom to know how to accept all that has happened in your life and the wisdom to know when it is time to move on.

Langston Hughes said,
“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.”