Easter is coming, Spring is here!

It was one of those March

days when the sun shines

hot and the wind blows

cold; when it is summer in

the light and winter in

the shade.

--- Charles Dickens

Well the first quarter of the year is almost over....3 months ago it was New Years Eve...another year of possibilities, plans, lists, promises, hopes. How is everyone doing with that? :o) I always think I will spend more time reading during the first 3 months of the year, but barely a book is finished at this time! Now spring is here with all her promise of warmer longer days to get outside and do everything at once! Prepare the garden, bike ride (yeah right...in my dreams) eating outside, cleaning, etc, etc. So what about just enjoying each day as it comes instead?

Saturday, March 27th was one of those days for me. Mike came home Friday, early from his trip, but flew straight into San Francisco so he could do a button show for his parents on Saturday in Sunnyvale. I thought I might go down for the day and visit friends (this is where I am from) but it was just enough to get down to Walnut Creek by 5 pm to pick him up! And actually, we and my in-laws, Ruth and Ted went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Have you been? This is my second time and gosh, I do love the place! It is like Disneyland! Everyone is so friendly and smiling and the food and service is great. The setting is simply spectacular! I should have taken a better picture of the ceiling, but hopefully you will get the idea. The restaurant is huge, with tall ceilings and the most loveliest murals painted on them. We ate outside as the weather was a lovely mild spring day and into the evening too. For starters we had fried artichoke hearts, crab cakes and fried shrimp.....bring on the artery cleanser!

This is my lovely little salad I had with more fried shrimp. I ate barely half of this as I filled up on fried food and 2 lemon drop cocktails which I have to share, were 12.50 each! I won't do that again, but it was fun to do it once. They were only OK (then why did I have a second? :o) as they don't carry Limoncello at the bar and you really have to have Limoncello in a Lemon Drop cocktail!

Of course we were all stuffed (thank you God) so we didn't have any cheesecake! I asked our waiter if anyone ever had dessert and he said rarely, although many people do get cheesecake to go. We had plenty of leftovers so no cheesecake for any of us!
Here are my dear in-laws, Ruth and Ted. They are the best in-laws a girl could ask for! Thanks you two! :o)

Warm and kind blessings to all who read this.

One Day Without Shoes

www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

FAIRY SCIENTIST

Has anyone seen this video? It is the sweetest, cutest "study" on fairies. The video is about 4 1/2 minutes, but worth every second....darling Lydia, The Fairy Scientist!

IS IT SPRING WHERE YOU ARE?

The year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven-

All's right with the world!

--- Robert Browning

I know, some parts of Colorado have almost 2 feet of snow(I have family in Denver, Loveland and near Pueblo) and here I sit in lovely Northern California with mild springtime temps! We may get a bit of rain tomorrow (so "they" say) but the past week has been wonderful and foretells of days to come. (although, more rain is expected for most of next week and we still need it.) Isn't this a lovely image? I know most of us dream of this little bit of paradise, but the back of the card tells another story. This is from March 1912. You can read it below.

Such a frantic note. Can you imagine not being able to pick up a phone (and I am talking a land-line) and call a dear one who you haven't heard from, who had been sick and you didn't know how they were? It is just beyond me sometimes how the world survived and yet it did, didn't it? Sometimes when I worry about the state of the world I have to remind myself first, that isn't going to help anything and second, I am responsible for my own little part of this world...me! Of course this does not mean you do not help others, but that if everyone were responsible for themselves (especially their thoughts) and then branched out from there....wow......and it can be anything, money(a little bit from everyone adds up), physically helping or prayers and good thoughts.(probably the best in the long run!)

Gosh I feel like I am still 12 and learning all of this! :o) Hope everyone can feel peaceful and kind today.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY !

May the road rise up

to meet you,

May the wind

be always at your back,

May the sun

shine warm upon your face,

And the rains

fall soft upon your fields...

And until we meet again,

May God hold you

in the palm of His hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you wear green today? :o)