An encounter with a Hummingbird

Source

The other night about twilight, I went out my back door to let my dog Talei in the house.

When I opened the door a large bright blue butterfly slowly drifted in the air towards me.

I'm not sure if it was my perfume or the cool air coming through the door, but the butterfly kept flying towards me at eye level.

It got so close, I thought it was going to land on my face, so I put up my hand between me and the butterfly.

It just hovered right in front of me only inches from me and I realized it wasn't a butterfly at all.

It was a hummingbird with a bright red breast and a beautiful bright blue head and wings.

He just seemed to need to connect with me for whatever reason.

I began to feel like my Elven character Queen Alterra.

I smiled brightly and then the hummingbird gracefully flew away.

How awesome, I thought.

I realized Talei had also been mesmerized and never even barked at the hummingbird.

I feel privileged to have had such an encounter.  ;)

 

My Sweetheart ;)

This is my Sweetheart and best friend.  This May we are celebrating 26 years of marriage.

This picture was taken at last years Author's on Grayson Book Festival.

We've raised four daughters, adopted another into our family and now are blessed beyond belief with eleven precious grandchildren.

He's been my rock in the toughest of times and helped me to laugh through the worst of pain.

Thank you baby!  What a ride!  ;)

Praying for our Nation

Some of you may know that this is my *happy* place.  Now that spring has sprung its beginning to come alive again.

I'm often sitting on my little bench of stone and praying for my family, friends and my state of Virginia.

Tomorrow is our #NationalDayOfPrayer and I plan to be praying for our Nation.

I don't take it lightly and I pray for our President, leaders, those who serve and have served our great Nation in every capacity, and I pray for all of our citizens.

Prayer is a privilege I hold dear and I only wish God's will and His best.

If you live in this great Nation, won't you join me?  ;)

Happy Easter! ;)

   This is my kitchen table last Sunday as I was setting up for our lunch.  I was in charge of desserts, Vegetables with ranch dip and some of the chicken.
   I made strawberry shortcake trifle.  I also set up a triple layer of butterfly cakes and cookies.  We had sour and regular jelly beans, with dark and peanut m&m's.
   In addition to Christmas, this is the Holiday I like to go way out and spoil those I love with food pleasing to the eye as well as the palette.
   Several of us serve in some capacity on Easter Sunday with our Churches, so we started celebrating Easter on Palm Sunday.
   I also enjoy the *quality* time I have with my children and grandchildren on this day.
   We enjoyed a chicken dinner with all the fixins, as we say in Southwest Virginia.

   The children enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.

   Some of our Sons-in-love got a little creative when it came to hiding, but it made it all the more fun for the children.

   We usually play board games in the afternoon, but this time we just enjoyed visiting with one another.  My husband and I enjoyed loving on all those grandchildren!

   I hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter celebration this weekend!  ;)

Happy Spring! ;)

We've had one of the coldest winters here in the Blue Ridge since my husband and I moved to Virginia in 1995.

It's so good to feel the warm sun again and my little African Violet plant is happy to see it too!

I'm enjoying wearing sandals again and my spring clothing.

We usually don't have Rhododendron blooming until the first part of May as well as Dogwoods.  I'm hoping for an earlier bloom this year.

I hope your enjoying spring or whatever new season in your part of the world!  ;)

Happy St. Patrick's! ;)

I wrote a blog a few years ago about how my family always celebrated St. Patrick's Day as a remembrance of an exceptional person and also a way to remember our heritage.

When all my girls were nearly grown, I discovered my family (McLain side) originated from Lochbuie, Scottland.  They changed the spelling from the original name (MacLaine) and eventually settled in Glasgow Ireland before my branch came to America.

So you might say we have a true Scotts-Irish heritage; none the less, we enjoy donning the green!  ;)

Winding Roads and Tall Trees

While driving to an appointment the other day, my husband and I drove down one of the lovely little winding roads in our area of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Along our drive, I saw running parallel to my road was new construction.  The construction was apparently a new byway which will straighten out the road.

They were tearing up the hills and had removed large sections of mature trees.  I always wonder at what cost we do these things.

It seems this generation is always in a hurry to get somewhere.  We lost the beauty along the way and the time we took to notice it.

Hey, I'm all for making roads safer, but wish there was still a way to save the trees and keep the ways of enjoying them with our families.