First on my list this morning was the stack of correspondence I had been putting off all week. Birthdays and anniversaries were drawing closer, and I just had to get to work. 
By the time I finished this morning I had a nice stack of colorfully addressed envelopes, some thick with enclosures, others filled with just a single card. I'm enjoying the various stamps I have at present -- the triangle-shaped Jamestown, the Happy Birthday, the striking lighthouses.I took my letters out to our mailbox and thought how remarkable it is that my ordinary letterbox is the place from which my letters begin their journeys to land in mailboxes and letterslots all over the world!
Once letters were finished we spent a delightful day at my mother's house with my sister and the children. We sat outside, talked, knitted, enjoyed the lovely weather, mom's beautiful flowers, and the children playing.
My sister is busy working on another version of her newly designed tank.
Mom's flowers are looking lovely!
The zinnias are our favorites!
The delights of going to Grandma's -- special treats!
We also spent time digging through Mom's hall closet, looking for pictures from our years in Africa, and discovering pictures from the year we were married, baby pictures, pictures of trips overseas, and even two ancient cookbooks belonging to my Great-Grandmother, which will definately be showing up on this blog at some point. And then we dug through Mom's boxes of old little treasures -- jewelry, gloves worn by my Grandmother, pins won in a competition, and baby rattles.
How thankful I am for the gift of being close to family. After living away for 6 1/2 years, and most of those on another continent, it is very special to be so close we can drive to each other's houses whenever we want.
3 comments:
I'm still savoring those moments from yesterday. Your pictures capture the essence of those special moments at Mom's.
Bill and I loved looking at your blog..... :) we found a huge batch of rasberries this morning on our walk thru a nature preserve :) took photo
I'm 8 hours from family and dream of someday being nearer. I remind myself that 8 hours really is quite a short distance. Well, with a 2 year old, the 8 hours is more like 10! Anyway, it sure is better than an entire continent.
Regarding letter writing -- it's so nice to know that this artform is alive and well with the younger generation. Sometimes I feel like the only 30-something who writes letters. Interestingly, the ladies to whom I write are in their 80's or beyond. I do send out birthday and anniversary letters to all my family, though.
I have one day a week set aside for correspondence, and I do so look forward to it. I find that my correspondence time is best spent near a sunny window, with a cup of tea (iced now that it's summer, of course), and lots of colored pencils. I like to sketch scenes from my window or floral designs to decorate the plain white writing paper. Oh my, I could go on about the joy I find in letter writing. Perhaps I should just do my own blog post!
PS My MIL developed Fibromyalgia in her 30's. I have debilitating sciatica that just won't go away. Somedays I'm fine, somedays I can barely move. I sympathize with you.
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