One week from tonight!

Seeing Lyle and John in Danville on Valentines Day!

Love Pug

This sweet boy is Herbie. Well, he's not a boy- he's an old man. And he gets really annoyed when we say he's sweet. My kids gave Herbie the Love Pug to me for Mother's Day about 5 years ago. He's at least 17 years old now, hasn't had the use of his back legs in 4 years, and lately has become so hard of hearing that we have to be careful to let him know we are in a room so we don't scare him.
Now that we've had Herb, I can't imagine us ever NOT having a pug. Such comedians, these puggies. There's something very endearing about sleeping with a loudly snoring pug! I've found no shortage of pug fans on the internet. The AOL Pug Board group is a group of just about the finest folks I have ever been a part of, and they are fiercely loyal to their pugs and the others who love them. We collect money for pugs that need surgery, we do card showers for folks going through a hard time. I have it written in my funeral arrangements to be sure to let the Pug Board know that I have passed.
So Herbie has not expressed an interest in his own blog, but we are duly impressed with those pugs who DO have blogs.
Pugs like Shelby (and we like her new brother Vin too!)
I've been loving Henry, Benjamin, and Luna for a long time now, and now they have added sweet Sol.
My newest interest is Mason.
Pugs really are little good will ambassadors!

Wednesday Link Love

So, how about funkifying a family photo?

My favorite book for Valentines ever....

Love the hand heart!

If I weren't a total failure at snowflake making I would have a snowflake curtain.

And I'll end with this lovely poem.

Crystal Forest

My friend Dan taped this at the farm this week.

Postcard from Summer

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus

In every Winter there is the hope of fresh strawberries and tomatoes and long lazy days.

In every Summer breeze there is the memory of the crackling of the icy tree branches at the farm as they moved with the wind.

Love Story

I have the honor of spending alternating Friday afternoons in Mother Dear's kitchen with Cheryl. She is Cheryl's maternal aunt, and really a second mother to Cheryl. She is my wise friend. I've been reading all kinds of tributes to love on the internet lately as Valentines Day approaches, but none sweeter than this one!

The picture above shows the 100 Chinese characters for blessing. They are all the same character for blessing, but each one is written differently. It is amazing that a Chinese character can be written in so many different ways artistically.

On the day following the Inauguration, my pastor led the Wednesday night gathering in a time of blessing for our new President. She shared some beautiful blessings that were already written and we added in the President's name as we read them aloud. She asked us to come the following Wednesday night with our own blessings for President Obama and we would weave them all together. We got snowed and iced out, but I had already put mine down on paper. Others?

May you seek out and be blessed by the counsel and insight of wise women-

intuitive, empowered, fierce-loving, resilient, creative, generous, tenacious women of color and women of size, old women and young women, women with deep laugh lines and women with deep sadness like pebbles in their pockets, deeply spiritual and completely irreverent women. Moms and aunts and sisters. Astronauts and story tellers and domestic workers.

May you seek out and be blessed by the counsel and insight of wise women. And we are all wise!