July - A time for ...

... moving on. Saying good bye to some old and loved friends off to pastures new. Thanks for all the joy and laughter you gave to us.

...encouraging creativity. We try to get them young in our family! This is my eight year old niece Sofia who asked for a sewing machine for her birthday. Bright pink too! This is her first project, a fairy bag, of which she is rightly very proud. :)

She is a wizz on the machine and has now made a pony. My friend Steve says she has 'stash stealer' written all over her face! I think he's probably right!

...relaxing. While Sofia and I have been busy the four legged members of the family have been taking it easy.

Dan, although completely blind, has managed to find the newly placed comfy chair in the kitchen.

... reading. I have two new books on my shelf this month. 'Treasured Notions' by Kaari Meng

and 'the homemade home' by Sania Pell. Both gorgeous books which I would highly recommend.

... entertaining. Then came my youngest daughters 'Pre-Prom party'. (Did I really have that many in my house?) Some of these 18 year olds I have known since they were babies. I can't quite believe they are all going off into the world now. How time flies by.

...celebrating. Then it was off to the University of Birmingham for my eldest daughters graduation. We all had a wonderful day. I feel truly blessed to have such great kids. (Now will you tidy your rooms?!!)

... getting mail. I received this lovely thank you card. It was such a joy to get it through the post. (Note to self - send cards not emails - so much nicer to receive)

...taking time to smell the flowers. Beaming! How perfect is that?

...acceptance. After finally finding a buyer for the house (joy!) and then loosing said buyer 8 hours later (sorrow) I took myself off to Derbyshire to centre myself again and the daisies were waiting to make me smile and remind me of the good things out there.

...moving on. This is on my road to peace.

Hope you are on yours. xxx