Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

Here it is, Thursday evening already, October 3rd!  My, how this year has flown by! It is very hard for me to believe we are already into October, but I am glad of it. 

 

A few years ago I wrote a special post about Anne of Green Gables, as she paid a "visit" to "Pamela's Victorian Cottage".  I thought I would include this section of that post here, as "Anne" is exclaiming about the beauties of October, and finishes with one of her most well-remembered quotes about October... (Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery)

"October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry-trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne revelled in the world of colour about her.  "Oh, Marilla," she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.  It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? " 

 

(Painting by John Sloane, from one of his previous Country Season's Calendars)

You can read the rest of that special post HERE.

I feel pretty much the same as Anne did about October, even though the colors here in Florida are not quite a vibrant and glorious as they were at her beloved Prince Edward Island, still, there's just something special about October everywhere I think!

Last night I was enjoying watching the sunset here on Still Waters Pond, and it wasn't the most colorful of sunsets, but it was still amazing in its own way. Have you ever noticed that it is actually the clouds that make each sunset so interesting?  If there were no clouds in the skies, there would be nothing all that spectacular for the sun to reflect on and around.  I find it interesting in that God often uses the "clouds" in our lives to make our lives more spectacular and unique.  It's the challenges and trials and cloudy, hazy days of having to lean more on God for direction in our lives that help to shape and mold us into the strong characters He intends us to be.  Just some food for thought as you think about sunsets in a new way.    

Here's the sunset from last night, along with the verses from the 64th Psalm that kind of struck me as I was looking back at these pictures of the clouds and designs in the skies.  I wonder if you will notice some of the things that I noticed:

Psalm 64 NKJV

Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

"1 Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;

Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,

3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,

And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,

4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;

Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.

5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;

They talk of laying snares secretly;

They say, “Who will see them?”

6 They devise iniquities:

“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”

Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.

7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;'

Suddenly they shall be wounded.

8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;

All who see them shall flee away.

9 All men shall fear,

And shall declare the work of God;

For they shall wisely consider His doing."

10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.

And all the upright in heart shall glory."

Amen.

I hope you enjoyed those pictures along with that Psalm. Could you see the battle of the swords and arrows in the skies? Makes me think about the battles that are going on all around us in the spiritual realm, as well as the battles that are going on in real time around the world right now. It is so important that we keep our Spiritual Armor of God on at all times...(Ephesians 6:10-18)

I am thankful that we have had a relatively peaceful week here in our area. But of course we know there are still so many suffering without electricity, water, good shelter and even food. Last week's storm wreaked havoc on the lives of so many, and we need to continue to pray for them, and do whatever we can to help. If you aren't sure where to send donations, Samaritan's Purse is a strong and true organization directed by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Also most church denominations have Disaster Relief programs that are hard at work in the hard hit areas. You can usually donate through your church to a disaster relief program.  

I am thankful also that my hubby had a successful medical procedure done yesterday. We made it there in plenty of time and all went well. He will get the results of the test in a couple of weeks, but it is basically a follow up to some work he had done a year ago, to make sure that everything is still "good".  We are trusting God that it is, however prayers are always welcome.  

I've been wanting to show you something very special for a few days now. Frankly, I was so overcome by this gift, that I had to give myself some time to process it.  Remember in my Monday Post that I showed you a picture of a dear friend (see her below), who has been battling Stage 4 cancer for the past year +, and she is now doing so much better?

Well, this dear lady mentioned to me on Sunday that she had a birthday gift for me, and that she wanted to drop it off at my house this week.  I never expected that, and was really surprised that she would want to give me a gift.  But indeed, it was not just any gift, it was something truly truly special, and I wish I had had my hubby take our picture together when she brought it over, but I was too overwhelmed by the magnitude of this gift that I never thought of it until she had already left.  So, I had hubby take some pictures of me with this gift this morning so you can see it, and you will understand why I was so totally humbled and flabbergasted by this very special gift:

This dear lady literally crocheted this beautiful shawl for me while she was having chemo treatments! How do I respond to that???? With tears, for one thing. And with much gratitude and humility. 

Isn't it beautiful? It is a Civil War Era pattern, and it is absolutely gorgeous. 

What I love is that it will go with so many colors...and hubby said this outfit needed a hat...LOL

I am just overwhelmed with this lovely gift, and am so amazed that this precious lady would create this especially for me...I am already thinking about all the ways I hope to be able to wear it in the near future. 

But most of all, I am thinking about how very dear and special this woman is.  She is such an example of God's strength under fire.  When she was given the diagnosis and prognosis of her disease, she was determined to fight back. She did not give in to fear or anxiety, although she did have some of that for certain...but she would not let it take over. She stayed busy, even when the side effects of the treatments threatened to overwhelm her...she would not give up. Yes, I know there were days that she could not do a thing, but as soon as she was able, she kept moving forward. The fact that she would take yarn and crochet needles with her to chemo treatments and work on this beautiful gift for me is just so amazing to me that I cannot even fathom it. I do not even understand why for me? But God knows, and He knew how much this gift would bless me, and also I believe it was a gift for her to be able to do something for others in the midst of her own struggles. God does work in mysterious ways, and He weaves into the tapestry of our lives lessons of love, grace, and comfort. And the end result is a picture that is so beautiful to behold that we cannot always fathom the depth of it at first glance. It may take days, or it may take a lifetime...but I know that I am very very thankful to God for taking the extra steps to show us these things...

And so, with these thoughts in mind, I will close for tonight.  Wondering if there was ever a time in your life that you were overwhelmed with a special gift that you felt unworthy of?  Perhaps that is a picture of God's grace again...He sent Jesus to die for our sins, not because we did anything to deserve that gift, but because He loves us...

Romans 5:8 NKJV

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Something to think about... 

Good Night dear friends.

Sunday Evening Musings

This was today's sunrise!  Sunday morning glory in the heavens!

My post on Facebook said, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!". (Psalm 150:6)

It was breathtaking, but I still praised the Lord with every breath that I breathed.  Such a beautiful way to start the day!

If you want to sing a happy song along with our choir, join in here below:

Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.

For God is great and greatly to be praised. God is great and greatly to be praised.

O Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.

Another great way to start the day!!  (and now that it is evening when I am writing this,  a good way to end the day!)

Today was a lovely day...no rain for a change!  I had kind of hoped to go out to eat after church with a group of our church friends, but they had decided to go to a different place than where we normally go, and it is sometimes crowded and you have to wait in line a while, and we just didn't feel like doing that today, so we came on home. Normally our son Scott comes down on Sunday afternoon for lunch (and does his laundry), but he wasn't coming today, and Rose and Benton weren't coming either because she had to work today, so were kind of at loose ends. However, actually in some ways that was best.  We've had a busy week and frankly I was tired.  

Yesterday we had our church monthly pot-luck "Agape'" luncheon, and I had made my "Taco Lasagna" casserole.  It was good, and I still had a little left over, but I didn't feel like eating that either.  It's not really something that my tummy can handle two days in a row! LOL.  So I made a salad with some ham and cheese on top of the lettuce, etc., and that was plenty good enough. Then we took a nice long nap.

After we woke up hubby said that he wished I'd either bake a cake or make some cookies or something.  Well, at first I kind of balked because I normally don't do stuff like that on Sunday...it's just too busy of a day and I am usually tired. But since we didn't go out to eat and we had such a nice nap, I decided to go ahead and bake some Snickerdoodles!  (Do you know what they are?) I was hungry for something with cinnamon in it, and since hubby wanted cookies that he could snack on throughout the week, that was a good idea.  But I needed some help. Guess who helped me?

Yes, Lily Grace (click that link for a previous time of baking with  Lily Grace)  said she would love to help make Snickerdoodles!  She's trying to earn her cooking badge for the Brownie Scouts, so she needed some experience baking cookies. LOL.  

She especially loved rolling the balls of dough in the cinnamon and sugar!

It's great to have a little helper!

She even helped get them off the cookie sheets when they were done baking!  They sure smelled good!

Snickerdoodles...My Mother's Recipe

Well, of course baking cookies always means they have to be tasted while they are fresh and warm out of the oven.  So it also became an occasion for Lily Grace and Bailey her dog to have a little party:

So I got down the Buster Brown Tea set for them to use:

It's perfect for a tea party with your favorite doggy!    This set belonged to my mother, and she got it from her older sister, my Aunt Margie.  It is dated on the bottom 1910, which is when Aunt Margie might have gotten it when she was a little girl.  My mother remembers playing with it when she was a little girl. My mother is 11 years younger than her sister.  

Anyway,  it is a special family heirloom, so Lily Grace and Bailey had to be very careful.

Then Lily Grace got the idea that she wanted to invite her friend Anne of Green Gables over to have a tea party and share some snickerdoodles with her.  Anne was delighted of course and came right over. We know how much Anne of Green Gables loves tea parties!  Thankfully there was no "Raspberry Cordial" involved in this tea party. If you've read Anne's story, you know about that event! HERE is a link to a previous post about Anne's tea party.

Thankfully they left us some snickerdoodles to enjoy later!

And so that is how I ended up spending my Sunday afternoon.  

Nice little thought for today.  A good reminder, no matter how big or small our "place", we should tend and guard it with care, because it isn't our own place, but "his Who set you there."  And that would be God.  He placed us in our homes and gave us a special place to guard and care for. When you think about your home that way, it takes on a whole new perspective. 

Here's another thought about the home:

"Unless the Lord builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the Lord guards the city,

The watchman stays awake in vain."

Psalm 127:1

And so I think it is time to end this post for tonight. I hope you enjoyed this little tea party time with Lily Grace (and Bailey too!) and also Anne of Green Gables. I know this is a departure from my usual Sunday activities, but sometimes you just need to "play" after a busy week. We had a good time, except I might have eaten too many warm cookies fresh out of the oven, and so I didn't want much for supper! LOL.  I finally ended up eating two stalks of celery with peanut butter on it, and later some yogurt and granola.  That should make up for my lapse in good judgment. LOL.  

Have a restful night my friends, and I'll be stopping by to visit with you in the next few days.  Tomorrow (Monday) is another busy day as we have our Ladies' Bible Study in the afternoon, and hubby has his men's Bible Study.  But I will try to catch up with as soon as I can.  Love to all of you! "Good Night, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite!"  LOL.

 

Tuesday 4~ You and Your Books

 

You and Your Books

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4... Let's jump right in.






1. Which books never grow old for you?
I am going to zero in on one in particular for today, since I've written about a lot of different books in other posts recently.  Anne of Green Gables.

My very old collection of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea books

And I recently purchased a "new to me" (used) cookbook based on the stories of Anne.  

Here it is below, "The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook".  I just got it and haven't really read through it all the way just yet, but it does have some interesting recipes based on her stories that will be fun to try and maybe use as a storyline for a blogpost.  

Here is my Anne of Green Gables doll holding the book:

If you click on the links listed in the questions below, you will understand more of why this particular character is so significant in my life.  If you've followed me for a while, you have probably already read most of these, but they might be fun to read again.

2. We will make a movie from your favorite novel. Which actors would fit the parts well?

Anne of Green Gables-Megan Follows . She is the only actress that I think embodies the true spirit and character of Anne Shirley, A.K.A. "Anne of Green Gables".   I've seen other movies with different actresses, and I was very disappointed in them.  

3. Do you find yourself daydreaming and thinking about the books you read?  Well, since I am talking about this particular book today, yes, I guess you could say that I have definitely thought a lot about it. Read on:
HERE is a link to a story from Anne of Green Gables that I "reenacted" for a blog post some time ago (2012!)  "Diana Is Invited to Tea"

And HERE is another story about a real life Anne of Green Gables tea party  "A Kindred Spirit", that I had with some lovely young ladies many many years ago, way before I started blogging.

And I might as well add one more post that I wrote about when Anne of Green Gables visited Pamela's Victorian Cottage.

4. When you get ready to sit down and read is there a ritual to it? Do you assemble a drink or snacks? How do you make yourself comfy?   I just shared this picture a couple of weeks ago when we talked about books...so here you go...I sit in this comfy green recliner with my pillow, and I usually have either some ice water or a cup of tea handy.  If it is chilly I may have a lap quilt handy to cover up and be cozy.

Speaking of books,  I also recently have received some very lovely books as gifts from friends.  I am always amazed when people think of me and send me something so special, totally unexpected and not even for a birthday or other special occasion! Just because! That is really and truly special to me.  Just this week I received this book from a very "old" (known a long time, not really "old") friend...

My sweet friend said she saw this book at a thrift store and it made her think of me, and so she decided to just send it to me! I was totally surprised, so of course I called her on the phone and we talked for well over an hour, until she said her ear was starting to burn from holding the phone to her ear so long! LOL.  We have known each other since our kids were in high school, and she and her hubby did some very special things for our family back then...long story for another time. She lives in Ohio now (but that is not where we knew each other) and sadly is widowed, but she enjoys a very active life of walking with friends, attending church activities, and taking lots of interesting trips to foreign countries in addition to visiting her children in other states.  I keep hoping one day she will come down here for a visit, but until then we usually try to "visit" via a long phone call at least twice a year to stay caught up with each other.  And actually, if you go back and read THIS LINK I mentioned above about "A Kindred Spirit", one of the young ladies mentioned in the story was this lady's daughter!  And truly, this particular friend and I are "Kindred Spirits" as well.  Here's a few pictures from this little book:

And with that I will close this post with a couple of quotes from Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables:

“A bosom friend—an intimate friend, you know—a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul. I’ve dreamed of meeting her all my life. I never really supposed I would, but so many of my loveliest dreams have come true all at once that perhaps this one will, too. Do you think it’s possible?” - Anne Shirley

“Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive—it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There 'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?” - Anne Shirley

“Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.”

If you want to join in the fun for this week's Tuesday 4, CLICK HERE

And here's something to ponder from God's Word, the Bible:

Psalm 46:5

“God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”

I wanted to share one more thing before I go.  I may or may not have mentioned a friend here at our church who has stage 4 cancer and was undergoing treatments over the past several months.  Yesterday she had an appointment with her oncologist to receive the results of the latest scans of the tumor.  Here is an excerpt of what she said to me in a message after the appointment, "Absolutely the best news I could receive because it is not typical to go into remission from stage 4 with chemo alone. I feel like the weight of the world is off my shoulders. God is good! " Praise God! The tumor is almost completely gone, and they will do surgery in a few weeks to remove it, but the doctor was astounded that the chemotherapy had reduced it so much so as to declare her to be in remission! I am sharing this with you folks to give you some encouraging news! So often all we hear is negative, but God is still on His throne, and miracles do still happen. We are rejoicing in this good news today! Praise God!!

Okay, go have a wonderful day!

October Morn and Pamela's Victorian Cottage Has A Very Special Guest Revisited

Good Wednesday Morning!  Here we are almost to the middle of October already, and I haven't shared my favorite October calendar picture with you yet...from John Sloane's Country Seasons 2023 Calendar:

He entitled this picture "Almost Heaven"...I can understand that thought. The beauty of autumn in October in many parts of our country would make you feel like it is "almost heaven".  Here in Florida it is not  quite so beautiful as this, but we still are thankful for the transition from summer into fall and some lovely cooler mornings and days...it's been so chilly in the mornings lately that I resorted to building a little fire in the house to make things cozy and warm:

albeit, a "fake fire", but it helped create the atmosphere of warmth I was seeking.

October is also a good time for doing some porch sitting as well as spending some pleasant afternoons in the Secret Garden...(finally got the new sign put up that Benton and Rose gave me for my birthday!)

It seems as though the spider webs are more prolific in October as well...or at least we can see them better if we are watching!

A morning view of Still Waters Pond from the porch:

It appears I am not alone in my early morning pleasure!

This female Cardinal is enjoying the ripe holly berries!

And a quick drink from the bird bath...

Meanwhile this female Downy Woodpecker was pecking her way around this pine tree...

Isn't she sweet?

Also, when I think of October, my mind wanders back to the story of Anne of Green Gables.  Anne was a huge fan of October...as you will see by the quote from her a little further down in this story I shared with you back in 2019.  Many of you have already seen and commented on this, but there are some new friends in my "neighborhood" who may not have had the pleasure of visiting with Anne as she came to visit us here at "Pamela's Victorian Cottage".  So I hope you will sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy this happy visitor with me once again!  Have a happy October day!

Original Post 4/3/2019:

I wonder how many of you are fans of Anne of Green Gables?

If you've known me for very long, you will know that I have a very special interest in Anne of Green Gables...and here are some links to previous posts that I have written about her:

https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2012/07/diana-is-invited-to-tea.html

https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-merry-heart-is-good-medicine.html

https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2010/06/kindred-spirit.html

The number one reason that I have such an interest in Anne is that not only am I a natural born "redhead" like Anne, but I am also actually named after her! Yes, my middle name is "Anne", spelled with an "e"!  If you have read the book (or watched the movie) you will know that this was very important to Anne. Here is a quote of the conversation between Anne and Marilla, as they are just getting acquainted:

"But if you call me Anne please call me Anne spelled with an e."

"What difference does it make how it's spelled?" asked Marilla with another rusty smile as she picked up the teapot.

"Oh, it makes such a difference. It looks so much nicer.  When you hear a name pronounced can't you always see it in you mind, just as if it was printed out? I can; and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A-n-n-e looks so much more distinguished.  If you'll only call me Anne spelled with an e I shall try to reconcile myself to not being called Cordelia."

"Very well, then, Anne spelled with an e..."

You see, when I was born, and the doctor announced that I was a "little redhead", my mother knew that she wanted to somehow name me after her favorite fictional heroine, Anne of Green Gables. And so my name became Pamela Anne, spelled with an "e".  

Therefore today we welcome a very special guest to Pamela's Victorian Cottage,  Anne of Green Gables.  For today let us pretend that our little cottage is actually Green Gables, and these are some of Anne's thoughts as she comes to stay with us.  Each of these wonderful quotes are from the book  "Anne of Green Gables", written by L.M. Montgomery.

 

 Now before this introduction took place above to Marilla, the soon to be reluctant adoptive mother to this orphan girl sent mistakenly to them from the asylum, (as they had certainly requested a boy, not a girl!), Marilla's old bachelor brother "Matthew Cuthbert  and the sorrel mare jogged comfortably over the eight miles to Bright River" to the train station to meet the expected young orphan boy they had requested from the asylum to come to live with them.   You can imagine his consternation when the only person there waiting to meet him was this "strange girl".

(The beautiful background paintings are taken from my old "Country Seasons" calendars, created by John Sloane, and adapted for my story today).

   And all the way home this "strange girl" just kept chatting and talking and imagining so many wonderful things.   She saw the beautiful cherry trees in bloom, and declared:

"Oh, there are a lot more cherry-trees all in bloom! This island is the bloomiest place. I just love it already, and I'm so glad I'm going to live here. I've always heard that Prince Edward Island was the prettiest place in the world, and I used to imagine I was living here, but I never really expected I would.  It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it?"

 "Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about?  It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world.  It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it?  There'd be no scope for imagination, then, would there?"

 Upon discovering in her conversation with Matthew that there is a brook right below the house at Green Gables, Anne exclaims:

"Fancy! It's always been one of my dreams to live near a brook.  I never expected I would, though.  Dreams don't often come true, do they?  Wouldn't it be nice if they did?  But just now I feel pretty nearly perfectly happy..."

And imagine Anne's pure delight when she woke up the first morning in that lovely house, and looked out her window for the first time, and she just couldn't contain her joy:

"Oh, isn't it wonderful?" she said, waving her hand comprehensively at the good world outside."

Marilla didn't know exactly what Anne was talking about, and thinking she was speaking about the tree outside her window, she responded:

"It's a big tree," said Marilla, "and it blooms great, but the fruit don't amount to much never...small and wormy."

But Anne's spirit could not be crushed...

"Oh, I don't mean just the tree; of course it's lovely--yes, it's radiantly lovely--it blooms as if it meant it--but I meant everything, the garden and the orchard and the brook and the woods, the whole big dear world.  Don't you feel as if you just loved the world on a morning like this?  And I can hear the brook laughing all the way up here.  Have you ever noticed what cheerful things brooks are?  They're always laughing.  Even in winter-time I've heard them under the ice.  I'm so glad there's a brook near Green Gables..." 

Upon discovering that Anne had not had any proper religious training and that she didn't even know how to pray, Marilla told Anne that to pray properly  "You must kneel down."  "Anne knelt at Marilla's knee and looked up gravely."

  "Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I'll tell you what I'd do.  I'd go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep woods, and I'd look up into the sky--up--up--up--into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness.  And then I'd just feel a prayer."

I like Anne's thoughts about looking forward to things:

"Oh, Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them, " explained Anne.  "You mayn't get the things themselves; but nothing can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them.  Mrs. Lynde said,  'Blessed are they who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed.'  but I think it would be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed."

Lest I get carried away and end up quoting the whole book for you, let me just close with this last little bit that helps me understand just why Anne and I are such "kindred spirits".

"October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry-trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne revelled in the world of colour about her.  "Oh, Marilla," she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.  It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? " 

And with that I think I will close this little episode of Pamela's Victorian Cottage.  I hope you enjoyed our little visit with Anne of Green Gables.  You know, I never realized until re-reading these first few chapters again just how much I really am like Anne.  Perhaps my mother somehow vicariously taught me  a lot about her favorite fictional heroine in the way she taught me to view things in life.  It's interesting that I don't ever remember my mother reading this story to me...she just kind of told me about it in little bits and pieces throughout the years, and it really wasn't until I was an adult that I actually literally read the book and understood just who this person was that I was named after...and now a lot of things make sense to me...

To all of the "kindred spirits" out there, I will leave you with this final quote from Anne for this visit:

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.  It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world."

Until we meet again, God bless you all!!