December 18th - grateful for ..

{ Christmas ornaments }

(from my ornament swap partner, Connie; literally, the only ornaments on our tree we haven't made ourselves!)

~~~~~

Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles.

~Author Unknown

from the weekend

the village is full of this yellow bliss

riding across the river - well, just a little bit (photo taken by hubby with his cell phone - I've got them all working for me!)

lunch here on a wet, misty Saturday afternoon

(I took the photos with my cell; excuse the poor quality)

comfort food (recipe here)

cosying up the house - new rug for the kitchen

~~~~~~
the new week greeted me with two parcels full of birthday wishes and... BOOKS!!!!! Thank you Feline and Sarah!
(more on this next time)

~~~~~~~

Have a lovely rest of the week!

xxx

grateful

Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I start work at ten while my son has to be at school by eight thirty and for the first time this year I don't have to drive for more than five minutes to get to work.

This leaves me with plenty of time to enjoy my morning coffee.

I sometimes prepare something for work but most days I save this time for me;

reading, blogging and lately crocheting - I really need to finish this blanket soon; it's getting cold here. Yesterday's gratitude list included central heating!

Right now, while typing this and sipping my coffee, I'm listening to Joni Mitchell's Blue. (thank you Jessica for mentioning her on your blog).

The CD found its way to me through mail and I got it yesterday together with some gorgeous cards I purchased on etsy. I'll try to take pictures when there's some decent light around here.

The roses in my small jar are courtesy of our garden. The rose bushes belong to our landlords, who live in Germany and come to Greece only in the summer- I don't think they would mind my cutting them; and, oh. my! They smell divine!

I need to get ready for work in a while. I'm wearing boots today!

Happy Tuesday!

xxx

~ surprise ~ mail

from Christina...

I was expecting a note

and she sent me a gorgeous photo together with other goodies.

I love her photography and I love tulips.

The sight of the parcel alone made me skippey-happy!

Can you imagine how I felt when I saw the contents?

'swoon' as Christina would say!

~~~~~~~

from Jane...

Jane had told me she would sent me a thank you letter
because she'd won my giveaway.
It turned out, I was the lucky one.
Look what she's made for me!
It's all handmade!
Do enlarge these pictures to see all the details:
stamps, buttons, snippets of maps;
and all the flowery fabrics!
But that's not all!
There were surprises in all the little pockets!


My favourite one is the little sachet with a photo of a rose I had posted here on one side and one of her roses on the other, printed on ... fabric!
I love it all!

~~~~~~~
I'm touched and overwhelmed by your generosity ladies.
I feel I can't thank you enough.
Blogging is one thing that I enjoy but real mail that I can touch and carry around with me is happiness smiling at me!

xxx

Generation Gap?

Lucy is a teenager.

Regarding age, she could be my daughter.

I'd love to have a teenage daughter, especially if she were like Lucy.

But she's not my daughter; not even my niece, student or my best friend's daughter.

She's my friend.

She's my blog-buddy.

She leaves sweet, thoughtful comments on my blog

and either I don't remember how it is to be 14

or she's a very mature teenager.

* * * * *

On the other hand,

there are some lovely women here in blogland

who could be my teachers or my mum's friends.

I always read what they have to say carefully,

whether on their own blogs or on mine,

and they're my friends, too.

* * * * *

In this wonderful community,

where everyone is friendly and supportive,

there are no generation gaps;

we're all on the same side.

* * * * *

The picture shows the contents of a parcel Lucy has sent me.

Thank you my youngest friend!

Interested in a giveaway?

Hey you!

How have you all been this week?

I've been quite busy here and haven't visited many of you but I'm here with you now, as a tiring day is nearly over. I just hope I won't fall asleep with my book in my hands again as I do want to see how The Secret Garden ends.

Anyway, there was a parcel for me in the mail this week.

Well, not for me really but for my friends;

the ones here in my everyday life

and the ones from all over the world: you!

I was so excited to get it and when I opened the box I saw this

rainbow of little packages!!!

Don't they look great?

I just had to take a picture!

Do you want to see what was inside?

A collection of writing paper, envelopes and cards all with the same theme:

nature

and....

these gorgeous notebooks,

each with a unique wildlife theme

...

from...

Starfish and Mermaids...

...to

The Universal Known (my personal favourite)...

...to

Shells and Snails...

...to
Lagoon wildlife


On each page there's a different drawing from animals, plants etc that can be found in Greece
(I don't know about the mermaids though!! :) )
I love them!!!
Well, if you'd like one of them to be yours,
together with some of the stationary you see in the second picture
and...
some surprise 'girlie' things,
all you have to do is tell me which one you like best - simple, right?
I'll draw a name at the beginning of the following week (and send the winner the notebook of your choice).

Edit: the draw will take place on Wednesday as there's something else to blog about on Monday and Tuesday is usually a very busy day.

Hope you like them!

I'll visit you over the weekend.
Take Care!

xxx

ONE LOVELY NOTEBOOK HAS NOW FOUND AN OWNER. THANK YOU.

Being spoiled...

Lately, I've been feeling much loved, even spoiled sometimes.

I've won two giveaways (I've yet to blog about the second one), got birthday presents in the mail and a surprise present by my dearest, closest to my heart friend and I'm expecting another book from a blogger friend (details in due time).

=====================================================================

A couple of days after my birthday my best friend came over after work and not at all empty-handed! She brought treats for little one/her godson, two little herb pots (see previous post) and this parcel.

Do you like how it looks? I was speechless! You see, my dear friend is not a crafts person and she would always admire the way I presented my gifts to her -from homemade tomato sauce to a little trunk with all sorts of goodies.

So in order to please me she sat down and transformed this box (of ? I don't really now what) into a girlie, lovely box for me.

Do you want to take a pick inside?

...matching wrapping paper...

...and..Ta-dah! A gorgeous, feminine, tight-waisted (I know that's not a word but you get the picture)red (much brighter than in the picture) shirt (blouse??)!!!!

=================================================
Last Friday I received my birthday present from my pen-friend in Malaysia. I sort of guessed part of the contents; you see, when we met in London in April we were talking about books and told her I didn't have time to find a second-hand copy of The Shell Seekers and she said she would find it for me. She's sent me other books since then but not this one. So (clever me!) I suspected she was saving it for my birthday. I've read the book a hundred times (almost) but always in Greek; I can't wait to read the original.

There was also another book which she says is very good (and if she says it's good then it is), two more bookmarks (I need to take a picture of all the bookmarks she's sent me and show you, they're endless!) and ...


... a silk caftan with a hand-painted peacock on it!!! It's gorgeous (if I may say so myself)

Thank you my friends for spoiling me! I need it and I appreciate it so much.



Take Care everyone!
xxx

I love mail! ...and giveaways!...

Look what I found in my letter-box when I came back from work yesterday!!! The most artistic parcel I've ever received! I knew who it was from, I knew what was inside...well, part of it anyway, but never expected it to be so beautiful on the outside.

Lovely Sarah from Circles of Rain sent me my giveaway present and wrote my name and address on this gorgeous painting of hers. It's so typical of her work; I could recognize it anywhere. Visit her blog for more of her art if you like.

Anyway, little one was with me so there was a lot of ''come on, mum! Open it, let's see what's inside" and "oooh, there are stickers! I'll get these" and me saying "you're blocking the light from the window; come from the other side, so I can take a decent photo" and "hey! mum, don't look at the pictures now, just open it" and ...

..."look at the back, more stickers! Come on! Don't read the note now...let's see what's inside!..."

..."it's a book! Can I get the stickers now?"
Well, giveaways are always fun but when what you win is a book, that's perfect. Sarah has sent me 'The Secret Garden' and some lovely printouts of her own collection. (If you enlarge the last photo you'll see the black and white drawing of a girl.) The book is a copy that belonged to her and it smells like you're in an antique bookshop. So precious! I'm over-excited!!!

And there was another surprise in the book: a set of Royal Mail stamps showing postboxes! Wonderful! I can enlarge these and use them at work to bring an air of England to my classes and I could also turn them into bookmarks.


Here's a view of everything that was in the parcel.

Thanks so much Sarah!

Have a lovely rest of the week everyone!
xxx