Dear Reader:

So many flowers…so many stories. Everything in life has a story and this picture/painting note card Honey sent me by a local artist and friend of hers touched me… Honey bought it because she knew the bee would remind me of my mother and her last communication to let me know she was just fine in her new life.

The artist’s name is Jane Voorhees…who comes from a talented family of artists. Her brother is a famous potter and hosts all kinds of fund-raisers to help the needy…one such event being the “Empty Bowls” fundraiser for the “Back Pack Program” – children who need food to take home on weekends and holidays because there is no food at home for them.

Honey participated in the “Empty Bowls” soup/bread dinner to raise money for the “Back Pack Program.” She made 50 bowls and took half of them into the church, buying glaze for the children to add their own personal touches to this worthwhile project. After firing them she returned so the children could see their finish products that they were raising money for… such a great cause!

What a wonderful idea…. but then Honey is always ready to help with any new endeavor that helps others through her talents as a potter.

After resting Wednesday night I returned bright and early to Walsh and Mollie’s house to help out with the children while Mollie is at a conference. This will be the first time she has left Eloise and she is somewhat nervous about it….but as we experienced parents and now grandparents know…”This too shall pass” and the time away will be just a distant memory one day.

So if my blogs seem somewhat disoriented…chalk it up to grand-motherhood…then everyone will understand.

*Just got back yesterday afternoon…I really hated to leave….we had a good time and a chance to see Walsh and Mollie’s new family routine. It is a busy life…but such a rewarding one. Eloise and I just laughed through most of it….those silly older brothers…she thinks they are so funny. But then Eloise is pretty much a captive audience.

She was up for everything…new hair accessories, bonnets…whatever Boo Boo put on her. I left her yesterday in good hands with dad!

• (Lachlan…didn’t mean to leave you out…but you were indisposed in the bathroom when I took the one of Rutledge…and y’all had to get to school…next time…your time!)

Speaking of flowers and a mystery surrounding them…the last road that I take in to Walsh and Mollie’s house –  Clements’s Ferry Road (North) is being widened and there is so much construction going on that sometimes I feel like I am in a pinball machine trying to drive around equipment, merge onto one lane roads, all while rolling up the windows from the tar smell.

But then a few weeks ago, these mysterious bright yellow wildflowers began springing up. Mollie and I have been trying to figure out if they are some type of Black-eyed Susans or wild sunflowers. The problem is the construction equipment is everywhere… so crowded…that if you take your eyes off the road to look at the fields of these beautiful visions of yellow…there is a really good chance you are going to plow right into someone. There is a lot of stopping and starting on this road.

I have diligently tried to find out who planted these flowers which give everyone hope of how things might look, along this road, once the construction and the widening is finally over. Just when we mortals think we can’t be any more frustrated with all the road delays…Hope appears in the form of hundreds and hundreds of beautiful yellow flowers! * This time when I passed the fields of flowers…they started showing up near the relatively new schools -Phillip Simmons elementary….maybe it was done as part of the school beautication?

* Finally had a chance to pull over coming home yesterday. Had time to take one small section of the flowers before pulling back on the road again.

So until tomorrow….For the special person or persons who planted these yellow beauties originally…thank you from the bottom of my heart. What joy you bring us disgruntled drivers! Thank you!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Soon I will have my pretty yellow flowers out front too…my lantana is popping open a little more everyday…I love it when it spreads all over the right side of the front yard…and they will keep blooming and blooming.

The Dingle Clan has arrived in Dingle, Ireland. They went from plane, to train, to rental car and have arrived safe and sound. Kaitlyn said the temperatures are running about the same as last year at this time but it is a little rainier so far…but just a couple of days in…the sun will arrive. In the meantime the photos look like there is a lot of fun going on…chilly, cloudy, rainy, or sunny…Ireland, in all its best-dressed greenery is beautiful!

I thought it was funny that May 4 is Star Wars Day everywhere…even in Dingle, Ireland! And Carrie is the true Irish-blooded one in the group…when everyone fell right to sleep after settling into their rental home….Carrie took advantage of the landlord’s gift of scones and champagne for the group…but substituted hot tea and scones while looking out at Dingle Bay! Way to go Carrie!

Keep storing up those memories….taste, smell, touch, see, and hear the sounds of Ireland as your keepsake!