FORTNIGHT LILIES

Fortnight Lilies, so called because they bloom every
two weeks until November -- especially if you
remember to water them!


These are surrounded by Jasmine, which is highly
perfumed especially in the evenings.

They are prolific around our house, not only because
they re-seed themselves but also because a few years
ago, I gathered handsful of seed and scattered them
in all the bare spots, because I like them so much.
They are like bright white butterflies.


To see a close-up of a bloom go to my photo ATC
blog. Address in side-bar.

BEAUTIFUL CATALINA ISLAND

Courtesy Fox News -- Breaking News

Our beautiful Catalina Island, Thursday May 10th. This is the little town of Avalon being threatened by wild fire. It is here that we spent several weeks on our sailboat, Flamborough, every summer, with our teen-aged sons. It didn't matter where else we had been for a 'proper' vacation, we always had to go to Catalina or summer wasn't complete. Thankfully, as of tonight the town was spared, but not before thousands of people were evacuated.

The town is only about a mile square and we loved every square inch, along with the rest of the island. It is one place you can really get away from city life. Swimming, snorkeling, fishing, walking, exploring and even wind sailing, you name it, we did it all in the 70's and 80's-- at least they did. I can't even swim! There were seals, sharks, sunfish, dolphins and flying fish to see. The sail boat may seem like an extravagant toy, but for us it was what held the family together through those turbulent teenager years. We started with just a 13 foot day-sailer and moved to a larger boat as the boys grew larger, ending up with a 28 foot Newport, (with the aid of the royalties from my two children's books written in the 70's). It was an excellent investment.

We don't have the boat now that we are retired, but our sons still have a serious love of boats. They each have one, but wake-boarding is the rage now. Thank goodness that was not around when we were into sailing. I'd rather not watch!

BIRD BOTHERS

We are overrun with crows right now. There are some who talk about shooting them! But I think it is only a temporary trend. We used to be overrun with mocking birds. They'd keep us awake at night! Then they seemed to disappear. But some are back again this year after an absence of probably more than five years.

SPRING FEVER

English Wild Flowers in the Spring

These are harebells, more translucent than shown
here. Dainty but hardy flowers. Grow to about
6 inches . The flower itself is about 1 inch. These
are not the woodland bluebell, but I have heard
them called the Bluebells of Scotland.




My favorite, the wild English Primrose. Grow to
less than 6 inches in height and the flower is about
3/4 inch across. They grew in wild profusion all over
the cliffs at Flamborough when I was a child. A spring
time occupation was "to go Primrosing". We'd come
home with fistsful of these delicate, pale yellow flowers.


More to come, if I can concentrate long enough.

I GUESS I'M A WRITER!

This is my new business card. The photo is my
painting that goes with my book, "The Tale of Robin
Lyth", and the quill is of course, the symbol to show
that I finally admit to being a writer. It took me
more than half a day to design it so I think it will be
a while before I change the design!

I guess I'm a writer now, since I have four books
published (and one still unpublished).

This week I decided to start a new one. I have
already written the introduction and half the first
chapter. The title for now is "What Christians
Believe About the Old Testament". In it I will try
to present exactly what the title says. It will be
slanted for those who do not profess to be Christians,
but genuinely want to know.

It should also be of help to those Christians who
are not very familiar with the Old Testament and
would like to know of what value it is to us today.

I don't intend to make it an academic treatise, but
will hopefully try to make it more readable in style.
Most of us know some Old Testament stories from
here and there, but how do they hang together?
What is the overall message that evangelical
Christians believe God conveyed to us through these
ancient writings? Do they relate to our lives today?
Does it matter?

Perhaps next time I will tell you why I decided to write
this particular book.

Family Photos

I was asked for photos of my sons and this is the
best I could come up with! Time to take more
photos, I think. They take photos all the time,
but not of themselves.


This is Glyn at least 5 years ago, maybe 10!
Taking me for a ride on an old train near us.
He is a great photographer.



This is Owen, last year up at least 10,000 feet,
having slept in the snow overnight. He leads
teams of hikers into the wilderness, hiking and
snowshoeing, etc.


(The sun glasses are obviously 'in'.)
Both 'boys' own their own businesses and will not
thanks me for putting these photos on display.
We did take a family photo on the spur of the
moment at Dad's memorial service in Wales two
years ago, but they were awful and will never see
the light of day. I will try to do better soon.

GOOD FRIDAY 2007

-
I did this painting on Good Friday 1956, when I was 18 years old. I belonged to a youth group at Christ Church in Bridlington, UK. The vicar asked the young people to do something meaningful on Good Friday and not just fritter it away, since it is such an important day in our Christian experience.

This was the first time in my life that I discovered I could draw and paint! This is, of course, a copy of Salvador Dali's Christ of St. John of the Cross, and I copied it by hand. I'm not saying that it is brilliant, but I am saying that the gift I discovered that day has brought me much joy over the past 51 years. I don't consider myself a real artist because I have to have something to copy from. If you asked me to draw a cat, I couldn't do it from memory. But I can copy, and that gives me satisfaction.

It is a wonderful gift from the One who gave the greatest gift!