Wet weather and Blogger questions. . . . . .

 

Not much to say today. The very heavy rain last evening battered flowers, shrubs, 

even the big fig tree. More coming down now and all this afternoon and evening, 

so I'm stuck indoors.

 Not much new with that though. . . . . without the garden I would have been in here

 much more these past 3 months! This afternoon's distanced garden chat planned

 with a dear friend is postponed as we can't sit outside. 

So I'm here with a list of things to do and, in all honesty, none thrill me. 

 I will enjoy emailing replies to some dear friends, but anything else is not exciting.

My questions?  

They regard the new Blogger interface that will be the default for us all come end of month.

If you are a BLOGGER blogger, have you transitioned yet to the new interface?
If so, have you managed it without major problems?
If there were problems, were you able resolve them yourself?
Are you now staying with new Blogger?
Can you still revert to legacy BLOGGER - in other words toggle between the two
 for the time being? 

EDITED - 6-12-20
Here's a link to my friend Rosemary's post regarding her 
new Blogger experiences. It is very informative, and be certain to 
read the Comments which help also.
https://wherefivevalleysmeet.blogspot.com/2020/06/warning.html

Of course, like just about everything else in life in this day and age, these forced

 changes appear to revolve around use of smartphones!

Blogger's statements actually do say things such as, quote -
"Blogger's new responsive design makes it easier to manage your blog on-the-go"
and,  ". . . . making it easier to use on mobile devices."
  
I don't know about you, but I don't want to blog on a phone for several reasons,
the main one perhaps being my eyesight!  It's now just OK with reading glasses
 for a large laptop screen, but getting more difficult doing anything on a phone screen!

Any comments regarding Blogger changes will be greatly appreciated.
Fingers crossed we will all manage to make the change and keep our blogs going
 without too much upheaval.
Before 2020 is over those of us who use PicMonkey - which we love as is -
 will also have to address another learning curve to continue with them.

What a year this is - I feel really old with so much changing/happening, and now
I even have the grey silver strands to prove it! 
Have a great day - hopefully you have sunshine because we certainly don't!!!

A Wonderful Birthday Surprise from NZ -----------

I've always loved Shane's blog from Auckland, New Zealand.

I love reading anything about New Zealand. 

This summer I even bought a bottle of my favorite Sauvignon Blanc

 wine with the attractive label emblazoned with just a bold NZ - and 

haven't opened it yet. . . . just because! The best SB wine is 

always from New Zealand.

I'm sad that my couple of hours in Auckland in 2011 only

 consisted of arriving at the airport from the oh so long flight from

 Los Angeles, being transferred speedily to an expedition ship

 awaiting me at the port, and sailing off to New Zealand's amazing

 Sub-Antarctic Islands. 

That flurry of activity didn't allow time to meet up with Shane. 

Thinking back, I'm not even sure if she was in town that

 day - she may have been off in France to spend time with her

family who lived so far away at that time.

All this means of course, if I ever head back to New Zealand, which I hope

 happens, I will definitely try my best to meet dear Shane and we will have

 a lot to chat about having followed each other's blogs for many years.

Shane completely surprised me last week when a totally unexpected

 package arrived in my mailbox a few days prior to my BIG birthday!

I'm sharing the beauty here, little treasures wrapped - then unwrapped -

so you can see how much effort she put into collecting such a lot of

lovely items, several from France, which she knew I would adore.

Thank you again dear Shane. 

You overwhelmed me with so many lovely things.

A feast for the eyes.

Extra beats of the heart.

So much beauty.

As the great NZ Life & Leisure magazine cover states......."life is beautiful."

Amour et bonheur - Love and happiness.

Many thanks Shane - you are special.

Shane's back blogging, be sure to visit her here at Roses Lace & Brocante

Shane, hoping Tuesday's rather big earthquake didn't cause you,
family or friends any problems or stress!

Colorado and artist friends. . . . . . . . . .

Our recent trip westward didn't end with that amazing visit to Utah. . . . . . it 

continued into Colorado for yet another long awaited visit with a blog friend,

Michael MacVean, graphic designer/illustrator extraordinaire, 

SCRIBBLE PICNIC host and all around lovely, friendly, funny guy.

Visit Michael's blog HERE.

Today he's back posting about his move to Kentucky and 

plans for the future.

We flew from Salt Lake City to Denver, picked up a rental car and drove to 

Loveland where dinner with Michael was planned. We were running quite late

 due to the airport car rental place being a nightmare, but Michael, bless his polite

 English heart, waited for us. . . . . . . .thank goodness!

Michael and I have been blog friends for many, many years and he, like me

always seemed excited at the thought of meeting up someday. We decided this

 had to be the year - he's still young but we're getting long in the tooth!

 As Utah and Colorado are neighboring states we could do it quite easily.

There was just one hitch, lifestyle changes meant Michael and his wife,

 lovely artist, Alexandra were moving to Kentucky just before we were due 

to arrive in Fort Collins, Colorado!

Anyway all worked out as Michael returned to tie up lose ends on the dates

 we were visiting and we could get together. Sadly Alexandra was not able to

 come with him due to work commitments in Kentucky. . . . . but we look

 forward to meeting up with her another time.

The second day in Fort Collins we met Michael for a tour around the

 really great Old Town section of Fort Collins.  Starting with freshly baked 

biscuits, muffins, croissants (best almond one ever) and good coffee at

The Little Bird Bakery - which I know Michael and Alexandra will

definitely miss - we enjoyed walking and visiting so many interesting 

shops and viewing historic homes in the area.

I love signage and in Fort Collins Old Town area it was awesome.

Strolling around town on a beautiful day.

This was a great small batch chocolate shop - we each had a truffle and picked

 two bars to bring home. Gobbled up the truffles but the bars are here awaiting

 a special occasion for serving.

This collage shows some the pretty things for sale in the lovely shops Michael

 took time to show us. I did buy the French kitchen soap as I was out of it. 

The fox on the baby onesie in the center is one of Alexandra's illustrations. . . . .and

 I have to say the little dish with the sheep has a quote I totally agree with (Gina that

 one's for you!).

Michael thanks so much for making time to see us - we enjoyed it all so much.

Wishing you and Alexandra much happiness in your new home.

  Here's to the next time.

Living life with friends. . . . . . . .

We made it home, arriving back in North Carolina at 1:00 AM today!
The tail wind was in our favor, landing in Atlanta from Denver earlier than scheduled, and we were upgraded to more comfortable seats. Other than being freezing cold, the flight was good. Same with the flight on to Raleigh-Durham, upgraded seat, so chilly. 
DELTA, please work your air conditioning!

Busy day and very hot here. Unpacked, lots of laundry, just catching up on necessary things.  No cooking planned. Evening walk once it drops below 90F to someplace with a fresh salad and a chilled glass of rosé will be great.

But, until I have time to elaborate on the wonderful time we had with friends in Utah and Colorado, here is a tiny peek of something very special I brought home. . . . . . . adding a touch of blue and gold to my table. Some of you will know immediately whom I went to visit!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed

 by the things you didn't do than by those you did do.

 So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe

 harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails.

 Explore. Dream. Discover."  

~Mark Twain~

Many more stories to come from the great trip to Utah and Colorado.

Utah friends, Part I. . . . . . . .

Prior to posting about my fabulous visits to amazing blog friends over the past 

several days, I just wanted to share these lovely animals I met during the Utah

 part of our current trip. 

Above is no-name llama (actually he's #1,2 or 3 of the collective Three Amigos)
 who seemed to enjoy me tousling his beautiful fibre coat - below is Strawberry, 
the friendliest goat who apparently was ready to eat anything 
offered. . . . . . . including my hand!  
I learned a 'goat tip' many years ago after one snatched my granddaughter 
Jasmin's school paper and chewed it up as we watched speechless! 
They are always hungry it seems so don't pet them with your passport 
in your hand!

We are still in Colorado enjoying the very pleasant town of Fort Collins. 

Perfect, clear, comfortable weather, away from heavy smoke due to the

 wildfires we experienced on the way to the airport in Salt Lake City, Utah.  

I'll be sharing highlights of this special trip when I return later this week

and have faster Internet.

Ringing in another year. . . . . . .

"Thank you" - each and every one of you, very dear readers and 

commenters who followed A Breath of Fresh Air for yet another year. 

Come February I will start my eighth year of blogging. Some of you have been 

with me all this time, and I appreciate that so much. 

Others were new this past year and I thank you for joining me on my journey. 

Sharing the ups and downs of daily life, whether on a rough ocean miles from 
home, or here tucked away in the cottage at the kitchen stove, has been a lot of 
fun and allowed me to visit with you in your special corner of the world also.

May your new year be one of peace, joy, good health, happiness, prosperity
 and adventure. Please continue sharing your interests, your photos, your 
creativity, your stories, through blogging. . . . . . .as I plan to do. It brings much 
pleasure to my life, and hopefully to yours also.