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!

Antarctic memories and FIONA!

Three years ago, at this time, with Christmas celebrations over, Boxing Day a memory,

and winter settled upon us here in the southeast, I was busy packing up to leave on

 the trip of a lifetime to ANTARCTICA to celebrate the 50 year friendship with my 

dear friend Paula. She had visited twice previously and this time invited me as her

 very grateful guest. Fortunately her bravery rubbed off on me and I had no

 qualms despite the distance, remoteness, and sailing on a small expedition

 ship - I was raring to go 'to the ends of the earth' also!

Antarctica, and the entire Southern Ocean, is the most amazing place on this 

planet. Go HERE and HERE to look back at some of the places we visited in 2013. 

Fiona came for Christmas - and is staying!

I was surprised when a large box was delivered and left on the front porch early

 evening a few days before Christmas. Nothing was ordered. Nothing was 

expected. Something exciting was up though!

You may recall my recent post about a fabulous shop we discovered when at 

the coast in late November. 

BAROUKE Exotic Woods Etc.

Perhaps you remember me falling in love with Fiona, a sweet carved wooden
 penguin - go read the story for the details. Seeing Fiona on display, I recalled
 my time among literally a million or more penguins on the Antarctic 
expedition - and one particular young penguin on South Georgia Island
 (Paula and I named her Georgia) who followed us about, chewed on our rubber
 wellies, and became our little friend for several hours whilst ashore.

I kicked myself for not buying Fiona while at Barouke - click on my sidebar - that

 day in Wilmington, and shared that fact in my subsequent post where I wrote

 about the great shop, its fabulous offerings, and its lovely owner Jannett.

I realized later that Fiona could almost be Georgia, without her fluffy 

juvenile coat, all grown up, and that I should have brought her home.

Imagine my surprise and joy when on opening the unexpected box,

wrapped so beautifully and tucked into a bed of white foam (snow?) was

Fiona, along with a lovely Christmas card from Jannett and her husband.

What kind, thoughtful, very generous people - I was overwhelmed!

So, you must admit this is a lovely story - but this is only part of it.

Deeper down in the large box were other new winged friends - yes Fiona traveled 

with companions! There will be another story as soon as they calm down, dry off, and 

allow me to photograph them.

They have been testing the waters in our garden (we had a lot of rain after they arrived)

and their boots are still waterlogged LOL!!!