Lily Grace Goes On an Irish Adventure

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  I hope you are wearing some green today so you don't get pinched!! I am for sure and for certain!

Hi! I'm Lily Grace, and I want to share this little story that my Mommie has shared several times before over on her blog, "Closed Doors, Open Windows".  

This is what my Mommie wrote last year, and she said I could just copy it here on my page for today:

"Our dear friend Toni Taddeo,  also known in the blogging world as Treasures By Toni, passed away several years ago.  Toni left us with such a wonderful heritage of creative writing adventures, poetry, and interesting blog themes. Those of us who were privileged to have been Toni's blogging and Facebook friends miss her daily smiles and wisdom.  Our friend Annie over at Cottage By The Sea has picked up where Toni left off with a Tuesday 4  weekly theme in memory of Toni.  You may want to check that out.

But today I wanted to do something a little different, in memory of Toni.  Toni used to do a "Toni's Creative Adventures" meme, where she would give us several unfinished sentences that we needed to complete with our own special creative adventure.  Here is one that I did, using Toni's prompts, back in March of 2018.  Since today is St. Patrick's Day I thought I would share this one again, as I also did last year at this time. So here we go, back in time and space to a happy place...won't you come along with me? Some of you have already commented in times past, but there are a few new friends who might not have ever seen this before. I hope you will enjoy it."

Original Post 3/12/2018

So, what did YOU do the Monday after the time change to spring forward?  I know what I did...I took a nap!  (I did yesterday too...and the day before that, and the day before that...) I actually look forward to nap time!  I snuggle down with my blankie and pillow and fall asleep within one minute (wish I could do that at night)...and I stay asleep for at least fifteen minutes...sometimes twenty or even thirty!

Well today I must have either fallen into a much deeper sleep, or perhaps something else happened...I'm not exactly sure... but I found myself...

1.   "Walking in a countryside in Ireland,  and I see a strange green glow coming from behind a large tree. Walking up to it I find a large pot of shamrocks...

 They were so lovely, they seemed to be glowing and smiling up at me...

2.   Being the curious kind I decide to pick a little bouquet...

3.   Much to my surprise as I bent to pick them, a sudden gale blew up and whirled me around and round and finally sat me down on a lovely garden bench. 

As I recovered from feeling a bit dizzy, I looked around, and sitting there beside me was a delightful little tea tray, with the prettiest little Irish red haired girl blinking her bright green eyes at me and asking me if I'd like to have some tea!

Well, of course, I said yes!  

And then she asked if I would do the honor of pouring since the teapot was so hot and a bit too heavy for her to lift...and so I did.  

As we sat there together, sipping our tea,  it was so peaceful and lovely in spite of the wind...and I noticed some dainty little wildflowers blooming across the lawn, and thought how perfect they would be for our tea table...

The little yellow flowers looked like miniature dandelions. 

The tiny purple flowers were so delicate and airy...it seemed as though they belonged in a fairy garden.  (Perhaps it was???)

4.   Deciding this must truly be an Irish fairytale, I laughingly think to myself that I must have fallen out of bed or hit my head or something, because how could I really be sitting in that lovely little garden in Ireland, sipping tea with this lovely young maiden when just a few minutes ago I was taking a little nap in my own bedroom many miles and oceans away?

Suddenly I woke up, sprang out of bed, rubbed my eyes and looked around my room. Everything looked just the same as it had before my nap.

And then I got up and went into the kitchen, and there on the windowsill was this tiny little bouquet...

But where did that shamrock come from?...  What do you think?


Well, You have just come along with me on another of Toni's Creative Adventures...  and I wish Toni were still here to share more of her creative ideas with us.  These were a lot of fun, and I am sad that I didn't participate in them very often, because now all of her special creative adventures are lost to us.  Perhaps there are some of you out there who might have some of them saved in your blog archives, and maybe we could revive them again in memory of Toni...just a thought! It's another way to keep her memory alive and we could all benefit from the wonderful ideas she shared with us.

Back to the Present (2022):  The little Irish Maiden found a little Scottish Maiden friend, and they picked some fairy flowers for us to enjoy for St. Patrick's Day!  

They had a little help from another little "Irish Lass", 

Miss Lily Grace....

who is all dressed up in her Irish Green so she won't get pinched!

And perhaps some help from the fairies as well...

Wish you could come and join us!

Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV)

 "A merry heart does good, like medicine,

But a broken spirit dries the bones."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 I hope you all enjoyed this little adventure in fairyland with me. In the midst of  the current world situation we need a little levity and creativity to lift us above our troubles and help us to enjoy some lighter, happier moments.  Have a blessed and beautiful St. Patrick's day...and be watching for the little fairies and leprechauns to bring some cheer to your day!

Friday Foto Friends, It's Me again!!

 Hi friends!! It's been a while since I visited with you. Mommie says to tell you it's all her fault! She's been busy with other things or wasn't feeling well, and so I haven't been able to go on very many "adventures" lately.  But since Mommie didn't have anything special to share today for Friday Foto Friends, she said I could do it for her.  So here we go!!

Yesterday morning Mommie baked some yummy delicious blueberry-bran muffins!!

I asked her if we could have a little tea party to celebrate! So Mommie said that would be fun!

She brought out her little Madame Alexander dolls, Miss Ireland and Miss Scotland, and we are all dressed up in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day coming on March 17th!  

My puppy Bailey wanted to join us too!

Oh, and the "fairies" were welcome too!

Oh, lookie! Strawberries!! They are so sweet and juicy and good right now!!

I told Mommie that the fairies needed some little teacups so they could have tea too, so she found this tiny little tea set just for them.

As you can see, we had a lovely tea party and a good time was had by all!!

OH, I wanted to show you these pretty Goldfinches who have been visiting our yard lately:

Mommie said this is a male Goldfinch, and he loves that niger seed that is in that sock!

Isn't he beautiful?

And Mommie thinks these are female Goldfinch. There have been lots and lots of them, but they seem to eat seeds on the ground, so she isn't sure if that is what they are or not, but they are pretty too!

Okay, and here's my last pictures. This is my Daddy! Isn't he handsome?  Well, Mommie sure thinks so. She took this picture of him the other day while they were on a walk. Mommie said she had never seen that shirt before...apparently it was a Christmas gift from his brother and sister in law, but with all the commotion on Christmas Mommie said she never saw it when he opened it!

And Mommie said she liked it so well she wished she had one like it too! But anyway, she said I could share it with you. 

Mommie said, "Life IS good", and we are very thankful for all that God has done for us. We are praying for the people of Ukraine especially right now, because they are under attack  by a fierce enemy, and they really need God's help to survive.  So we are praying for them every day.

Mommie is going to go help my big brother Benton at their store in St. Augustine today...

"Dixie Cottage"

That's my big brother Benton and Auntie Rose now. This was taken last year, almost exactly one year ago, when they opened the doors for their store for the first time!

They stay very very busy and need lots of help, so Mommie says she will go and help out today.

So, that's it for today, friends!

I hope you enjoyed this little "adventure" with me!

Love,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxox

Story Time with Lily Grace

Hello all my wonderful friends in Blogland!  I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend and now you are ready for a brand new week of fun and stories!! 

Remember last week when I shared the story with you about Lily's Lovely Garden?  Well, so many of you liked hearing that story so much, I thought I would share another special story with you today.  My Auntie Debbi in S.C. sent me these very nice books in my Easter package, and so I wanted to share my special gifts with you too!

Today's story is called "Flora's Magic Flute".  Remember I told you HERE that when Mommie saw this little book she almost cried, because her Mama's Mother's name was Flora, and Auntie Debbi didn't even know that when she picked out that book to send me.  So that made this book even more special.

So, come on in and have a seat in my little fairy tea garden, and let me tell you the story about "Flora's Magic Flute".  I don't have a flute like Flora, but I do have my guitar, and maybe I can play a little tune on it while I tell you this story.

I will just tell you about the story rather than read you the story word for word, but you can look at the pictures as we share the story.

You see, Flora lived in a tiny little fairy village way back in the woods, and everybody lived very peacefully together.

Apparently they always had sunshine in this little village, and while Flora played her magic flute for them, they would all dance and sing.

But one day a lot of clouds came and made their little village all dark and gloomy. 

And then it started raining. They had not had many rainy days before, and they were all very sad. They were afraid that the sun would never shine again.

But then Flora remembered that when she played music on her flute they always had sunshine and they were happy.

And so then she got her magic flute and started playing music for them.

So when the other little fairies heard Flora playing her flute, it made them remember how pretty everything was after the rain before.

And so they splashed in the rain and danced to the music "to celebrate the beauty that was to come."

And so all the birdies and the fairies and butterflies were all very happy again and lived happily ever after.

I shared this little story with my friends at our Sunday School class, and this is what we learned...

Sometimes sad and bad things will happen to us in our lives, and we may be afraid the sun will never shine again and that we can never be happy again.  

On Good Friday last week, Jesus was put on a cruel cross and died, because people were angry and full of hatred and they didn't believe Jesus was the Son of God.  And all of Jesus' followers were very sad that day and thought all their hopes were gone, and that Jesus would never be able to help them again. The sky grew dark and the sun refused to shine. And they all went and hid because they were afraid.

But three days later, on Easter morning, when the ladies went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body, they found out that the stone had been rolled away, and an angel told them that Jesus was not there, but that He was risen from the dead.  And then some of them actually saw Jesus, and saw that He was really alive, and the sun came back out, and they began to dance and sing and rejoice because Jesus was alive!

And they all had joy and hope again in their hearts, because Jesus conquered death for all of us who believe!

And this is kind of like what happened to the little fairies when they realized that the sun would shine again and trees and flowers would bloom again...the flowers would come back to life again...and so they "all danced and splashed in the rain to celebrate the beauty that was to come."

When we know that Jesus is alive and that someday we will all go to live with Him in heaven forever and ever, we can "celebrate the beauty" that IS to come!!

Isn't that a good story? And that part is absolutely true!

I hope you enjoyed this Story Time today. Oh, looky what I found on our walk in the woods!

It is a feather from a hawk, Mommie thinks.  Since it was on the ground we saved it for our little feather collection.

Okay, that's all folks!!

Until next time,

be sure to 

"celebrate the beauty" that IS to come!!

Bye Bye,

Love,

Lily Grace

 "Flora' Magic Flute" was written by Stephen Hall and illustrated by Jennifer Bartlett.

Lily Grace goes on a little Irish Adventure

Please click HERE to see where Lily Grace has been .  She made a guest appearance on my other blog, Closed Doors, Open Windows, along with these other special friends...

Looks like there has been an adventure in "fairyland" for sure.

I hope you will go check it out!  Lily Grace may need our help to get back over here to her "home"!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 

(tomorrow!)