I am really pleased you have dropped by for a visit. If this is your first time here you will find a complete listing of the many pages and sections if you go to the site directory page. You will find a link to the directory further down on this page. If this is a return visit you already know your way around here and I thank you for returning once again. It means a great deal to me that so many of you do drop by when you have free time and have continued to do so through the years despite my propensity for speaking my mind perhaps too frequently. 

 Unfortunately I cannot promise that will change anytime in the foreseeable future. I am quite set in my ways and stubborn to a fault as my late husband would have attested. For those of you who haven't been here for a while or who have wondered why there was very little new content this past year I must tell you that my Les passed away the morning of February 25th 2010 after a great many months of incredible suffering from lung cancer. He is finally at peace and I am grateful for that. I quite simply haven't been up to doing much writing or having much interest in anything other than getting through another day. I miss him more than words can begin  to express but I am so thankful that he is now free of the pain he suffered with so little complaint for so very long. Had I not known him as I did many times I would not have known the intensity of that pain as he tried to protect me from the knowledge  of how severe  that suffering actually was. He failed of course. I always knew but allowed him to believe I was not aware as he needed to believe that. That was my husband. 

 However, I know Les would want me to keep my site alive as he knew how much pleasure I derived from  it through the years so it's time I tried to return to some semblance of normalcy in my life. One can only mourn so long and then it becomes maudlin rather than honouring the one you love.  I know Les is smiling knowing his very opinionated and mouthy wife is still in residence. He never was one for wallowing in self pity and he certainly wouldn't be pleased if I allowed myself to  give in to feeling sorry for myself. Life goes on and he has left me with a plethora of wonderful memories which I shall cherish always. 

The blessings? The years we spent together. They were the happiest of times even though health problems were a constant for almost ten years. How could they not be happy times. Spending those years with the love of your life at your side as we lived each day of our retirement knowing how blessed we were to have one another as our life's journey was on the last lap was in itself food for the soul. Finding one another again after over 40 years was truly the greatest blessing of all. How often does one get a second chance to spend their 'golden years' with their best friend and love of one's youth. How could I not be thankful for that. 

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. As we grow older it reminds us to value each moment, for it will never come again. Moments we all take far too much for granted. Unfortunately we too often learn that only as time begins to  wind down. When we are young we rush time whenever we can, and once we are adults and parents ourselves we find ourselves working to provide for our families every comfort and luxury our incomes allow. What we too often neglect is the quality time we should be spending with those we love and who need us a great deal more than they need all those bells and whistles. 

For those of you for whom it's a first time visit, you'll find my site has no particular theme and the topics can range from serious to frivolous with particular emphasis on family and children. I am, as you will find as you browse through the  various pages, a very outspoken and concerned individual but even when I go off on  one of my political tirades it's motivated by a very genuine concern for those who are  going to have to live with the results of the decisions and actions of those who are charged with securing our futures and who have done a superb job of royally messing things up in recent years. 

Relax, I am not always pontificating. Sometimes I even attempt to be amusing. My innate sense of the ridiculous is quite well honed but then, at my age, thank goodness it is. Otherwise I would have given up long ago and decided to grow old gracefully in  silence. As that is not the case it's only right I give you fair warning I don't pull too many  punches. I say what I think. Isn't that one of the bonuses which accompanies the "Golden Years"? In all honesty I do have to admit I've always been that way and it's way too late for me to change now. 

There are quite a number of pages here but hopefully you will enjoy browsing. You certainly may not always agree with me but I do hope and don't think you will be bored. I truly hope your  children will enjoy the Christmas Holiday section and find it fun as there are a series  of original children's Christmas stories there which I have written through the years. For many years my sweet little canary Petey figured prominently in most of them until he passed away a few years ago. I come up with a new one every year at Christmas time. And my little ShihTzu, Tuffy is now filling Petey's shoes. 

As I have already said, I can be serious a lot of the time but do also have an inner child  always struggling to surface. I guess you can put that down to the fact that I have never really wanted to grow up and lose my imagination. Check out the Christmas  directory in the Holiday section for a listing of those stories. I think, and hope, you  might get a chuckle out of some of them. I did write a Halloween story a few years ago  also but it is for older children and tucked away on it's own in the Holiday section. 

 My main interests are children and family and are the reason I feel so strongly about  things and wax political at times. Quite a few times in recent years. I do worry about  our children's futures a great deal. The older I become, the more I come to realize what a  treasure and responsibility it is when we are given children to nurture and love and I really only want others younger than myself to not take time for granted as I, and so many others did when we and our children were young. If I accomplish nothing other  than that they might take time to savour each moment more fully after sharing my thoughts and reveries for just a few moments I will have succeeded. I do sincerely believe that absolutely nothing is more important ... or more rewarding. 

It isn't a requirement you know that we all agree on every subject but being willing to  respect the opinions of others does lead to better communication, and that we most  assuredly must cultivate if our way of life is to survive. I do attempt to avoid inflicting  my political views on visitors to my web site as often as I can restrain myself, however I will readily admit that I am somewhat opinionated at times, particularly with regards to  the welfare of children everywhere and our very much cherished and precious  freedoms. Most times I do honestly make a sincere effort to try to temper that trait with a degree of caution, as I certainly recognize that my visitors may not agree with my point of view. However ... I make no apology for the occasional slip .. be forewarned ! 

An explanation of why you will find so many pages on my site accompanied by the same MIDI's may be in order. The vast majority of my pages are complemented by the music created by my late husband who was a very talented musician. As his MIDI's  were always all created in real time and not with any MIDI software program such as  'Band in a Box', which create the music for many, he stopped actually creating new  ones more than three years ago. He was not physically able to play as he demanded of  himself in recent years as he was afflicted with Rheumatoid Arthritis and more recently lung cancer and this led to his not being willing to create as many new MIDI's as he had done historically. He did still play when he was able up until last year when  he simply was no longer able to do what he loved so much. 

His music will live on here and with all those who knew Les and who also appreciated  his music and his very large web site MIDI Studio Consortium over so many years. His  site offered not only the music of many artists including himself but also a very large section offering an extensive catalogue of technical assistance to all and sundry when it came to music on the  web. As I am certainly not able to continue to offer that assistance as I wouldn't know  what I was talking about I have sadly taken Les' site down. I was planning on leaving it  up but knowing how meticulous he was in maintaining his site I found that was not  feasible as the hackers and spammers made that impossible so I have taken the files off line with more than a little regret. 

I should perhaps mention that I have removed my guest book as due to spam and some very questionable entries it  became a problem maintaining it regularly. If anyone wishes to contact me either to exchange pleasantries or to tell me off they may do so by email. You will find the email link on the Site Directory page. Just remember to remove NOSPAM from the address or the mail will not reach me. 

And now I shall stop rambling and give you a chance to explore my site. I do thank you so much for taking the time to visit and hope you will do so often in the future. I promise to try to do better with updates than I have this past year or so in the months to come. Although there may be  a lapse for a few more months as I am in the midst of moving  back to where I lived for so many years before Les and I were married.  Not being as young as I would like that is a task which may well take all of my energy for a while yet. Please do enjoy your visit and I promise to  get busy with new content as soon as I am able to do so. Who knows, I may even dare to wax political again.  If I upset anyone .. don't hesitate to make use of my email to tell me off. One thing about getting old and opinionated .. you learn to grow a thick skin. <g>