unexpected gifts

Bloggers have giveaways which is a very cool thing.

Giveaways are gifts from bloggers thanking us from tuning in.

I won these freshwater pink and white pearls

from Pamela at French Buttons.

They are beautiful and it was amazing to get these in the mail

from someone I have only met recently in blogland.

An unexpected gift came from a new blogger friend.

 Cindy, from Cindy's Fractured Fairy Tale asked 

if she could send me"a little something" and this amazing oil painting

came right to my door and now is in my kitchen reminding me

of how real blogger friendships are.

This painting has inspired my 9 yr old SS (step-son) and me to 

start painting our own works of art. We take Cindy's painting into the dining room

and set up our paints and look at her brush strokes, the light and the shadows.

Truly a thoughtful and inspiring gift.

Imagine my surprise 

when Jami from Freckled Laundry reached out to me.

She wanted to send me something too!! 

The pretty package arrived yesterday wrapped in toile tissue paper with her 

signature gift tag wrapped in twine.

Inside were two of her clay tags with French lettering! 

One spelled out lavender with aromatic sprigs 

attached by lace ribbon and the other simply said, My Friend.

Small reminders of how real this blogging world is....

big reminders of how large people's hearts can be.