Say yes I once read a story about a woman who had survived several tragedies in a fairly short time. With no warning her husband left her, someone close to her died, her house burned, and she had lost her job. I’m not going to say that she didn’t suffer, because she did, and greatly, but she managed to pull herself together and move on. She moved to a different city and started over. In the process she made the decision that she would say ‘yes’ to whatever opportunities came her way. As she made friends in her new location, she became known as the one who would always say yes to requests for new adventures. Taking this attitude completely changed the woman’s life.  I believe it will change your life, too, when you decide to say yes to life, to your dreams, or simply to a new experience. It is time to say ‘yes’ to:
You will never have the time is you don’t say yes now. None of us really knows how much time we have, and the tomorrow that we are putting things off until may never come. We only have so many days here on this earth and when it’s over, well dear, it’s going to be too late to take your kids to see the ocean, or go on that romantic weekend with your sweetheart, or study French.  This was brought up close and personally to me when I nearly died one night from internal hemorrhaging. Coming face to face with my own mortality made me sit up and take notice of where I wanted my life to go. I realized that the ‘some day’ I had been putting things off for, had to happen now, not later. We women are often guilty of saying yes to everyone else’s wants and needs instead of our own. Doesn’t that imply that the needs of others are more important than your own? If you think about that for a moment, you must agree that it just isn’t so. Everyone’s needs are of equal value, it is just more important to the owner of those needs that you drop everything and attend to them rather than to your own. Get some perspective. Just because someone demands that you submit to his or her wishes, doesn’t mean you have to do it.  Think about what you need to say yes to. Your life is numbered by days, and they go by with shocking regularity and speed. Now is the time to start saying yes to what makes your life really worthwhile. Don’t wait. Don’t put it off. Say yes now. Not sure what you want to say yes to? My program, The Wish Plan, can help you discover what you value, and make a plan to get it. 
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Eat Chocolate for Breakfast Several years ago while travelling in France, staying at hole-in-the-wall hotels and eating at small cafes, I had breakfast at a tiny bakery with a few wooden tables. The morning sunlight streamed through the windowpanes onto the tiled floor as a round woman with smiling eyes served miniature cups of espresso and pain chocolat (pronounced pan shocolah). Similar to a croissant but with layers of rich dark chocolate rolled in swirls of buttery warm bread, eating a pain chocolat for breakfast is like starting the day with a little bit of heaven. The French are famous for their joie de vivre, but you don’t have to live in France to indulge in wonderful treats for breakfast or anytime. Living with lusciousness means choosing to include sensual delights as often as you can and not settling for less than the best of what you want.  Try this: Go to a chocolate boutique and buy yourself some fabulous truffles, one or two for each day of the week. If you can make them last all week, good for you. If you can’t, just buy enough to give yourself a happy, sensuous moment of bliss. Then go back another day and do it again. It won’t be enough to blow your diet, just enough to give you a treat. Even if you do not live near a great chocolate boutique, you can buy really fine chocolate at your grocery store. The main point here is, take the time to include those small things that make your life more pleasant. If it is harmless, painless, and won’t break your budget then go ahead and add to your life those experiences that make it better, more fun or just more luscious.  You can apply this delicious concept to anything that gives you a morsel of delight in your day. Take time to give yourself luscious little treats. Don’t postpone living. Try taking a bubble bath in the afternoon or have your morning coffee before anyone else in the house is up so you can savour the silence. Use your favourite coffee cup. Buy yourself flowers.
We must treat ourselves kindly and well and we must also treat ourselves to luscious moments, morsels and delights. These self-loving gifts are the materials of everyday sweetness. If you haven't already done so, be sure to subscribe to my email list to be notified of the rest of the Luscious Living Lessons in this series, and much more. You will also receive my fabulous, free, illustrated e-book, Guide to Freeing your Creativity. 
A perfect day for a ride on the ferry to Vancouver Island. 
The scenery in the passage is incomparable. 
The doors were open so we ventured into this beautiful church near downtown Victoria. 
What would a trip to Victoria be without a stop at Munroe's Books? Incomplete, of course. 
British Columbia's provincial legislature building at Victoria harbour. 
The historic and beautiful Empress Hotel where they serve high tea. (We didn't stop for it this time.) 
A flower-decked downtown Swan's Hotel. Everything is within easy walking distance in downtown Victoria. 
We discovered this little mossy pocket garden with a waterfall off a narrow alley. 
One of the city's beaches. Surprisingly empty for such a beautiful day but then, it was Tuesday afternoon.
 I joined the Canada Day festivities today, including answering a quiz about Canada, and I won! Here I am being presented with my prize, a Canada beach towel. It seems like everyone knows I love the beach.  Celebrating the day with the Canada Day cake. I didn't have any and I don't think it would qualify as health food but plenty of people lined up for their piece.  Lots of kids, sunshine, and fun. The firefighters had their water cannons out and the children had a blast running through the spray.  At almost any Canadian celebration, the kilts and the bagpipes appear. Here a local group has just finished their parade, which I missed, and is seeking some shade. Those wool socks have to be hot in 35°C temperatures.  A tiny market had set up with handmade quilts, baby hats and sweater, jams and cookies, pickles and chicken and more. I bought a sweet bonnet for the new baby who is about to appear in our family.
Another installment in the West Coast adventure. The Point Wilson lighthouse at Port Townsend. 
Boats and more boats in a tiny bay near Port Hadlock. I love being places with names that include words like port, bay, beach, cove, and harbour. They all mean that there is an ocean or sea nearby. 
I turned around and there were these seaside cottages for students at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building at Port Hadlock. Peering through the window of the school, I saw some beautiful boats taking shape. And no, I'm not going to build my own boat any time soon. I wrote about a couple of boats in my novel, Picking up the Pieces. 
I had to run to capture this shot of the sailboat passing by the ferry dock in Port Townsend. Unfortunately, it had clouded over by late afternoon. Soon the ferry from Whidbey Island sailed up, we drove on, and off we went to Oak Harbor.
 It's no secret that I love the ocean and get close to it, either on a boat or ship, or with my toes in the sand at a beach, at every opportunity.
Last week I went on a little trip with my husband and we took the ferry from Coupeville, WA, to Port Townsend. The sky cleared and the sea breezes were fresh. Since I'm usually the family photographer, I've begun to realize that there are very few photos of me in the family archives. When I think of it, I am now trying to get someone to snap a few shots of me for posterity. In this one, I'm on the top deck of the ferry crossing Admiralty Inlet in Washington state. And no, I'm not the admiral.  Picking up the Pieces, Wendy Dewar Hughes Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Jill Moss is surprised when she receives her Uncle Neil Bryant’s Bible and discovers that it has certain, odd passages marked. Then she learns that her uncle has discovered an artifact in Mexico that consists of sixteen separate pieces that have been sent to people he knows and trusts. He needs her to travel all over the world to collect all sixteen pieces. Jill prays about it and listens when God tells her to help her uncle out. Thus begins a high speed adventure as Jill meets Marco Jimenez, a handsome Spaniard who helps her out as she is chased and stalked while traveling to collect the pieces of the artifact. The pieces are written in three different and distinct languages: Olmec, Mayan and Hebrew. How is this possible when these three cultures did not exist together and what is the significance of it all? The adventures Wendy Hughes puts her heroine through are both thrilling and exhilarating, as are her captivating descriptions of the terrain and beauty of the countries that are visited. It is amazing how beautifully she marries such diverse points of view, taking passages from the bible and scientific knowledge and creating a story that makes a believer out of the reader. The fast paced adventures and love interest keeps the reader eager and unable to put this story down! Rose Mary Espinoza, InDTale Magazine http://www.indtale.com/reviews/picking-pieces  Chanticlear Reviews:
Picking up the Pieces opens with a short prologue so well done that we are anchored in its stellar writing and professional style. Immediately, readers pass through a portal, created with written words, transported into the living world of the story. Feeling a part of Jill Moss, we long to discover “how, who, what, where, when and why” as we begin chapter one, bracing for an emotional ride filled with suspense. Jill Moss loves and respects her eccentric Uncle Neil, an expert and fearless archaeologist. He has discovered ancient artifacts in Mexico. Recognizing the danger if the artifacts fall into the wrong hands, he hides away. He deflects attention and involves his beloved niece, Jill—protecting her by telling her nothing, but trusting her to do as he asks. She suspects he is once again in danger and believes she has no choice. Uprooting her life, she embarks on Uncle Neil’s quest, one clue at a time. Readers walk in the foreign streets, sit in the cafés, sleep in the dwellings, sweat in the heat, smell the food, and drop exhausted with Jill, when she is overcome. Our hearts thump as we run with her to keep up. We can’t wait to get to the next page, but the words are so compelling, we cannot skip. Pulling for her, we try to solve the mystery and decide what she should do to stay safe. We are comforted when Jill’s trust in God along with her spiritual connection, guides her, allowing narrow escapes in a few of the many precarious situations. Biblical quotes augment the story, giving clues, as the reader slowly grasps the reason behind the intense desire of others who hunt the artifacts—at any cost. The plot keeps the story flowing, but jars us with surprises. Do we believe this story could happen? Absolutely. The main characters are well drawn and feel like family or people we know or have met. We don’t want to say goodbye when finished with the last page. In many scenes, we wonder whether the players are friend or foe. Even the sweet romantic element keeps us guessing until near the end. This reviewer looks forward to being captivated again by this author and will watch for a sequel to Picking up the Pieces, or to the next entertaining page-turner by Wendy Dewar Hughes.  See if you can name this location. Leave a comment and tell me if you know where this bridge is and what river it crosses.
This is to remind everyone who is suffering through the winter weather that somewhere out there the sun is shining. Wait a minute. Whose feet are those? They're not mine.
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