I’m a Spring baby, born to dance like the spring flowers. To share my spring joy, I made this video:
I won’t tell you how many years I’ve seen, but I wouldn’t trade one because they’ve brought me to this happy place. This year, I’m hoping for clear weather on my birthday, because I want to visit the ocean with my three kids. I’ll try to take some pictures for all of you. Meanwhile, some birthday treats for anyone who wants to be part of the party:
I never imagined the response I have gotten to my fairy tales, here on Friendly Fairy Tales. I originally put up stories for family to be able to read them without my providing everyone copies. (I have a BIG family.)
The warmth of community I have found has been a fairy tale come true for me. I love all the comments. I love hearing that others love fairy tales, and even more, that others love my stories. And all the awards make me happy, more on that below…
Thanks to everyone who visits, who likes, who comments or even just enjoys my stories, my photographs and my poetry. For all of you, I have made an underwater visual fairy tale (a new video!!), called Fairy Fish Tails, which has an original score composed by my oldest son.
The video was a long time in the works, and as a result, I have been slow to pass along thanks for awards, but here goes:
It takes a long time to become young.
— Pablo Picasso
Welcome to my hundredth post, a different kind of fairy tale today,
dedicated to someone well loved
who turned one hundred last Friday.
He was grumpy, nearly blind, taking small steps with a walker,
but still his blessings outnumber his age: Continue reading
Photo Courtesy of Busymindthinking
Keep love in your heart.
A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.
— Oscar Wilde
Mein Liebster Bloggers, Friends and Family,
I write to you, my lieblings, to celebrate loved ones, to thank wonderful bloggers and to pass the liebe (love) along to others. My kids and I made a new video, Healing Magic of Beauty, in honor of all those fighting sickness and disease, you know who you are.
In particular, I dedicate Healing Magic of Beauty to two beautiful women, without whom my world would be a darker place.
To Belinda: she battles disease, but still finds time to look up and embrace the mystery and beauty of the ever-changing sky. Then she records it and shared it with the world. You can find this brave and lovely lady at Busymindthinking.
To Aunt Mary: I also dedicate Healing Magic of Beauty to you on your birthday. You are the original magical one — the finder of four-leaf clovers, the savior of the forlorn, the wisest and loveliest woman I know. Thank you for the luck your love has always brought me. You are daily in my thoughts, and I send thoughts of healing, magic and love your way. Happy, Healthful Birthday!!
Now to some blog business of a most agreeable kind…
Thanks to Bullying Prevention for giving friendlyfairytales the 6-award! Thanks also to the Seeker57 for handing me a giant portion of 14 more also. They both have terrific blogs and lots to offer, and I hope you will visit them. I had previously received, posted and nominated others for nineteen of these twenty awards, and thus I will gladly use my award acceptance token.
The award new to Friendly Fairy Tales is the Seed of Light. Rules: put up the icon, thank the giver and pass the award on to five deserving individuals. I’m going to gift it to the nominees below to whom I am also giving the Liebster.
Thanks to Coach Muller for awarding friendlyfairytales the Liebster Award. He is an inspiring man with feel-good stories.
This is an award to help bloggers find new friends and to encourage other new bloggers. Liebster mean “dearest” in German.* Although I have received this award before, I have never before followed the rules or learned any German. I know, shocking of me. However, third time’s the charm, and so here goes:
The Rules: Put up the icon, thank and link-back to the giver, answer questions and pass it on like a hot cake to more 5 deserving newbie bloggers with some more questions. I’ll be interpreting Newbie Blogger liberally since I’ve seen many definitions from blogs with 200 to 3000 followers.** I’m just going to pass it on to people I found inspiring, amazing or fabulously funny, because I’m saving the rest of my brain power (limited as it is at my age) for writing. I’m not sure the questions are strictly necessary, but that’s how it was given to me, and why not?
Here are some blumen (flowers) and baum (trees) from my wandern (wanderings) to thank my readers. I hope you will take a few moments today to feel loved. Shoot, why not every day?
Auf Wiedersehen!
Brenda
* http://www.dict.cc/german-english/Liebster.html
** http://sopphey.onimpression.com/2012/05/liebster-blog-award-origins.html
Note: Photograph of sky used with permission of Busymindthinking
Dedication: this post is dedicated to Skye, a gem of an island in Scotland, one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I have received showers of blessings. Friendlyfairytales has received so many lovely comments, praise, support and attention, that awards seem like icing. Of course, I’ve always liked icing. 🙂
The rules are partly about sharing yourself. I’m sharing something very personal today.
The Psalms were some of the earliest spoken poetry I ever remember hearing. My beloved mother passed away when I was four years old. Perhaps my imagination provided me this, but if I have any memories of her voice left, it would be of her saying these words, giving me an abiding love of poetry and also a sense of security beyond my own family:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul…
My current quest for combining poetry, nature and stories harkens back to those early, peaceful memories of safety. In the spirit of thankfulness for blessings, past and present, I want to, yet again, share a brand new movie (my third ever!! I hope they are improving!!), made by my kids and I, called Water of Life:
Thanks to the Mobius Strip for the Super Sweet Blogging Award. Dreamwalkeramrita is a great artist and writer, and her blog is worth a visit.
Thanks to White Rabbit’s Gallery and The Mother of Nine9 for a new Sunshine Award. Both of these bloggers add sunshine to my life, and would add sunshine to yours, too!
Thanks to Reocochran for gifting friendlyfairytales a whole bouquet of awards from which I could choose, and she told a lovely story about the bouquet she carried at her first wedding. Since I already have received all these awards, instead of gathering up those tokens, in her honor, I’ve made this acceptance token:
Thanks to Ajaytao, who visited me with a Super-Sized Award Portion, and I’ll put the icons up because they are new to me!! Many bloggers already know Ajaytao, but if you don’t, you are in for a real treat. He has a loving, wise vibe surrounded always by beauty in thought and nature.
Notes on Awards: Liebster means dearest in German, and this is given to newer bloggers. Semper Fidelis means always faithful in latin and represents fidelity and love between blogging friends. The others are pretty self-explanatory.
Thanks to Terry1954, whose goodness shines through in every post, during the good days and the bad, while caring for her brother Al. I’m honored to receive an award she has created, the Excellence Award:
If I follow all the rules, I would be posting awards, sometimes several a day, and I would have no time for writing and creating, and soon I would be sad, and getting awards would feel burdensome. Plus I would bore all of you with the minutiae of my life answering all the questions. I do want to share the love with other great bloggers who have given generously to me of time and attention, and who daily make my cup runneth over with joy and love. If I haven’t named you, it is simply dinner time and I ran out of time. I also can’t name over 600!!
To all the lovely and talented bloggers nominated below, I give any awards they have not received above, and I also give my own created award, the You are a Miracle Award, because you are! To me, you have been the most amazing, encouraging and talented community. I could not have imagined a better world to join.
Without further ado, the very deserving nominees:
busymindthinking
anelephantcant
Old News
mrsbearfoot
Glorialana
Jon Petruschke
petitemagique
Ola Ciezak
lauralistar
Professor VJ Duke
belsbror
Mona
Paula Williams
Jessica Hagan
ksbeth
Oldest Daughter …
beingnenne
Eva PoeteX
cindy knoke
The Hook
jacquelinemhadel
If you maintain an award-free blog, don’t feel any regrets, this is just my wish to share the love with you. No obligations need accrue, no dire events follow from not accepting. Please do share the love with others if that is your way. And have the loveliest of lovely days!
A few flowers from my wanderings to thank all my readers, near and far:
May kindness and mercy follow you all the days of your life and may you live happily ever after. 😀
The End (for today)
With great affection, Brenda
Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: The video Water of Life is dedicated to my mom, who I believe would have loved my blog.
Friendly Fairy Tales is throwing an award party, and YOU are invited. Cupcakes, frozen drinks and crudite for all! Let’s all dance like teenagers! Okay, maybe not like teenagers. Let’s Dance with nature! I made another movie, my second ever, just to share a dance with all of you. (Thanks Number One Oldest Son who played the violin for this movie!)
While you munch a few carrots and sip your fruit smoothie, let me spread some love and scatter some magic.
Thanks to MichelleMarie at Tell me about it, peek a boo to you! You sure do shine on all of us, your art is gorgeous, thanks for sharing your glow! Here’s a virtual cupcake, let’s make yours dark chocolate with layers of amaretto- orange frosting. I know she like Oreos, but perhaps she will take a cupcake this once.
Through My Eyes amazingly awarded me the Shine On award even though we were new friends! You need a very special cupcake: strawberry lavender cream-cake with curls of caramel. With you as inspiration, I plan to invite some new friends as guests of honor.
Thanks to Jesse Robben who accepted a couple awards and lobbed them right back at me, the WordPress Family and Team Membership Awards. For you, I have a double decker cupcake — vanilla bean and belgian chocolate with chocolate mocha-cream frosting.
As for Scottishmomus, she invited me to a sleepover. Sigh of longing. For you, I have an apple-peach torte with blueberry spearmint sorbet on the side. Thanks for these two: the WordPress Family and Best Moment Awards.
And Belsbror gets big thanks for another great award — the Versatile Award! My heart is going pitter pat! Love your stories, and your vibe! For you, a cupcake tour de force — in the shape of a race car, with strawberry racing stripes and oreo wheels.
Mummyflyingsolo, the award Queen, awarded me the Best Moment award, and then made me tear up by telling me that reading my stories are some of the best moments of her day. Oh, I’m getting teary again, this calls for a very special treat — Vermont Sea Salt Caramels for multi-layered sweetness with a savory kick.
Since, I’m partying, I’m also breaking all the rules. I know, I know. Call the cops and tell me to turn down the music. We’re having way too much fun here at friendlyfairytales for the rules today. Satisfy your cravings and dance with the dragon (Shh, don’t tell anyone who hasn’t watched the video that it has a dancing dragon).
Here are some guests of honor, who can scoop up any awards they wish:
DeirdreMariePhotography, I’m head over heels for her!
A day in the Life, with a bucket list to die for and a month to do it!
CupcakesnSunshine, go girl-power! Love your lists of fabulous girls!
Callingonangels, we all need love! You are so right!
Blossom, where haiku is blooming.
Thetreegrows, whose pictures make my soul expand!
Scottishmomus, because one good turn deserves another. 🙂
Myeverydaystruggles, because she has a sassy side that appeals to me.
Klove, who gets the struggle and feels the love anyway.
DavidIonelRomulus, who has beautiful images and words.
ImpossibleisNothing, whose findings make me laugh.
Please comment and you may find yourself able to throw your own party. 😉
I’m not sharing things about me, a girl has to keep a little mystery. But here are some gifts from my magical world, to thank all my readers, commenters, followers, friends and fellow fairy tale lovers:
Warmly and with deep appreciation for all of you and WordPress, too, Brenda
“Each one has to find… peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
A special thanks to Donicia’s Thoughts, who gave me the award of Inner Peace, inspiring me to make my first ever movie. She has so much to offer the world, I hope you will visit her.
The only rule in accepting the Inner Peace Award is sharing your thoughts on inner peace. For me, inner peace is not a destination where I find refuge, but a journey I start anew each day. I created a movie to share peacefulness. I hope it gives you a quiet space to find your inner peace. I believe we all have the capacity to find peace.
I dedicate Journey toward Inner Peace to WordPress, which has given me an opportunity to realize my dream of publishing my fairy tales. I also dedicate this short movie to all my readers, followers, commenters, and visitors, new and returning, and other fairy tale lovers like me.
I gift this award to any reader who is also on a journey toward Inner Peace. You all deserve it! Accepting it may lead you to finding a measure of inner peace, just by contemplating it yourself, and what it means to you. Even if you do not accept it, I hope you will accept my wish for you to share peacefulness with me, if only briefly.
In case you don’t have time for the movie, the poem it contains is also here:
Journey toward Inner Peace
Rain falls,
plants grow,
lakes swell,
oceans churn.
Life flourishes;
contemplate peace.
Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham
Jeremiah was not a bullfrog (that was a vicious rumor). The solstice has passed, and Queen Elisabeta ordered all the bee fairies to pollinate until the sun went down. Jeremiah visited the lupine first. You can catch a glimpse here if you look close:
Friendly Fairy Tales 