Pssst!

By Belinda

 I have a secret to share--so that everyone who follows this blog can anticipate with the same excitement I am experiencing...

 April 6 is Rob's 60th birthday and after thinking about it for weeks, I committed a week or so ago and booked a flight to England on April 5. I will arrive in Birmingham, with a brief stop over in Amsterdam, at 8.40 a.m. on THE DAY. Rob will have no idea that I'm coming, but everyone else close to us knows already--my nephew John--Chris, Eileen and Nel-Rose, and Auntie May and her family. Rob has no internet--not even a computer--so I am safe in writing this here.

 John will be at the airport to meet me. Chris, Eileen and Nel-Rose, who live up in the Lake District in Kendal, are going to call Rob and ask if they can visit that day, which will be a normal thing for them to do. This will probably spur a bit of a clean up in Rob's flat to get ready for their visit.

 I am so excited. I've only done this once before, I think it was for Mum and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary, or Dad's 70th birthday--one of those two--and there is no joy like it; that feeling of anticipation, the drive in the early morning into the village and entering the world of someone you love who thinks that you are thousands of miles away.
And of course, I am dying to see Brucie.

 Just 9 weeks to wait!!!

Comments

Dave Hingsburger said…
What fun! And no better gift. Except for liver chews.
5:22 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm with Dave - I thought of the liver chews right away for Bruce. Yeah, yeah, you probably will pick something up for your brother - but priorities!!! How exciting! I love wonderful surprises like that! And part of the enjoyment for you is the anticipation. Enjoy!! Be sure to tell us all about it too!
6:07 AM
Carolyn Wilker said…
How exciting to plan this trip. Nothing like a wide-open secreta, except for your brother. He won't happen to take up Internet in that time??
9:07 AM
Belinda said…
Cari, there is NO chance of Rob taking up the internet. Oh NOooo! And if he does--then I will be the one pranked! And that would be hilarious.
10:17 AM
Susan said…
Oh, to be a fly on the wall when he sees your face amid that little crowd! What a GREAT idea. A birthday he will never forget...
3:48 PM
Anonymous said…
So it seems that you made the decision for a total surprise...face to face then :-) good for you!
Love,
Irene
5:10 PM
Marilyn Yocum said…
Love this!
6:31 PM
Belinda said…
Irene, I DID! With a bit of conspiring with my "overseas contacts!" :)
10:38 PM
Belinda said…
Dear Dave and Anonymous--thank you for ensuring that Brucie gets a fresh supply of Liver Bites. I could hardly show up without them! Ha ha! :)
10:41 PM
Belinda said…
Susan, I will do my best to make everyone FEEL like a fly on the wall! In fact I'll be looking out for them as this unfolds. :)
10:42 PM
Belinda said…
Marilyn--me too. :)
10:43 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c
Read more