Can It be November Already?

"How silently they tumble down And come to rest upon the ground To lay a carpet, rich and rare, Beneath the trees without a care, Content to sleep, their work well done, Colors gleaming in the sun. At other times, they wildly fly Until they nearly reach the sky.Twisting, turning through the air Till all the trees stand stark and bare. Exhausted, drop to earth below To wait, like children, for the snow."

~ Elsie N. Brady

Hey all...just me peeking in for a moment! I am sorry to have been AWOL last week and weekend. Our neighbors had some work done and the guys hit the cable lines. Poof! No TV and NO computer! ARGH!

I am finally able to properly thank all of you for the sweet birthday greetings and for helping to make my 52nd as special as it was! I will be posting pictures of the past week, including Halloween, tomorrow. Till then, please know how much I adore you all. I have just passed my 2nd year of blogging anniversary and will be having a giveaway in honor of that event! I can not even imagine NOT knowing all of you...what a blessing it has been in my life to have *met* all of you.

Thank you for being a part of my life...

Happy November!

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q

Thanks And Giving Thanks For All Of You

Oh how I have missed you all. Straight away I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and good thoughts you have offered during my mother's illness. I also want to thank all of you who were so loving and so dear both to me and to Bill in recent days. I know I can never thank you enough. I have so much to catch up on both at your blogs and here on mine but I do so want to go ahead and express my most heartfelt thanks to each of you. I do not know what I have done to deserve having such special people in my life but I am eternally grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you to Sheila in Canada for the most wonderful package and oh how much it warmed me to receive it. I will be sharing pictures with all of you in the coming days but did want Sheila to know how much I adore her and how thankful I am to have her in my life. Oh dear Cassie! I am so late in thanking you and will post the pictures of your amazing package this week as well. I can never fully express the delight I had in opening each and every treasure! You are a blessing to me! And Sandy at Quill Cottage! I was simply bowled over by all the delicious things included in your give away box! I will also have pictures up of these sweet prizes soon but want you to know how grateful I am. What a treat for me to have this arrive during a week of trials! It brought me many smiles... as did the love from all of you. I will never be able to thank you warmly enough, well enough or to truly express my gratitude. I will be having a give away later this week...a Thanksgiving Giveaway...as a way to let you all know how very thankful I am for my blogging friendships. I will post the give away at the end of the week and have a lot of pictures to share as well. Till tomorrow I send you hugs aplenty and lots of love.

A Note From Bill...

The Rabbit Run Cottage gang at your service!

Hello to you all! Susie has been unable to pay any of you a visit due to our at home Internet connection problems! This has, as you would expect, made her a very unhappy blogger. Very! Our son Dan, the computer guru, thinks he has the problem solved so she should be back up and running tomorrow. She sends her love and hopes you are all well! I send my best wishes to each of you too. I also want to thank you for all your very special support to her and kindnesses shown to her following our "niece" doggie, Haley's, death. Susie took it all quite hard but is finally able to smile when we talk about Haley! Most of you are animal lovers so you well know the attachments we form to our pets. Thank you so much for "being there" for my girl. Oh, another thing, she wants those who asked to know that yes, the stone house in the photos is in our hometown. There are quite a few here. She will be posting many more pictures of other homes soon. Susie has taken to photography in a big way and loves getting out and shooting (So to speak!) places she loves. Thank you again for all your kindnesses and all of us around Rabbit Run Cottage send their best wishes! Cheers!

Bill, husband to the sweetest girl I know, Susie Q

Wow! Thank You!

Thank you seems too small a word to offer dear Pamela for this honor. I was surprised and just overwhelmed. Thank you so much! She nominated me for "The Perfect Post Award" for the month of July. The post she found worth of this nod is "M'Lady Does Tea". I am so glad that someone who writes as well as Pamela found this post a fun read. Thank you again!

Blogging Joy

Today I received the loveliest email from a very special lady. Carolyn at Mountain Meadows sent me a note to let me know about a post she had written after reading about my nephew Boo. Her words just warmed my heart and made my spirit soar. Carolyn truly does have the soul of a poet. I just want to say thank you to dear Carolyn and to all of you. When I began this blog last year, on October 20th, 2006, I really had no idea where it would lead. I just wanted to try it, have a little fun and, perhaps, use it to stay in touch with family and friends far away. It has become so much more. It is my creative outlet, my source of inspiration, support, my joy. I have discovered new friends that have become so very important to me. I have learned that we are all really so much alike. It does not matter where we live, what the color of our skin may be, the size of our house, or our family status. We are all different, we are all the same. We have each made connections that, without blogging, would not have been possible. I can not now imagine not checking in with Kim or Rhoda or Pat, Andrea, Sue, Lidy, Bethy to see what new tweak they have added to their decor. How sad I would be not to see how dear Pea's garden is prospering ot how Sharon Kay is up to! I would surely have missed out if I had been unable to check in with Corinne (our Jafabrit) and see what amazing work she was creating in her studio. I have come to depend on the creative inspiration of blogger friends like our house romantic Cindy, Rosemary in California, Sophie Honeysuckle in England, Jenny the Polka Dot Pixie, Donna at the Decorated House, Charlotte, Cherry, Deb K., Robin at Frecklefarm, Gold, Sugar Bear Karla, Kim and Toni at Rabbit Hill Creations. I feel so blessed to be able to share in the lovely photographs by special talents like Nature Girl and Betty Jo. I would have missed the connection I now have with Andi, Jen, Terri, Sheila, Missy, Teresa, Cheryl, Gretchen, Dawn, Valerie, Jolene, Coleen and so many others who now hold special places in my heart. I would not have come to know the precious faces of the children and their delightful stories that Melissa, Leona, Jill and our Brown English Muffin share every day. I would not have learned the lessons I now incorporate into my life from dear bloggers like Susie, Sioux, Connie, Betty Jo, Mari-Nanci, our Sheila in Canada and her beautiful daughter Blue. And, of course, what would I do without sweet Deb and her lovely girl, Kate, Lisa (our oceandreamer), Cassandra, Grace, Susie Q, Carolyn, Twinkle Pink's Ginny, Tammy, Chris, Country Pleasures and dear Rosemary. I would have missed out on the delicious writing that has, at once, made me laugh out loud and shed more than a few tears. Such talents like Pamela, Mama P., Brenda, Mom2Fur (Clare), Wendy, Carolyn... When I began this blog, I had a few detractors. There were a few who felt it was a waste of my time and just so much fluff. Needless to say, those people were wrong and are no longer near by to see how wrong they were. What a joy this blog has been to me. You are all so special to me. I have come to lean on your strengths and to learn from your teachings. You make me laugh and weep. I love seeing your children, your pets, your gardens, your homes. I feel that I have been able to delight in your happiness and to share in your painful experiences. I think the world of each and every one of you. I thank you for your love, your support, your prayers, your warmth, your compassion, your bright spirits. I wish I could hug each of you and tell you, face to face, what you have meant to me. Until I can, this will have to suffice. Much love and heartfelt thanks. Now and always.

Thank You

I wanted to say thank you to all of my special blogging friends. Your support and sweet words have helped to lighten my heart. I wish there was a way I could truly express how I feel about you all but please know that I am more grateful to you all than I can express with mere words. My sister in law had a list of people and services to call today and there are so many wonderful ways to help Boo and I do have such hope in my heart. He is a precious boy, sweet, funny, loving and playful. I have a deep belief that he will do well and be able to find his own place in the world. In just 48 hours I have read so much and talked to so many people....there is so much support out there for my nephew and his parents. The journey down this road is just beginning and yes, there will be detours and the inevitable pot hole (silly analogy maybe but Boo does so love his cars and trucks!) but I believe that he will reach his intended destination with his strong spirit and dedicated help and unconditional love. We all have our share of pain and dark days unfortunately and I thank you for helping me through one of mine. I suppose we need the dark days so we recognize the ones that fill us with delight. I do know that God loves Boo and will help him and his parents through their challenges. I wish I could give you all a hug...and to show you how much your kind and gentle words meant to me when I was hurting so. You are an amazing group of women and I feel blessed to *know* you all. I so hope I can meet many of you someday.... I will get back to visiting all of you in the next few days. I have so much to catch up on I know! I hope you are all well....enjoy your Friday and weekend. Do something good for yourself. You are SO important.

Warm Hugs and Love, Sue

A Heartfelt Thank You

Yes, I have been in a silly mood of late and I had fun posting all sorts of blather and dither about my 200th post. Just a bit of fun and I am so happy that you all shared in that.

Still, on a more serious note, I also want to offer you my warmest, most heartfelt thanks. Thank you to all of my new blogger buddies who have been so good to me...welcoming me into this blogging world and inviting me to visit your perfect little pieces of cyberspace.

When I began this venture late last Summer, I was convinced that no one would ever read a word I wrote or see one single picture I posted.

I thought that many would see this as a goofy bit of self indulgence, a waste of my time. Well, thanks to all of you, those worries were soon put to rest. I gather strength and inspiration from you all. I have gained new friendships with an amazing circle of women, for whom I am most grateful.

I tend to see the world in a very different light now, looking at my surroundings with a softer eye, a more artistic eye.

That is thanks to all of you.

I feel more confident and have grown into a more self

confident woman of late. That is thanks to all of you.

I owe you much, I owe you my thanks, a hug and a smile...

More than that really. This blog has become a precious outlet for me, a place to write, to share, to just have fun. It is addictive! I also have come to treasure the time I spend visiting all of your blogs....my homes away from home. From you I learn and grow and laugh and feel a kinship that warms me, nurtures me.

Thank you to each and every one of you.

Hugs,

Suzie Q