The Wonderful Devon Cream Tea

'Ooh, a Devon Cream Tea!
How Yummy!' my niece squeeled with delight
As we sat in the tea shop in Croyde and gave our order
With barely concealed excitement

We've been away, for a long time, you see
And England's ex-patriots
Tend to dream about these things
When they're far from home
Until the longing for the much loved
And very much missed
'English things'
Brings us home
Like magnets to a fridge door

We settle into our chairs and look around
At the quintessential 'Englishness' of the tea shop
And we smile at each other
As we gaze around us
Like water thirsty travellers in the desert
Drinking in the sights and the sounds
Of once familiar surroundings

And THEN the Devon Cream Tea arrives!
Two scones for each of us
Crisp on the outside
Buttery soft on the inside
Spread with strawberry jam whose berries fall over each other
To be covered in thick, rich, succulent, Devon clotted cream

And we take the first bite.......
Heaven
The flavours and textures of the scone, the jam and the cream
All blend together and make a perfect experience
Firm, soft, sweet, creamy
That wonderful, wonderful, Devon Cream Tea

And we sip our English tea
And eat our scones and we smile
The familiar is NOT to be taken for granted
Because, when the familiar is no longer available......
Well, we came 6,000 miles for this Devon Cream Tea!
How far would you go?

An Immigrant's Dilemma

How I long to walk my dog, down country lanes
With no fear of bears, or coyotes, or wolves, or cougers
Coming to attack my much loved pet

How I long to sit in a garden in the summer
Not plagued with mosquitoes
And without the smoke of distant forest fires
To cloud my sight and fill my throat

How I long to enjoy year-round walks
Without 5 months of snow and ice
And the fear of falling over
And hurting myself, again

And yet, and yet
I know that when I leave you, Canada
I will miss your wide open spaces
Your lakes and parks and evergreens
Your friendly, smiling people

I will miss seeing the bears
Climbing into the neighbours' apple trees
And the deer in the forest behind my home
And the first snowfall
That blankets our lakes and mountains
And makes everything clean and pure

Will I sit in my English garden
And dream of endless blue skies
Covering forests of fir
And clear lakes and canoes
And RVs heading for campsites and pastures new?

I will remember your spirit, Canada
I will remember your warm summers
And your snow covered winters
And I will smile

But I will walk and walk and walk with my dog
Without fear for her safety

I've had my adventure
I'm heading home - soon......

My Devon

Photo by Bridget Moore, Devon UK (c)

(I don't have a photo of bluebells)

Devon, my heart aches for you

Your sandy beaches

Your rocky cliffs

Your green fields and woodlands

How I long to visit your bluebell woods

And feast my eyes on those beautiful blue flowers

And smell the intoxicating scent of them

Delicate, bell-shaped, blue wonders

That I remember from days long past

To walk again

Along the twisty paths of Ilfracombe's Torrs

And see the sea

Waves breaking on the shore

And hear the seagulls calling to each other

To walk amongst your trees in autumn

And feel my feet gently crunching your leaves

Brown, and gold, and orange

And smell the sweet smell of leaves

Melting into the earth to replenish

The already rich soil

I'm coming home

I don't know when

But it will be soon

My Devon, my home.

Learning

Learning, learning, learning, still
Will it ever end?

"I don't think so" said my Guide
"I was on the earth a long time
And I've been in Heaven a long time
And I'm still learning"

Interested, I asked him
"What do you learn?"
"Everything" he said
"When?" I asked
"Always" he answered

"How much is there left to learn?" I asked
"How much do you want to learn?" he answered
"As much as I can" I said, smiling
"We'll learn together" he answered

Learning, learning, learning, still
May it never end!

What makes a friend?

Good Friends of the author, May 2009, UK

Author's niece and friend, aged 4, UK

What makes a friend?
Someone who understands
Someone who's on your side
Someone who cares whether you've had a good day
Or a bad day
Someone you can laugh with

What makes a friend?
Someone you can go for a walk with
And talk and talk, and giggle
Someone you can meet for coffee
Someone who's always pleased to see you

What makes a friend?
Someone who's honest with you when you need it
Someone who remembers your birthday
Someone who keeps in touch over the years
Even when you don't see them very often

What makes a friend?
Someone who makes you smile when you pick the phone up
And hear their voice
Someone who shares the ups and downs of their lives with you
And shares your ups and downs too

What makes a friend?
Someone who, even though thousands of miles away
Seems as though they're in the same room with you
When you call and chat at the weekend
When you share all the things in your life

What makes a friend?
Someone who calls you when they know you're down
When they know you'll gripe and complain a bit
Someone you call when you know they're down
Because you're friends
That's what makes a friend

The Beauty of a Garden

Photo by Bridget Moore (c) Devon, UK 2010

My soul longs for beauty
Needs it, demands it
What's really important in this world?
Love, kindness, compassion
Beauty
To me, beauty is synonymous with nature

To sit in a garden
Pesticide free
And watch the bees flying from plant to plant
Even the humble dandelion
Provides nectar to the bees

Butterflies and brightly coloured moths
Flitting amongst the grasses and shrubs
Watched by the keen eyes of my cats
Ballet leaping into the air
To catch a passing fly

Listening to the sounds of my garden
The chatter of a nearby squirrel
The drilling of a woodpecker in the forest behind my home
The wind rustling the leaves of the trees
Wind chimes gently contributing to the gentle low key music of life
The music of the garden

What better way to fill my soul with beauty
Than to sit in my garden
A cup of tea nearby
And watch, and listen, and contemplate
All of life is here
Right here
Right now.

My Special Mum

Mum and Dad, Earls Court, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England

Happy Days!

Always patient, always kind
Got a problem?  Never mind!
Always there with time to listen
Wipe away the tears that glisten

Friend, confidante all in one
Never too tired to have some fun
Wise and generous, good and true
Even in hard times, seldon blue

Always working, at home or away
Loved to cook and have people to stay
Good in the garden, good in the house
Kind to the cat and kind to the mouse

Faithful wife to my darling Dad
Stayed together through good and bad
Struggles, heartaches, laughter and tears
A really good marriage through many years

And when Dad died and went to heaven
She worked even harder, the work of seven
Always loving and always true
Oh how I strive to be more like you!

What an example you set for us kids
To love one another and be staunch Brits
To carry on working with joy and with pride
And right to the end, to behave like a bride

A lover to father, a mother to us
You never were one to make a big fuss
You just did your duty, with love and with laughter
And showed us we could live happily ever after