As time goes by

How to sum up the past two years? By topics maybe.
People: I lost two of my greatest loves, Jane's dad Dougie and our sweebly doggie Sophie but life goes on and we gained a nephew Finley. When we commemorated Dougie's passing with a lovely standard rose called Sweet Dreams, we were joined by a beautiful dragonfly. Two of my aunts are succumbing to dementia, an illness which seems to be so common these days. We had several joyous family get-togethers, notably Sue's 50th birthday in Nantes. And we've created a new home for some waterlilies, koi and other fishes both in the garden and indoors.
Places: I had lovely holidays with Nammy in the Black Mountains of Wales, in South Devon and in Cornwall. And we soaked ourselves in the Spanish artistic soul in Barcelona, exploring the works of Dali, Gaudi, Picasso and Miro.
Spirituality: We created a new spiritual space in our home, the shrine room, pictured above, which has given us a calm centre for meditation and remembrance. Every morning Nammy puts on relaxing meditation music here which permeates the house to create a very spiritual atmosphere to start the day. We enjoyed attending a fortnightly Sound Healing group and made new friends toning our chakras, banging drums or experiencing Lesley's wonderful sound baths. We had some lovely musical jam sessions with Sue and Fleur. I have been meditating much more over the past year and reaping the benefits in increased calmness and acceptance of what life brings. And finally, I get a lovely warm feeling on seeing the Dao return.