Saturday 27 December 2008

A Painting and Other Things


After having a wonderful Christmas dinner that turned out just as it should, we opened our presents and all three of us were lucky enough to receive some lovely things.




Notice the Disney films? I collect the animated feature films and LM had bought me four! Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas and Dumbo. Lise bought me The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspain so I’ve plenty to watch this week :)

One present really brought tears to my eyes though.




This is a picture that my best friend Jo painted for me. Now she’ll be the first to admit that she’s no Van Gogh but there’s a story to this.

About a month or so ago she came to stay for a girly weekend. We had a laugh, solved the world’s problems (as you do) and went off on a zillion tangents. At one point we were talking about our dream homes. Mine’s a little white cottage that’s overlooking the sea, with flowers in window boxes and an old fashioned garden out the front. There would be a little wood nearby where I could go for cool picnics and be close to the trees and the animals that live there, and there would be mountains in the distance. Somehow Jo had managed to remember all of those details, got hold of a canvas and painted my vision!

Now this is a woman who has a young family to look after, a responsible job that keeps her busy, her grandmother’s been ill during the run up to Christmas meaning she’s had to travel from Manchester to Blackpool several times a week to make sure she’s ok, and she obviously had all the demands that running a home otherwise brings with it. And yet somehow, amidst this and the Christmas rush, she managed to find the time to paint this for me. Can you wonder that I had tears in my eyes?

Happy Twixmas, everyone.

Sharon J xx

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9 comments:

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

I am glad it all turned out so well for you and hope yope you enjoyou enjoy your Disneyfest!

Lizzie

Margaret's Ramblings said...

It is truely those handcrafted gifts that someone has put their precious time into that touch our heart. That's one beautiful painting from someone, I would imagine is one beautiful friend.
Margaret
ps, I hope her grandmother is doing better

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful gift, makes your heart sing when someone does this for you.

Sharon J said...

@ Lizzie. Oh, I'll enjoy it. I fell asleep watching Aladdin on Christmas night but then it was a bit ambitious to think I could watch it when I could hardly keep my eyes open anymore :)

@ Margaret. She is a beautiful friend and I can't imagine life without her being part of it.

@ A pot... Thanks for dropping by. My heart sings every time I look at it :)

Canadian Saver said...

Love the picture!!! She sounds like a truly special friend... enjoy your movies :-)

Jennifer said...

Sharon
That really is the true spirit of christmas, how fantastic!

BTW, Little Mermaid is my all time favourite Disney film. I can still sing the songs.....Le poisson, Le poisson, he he he, haw haw haw... ;D

jen

Sharon J said...

@ Canadian Saver. Most definitely special, in so many ways :)

@ Jennifer. My kids were nuts about The Little Mermaid when they were small but this is actually the first time we've had the film ourselves (myself) so it'll be fun watching it again.

Very impressed by your singing :)

Anonymous said...

Aww you've gone and made me blub like a baby now - but in a good way :)

Sharon, you are my best friend, and any time I can take to make you happy makes me a very happy person, one who is proud and over the moon to have you as a friend.

To everyone else, thank you for your very kind words - it has been a long time since I have painted or drawn in any way so it was quite a nervous wait to find out if Sharon liked it, and if I still had the ability to do a half decent job!

Margaret - thank you for your concern, Nana is still unable to get around really without assistance, but at 82 she is still a fighter and I'm sure will be up and around in the New Year with us trying to keep up ;)

Anonymous said...

A lovely gift and a lovely friend :)

Do you want to swap The Little Mermaid for a black velour leisure suit?!?! My mum has some explaining to do...lol