Pretty things

I have recently been given some beautiful things, like this Wedgwood vase in a pattern called Sweet Plum, from my Mamma.

My sisters and father got together and gave me some beautiful quartz and gold earrings. I love them, but they are reluctant photo subjects and this is the best I could do - which isn't very good at all, in fact, you can barely make out they're earrings.

A lovely friend gave me a much-longed-for Waterman pen. I love it because it's heavy and quite masculine, and of course, beautifully made. He's a powerful pen.

A couple of wonderfully thoughtful girlfriends found this swan for me. I think it will have many incarnations, at the moment it's an orange holder.

The occasion for this gift giving was my 40th birthday, which was on April 5.
If you are on the cusp of your own 40th, do not fear. I didn't wake up with a face full of wrinkles, or feeling any different to when I went to bed.
Forty is a very poignant age me thinks. It's no longer feasible to put things off for 'when I grow up'. The time is now. It's an age that signifies a half way mark some what. It's a time to pause, catch your breath and make sure you're on the right path still. Or at least, it feels like that for me. I'm looking forward to my forties, whole-heartedly.
Enough about that. Onward and upward.

The New York Times website is my home page, which isn't really a good idea, because I can accidentally browse it for half an hour or more every time I turn my computer on. I found this interesting story today, about people who are caretakers to the 19 grand homes owned by the City of New York, most of them like Van Cortlandt House, which is pictured above. The caretakers are more or less regular people who are lucky enough to live in these grand homes, rent free. You can read the story here.

Here's a kitty in a brolly, just to finish off. That's it.