A Surprise From Across The Pond!

As all bloggers do, I sometimes wander from blog to blog through a link on a sidebar or a name link in a comment box, and last week I visited Melanie's JellyBeanAngel's blog for the first time. I enjoyed looking at her beautiful handcrafted quilt and scarf , and told her so in a comment.
Later in the day she e-mailed me that she was having an unannounced first year blogaversary, and that I won a prize for being the third person to comment on her blog that day, and that she would be sending a parcel to me! What a surprise!

The parcel arrived yesterday, and after I admired her beautiful penmanship and the wonderful stamps on the envelope -- I love to collect unusual stamps -- I opened the envelope to find a postcard from Melanie which was a photo of her beautiful hometown in Southport, England, and a lovely large cotton tea towel of scenes from her town, a box of assorted toffees and fudge, and two absolutely gorgeous sachets filled with some of the most aromatic lavender I have ever smelled. Melanie told me she made the sachets out of antique silk and filled it with lavender she grew in her garden!

She called her give away "A Taste of Southport, England," and I am so very touched and grateful to have been it's recipient!

Thank you so much Melanie! Your kindness and generosity are exceptional! I am thrilled to have a new friend from "across the pond," and I will always think of you when I use the towel and smell the delicious lavender and feel the softness of those beautiful sachets.

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.” ~ Leo F. Buscaglia