A Tale of a Castle, a Tree and a Shirt

Many years ago, in a far-off land, was an enchanted castle filled floor to ceiling with books.  The queen of the castle possessed magical powers and the children who visited her castle found themselves suddenly transported to places of mystery, wonder, humor and adventure.  They sat at her feet while she spun them great tales and taught them crazy songs ... and as they grew, their love for stories grew with them until they became readers, writers and tellers of their own magical tales.

When we moved to New York, one of the hardest things to leave behind was our library and our dear librarian!   Thankfully, we found a great library and another magical librarian here in Keene Valley!  But we were still overjoyed when we learned that Mrs. Franz and her hubby were going to be coming to our "neck of the woods" and wanted to spend a few nights at our place.

The day came and they arrived ... well .... sort of!

It had been raining all day and the tree branches over our driveway were hanging low.   Their camper was not amused!  What ever could we do???

 Well - tree trimming had been on the list for awhile ... I think it was #472 on the list.  But it suddenly moved up to #1.  (This is the way we get things done around here!)

Our friends were not the sort to sit by and watch Wayne work.   They hopped right out in the rain and helped with suggestions ...

 and with ladder holding ...

and with tree branch pulling.

About an hour later, the job was done and they could finally pull their camper into the parking area and begin their visit!  We had a great time filled with lots of stories and memories.

 

 Most of all, we marveled at how somethings never change ... like friendship and a shared love of books ...

While other things change a LOT ... like children growing tall and beautiful right before our eyes.

(You'll notice that Sodie happens to be wearing the SAME shirt in both photos!  She went hunting for it when she heard that Mrs. Franz was coming to visit and although it had been six years since the first photo was taken, that shirt still fits!  Meanwhile, CorrieAnne has grown a foot or more and her shirt is long since gone.)