Not For Sale...

..but I wish they were! 

These two paintings ( main and extra) are by my friend Donna, the one who created that fabulous invitation card I featured on my August 8 posting. 

Donna is amazing...a woman of many talents with a real flair for decorating and fashion..But, most of all, I love her paintings; I have one she gave me a long time ago and I treasure it, but these two just blow me away...I love the vibrant colours - the reds, the golds...and would love to see them on my walls! What a WOW factor they would be ..they would definitely "spark joy", right? But, alas, Donna likes them too ....

I was at her place today..She had invited three of us  - old friends and colleagues from our teaching days - for lunch and if she ever invites you, be sure to go..The food is terrific, the ambience relaxing, the table ever so festive and the conversation around it ? Always lively! 

It was so lively today that our first clue that it was time to leave, having been there since noon, was the sun setting in the west! Yikes! 5:00 and we are still at the table? We had been having such a grand old time sharing stories about books, tv series, our shared past and even our childhoods, that no-one had noted the time.  

It was probably Donna's fault... After dessert, she had surprised us with a big Christmas bag for each of us  - which we soon discovered, was full of trinkets, purses, ear-rings, bracelets, necklaces, key chains, coasters, you name it........She had been cleaning out her closet, dressers and jewellery boxes etc and rather than give everything directly to charity, she decided to give them to us first...just for fun -  as a conversation-starter so to speak...We could keep what was in our bag, trade with each other.. and of course, later pass on to charity anything we really did not want. Well, talk about sparking joy!  We were like kids in a candy shop! And the conversation definitely got started,...and did not stop until 5:00!

What a wonderful afternoon..I would love to post pictures of the hilarity and the wearing of reindeer antlers and Santa hats, but it is not fair to put up photos of people without having them give permission and I am always hesitant to ask and put friends on the spot. Hence - photos of those paintings...which I love ...and those vibrant colours do reflect the energy level in that room today!