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Because I was out of circulation for a lot of the spring due to a health problem, a lot of things that are really important to me faded into the background. I was thrilled to open my mailbox today and find this certificate. Have I really done 750 Museum tours? I am due to start tours again towards the end of this month and I will be proudly wearing the pin!

Almost a year ago à magazine called Broad Sound published an article I wrote called “Just Who Was Eve Anyway”. It spells out why I show certain paintings. If anyone is interested you can find it on line. Getting the certificate brought back memories of guiding the Faberge exhibit years ago and more recently, the wonderful and pertinent Kent Monkman exhibit.

It’s fun to engage with visitors, connect with youngsters and perhaps more important, to learn about the stunning pieces in the permanent collection. Visiting exhibits demand reading and information lectures. The other guides are great company too.

My walk in the park, taken early in the day because of the heat was eventful too. Just as I stopped to admire this homely beauty, a little field mouse raced across the track in front of me and disappeared into the tall grass. If he had been in my house, I would have freaked out but here in his own environment he seemed sweet. I had a vision of his mom giving him strict instructions to only cross at the columbine!

This little bush brought back memories of my Dad. He once sent us out to collect the elderberries that result from these flowers. He proceeded to make wine. Where he got the recipie I don’t know but it certainly got him into hot water(wine?) with my grandmother who was a tee-total Methodist. We lived in her house so his creative impulses were often thwarted. It didn’t help that the few bottles he managed to make fermented and popped their corks or exploded in the middle of the night. Granny was not pleased to see the mess in her sideboard.

The most exciting thing on today’s walk, though came just as I emerged from a narrow leafy lane and found a young groundhog sitting absolutely still. I held back to see what he would do and why he was so still. After a bit though, I edged around a bushy corner and came face to face with a beautiful young fox. He or she was obviously quite young. His colour was a beautiful auburn gold and his tail was very pretty. Was this two adolescents “practicing” their hunting or camouflage skills or would things have been less idyllic had I not startled them both and sent them headed off – in opposite directions – into the bushes? I didn’t get a picture but the image of his little face is safe in my memory.

So, things are looking up. Oh, and my publisher asked me to “encourage” people to go to Amazon and pre-order my book that will come out in April, 2027. Just look under my name Isobel Cunningham and you’ll see a blurb of the book, “Unfaithful Ghost”.

Soo- time to get back to writing, to guiding, to the wonderful “normal” life.