Jill MacLean – Jan L. Coates

Mt. Ventoux & Pont d’Avignon – upon which I did NOT dance (too expensive)

One of those pesky, yet cool, spiral staircases to our Avignon apartment

One of my favs – CRENSHAW (Katherine Applegate) in the Avignon Library – curious title translation…

Carousel-watching; not a bad way to spend time

Got to see Deborah Ellis’s Parvana on the big screen – in French! Very good.

Super disturbing photo exhibit in an Avignon art gallery. The photographer spent a year chatting with and taking photos of children of Texan parents who belong to the NRA – the quotes as to why they liked guns were chilling…

Canadian coats (1950s) for sale at a flea market

Young Eastern European woman using her uke to raise money to get to her cave in Spain… everybody has a story

Jill contemplating how I was going to eat all that fondant chocolat – I did:)

I can always find a Charlie look-alike in my travels…

or two, this one in the dog park out front of the Louvre.

Les Bories in the Luberon mountains – like field stone igloos. Don’t think I’d like to live in one for very long…

Mistral, resident greeter at the excellent Le Cercle Restaurant in Curcuron, on his way to work

L’hermitage outside Curcuron, definitely worth the climb.

Biking along medieval streets, along country lanes through fields of grape vines and olive trees; so grateful to spend two whole weeks living in Provence with my good friend, Jill.

Thanks for reading – other than a near-death experience involving me having to slam our rental car into reverse on a twisty mountain road as we came upon an 18-wheeler fully in our lane (to navigate the hairpin turn), we had a great trip!

May has been a busy month for me. I was a judge in the Truro Library’s 8th annual teen writing competition, named after my late mum, Ada Mingo – pictured here in her bookstore, The Book Nook. It’s hard to believe she’s been gone for 8 years already, but it’s a lovely occasion to remember and honour her. I was so impressed by some of the writing submitted by teens this year!

During Canadian Children’s Book Week, Anne Murray tweeted and “facebooked” about THE POWER OF HARMONY, so I sent her some Mayflowers by way of thanks:)

Then, my copies of ROCKET MAN arrived – early! I don’t think it’s widely available yet, but I did find it on the shelves of Bookmark in Charlottetown while I was there for the Atlantic Book Awards last week.I got to spend the Victoria Day weekend at one of my favourite places, Port Joli, with some of my favourite people as we celebrated Shannon’s graduation from Dalhousie on May 20th. There’s nothing like family time!

While I was in Charlottetown, I got to spend time in the sunshine with two of my best writer friends, Jackie Halsey and Jill MacLean.

All in all, it’s been a great month, although Don and I are true empty nesters, now. Birthdays are funny in that you’re always left shaking your head, wondering how you got to be so old when you still feel like an eleven-year-old (at least inside your head:) I’m feeling grateful for having people who like me and love me in my life, and for the great privilege of getting up most mornings anticipating working at something I adore! Thanks for being part of my journey …