“True friends are always together in spirit" --Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables

Do you share my fondness for those childhood books that touched your heart, made you laugh, made you cry, and along the way taught us some valuable life lessons about the grown-up world that we were so eager to join?  My mother and aunts passed on to me their love for a spunky pig-tailed red-head  who was eager to embrace life to its fullest in her little green-gabled house by the sea.  I am referring, of course, to Anne (with an 'e') of Green Gables, one of my favorite heroines.  Anne's exploits, adventures, and misadventures (of which there were many--getting Diana drunk on cherry cordial, jumping on Aunt Josephine's bed and scaring her half to death in the middle of the night, almost sinking with the rowboat while re-enacting a scene from Lady of Shallot) have been read and enjoyed by young girls for over hundred years now.  How I loved to read about Anne and her loyal friend Diana Barry and imagine myself in Anne's bedroom at night, gazing out at her beautiful cherry tree and catching a glimpse of the Lake of Shining Waters in the distance.  And oh, how I longed for puffed sleeves, just like Anne's Christmas dress!

So in celebration of kindred spirits everywhere, today I'm sharing one of my favorite birthday presents, a gift from my mother a number of years ago.  My Anne doll holds a place of honor in one of my favorite rooms in my home.  When my husband was away on a golf outing a couple of years ago, I claimed an unused office space in our basement and transformed it over the course of a weekend to my own personal retreat, a place where all my books and special memories can reside.  I hope you like my library and my Anne!

Welcome to my library--feel free to borrow a book anytime!

After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.” 

"A bosom friend--an intimate friend, you know--a really
kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a lovely poem by Lucy Maude Montgomery, who gave us the gifts of Anne, Diana, Gilbert, Marilla and Matthew, as well as some sweet poetry about her beautiful Prince Edward Island.  Doesn't this poem sound like one Anne might have written while she was studying at Queen's College? 

An Autumn Evening

Dark hills against a hollow crocus sky
Scarfed with its crimson pennons, and below
The dome of sunset long, hushed valleys lie
Cradling the twilight, where the lone winds blow
And wake among the harps of leafless trees
Fantastic runes and mournful melodies.

The chilly purple air is threaded through
With silver from the rising moon afar,
And from a gulf of clear, unfathomed blue
In the southwest glimmers a great gold star
Above the darkening druid glens of fir
Where beckoning boughs and elfin voices stir.

And so I wander through the shadows still,
And look and listen with a rapt delight,
Pausing again and yet again at will
To drink the elusive beauty of the night,
Until my soul is filled, as some deep cup,
That with divine enchantment is brimmed up. 

I'm linking up with Claudia at A Favorite Thing Saturdays at http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/.  Please go visit all the lovely posts there if you have time, and I hope your weekend is filled with simple little pleasures!