Happiness is.....a big bunch of shiny balloons at the Zoo!
Today P, S and I met up with a group of people from the Photographers Corner at Chester Zoo. The weather was beautiful; warm and sunny without a breath of wind, and in very congenial company we wandered around looking at the animals and the planting in the zoo grounds.I had a really great time chatting to everyone. Some people I have met before, some are old friends and some I only met today but it was wonderful spending time with them all.

I am feeling tired now after my day in the open air; I have had a cold all week and am coughing so badly at night neither P nor I are getting much sleep! Poor man had to reture to the sofa last night :(

The doctors say K is improving a little - thanks to everyone for your good wishes! They mean so much!

A took K and I into Sacramento to visit the State Capital Building. It was an incredibly hot day and the air conditioned interior was most welcome. We enjoyed our tour around the building but many of my photos were unsuccessful due to low light levels. however, I like the way this one of the Great Seal turned out. My only previous visit to Sacramento (three years ago) had been when we came off the freeway on the way back from Yosemite looking for something to eat and got hopelessly lost! We did not see Arnie; he was not working that day.

Yesterday I read a post on Mrs Nesbitt's Blog which really moved me; so much I had to go back and re-read it several times. Mrs N is writing about happiness and she talks so eloquently and from the heart about the simple pleasures in life - I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like it before! I'm often guilty of getting bogged down in worries and anxieties and gloom but this post made me really THINK about all the little everyday things in my life that make me happy. Thanks for writing this, Denise. For anyone reading this who doesn't know Mrs Nesbitt, I'd urge you to read the post for 3rd September.

Over on The Photographers Corner we have a thread on "10 books to read before you die" - here are my suggestions:

1. King Cotton by Thomas Armstrong

2. The Diary of Anne Frank

3. Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

4. The glass Lake - Maeve Binchy

5. The Mill on the Floss - George Elliott

6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

7. High Adventure by Sir Edmund Hillary

8. The Hornblower Series by C S Forester

9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

10 The keys of the Kingdom by A J Cronin