Black Heart Blue ~ Louisa Reid

Black Heart Blue is a tale about Hephzibah and Rebecca. The twin daughters of the vicar of the village church couldn't have been more different; while Hephzi had the looks and big plans for her life, Rebecca, the smarter but quieter one of the two, has Treacher Collins syndrome and doesn't hold out much hope for herself.

Hidden behind the smiles and happy facade but lurking inside the vicarage, a place called home, are deep, dark secrets that can never leave the confines of the four walls. The girls are there for each other but the surrounding darkness threatens to imprison and smother them if they are not quick to escape it's evil clutches.
This book is about fears, about facing and conquering them. Though haunting and sad in numerous ways the story sends out ripples of hope and happiness lapping on the shores of a bright future just waiting to be embraced. It's important to remember there is a beautiful life beyond the shackles that bind you and that you have been chosen to live a glorious life.
This is one book that will stay with me for a long time to come.

My prayer for you ... my dear readers!

A Walk In The Clouds (1995)

Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves), a chocolate salesman, has returned home a changed man. He fought in World War II and survived the perils of war.

These experiences has now changed his perspective towards life and has given him different priorities. But unfortunately the time spent away from his wife has changed things drastically on the home front.
Paul soon heads out in search of work and while on a train journey to Sacramento his life changes forever. It's on this train that he meets Victoria Aragon (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), a university student who is returning home from school. But this is one visit she is not looking forward to! Victoria is a Catholic from a wealthy but Orthodox family and being unwed she isn't sure how she is going to break the news of her pregnancy. Ever the gentleman, Paul offers to pose as her husband and thus taking on numerous other challenges. While Victoria comes from a large family that is able to trace their roots back many generations an orphaned Paul doesn't stand much chance of winning Alberto's, Victoria's father's, approval. The family wealth comes from their vineyard that's generations old and being harvest time, Paul offers to help. He soon finds all that he has spent a lifetime searching for ...
Take a walk in the clouds, join in the grape stomping, 🍷 and discover love 💖.
This isn't the greatest of films but it's a visual treat. 

Baby Baby Baby (2015)

And just in time for Valentine's day I watched "Baby, Baby, Baby". I'd never heard of this movie but the story definitely intrigued me.
LA, the city of angels and where people come to fulfill their dreams is the stage for this drama. Meet beautiful, tall and "thin" Sunny, a struggling artist by day and a bartender by night and Sydney, a struggling actor who has made it to a few commercials but in not too flattering a role. A chance meeting in a park, a brief conversation and a quick introduction later this story is rolling. Watch the tale unfold as Sydney and Sunny struggle through life and their relationship, riding all it's highs and lows. 
I love that the movie is simple and real and it will strike a cord with almost anyone.

I've been asked before if there is anything as being lucky in love? I don't think so! Finding love is probably destiny but keeping it is pure hard-work and this coming from someone who has been in a relationship for the past 20 years. I am no expert, oh no Sir! 👆But there is one thing I do know - Nothing is easy. Love hurts and heals, it tries and rewards, it breaks and builds.

Remember this - there are no manuals or a super-glue for relationships .. a commitment and your readiness to work your "ass-off" is what will keep your relationship going. There is no place for three in a marriage so you gotta boot that ego out the door, keep an openess for self-improvement and practicing patience would go a long way;  Oh! A little give and take wouldn't hurt anyone and could make you smile a whole lot wider.😊
I found the following link so refreshing - 
When you know you've found the one.

"You are my best friend as well as my lover, and I do not know which side of you I enjoy the most. I treasure each side, just as I have treasured our life together." - Nicholas Sparks

... There is more to come ... Stay tuned ..

Ghost (1990)

And so the story goes .. that's the way many stories end. But not this one and this is the way I like to tell it -

Hot shot New York banker, Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) and the beautiful Molly (Demi Moore), a sculptor and avant garde are a couple very much in love. Theirs is a romance we all dream of having but this love story is wrought with tragedy. Sam is killed in what is believed to be a mugging and the only way to prove otherwise isn't as simple as all that. Playing detective is Sam's ghost but not alone. He seeks the help of a much sought after psychic, Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg). Here unravels a tale of love, treachery, motivated by greed and then culminates with sweet revenge.
Always a favorite with me and if I need a good boo-hoo, it's on, period!

And with goose-bumps and all The Righteous Brothers (1965) - Unchained Melody

My Church Mouse and Frank Sinatra - Cheek To Cheek (lyrics)

My favorite mouse is here!

I hope we all find someone to dance "Cheek To Cheek" with! I love this song! 💃

The God honest truth!

It's amazing how we can learn life's lessons from anywhere, at anytime and from anyone. If only we are open to being educated ...
I was long due to visit the dentist for a routine. It was a Saturday afternoon and as I entered the clinic I was pleasantly greeted by my dentist's daughter... All of 4 years she was a little talker and she regaled me with stories. I heard about a vacation, little red bugs, school and homework (the teacher was rather demanding - too much coloring, you see), a story about some party and a busy social calendar. I must say it was entertaining... Soon I was called in and I had to reluctantly say goodbye. Seeking some parting advice I asked her, "should I be frightened of the dentist?" She looked at me and very seriously replied, "No! He is my father."
I was stumped and speechless. From the mouth of a babe came a reply so honest and true; a truth so profound that it exuded a feeling of immense security, evoking abundant confidence. That is a faith we need to get us through life and it's many hurdles.
FAITH ~

That wobbles and doubts and if we can trust mere mortals how much more should be our faith in the divine. 🙏
The world is our teacher and our classroom! 🌍

As Good As It Gets (1997)

Now there could be only one person who would make the following introductions and still get away with it ~ "Carol the waitress meet Simon the fag". 😐 What! Ha ha ... 😂Get acquainted with Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) who has been labelled "a horror of a human being" and probably worse. A novelist living alone in upscale Manhattan, Melvin could be described as being uptight, obnoxious and stuck up. Apart from having an OCD, he is a germophobe too. Some of his many quirks include avoiding sidewalk cracks while schlepping on the busy pavements of NY, having breakfast at the same place, eating the same thing and at the very same table and with his own cutlery brought from home. As if that wasn't hard enough he insists on being served by Carol (Helen Hunt), a single mother of a child suffering from chronic asthma. Carol is the only waitress who can brave up and face the restaurant's most difficult patron.

Now Melvin's gay neighbor, Simon (Greg Kinnear), an artist by profession, is found robbed and severely injured, and until he recuperates it's Melvin who must care for his dog, Verdell - an adorable Brussels Grifon. But soon a surprised Melvin and an equally surprised Verdell are sharing some love and bacon and when Simon returns its difficult for Melvin to part with Verdell. Eventually, Melvin, an absolute angel, proves that there is a heart that beats under a cold exterior. Watch how the lives of these three charcters are gently intertwined. A beautiful tale of people from different strata of society, with equally difficult lives, all coming together to magically touch and transform the lives of the other.

 

After I first watched "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest"  I have adored Jack Nicholson ever since; proving his skills as an accomplished actor is the Academy award he won for the Best Actor in a lead role for this film way back in 1975. 👏