After six weeks of sabbatical, I am starting a new job on Monday. I’m glad I was able to see Paris over Easter and nurse my mother and Michael through the new Flu B. It is a reduced hours job so I’ll see how that goes. Wish me luck.
d’Verse, TDWC26, Sunday Stills, and The Flower Hour
Restless Jo provided a delightful photograph for Dan’s TDWC26. This yellow, blue and white house was the initial inspiration for my haibun below. You can join Dan’s challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2026/
Punam from d’Verse provided some artworks as inspiration for her Poetics Tuesday: What art says challenge. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/05/12/poetics-tuesday-what-art-says/
Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is pastels. My Primrose antique doll and the flowers in the background are pastels. The flowers are for Terri’s The Flower Hour challenge too.
You can join in Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/05/10/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-pink-and-pastels/
You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/05/12/the-flower-hour-30-camellia-a-little-closer/
A Fresh Coat of Paint (haibun)

Primrose looked at her freshly painted home with satisfaction. Arthur had recently finished reading a first edition of Tom Sawyer. He’d been so inspired he’d volunteered to give her dolls house home a fresh look. It looked terrific. Its yellow, blue, and white walls sparkled under the bright display lights of the antique children’s books and toys room.
She glanced at the tapestry on the opposite wall. The dark yellow room was exquisitely sew with careful, even stitches. She liked the wall hanging and it helped to keep the room warm and snug. Museums were drafty. She was glad she had her delightful dolls house to live in and her home wasn’t merely a 2D dream.
rainbow dreams elude
bricks and mortar evidence
my reality

Click on the bar to view Primrose, an antique doll form Faversham in England, with a background of roses I received for Mothers Day last Sunday. A little past their prime but they are still pretty … and pastel. You will also see Arthur, a vintage doll from Graaf Reinet in South Africa.


Thursday Doors
These are a few more random photographs form my short trip to Paris over Easter.




The two images above are of the moving walkway in the Paris Airport (Charles de Gaulle). It was very long and there wasn’t another soul in sight. For me, it was a little creepy as it was my first time in this airport. I was glad to see the door at the end of the walkway coming into sight.
Creepy indeed for that long walkway.🤩 Looks deserted. Beautiful building and dolls, Robbie.
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Good luck in the new job Robbie, I hope it excites and suits your needs.
Lovely haibun and tapestries are so intricate and skilful. The roses are still beautiful 🤩. My daughter used to have a collection of dolls and then she developed a fear of them and they were boxed up, I must look for them…. I can imagine how quiet and eerie that felt at CDG, quite claustrophobic too…. 💞
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Hope the job goes well, Robbie, and the family stay fit and well. Thank you so much for selecting my ‘doll’s house’. You’ve done a lovely job with it. xx
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Good luck with the new job, Robbie! It’s great you had that time off.
A thoughtful haibun. I liked the Tom Sawyer reference. Beautiful roses.
That long walkway with no one there does look creepy–like something in a horror movie. 😱
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a lovely haibun, Robbie…
All the best with the new job…🤍
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