The last time I wrote a ‘Thankful Thursday’ or a ‘Thursday Door’, post was a long time ago (18.09.25 to be precise). I hope to break the spell with this post.

Among the many things that I am grateful for – for another day to witness the flowers blooming in my garden, birds feeding on the grains in the bird feeder, to tell my children that I love them and to enjoy my husband’s companionship, I’m thankful for the time to read books, write on this blog, engage with friends in the blogging community and experiment with art. I’m sure you have your own list of things that you’re grateful for.

This week, I’m especially thankful for these two fabulous reviews that my novel, ‘Coming Home’ received- from Yvette Prior and Dawn Pisturino (you can check Dawn’s entire review by clicking on her blog). Both reviews came as a surprise and obviously, I was overjoyed; there’s nothing more wonderful for an author than to receive a review saying the reader enjoyed the book. Please read the review and see if it makes you want to pick up the book. ‘Coming Home’ is available on Amazon as Kindle and Paperback.

I want to say ‘Thank you’ to Colleen Chesebro for recommending my blog. I had no idea about the feature on WordPress until I received an email, this week, informing me that Colleen had recommended my blog. I think it’s such a lovely way to say, ‘I support you’.
This week, I also had one of my poems published by Spillwords Press . I’d not sent out any poems for publication for a long time, so this felt good. I’ve also sent out three poems to various publishers and they should be published over the next one month or two. My heart is full of gratitude for publishers like Spillwords Press, Barbara from Masticadores USA, Michelle from Masticadores Latinos, The Wise Owl, who support poets.
This week also brought with it a rejection from Rattle. I was able to suck it up thanks to the reviews I got on the book and also because I do love the poetry that Rattle publishes.

A rejection means I need to try harder and it’s fine as long as you have some acceptance.
Regarding the book of poetry I wanted to publish this year, there’s silence on the part of the publishers. But I’m not letting it bother me and I’m continuing doing what I do. I’m grateful that I no longer feel anxious on delays from publishers.

This week, I finally got my passport after 6 weeks. I had applied for a new passport as there were no more empty pages on my earlier one. Immigration officials in some countries have a habit of stamping the entry and exit stamp in the centre of the page making it impossible for others to use the same page. I experienced it in Bangladesh. As a result, I had to apply for a new passport within three years of my last one. Also, my husband finally got his driving license here, which should make things easier for us as we no longer need to depend on the driver all the time.

Now, coming to the Thursday Doors challenge hosted by Dan Anton. You can check out the link to see beautiful doors shared by bloggers from all over the world.
I’m sharing doors in the neighbourhood and some random ones that I hadn’t shared earlier.

Last but not the least, I found these very dainty flowers, on my walk, today. They are called ‘Salvia Microphylla’ or more popularly as ‘Hot Lips’- see the red tip of the petal shaped like lips?

These flowers are for the FOTD challenge that used to be hosted by Cee. Cee Neuner passed away in March, 2025.

I leave you with these pretty blooms and a reminder to live, to tell the people you care about that you love them and to do the things that make you happy (as long as it doesn’t hurt you or anybody else).

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