Team Up Thursday - Week 16 - Stones

My choice of theme this week - AND Mariette absolutely stunned me with her stunning picture of her collection of gemstones in the snow...The light and the colours are awesome - I love the concept...Well Done

Although, I have collected gemstones for many years and have "tumbled" (polished) stones similair to Mariettes, and cut gemstones (amythests and toumaline and citrine and aquamarine) and some quartz in raw form, I ended up not using any of my colletion.  Instead I chose a picture of a beautiful piece of Agate that was taken earlier this year on a visit to the Space Musuem in Jo'burg with my mom and dad (it was something my mom wanted to do on a break from hospital)...
I have always loved Agate - I think the different bands of colour and patterns are so pretty...I went on the Internet and found out that Agate is known as the "power" stone and it restores balance and harmony...I also found that whilst Agate can not change our emotions - it helps us deal with the intensity of emotion...Isn't that amazing...I have to ask the question though - How did "they" figure it out...not that I am cynical - I am not - I believe in the power of gem stones and crystals, but how do they know that Agate is also good for blood circulation...or helps us communicate with others or helps us to concentrate....
Anyway, my post is fairly short this week - Brad turned 15 today----FIFTEEN - where has the time gone..We went out to breakfast this morning and then I took him to the Audi showroom because he is trying to decide what his first car should be....I somehow doubt it will be an Audi - more likely a second hand vw or something - but he really likes the Audi Q5...and Kayla-Fern made me take a picture of her next to the Audi R8 (2.1 million Rand, if you don't mind)....
We have decided to have a late lunch at my dad's house on Christmas day - I think it was hassling me, not having a plan for Christmas day - Now at least we know what we are doing - we just need to help each other get through it - OH and Kayla-Fern and Brad put the Christmas tree the other night and it is all pretty with its lights and everything and I am getting quietly excited to see the kids opening their gifts on Christmas morning...
My family is away from boxing day until New Years Eve - we are taking a break at a resort not too far from home - and I think it is just what we all need - My dad may come and join us for a day or two and just CHILL....
Mariette and I agreed to take a break for next week, but we will be back the first week in January ---- Pop by next week anyway - Maybe I will try and surprise you with some holiday photos....So until next time...Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 15 - Christmas Decorations

First of all - sorry that this is late this week....We had a public holiday in South Africa yesterday and that on top of Mike returning home after almost three weeks away in America on business and visiting family on Wednesday meant that I did not get my act together....So here is this week's post.
Once again, I love Mariette's picture this week...It is a pine cone hanging on her tree - It is plain and simple, but is a clear and bright photo and it is the simplicity of it that makes it stunning. 

We have not even put our tree up this year yet....I must admit, it is difficult this year to get into the spirit of Christmas - but I need to make the effort for Brad and Kayla-Fern's sake especially...I will probably also feel a whole lot better once the tree is up...
Because we have not put up our tree, I did not have much that inspired me for our themem this week ...And then I remembered a gift that Mike's sister in law and brother had sent home with him this time last year (Yes he was in America on business and visiting in November last year as well). 

Isn't it beautiful... There is a whole lot of history attached to the visit last year, but I do not have the emotional energy to go into that at the moment - let it be enough that it was very meaningful at the time and continues to be so....So much so that I want to find a permanent special place for it in my home so that I am reminded of the meaning of Christmas on a daily basis through the year and also that I remember every day that we are blessed with special, wonderful, caring people in our lives and even though they may be many miles away - they are still there and we can find them in our hearts at any moment.
I certainly have not said all that I want to say, but I am struggling to ...My 'tiger*.*/ness###' is missing in action .....
Tiger - *.* - One of the special people who is miles away, but at the same time in my heart, sent me an e-mail just before my mom died and she spoke about the tiger in me ---- that energy that keeps me going and fighting for what I believe in and protecting me and helping me protect the people I love...She said that the tiger would help keep me strong, but that it would need to rest when the time was right...She said that I must understand that the tiger was only resting and that it would be refreshed and revitalised to help me fight another day...Well the tiger is resting...and I am not sure how to help refresh it or how to wake it up from its rest...
Ness - ### - I think "ness" comes from the movie You,Me and DuPreez with Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson - I have never watched the entire movie, but the bits and pieces I have watched have touched me and have made me cry (this is not difficult to do - I can cry in an advert) - but anyway..."Ness" refers to the part of us that makes us who we are...our essence, that makes each person unique....
AND I miss them ..BUT I am keeping myself together with the memory of how they made me feel, and the knowledge that there are so many people who know me well and are sending me love and good wishes..from far and near....
Anyway, I think that is enough from me for this week - until next week, when I hope to have a little more creativity and tiger and ness in me...Lots of love and for those of you (like me) who have not yet done all your Christmas shopping - GOOD LUCK...
Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 14 - Animals

I really struggled with deciding on a theme this week - and eventually decided on a cop out cos I knew it would be easy - even if we did not pick up a camera (which I did not) I knew that we had loads of back up pictures..
Unlike me, Mariette picked up her camera and her resulting picture of Jessie is AMAZING....Everything works from the lighting to managing to capture some of Jessies "ness" to the getting low down and taking the picture at Jessie's level - WELL DONE MARIETTE - you certainly aced it this week.

Fortunately when my creative juices have been bubbling for previous TUT themes, I have tried to take pictures of our pets (we have young cats, an oldish German Shepherd and MY little heartbeat at my feel - Tickey - little Jack Russel)...so like I said I knew I had back up and I am still obeying my own unwritten rule that my chosen photograph should be taken by me...so therefore it is only half a cheat (at least that is my story).
The picture that I chose probably breaks all the rules of good photography...It is over exposed and I really do not know what happened to the colour and I think it is slightly blurry BUT those are all the reasons that I absolutely adore my picture...

The cat in the picture is Smokey who is actually all black - we own (or do they own us?) Smokey's brother, Misty as well.  We got them as two beautiful grey kittens and within four months they had lost all their grey fur and where totally black (perhaps charcoal is a better description - although in some lights you can see a kind of grey undertone)...Very interesting.  Like human siblings, these two have a love/hate relationship except without the love...

Here is  better picture of Smokey..


I really do not have a great picture of Tickey or Romani...Maybe at some time in the future, I will take a decent picture of them and then load it up just to show you.




My last picture this week, is one that Mike took, about seven years ago at the Lion Park...(????)  I love this picture and love imagining the mind conversations going on betwen Bradley and Kayla-Fern:-
Kayla-Fern - Sharky (that is what she used to call him) - I am a little bit scared
Brad - Don't worry my little baby sis - I will protect you and if anything goes wrong - JUST RUN...
AND I imagine the giraffe (who was also only about two at the time) saying "OK Guys, whatcha gonna feed me today"

This weeks theme made me realise how lucky we are to have animals (pets) around us and how they bring so much to our lives...And also how important family memories and photos about those memories are - I don't think Kayla-Fern remembers feeding the HUGE giraffe, but looking at the photo, she can re-live it and also know that despite the fact that her and her brother fight often (that love/hate relationship again) - he will always be there to protect her...
I think that is my (relatively boring I know) post for this week...So until next week, and hopefully I am feeling a bit more creative and interesting...Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 13 - Creative Editing

After our last theme of “No Colour” – Mariette said that she had fun “editing” her colour photo into a black and white photo and suggested “Creative Editing”…

I chose one of my favourite pictures of Kayla-Fern…She was not posing at all – in fact she was upset about something, and even though she is not smiling and the tears were close, she is still such a beautiful little girl.

I do not know what buttons I pushed to create this effect – but it was fun and I love the final picture.



I also love making anything into sepia – and this picture is no different

Mariette chose her first TUT picture to edit…The original picture was really pretty and I love the addition of the purple into it  - Mariette I know that you did not have time to play as much as you wanted to, but you can and should still play with different effects from time to time, even when not on a TUT theme

I also played with different effects on a picture of a stunning building (mmm buildings might be a good future TUT theme) – It was lots of fun

Original Picture



Kind of Ghostly



Different effects in different sections of the photo - did not know that you could do that, and don't ask me how....

Mariette - It was a fun week this week  - and something different - just what I needed....Amazing what we can do on the computer in the digital age that we find ourselves in...

Thats my five cents for this week...Lots of love





About Mom..

Mariette and I took a break from TUT, at my request…Thank you Mariette for your care and concern over the last three tough weeks.  Thank you to my other friends who read my blog for all your love and support – Words will never be able to convey how much you all mean to me.

I have just read my last blog update – and my last statement is “Tomorrow is a bright new day – full of colur”…I remember exactly why I wrote those words and how I was feeling at the time…

My mom was diagnosed with Leukaemia in June of this year….We started doing TUT about two months later.  Keeping up with the weekly commitments of TUT in between hospital visits and concern for my mom and dad and still trying to feel like an honest person by putting in a full day’s work and looking after my family, was at times incredibly difficult, but I will always be grateful that it gave me a creative outlet and actually helped me cope with everything that was gong on. 

My mom kept an amazing positive outlook through all her chemo and hospital stints and isolation – and this rubbed off on us and indeed she made the journey a lot easier on all of us – That was just the way she was – She would do anything in her power to make life for her family and those she loved easier…and a lot of the time we did not even realise what or how she did it.  From the beginning we encouraged each other, to take things one day at a time and to celebrate the good days – and there were lots of them – and not to worry about the bad days until they happened – and there were quite a few of those as well – but because we were taking it one step at a time, we did not waste any of the good days by worrying about bad days that may never happen….Hence the name of my blog Living-one-step-at-a-time…

Even my quotes on the blog – “I believe” and the one about “Life” linked back to my mom and the situation that we were in.

My mom always asked about TUT and what was our theme of the week and was just so very interested in it – just like she was in everything that any of us did.  The kind of support that I have received from my parents, both when growing up and as an adult with my own family, is a blessing that a lot of people never have.

When I suggested our last theme – “No Colour” – that is exactly how I was feeling – my mom had been admitted to ICU with a lung infection – she was incredibly short of breath and needed oxygen and close monitoring…They had been treating her but the treatment was not working, so they decided that they needed to do a lung biopsy under anaesthetic, to figure out what was wrong so that they could treat her and make her all better – this had very little do with Leukaemia, in fact she was in remission, and everything to do with the chemo especially as after the biopsy they concluded that the she had had an allergic reaction to the chemo and that was attacking her lungs.

On the Thursday that I updated the blog with our “No Colour” theme – I had been to visit my mom with Mike and my youngest brother…and Mike had said to us that we needed to talk to her and involve her in our lives and be involved in hers…The week before that my mom had been particularly ill, had been on a ventilator and feeding tube and was quite heavily sedated – and I had really felt that she just needed to know that I was there and that she needed to just rest quietly – Mike pointed out in his usual wise and practical way that she had the other twenty two hours when we were not visiting to rest…So we spoke to her and she responded and it was strange because although she was so weak and fragile and looked so different lying in a hospital bed and I had never ever imagined that I would ever have to see my mom like that – she was still my  wonderful loving special mom – showing more interest in us then in herself – and for the first time in two weeks, I felt that everything was going to be ok, and my mom would get better and go home and things would be the same as before – only different…So yes on Thursday night when I updated the blog, I felt that tomorrow would be a bright new day, full of colour.

Sadly, my mom was not meant to get better and things were not meant to be the same as before…My mom passed away in the early hours of Sunday 7^th November, and things are really different now…But we will get through them and one day be able to remember my mom with less sadness and we will be able to treasure the amazing person that she was and recall with love the beautiful memories that she lived with us.

I have been able to take a lot of comfort from this little saying that someone sent to me.

The last five months have been the hardest that I have ever been through and in some ways I would not wish them on my worst enemy, but in many, many other ways, I am grateful.

I am most grateful for the special time with my mom, where we had made the time especially to be with her either visiting in hospital or the few times when she was at home – I have always been very close to my mom, but during this time we became even closer and I realised there was so much about her that I had always taken for granted – I will treasure these last five months for ever. 

I know that when she passed away, she knew how much she was loved and she knew that we would miss her more then we would ever have believed, but she also knew that we would be ok and we would look after each other in her absence, trying to mould ourselves in her memory.

I love and miss you mom….

Lots of love

P.S. - We are hoping to be back to TUT this week...so check in and see what we have been up to... 

Team Up Thursday - Week 12 - No Colour

I chose No Colour this week - I had been thinking of Black and white for a few weeks, but I did not want to state the obvious...which is why I chose what I did...Mariette and I both chose Black and White pictures..although, I tried to look for subject matter that did not have much "conventional" colour....
We both took our photos in normal colour and edited the colour out using photo editing...It all worked.
Mariette's picture is of a tree in her garden...She chose this picture over the other pictures she took because it showed the texture so nicely, and Mariette it does indeed
I also notice that you are taking different angle photos - You are looking at a picture from all angles - we should all be doing that in our lives as well

My chosen picture is of a rusted metal post box - the colour picture was a no colour sort of picture and when it changed to black and white, the lines and charecter became a lot more noticeable...

I really enjoyed seeing the differences in the same photo between the colour version and the black and white version...

I liked the "no colour" aspect of this bronze head which I found in the beautiful, tranquil gardens of a church.

I also liked the way the black and white sort of high lights the "structure" of things as in the photo of this palm

Finally, a little bit of fun...Mike found this chocolate and bought it because of it's name - A bit of playing and voila - a perfect picture for TEAM UP THURSDAY

It was fun this week, to use technology to edit our photos after we had taken them, and it was interesting to see how different the pictures were when stripped of their colour...It made me realise this week how lucky we are that we live in a colourful world...because as nice as a black and white photo can be - It would get pretty boring if everything was black and white all the time...This brings me to another observation...Let's liken the colour that we see every day to a postive attitude - Can you imagine living life, with no colour in our attitude...How depressed we would all be...I think what I am trying to say is that a postive attitude and mind set is one of the most powerful things in the world and a bleak outlook is one of the most destructive things in the world - And do you know what is more astounding....We are in control of our own attitudes - No-one else...So we can take control to be powerful and successful or not...I am not sure that I have really fully got my meaning across to you, but it is late on a Thursday night, so maybe I am getting a bit too philosophical (Spelling..)  and I need some beauty sleep, so good night everyone - Tomorrow is a new, bright day...full of colour....Until next week - Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 11 - Walls

Well, I did manage to get some pics done...and I was fairly happy with the pics I took and how they related to the theme...Mariette thank you for your thoughtfullness in choosing an easier theme this week...and thank you for your understanding of my situation the last two weeks and for cutting me some slack in terms of time..It took a huge amount of commitment from my side not to postpone to next week, but I am really glad that I did not postpone...although I did not commit the time this week that I would have liked to - I still enjoyed it and realise how important taking that time out is to my sanity...
So onto the pictures..First Mariette's:-

Mariette says that she has been enjoying autumn colours and she wanted to capture a little bit of that in her picture...The contrast of the very red leaves and the brownie coloured leave and green leaves on the beige coloured wall, makes for an interesting picture..You have also captured the texture and different shades of the wall beautifully.  Don't you wander about the house and family and lives that happen on the other side of this very high wall.
When I first thought about Mariette's theme, I kind of wandered how interesting a picture of a normal brick or precast wall would be...but then I started looking around, and I was amazed at how people have different ideas that make their wall unique.

We watched them build this wall...I could not quite picture what the finished item would be like during the building (what do they say about fools and children should not see unfinished work) ..Amazing that the ship is "mouldeed" out of concrete only and painted..I also like the texture of the light colured supporting "pillars"

Here is a close up of the detail of the ship...

I also liked how this family had decorated the wall next to their gate...


All in all a lovely theme - once again it has highlighted to Mariette and I that there is so much that normally goes unnoticed and TUT is teaching us both to look behind the normal - I'm lovin' it.

Team Up Thursday - Week 11 - Walls

I can not believe that we have been doing TUT for 11 weeks already...I have had another emotionally charged week....I have not had the inclination or time to take pics...but I most certainly did not want to cancel this week - I have seen some stunning ideas for the theme...So Mariette kindly agreed that I could send her my pic this evening (South African time) and we will do a "LATE THURSDAY" update to our blogs....So to everyone, who comes to visit - especially Pam - if it is already Thursday morning on your side of the pond - I am really sorry...but please come back later or tomorrow to see our photos...
Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 10 - Hands

It was my choice of theme this week...I chose "HANDs".  I had an out of the box idea that I wanted to try - the idea was to get Brad and Kayla-Fern and some friends together and put lovely colourful handprints all over one wall...I had a very emotional week and ran out of time and energy to try out my idea...
Mariette though, cracked this theme and took it right out of the box with a picture of a miniature "HAND" made display...She says that she is in awe of the hands that created this beautiful masterpiece...Mariette, I know that you do not always think you have creative talent, but it is a talent that I can see is developing every single week.

I took some pretty "normal" pictures of "HANDs" and settled for my chosen picture of a handshake (Mike and Brad were my models)...I like that a handshake represents, honesty and integrity. 

I then got funky and jazzed it up a little using photo editing - now we have an electric handshake - hard to believe it is the same picture - I like the something different every now and again...

Some others that I liked are:...

the difference in size between Kayla-Fern and Mike's hands and an imprint of Kayla-Fern's hand when she was three...can not believe how tiny her hands were...and how quickly

our little ones grow up and are suddenly not so little anymore... 

Anyway, the theme this week was interesting and I did enjoy doing it - but it was an emotional, looooong week and I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday, and next week is  a fresh start and hopefully it will be a whole lot better.

Thats me for tonight - Lots of love to all, and thank you for visiting and sharing with Mariette and I...

Team Up Thursday - Week 9 - Light

When Mariette suggested this theme - I was a bit nervous (actually very nervous)...I thought it would be challenging and I really did not think that I was good enough to tackle it yet.....IT WAS THE BEST THEME YET - Thank you Mariette - I did not know that I could have so much fun with a camera...

Mariette took a photo of a glass ball with a lasored fairy inside which has a base with changing coloured led lights...She took her chosen picture from the top of the ball....which gives the effect of swirling, circles of light and colours - Stunning - A great interpretation of the theme - You will have to visit Mariette to see the "whole picture"... Mariette, I know that you also had great fun with this theme.

My chosen "Star" picture was not the best photo, but I liked it because it showed a different aspect, was not straightforward and normal...I took a picture of a shadow of a candle holder that I have...the candle was lit, and there were no other lights on and I did not use flash (finally figured out how to turn it off)...

Below are pictures of the whole thing - first with no flash and then with the flash...taken in exactly the same place at the same time - I promise

I was amazed at how much difference the flash makes....how it totally stripped the colour of the wall behind it and sharpened the lines of the flower and made the silver look really silver and shiny.

I loved the effect of the following photos as well (Can you see how much fun I was having)

And finally, just to be normal - a gorgeous sunset...

Mariette, thank you once again for a wonderful theme - it did challenge me and made me think out of the box, but it showed me that we are most certainly capable of creating beautiful photographs...
Right, I have had so much fun checking and choosing photos that I did not even realise the time (I normally need to be in bed by 10....) but since it is already Thursday here......I am publishing my Team Up Thursday post really early this morning...

Week 7 & 8 - Catch Up

Well, the last couple of weeks...I have had extra photos that I have not been able to load for some reason...So here they are...

First my "Morning Moon" and Kayla-Fern's cereal:

Next, my "Small" toy horse and unicorn (part of Kayla-Fern's collection)...





Team Up Thursday - Week 8 - Small

I chose "Small' this week, mainly because I really wanted to show off Kayla-Fern's dwarf hamster ,Captain Nibbles...it turned out to be quite challenging to get a nice picture of him....I think I got some fairly nice ones, but I will never know for sure because yesterday morning at ten past five (thinking I was oh so very organised for a change) -  I deleted all the photos on my memory card..At first I was highly upset, but have come to the conclusion that you can not call yourself a proper photographer until you have done it at least once, so then I had to ran around taking more pictures of "small' things.

My favourite wild animal is the hippo, and I have a set of small hippo ornaments that I absolutely adore and I chose a picture of one of them as my "small" star.  I am not sure how well the photo depicts small except if you were to compare between the ornament and the real animal.

Mariett'es picture is of Maxine's collection of "small" Pokemon all neatly arranged around the bath after she had finished playing with them...Mariette says that Maxine plays with her Pokemon every night and the play sessions become quite loud, but it is also hilarious to listen to....Isn't it wonderful sometimes to over hear our children's play times and get their perspective on things...






I also in my early morning rush yesterday morning took some photos of the smallest of Kayla-Fern's vast horse and unicorn collection. - Darn, now I have left the memory stick at home - I am having such a wonderful week...I am going to do my post anyway and add the pics of the horse and unicorn later (Sorry)...

Isn't it strange how the harder we try to be organised, the more obstacles seem to be in our way - Fortunately in the last few years, I have begun to understand that "being organised" is actually the exception then the norm - most of us are aspiring to get there (it's almost like "being organised" is the DESTINATION and we must follow a JOURNEY to get there and very few of us are actaully there)...Helps make me feel better that I am not the only one who is so terribly disorganised hee hee
Anyway, that is my post and thoughts for this week
Until next week - Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 7 - Morning

OK - I am really sorry - for some reason I can not upload the pictures - so I am going to post just the text and story - please go to Mariette mk-appreciatinglife.blogspot.com to see the pictures - If anybody can let me know if they are having the same problem - please do so, is it anything to do with the changes that "blogger" has made - Or am I the only one so dorf that I could upload pictures last week and nothing this week - I am really feeling very frustrated....
Anyway, Mariette chose Morning this week - I found it a challenging theme, possibly because we were on leave and our normal morning routines did not really happen.
Mariette's picture is of apples - which she prepares every morning as part of Maxine's lunch.  I like the contrast and colour of the picture - I can almost taste the sour Granny Smith apple...

My picture is of our alarm clock, which goes off at just before five thirty – I try to tell Mike that I can not get up before hearing an early news bulletin because then if the world ended in the night, I know there is no need to get up - I guess I am not a morning person.  The weather report comes on at 5h45 – then I at least know that the world did not end in the night and I know what to wear for the day…

I also took a photo of Kayla-Fern's cereal and a "MORNING MOON" - which I found really interesting...(Unfortunately - as said at the beginning I can not load them - but enough of the grumbling - as soon as I find out what I am doing wrong, I will upload them so you can see them)...

Team Up Thursday - Week 6 - Teddy Bears

It was my turn to choose the theme this week..I briefly considered joining the group “FLYING WITHOUT WINGS” challenge, I think it is a lovely challenge and am looking forward to seeing the work of other participants, but I just felt too inexperienced to tackle this challenge…so TEDDY BEARS is our theme for this week – nice and easy..

I remembered that Mariette used to collect teddies (before she left for the UK),  and I have made a few of my own and with us both having a daughter, I thought that we would not be short of “models”

I also put a lot of thought into “composing” my picture and thought of doing a “Teddy Bear’s Picnic”, “Teddy Bear in a Tea Cup”, Teddy Hanging onto a Branch”, “Teddy with Flowers” – the ideas seemed endless –

I did not do any photos over the weekend, because I knew that I was on leave from yesterday afternoon (no, we are not going away, but the children break up today and we just want to spend time chilling and doing things around the house) – It was wonderful to be able to dedicate more time then usual to TUT this week – I took 141 photos in total and the one I chose is in a league of it’s own – I am thrilled with it.

The little girl in the photo, was a present from Bradley one year when he went on holiday with Claire (TUT – Inspiration for the Soul) and her family (before they moved to Wales), so she is beary special.

Mariette is in Germany on business this week… She says that she is not entirely happy with her photos this week and feels that perhaps her bears were not “talking” to her – I think her chosen bear just has so much character – that cheeky grin…He is a new addition to her bear family - bought whilst she has been on this business trip.

…For various reasons, our bear collections have been in storage in boxes for a few years, and I thought mine looked very sad and grumpy, when I unpacked them for the photo shoot – I have come to the conclusion that bears (like children and animals) don’t like to be shut up for long periods of time, so Mariette you know what to do…

Below is a picture which Mike took - a beautiful effect created by using a simple desk lamp (paced in the right position) and MY little camera..

Florentina, (left) is also a special little bear - she is the first bear that I made myself and she is small and very pretty.

The two photos below, whilst not having the great attributes that my winning photo has this week, are still cute enough to be shown...

Tyler (left) is also a little bear

that I made and Josh is the first bear that I made from scratch i.e pattern and fabric that I chose separately rather then a kit..He is a big bear and is wearing "hand me down" dungarees from Bradley.

Well - that's it for this week - I'm going to rush around now and check what everyone else has done.