Another Post - Aren't you Lucky....

OK, Clearly I am feeling a bit bad for not posting for two weeks, so now have to post as much as possible...or maybe I NEED to do extra posts...or amybe I just forgot a picture which I had wanted to put in with Week 23...Here is is...

I like ornamental wishing wells....I don't think it has anything to do with wishes or anything like that - I just think that they are pretty...I took this picture when we are on holiday in December ....

Thats it now until next week
Love Me

Team Up Thursday - Week 22 - Garden Features

Hello------I can not believe how quickly this week has flown - It seems like only minutes ago that I did last week's post...Hee Hee....
Seriously though - Can you believe that another week has passed and February 2011 is almost history ...
I have missed doing my blog the last two weeks....I really think that I need my weekly posts to keep some balance in my life....
Anyway, my choice for this week's theme was "Garden Features".....
I like Mariette's choice....it kind of has a Japanese feel to it...which is enhanced by the bamboo and the bridge in the backgroound...

I have seen some really beautiful garden features....BUT my chosen picture this week, just had to be this one - this little gnome is really old and there is evidence (if you look closely) of neglect and damage....AND yet he still looks cheerful and happy...I am reminded again how powerful a postivie attitude is...I am also reminded that no matter where we are in our lives there are so many people worse off then we are....and I am trying to reaffirm, to always try and kind to other people (no matter how much they may irritate me or anger me or hurt me), because I have no idea of what their journey is or where they are at this exact moment and their actions may just be because of some difficulty they are going through - I guess what I am trying to say, is that we should never judge another person or treat them badly because they treated us badly and sometimes on a particular day, a friend, lover, partner, child, parent, work collegue or even a complete stranger may not have a smile of their own, so we should try to give them one of ours----It won't make us poorer in any way, it may even make us richer...
So little gnome, I am going to print you and frame you and put you next to the front door  so that anyone in my family can take one of your smiles, if they don't have their own one morning.....

That's my post for this week - I do hope it was worth the wait....See you soon...Lots of love....

Team Up Thursday - Week 21 - Landscapes (Catch Up)

Hello ....Well what a crazy two weeks I've had...First of all I have been busy, busy busy at work and home - so my blog took a bit of a back seat....Then secondly I managed to lock myself out of my blog...so could not do an update any way...But everything is back on track now....
Our theme for Week 21 was Landscapes - suggested by Mariette for Week 20, and then she kindly changed it and we made it for Week 21 - suited me cos we went away for the weekend to a very scenic part of SA - Natal Midlands, the primary reason we went, was for me to swim the Midmar Mile - which I did and it was great....I beat my time from last year and had a wonderful swim...Also the weekend away did us all good...
My photo was taken on the way home from the Midlands

I love the "layered" feel of the photo, the flat grassy area in the foreground, then the mielie field (maize) then the koppie in the distance with a bit more added height then of course our great blue sky with fluffy white clouds (Sorry Mariette - I know this photo made you ever so slightly jealous and nostalgic)....A postcard landscape picture...

 

Once again I am very aware of the contrasts in our photos....Mine with Blue and white sky and Mariette's all grey - her trees look back and stark against the sky line...Mariette loves the sheep in her photo - Mariette spring is on the way in your part of the world and then you will be seeing little lambs with their mommies...cute...The fact that spring is on its way to Mariette means that WINTER, is on the way to me....I have always said that in my next life I am coming back as a bear, so that I do not even have to poke my nose out of my cave when it is cold and miserable outside...I can sleep all winter - Bliss for me...

Okay, well that is my post for this week - so until next week - Take care and lots of love...



SORRY....

OOOOOPps - I am now two TUT posts behind - sorry - I will catch up this weekend...I Promise...Love Me

Week 22 - TUT - Delayed

Hello....
Mariette chose the them this week - and I think we both took stunning pictures that really did justice ----- I am quite busy at the moment, so have not had time to do a proper post with our photos etc ----- I will do the post from home tonight (after going out to dinner with Mike and Brad and Kayla-Fern and my dad - I think twenty years of marriage deserves to be celebrated in some way).....So PLEASE check back a little bit later
Lots of love

Team Up Thursday - Week 21 - Random

“OH What a beautiful morning

Oh What a wonderful Day

Oh what a glorious feeling

Everything’s going my way…..”

Isn’t it amazing when you have one of those mornings where everything just “works”….after the last couple of weeks, I was starting to wander if I would ever have one of those AWESOME mornings again….AND  I realised this morning…It ‘s not that “stressy” things (like traffic and lost shoes or socks and ironing that you should have done last night and now kids are waiting for shirts etc) did not happen…It is just that I coped with them better…to me this realisation is a REVEALATION….It amazes me that we can control so much just with our own thoughts and attitudes – Now all I have to do is to figure out WHY I coped better this morning then other mornings – Does anyone know????

Mariette suggested a theme for this week, which is lovely, … when she told me the theme I thought, it would really suit me better to do it for next week, anyway, on the weekend she played right into my hands by e-mailing me and asking if it would suit me better for this week…Thank you Mariette…

So we chose another quick and easy theme – “Random”…..I did not pick up my camera at all, but chose from photos that I had already taken – Mariette I am very impressed that you took photos for the theme…AND I love your chosen photo of pretty colourful flowers….


I chose this picture of a thistle – I love the contrast of the soft, fluffy thistle and the dark background (which is water ), although the water is not “solid”…..The photo was taken just as it was getting dark…There is also something that speaks to me about the “courage” of this little thistle that is “sticking it’s neck out” over the deep dark water that could swallow it in an instant…

Once again Mariette has mentioned how TUT makes her notice things that she does not normally notice and there is so much around us that we would miss out on every single day…

I said last week that I need to “APPRECIATE” “CELEBRATE” and “TREASURE” things a lot more then I do…I guess to “NOTICE” things is the first step in that process….and TUT makes me realise just how much I have to notice, appreciate, celebrate and treasure…..

This “Huckleberry Finn” picture tells a story of total relaxation – what is more relaxing then little floats bobbing in the water, waiting for that little fish to nibble, whilst we sit on the bank and reflect….I don’t enjoy the whole fishing thing, but it is nice to sit beside a piece of water with nothing to do……

Kayla-Fern asked me the other day when we would be doing “HORSES” as a theme – I said that I did not think we would because I am not sure how easy it would be for Mariette (I missed the opportunity when we did animals, but Kayla-Fern does not need to know that), so last night I thought  of including a horse picture in random….Kayla-Fern chose the picture…..I guess it is quite random….

Anyway, that’s it from me (feeling very sentimental and “mushy”) this week….Lots of love

Me

 

Team Up Thursday - Week 20 - Music

Well, Week 20 didn't happen last week - We both decided that we wanted more time to do better justice to the theme...and guess what - we both used photo's that we had taken last week anyway....

Mariette took a picture of Maxine's small (toy) guitar...A lovely pic - Maritette has a knack of capturing a small part of the item she is photographing and I always love the result...
Mariette said that if she had been able to she would have taken a photo of a harp - there is something beautiful about string instruments, isn't there....

I also ended up with a photo of a musical instrument - a saxophone I think - I actually went to a music shop and took pictures there....I got a bit embaressed with people "checking me out" ( which they probably were not doing), so probably did not do a great job, but I like the gold and black in my photo.

Both of us thought of taking a picture of a stack of cd's or a part of a hi fi (Mike's turntable in my case/Hi fi speakers in Mariette's case) but, because of a hectic week, neither of us got that far....



Anyway, that is my post for this week - Looking forward to next week's theme - should be interesting - I am going to try and break the trend of the last few weeks, and try and take my TUT photos on the weekend, rather then trying to "scramble" for a decnet photo on Monday or Tuesday...I think I NEED to actually make the time to be totally selfish for my TUT----Everything that is taking my time away from TUT is not going away - it will wait until I am ready to face it, and I will probably be able to cope better after having taken some time out....Thank you TUT....

P.S. This morning another blog made me realise how important it is to appreciate every single moment, Life is a celebration and we should be doing that every day....Of course, we all have our individual miletones (birthdays/achievements/children/weddings etc) that deserve extra celebration, but we should be treasuring every moment....
In my own life, other "stuff" often gets in the way of me taking time out to CELEBRATE, but it is something I need to focus on doing - CELEBRATE/APPRECIATE & TREASURE....If I can do those three things every day - I am sure the small stuff will become easier.....

Lots of love