TUTT - Week 49 - Daily

  

YAY...The whole stadium was in an absolute uproar....Mexican Waves and Cheering - Never in the history of sport has there been such excitement over one simple event...The Stadium goes quiet, as I prepare for this, the ultimate event of anyone's career, SILENCE.....The absolute concentration AND THEN IT HAPPENS - the stadium erupts in a single gasp of adoration.....I have just won the.....OH NO not really - just managed to get my blog done on time this week....

Pam suggested our theme this week "Daily" - a really simple challenge...just find something that you do, see or hear daily....One of my initial thoughts was BREAD as in "Give us this day, our daily bread"....I am glad that I did not actually go that route because Pam did...

Pam says that they bake bread every morning and if coffee is the morning fix for other people, then this is hers.....Add some "slap chips" (French Fries) and make a chip boetie and you can not really find higher comfort food, can you....

I went in another direction totally....

If Pam has her daily bread - I have my daily tempation - this is one of four vending machines at work and I pass this one every morning on my way to my desk - I made the mistake once of giving it my phone number and now it calls me - ALL THE TIME.....yes, that is why we were taught not to give our telephone numbers to strangers....The biggest temptation is peanuts or peanuts and raisins and if the vending machine is well stocked and I happen to have some change - well the vending machine is a definate winner...fortunately, more often then not, Kayla-Fern cleans me out of all small change, so quite often the vending machine is the ultimate loser....
Mariette, also went in a totally different direction then Pam and I ....

I absolutely love this picture Mariette - the colours and the depth and the interest in this picture is AWESOME....I love it for the same reasons that I loved your transport picture (of the busy "intersection" in Venice) and then there is some added attraction to the picture that I really can not place...I also love your message about, missing out on so much of the beauty the God has created, just because we are so busy rushing around in our daily lives....For that reason the empty park bench in this photo is a critical element and also makes it a slightly sad photo, until you realise that we do have the choice and we can make the time to sit on a park bench and take pictures - just like you did Mariette....To take time out to catch our breath and notice the beuaty around us, is not always easy, but when we do it, it is well worth the effort it took and we come away feeling refreshed and restored....

Claire has decided not to join us for a while, so we are back to TUTT (+1) - please note, the +1 is still there - missing but not forgotten...so hopefully you will be with us again soon Claire...Miss you my dear friend....

That is my post for this week - Short and Sweet, but at least on time...I suggested our theme next week - we need to go back to our roots and re-discover our HERITAGE...Hope it will be fun and interesting....Remember, to take time out to appreciate and savour all the wonderful sights and sounds around us, is in your control  - JUST DO IT....I have taken a few days off and fully intend to follow my own advise...

Lots of love

TUTT (+1) - Week ???? - Berries

OK, OK – I know I am late again....This week, as I said last week the story was born when I first saw Mariette’s theme “BERRIES”...

My first thought was BLACKBERRIES – no not because they are my favourite fruit....but because Blackberry Torch/Curve or Bold is a hot topic in our house a the moment....It is funny, when you own a teenager, it is amazing how one week something can be a matter of life and death and the next week, it is almost a non-existent issue....

Bradley has an old hand me down phone – it is an ok phone – it has a camera and he can get Mxit on it...He can’t get the internet or BBM (Black Berry Messaging) on it and that for him is a big problem,because “....mom, my social life is suffering, because no-one goes on Mxit anymore”....

So Brad has been miserable for the last few weeks, ...So miserable in fact that Gramps (my dad) noticed and questioned why...a couple of days after I had told my dad about Brad’s desperate need for a Blackberry, my dad phoned me and asked if Brad would like to help him do a job on the weekend...R100-00 an hour was what my dad was offering – Brad was smiling – they worked for 19 hours....it was not hard work – in fact it was helping out on a surveillance, so it was actually pretty boring and by the end of the weekend Brad had had enough of sitting in parked car, doing nothing, but he now has  almost enough for his Blackberry....This morning Brad said to me, that he may not go for a Blackberry – R2000-00 is a lot of money to spend on a phone and the only person he really needs to speak to is Tamaryn (his girlfriend), and she goes on Mxit for him.. “Say What!!!!” – Oh, I give up – I will never understand teenagers.....

I took my photo of two borrowed Blackberries with a map as the background – I did try to get the two phones/Afica/UK/and North America in the photo to depict that technology is indeed making our world smaller and bringing us closer together, and it seemed fitting to include all the areas where the TUTT(+1) girls can be found, but I could not get it all to fit nicely – but you get the idea anyway...

Kayla-Fern also wants a Blackberry, not because it has any bearing on her social life (and in fact her social life still involves chasing each other around a field – she actually does not need a cell phone at all except to phone me when another little girl or little boy is bothering her...)  Kayla-Fern wants a blackberry because she says she is being teased because she has an old fashioned phone...This really makes me wander about where we are going with technology and how materialistic our society has become....I think as adults, life is much easier, to be in constant contact with our loved ones, travelling has become easier and international business has become easier, but it is a trade off....It means that a boss or business partner or customer/client can contact us any time of the night or day, what happens when a cell phone rings when the family is sitting together eating dinner????  What is happening to family life????  I know that for children being exposed to technology – computers/cell phones etc is a vital part of their development and we as parents are doing them a disservice if we deny them access.  I just find it sad that my ten year old daughter is more worried about what cell phone she has then whether she should do her hair in a pony tail or pig tails and that my teenagers social life is so reliant on technolochy (cell phones/facebook etc)....and I do worry that they have lost the value of a decent face to face conversation or the sentimentality of a hand written letter – using full English words and properly formed sentances. or the simple joy of playing a game of cards or a board game together.  It is all about trying to create a balance.

Pam’s photo is of their Rottweiler Budgie called Blueberry – who teases and taunts the cats all the time - funny how Pam and I both went off the beaten track a little bit this week...

Mariette and Claire stayed with the “traditional” interpretation of the theme....

Well done girls, both are lovely photos....

Claire, may be opting out of TUTT(+1) for  awhile – We will miss you Claire, but we understand and hope that you return to us soon....

Pam has suggested our theme for next week - it is all about what we do, see or hear "daily" - sounds like it is a theme that we could take of almost anything, but it is proving to be challenging about what is the "right" anything....

Lots of love

TUTT (+1) - Week 47 - White

Sorry my blog is so late this week - I really do not know why I have been undable to do my blog this (last???) week... Sure, not all the photos were on time last week...but Mariette still managed to get her post done (on Friday) and Pam managed to get her post done (yesterday) - so there really is no excuse that it is Wednesday and I am busy trying to do my post that should have been up last Thursday - almost a week late....Oh well - normally, my "story" that goes with my post is born as I am taking the photos for the week....sometimes my "story" happens when I see the theme suggested for that week which is what happened this week - but more about that on Thursday....
Back to last week - Our theme was WHITE, suggested by Claire...I did wander when she sent the theme through whether she had a wedding shoot lined up over the weekend or a washing line full of lovely white baby clothes (for her soon to be born grandhcild) - When I queried with her, she confirmed that indeed when she suggested the theme her washing line was full of white baby clothes...but she sent through a different picture...

I did wander when Claire sent the theme through, whether she had a wedding shoot lined up over the weekend or a washing line full of lovely white baby clothes (for her soon to be born grandhild) - when I queried with her, she confirmed that indeed when she suggested the theme her washing line was full of white baby clothes (I know you so well..) ...but she sent through a very different picture...
I love that fact that she has taken such a strunning photo of an every day item...the close up shows the textrue of the laundry basket perfectly...
Do you see the connection between the laundry basket and white baby clothes hanging on the line...

Mariette took this lovely picture of a swan...

I LOVE it - the beauty and grace of the swan captured so beautifully...this photo is begging to be printed and framed and hung in my bathroom...

Pam also took a picture of a swan..although she created a golden light within her photo..Beautiful - Pam admits that she did not take this photo this week - she says she had lots of other ideas, but by the time photograph time came, all she wanted to take pictures of was car smashing things - Pam did not have a good car week - you will have to check her blog to find out why..

I also went to nature and took pictures of flowers - spring has arrived in Jo'burg sp there are lots and lots of pretty flowers in all colours blooming everywhere - it was cinch to find some white ones....

Oh - I do so love this time of year - we have jasmine in our garden and the smell in the cool of the earl morning and evening is too amazing...
Here are some other white flowers I took...

Ok - I did kind of have a story (about happiness and childhoods) ...but it is getting late and I really want to get this post finished...so the story on happiness is going to have to wait for another posting - Tomorrow is Thurday (AGAIN) - I promise to be on time (or at least do my blog post by the weekend this week) and I do think my story is BERRY interesting...So call back later - ok..Lots of love

TUTT(+1) - Week 45 - Faces

I'm so confused - I really am not sure if we are on week 45 or week 47 - don't even ask me where week 46 went...Oh well...Seems Hurricane Irene managed to confuse Pam as well as disrupting her life and electricity a little bit...Pam thought it was Mariette's theme this week and managed to convince Claire that it was Mariette's theme...Confusion reigns..
It was my theme this week - FACES - When I suggested the theme, I knew exactly what I wanted to do...Get really creative with fruit and vegetables...Well my creative talent does not really run to the masterpieces that I imagined I could create - after all my limit when it comes to faces is smiley faces { :-) }, often with a somewhat crooked smile...So that is exactly what I did - smiley faces on eggs...It was a lot simpler then I though it would be, and I loved the results.

Claire's is of her four girls, all together last year for the first time since Claire and Lance and Meagan and Skyla left for Wales....
This is what she says...

"When Christy was visiting last year I took the opportunity to take loads of photo's of the four girls as they were all together and hadn't been since we left South Africa.  You can imagine by the second week they were a little sick of all the posing so decided to prank me!  When I said SMILE they had decided to pull funny faces - what they didn't know is that I kept my finger on the trigger and kept shooting!  I have a LONG series of wonderful photo's and it was so difficult to choose!  This cheered Lance and I up so much this week.  We decided that they were worthy of printing and framing for our new TV Room!  They will hate us but we will have a chuckle EVERY DAY!"

Isn't it a really fun photo - Nice to look at these kinds of photos - never fails to cheer us up.
Go read Claire's blog to find out what else she has done with this photo - Awww - revenge (on her girls for messing around) is sweet...
Mariette took a beautiful photo of Maxine, whilst she was engrossed in her nintendo...Look at the total concentration on that little face - well done Mariette (I see you are also starting to take more photos in black and white - it give a totally different effect doesn't it)....Mariette says that she did not originally intend to use Maxine as her subject - go check her blog out for other wild faces...

Hurricane Irene swept past Pam's part of the world - lots of wind, some rain and left them without electricity - cold showers and stuff UGHHH...Anyway Pam, even though with your normal busy life and the aftermath of Irene.....you still managed to get a photo done - even though it was a little bit late...It was well worth the wait - we knew it would be...Pam's photo is of pizza box from Capone's Pizzeria - well done...

Pam's blog is very interesting this week - she talks about a change in legislation in her part of the world and it ties up to our theme and her photo very nicely this week...Go read it... I must admit I had a lots of fun with the theme this week...here are some more pics...

Anyway...this post is already very late...And I have someone nagging to use "GOOGLE" so I must dash...Next week there are no grey areas - only WHITE...

Lots of love