It’s raining, it’s pouring…

 

and wild winter weather is all around me. But here is a little bit of last summer’s beauty to brighten up the day.

Not yet, but….

 

Sometimes a photo has to wait until the right moment. This one has sat quite a while, neglected and forgotten. By chance I came across it today and immediately liked the old, highly decorative and symmetrical church building contrasted nicely with the modern green spiky plant and the shot of deep blue in the foreground – a fence?  What for I wonder….

A happiness reminder from the past…

 

I haven’t been blogging, sorry. I have been caught up in a project to collect together family photos and compile them into a book of memories.  I found that after assorting such a pile of  images of our life over one year, I realised three important things…1. how busy we are, 2. how much fun we actually have and 3. how much we had forgotten! I was sad that I had not recorded these memories anywhere apart from on my hard drive. My children have grown up in the era of on-line images, social media, digital images (stored on computers) and do not have many albums of memories of their childhood. I am going to fix this in the old fashioned way – with an album.

So, in the spirit of remembering and memories, here is one of my very first images I posted on my blog.  A shot taken from my inspiration board in my art room. It still inspires me with its reminder to  just “start something”.

Triple delight in the garden

 

Last year I was shocked to find a stem of orchid flowers growing in my garden on a seemingly almost dead plant. And this year, not one, not two, but three stems!

This stem I put in my bedroom, and the other two stems are in my lounge so everyone can enjoy the stunning display! Displayed in a slim-necked old tarnished silver and glass vase…Elegant beauty I think.

 

 

Believe…

Believe:

In yourself.

In the goodness and kindness of others – strangers, acquaintances, family and friends.

That things will turn out fine. Maybe not how you expect, however.

That you will achieve your dream.

 

 

 

Where light and movement meet…

I love this photograph because it has a lot of things that appeal to me, movement,  colour, high contrast, a sense of drama and because it is like an abstract painting. I keep looking at it and seeing different things. It  reminds me of what light and movement create…interesting, dramatic images.

Mind the gap..

A creative writing piece.  The theme: Mind the gap…

Mind the gap. Follow the rules. Read the map. Follow the masses. Follow the crowds. Mind the gap and sit next to a stranger instead. Smile at them. Mind the gap between the station where you are meant to get off the train and the one where you do actually get off, just so you can keep talking to that person you have just met but feel you have known a lifetime.

Mind the gap between your toes, between your teeth, the gap between us (counted in years, tears, miles or smiles) the gap between your fat jeans and your skinny ones. The gap between hair-colouring weeks when the silver reminds you that you really truly are over 40. Over the hill, never mind the gap.

The gawky gap between childhood and adulthood…fifteen is an age of just in between, no immature habits should even be seen, stop playing with that toy, you’re being a child, act like an adult, now go to your room and No, you can’t call that boy.

The gap between like and lust…between only just losing and being crushed. The gap between a little white lie and the god awful truth. The gap between friends that once were and your real friends.  The gap between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters…the gap between feeling fear and doing it anyway, between trusting your instincts and ignoring others, the gap between knowing what you need to do and actually doing it.

Mind the gap between you and those you hold close. Mind that gap the most, pay attention to cracks, even minor ones, close the gap when it gets too big, build a bridge if you have too, and stuff the gap full of love whenever you can.

Mind the gap. The end.

 

 

 

 

Weed wanderings…

Some people may not notice such things. I do. Maybe they are weeds. I don’t care. I like that they bend in the breeze and sway like they hear music. Ultimately, the seed heads get blow off by the wind, and they skip and dance into the distance on the wind to who knows where. Pretty.