Thursday, July 22, 2010

More Paris Photos

Today, I’d like to share some more photos that I took inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. As I mentioned in my previous post, we visited in 2007 and we had a truly great time. There is so much beauty to see in Paris, as I'm sure you know. Brit Boy and I want to go back someday and see more. I know we only scratched the surface.

Notre Dame was just breathtaking. Even though there were loads of people inside the cathedral, it never felt particularly crowded. People were talking but they talked in a wonderfully hushed tone, so that it felt as if you were one of only a handful of people there as you took in the beauty of the place. There is not a lot of artificial light inside the cathedral and I think it just adds to the whole experience. The glow from the candles and the outside light streaming in gave everything a serene feeling.

Here are more views of the glorious windows and the beautiful architecture.









Getting a chance to see this beautiful cathedral was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget and I’m glad I could share a bit of it with you :-)

Friday, July 16, 2010

Pictures From Our Paris Trip

Since I wrote such a wordy post in my last entry, I decided to spare you all today :-) So I thought that I’d share a few photographs that I took before I started blogging. I’ve always liked taking pictures, so I have bits of this and that which I can share here from time to time.

The photos that I’m going to share today, were taken inside Notre Dame Cathedral. Brit Boy and I visited Paris in 2007 for our anniversary. The city was gorgeous and the weather was very cooperative. We had a ball! :-) Notre Dame was truly breathtaking. It was such a serene space. I hope you enjoy taking a look at a few of my pics! I will share more from time to time. Have a great weekend! :-)



Monday, July 12, 2010

More Photos Of Home

Today I wanted to share the last of my reflections and photos from my trip back home. There's a bit of this and that in this post :-) I had a wonderful time. It was good to touch base with where I come from. I saw things with fresh eyes in some ways and yet the familiarity was still there :-)

Early in my trip, we visited our old home place where we grew up and did some looking around. I hadn’t been inside for quite a few years. When Brit Boy and I visited in the fall of last year, we didn’t go inside. We just walked around the land. So this time I got the chance to go inside and boy did the memories come flooding back. The house has been cleared out and things are being stored for now. The bulk of the furniture hadn’t left the house in 100 years and I’m not even exaggerating :-) There has been a LOT of family history in that house, from well before me and my siblings were born. So for me, the energy of the past was palpable. I felt it very strongly. It was strange to see the outlines of furniture from long times past and not see the actual pieces in their usual place. The familiar pieces were there no more. It was a strange feeling, but not in a bad way. I just felt very peaceful, because I know that this part of the story has wound down, but I know that a new chapter is waiting :-) I’ve always been a family historian of sorts, so the way I see it, it ain’t over ;-) The story continues…

When we were walking around and picking up a few final things, I noticed some smoky looking glasses on top of a cupboard…way in the back corner, that had been left behind. I asked my nephew to use his long arms to retrieve them for me. They are so lovely and haven’t been used in forever and a day. I felt like I found buried treasure when I spotted them and at that moment actual buried treasure would’ve paled in comparison :-) There were quite a few, but these are representative of the set. Here they are:



At first glance I thought that they were naturally this color, but then I quickly realized that they were just grimy from sitting there for so many years unnoticed. I cleaned them up before I stored them, but here’s the thing…I got so excited in the process of cleaning them…(you should’ve seen me)…that I forgot to take a photo of them all sparkly clean and beautiful. So please use your imagination here…they turned out lovely and as people often say, they don’t make things like this anymore :-)

On one of our roadtrips, I caught sight of this pretty little church in a small town called Eatonton, which is the hometown of author Alice Walker, who wrote “The Color Purple” .



On another day, my sisters, niece, and I went for a picnic at the reservoir and I saw these two sitting on the shore.



The white duck reminds me of my pet duck that I had many years ago. My duck was like a guard dog and quacked loudly whenever anyone came into the yard, yet he was very quiet otherwise. LOL. Here are a few photos of the reservoir. It was a wonderfully peaceful day out.



The time spent back home was renewing. I’m so glad that I went and I was able to take you all along with me.

You can go home again and I did that indeed! :-)

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Quaintness, The Moon, and Rocking

Today I want to share more photos and thoughts about my trip back home to Georgia. This post is gonna be kind of random and photo blog-ish, but since it’s hard to remember things day by day, I figure this is the best way to share a bit of my trip with you all :-) I hope you enjoy taking a look.

I took some photos as we were driving along like I often do when I’m here in England. I love catching things on the fly even when they come out blurry ;-) I enjoy that for some reason. Anyway, on one of our road trips, I snapped a picture of this shed/barn. I just thought it looked really quaint and rural :-)



Here’s dinner from one day. You all know how I love taking pictures of food ;-) Funnily enough though, this is the only food picture that I took the whole time…I’m slipping. LOL. Anyway, my sister prepared this meal for me one day. It was really tasty.



One evening I went outside as the sun was going down just so I could enjoy it all. I love this magical time of the day :-) I was greeted by this pretty sky with a bit of the moon there to set it off. It was so beautiful to experience the peacefulness of it all. I loved the color of the clouds as the sun bounced its light off of them.






I took these pictures one morning as I stood on my sister’s carport. The light in her yard in the mornings was amazing. I loved the peace of it all.






I love rocking chairs because there’s nothing like sitting in one on a front porch and just letting the motion take you off on a trip of pure relaxation :-) The morning light loved the rockers too!



Thanks for coming along with me as I show you back home. Next time I’ll share more pictures from my journey!

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Nature and Life and Going Home

My trip home to Georgia was wonderful. It was just what I needed. I got a chance to be outside and to retrace the paths that I walked as a child. It was very therapeutic and satisfied something within me. I hadn’t realized how much I needed that trip home. It’s a trip that I’m glad that I took (smile).

One thing that stuck out about this trip was how green everything was. For the past few summers, Georgia has had its share of drought-stricken weather. But this year, there has been more rain and it shows. As my sister drove me from the airport I kept thinking to myself how much all of the green reminded me of when I was growing up.

On one of my Saturday mornings there, one of my sisters and I decided to take an early morning walk for the exercise and also to enjoy the quiet of the morning. Right before I left the house, on my way to meet her, I thought that I should take along my camera and I’m glad that I did.

The sun was coming up and I caught a glimpse of it peeking through the dense green growth. The trees and bushes just looked so alive.





Here are a few of my sister’s flowers. I had to snap a few photos of them.



Here are some roadside flowers that I caught sight of too. I don’t know what they are, but they were so dainty and pretty.




Here are a few photos that I captured during our walk. I was snapping pictures of everything. LOL.




I loved looking over at the woods as we walked back towards home. I spent many days of my childhood running around those woods and God certainly had me protected because I was never snake-bitten or harmed (smile).



As I reminisced in my mind, I relished the simple life that I led as a child. It wasn’t always wonderful, but whose life is, you know (smile). Looking back, I’m just thankful for all of those experiences growing up…the good and the bad, because they molded me into who I am now. Life is such a blessing.

While I was home, one of my childhood friends passed away from cancer. She had had such a hard time. When I was on that walk, I thought about her and how we would walk from my house to hers back when we were girls. We lived in the same community, went to the same schools and church, and her family has known my family for years. Our paths had run parallel for a season of our lives. We hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, but when I heard about her passing, it hit my heart in a place potent with memories. And I will have those memories forever.