Monday, September 28, 2015

An Eclipse and Everything

I had a good weekend. How was yours? Mine was a little bit of this and a little bit of that...just how I like it :)

On Saturday we did errands and then came back and did some more of our Saturday purging of stuff around here. I'm still rediscovering things and finding some good things to donate. I love the feeling of renewal that it brings. Also on Saturday, I worked on my book. It's coming along and I'm grateful.

Sunday was great. I watched Pope Francis on television in the evening my time as he held his final mass in the United States. I have really enjoyed watching him during his visit and seeing the love that he showed and received back from the people.


I was very aware all day that the Super Blood Moon Eclipse was happening later and I really wanted to see it, but I knew that it would be around 3am here. I decided to just let go of seeing it and I went to bed still with good thoughts that it was happening even though I would miss it. Well, lo and behold at a little after 3am I woke up out of the blue. I have a tendency to wake up at about 3 or 4 sometimes and go back to sleep, but I think my subconscious mind nudged me awake on purpose this time. I hadn't set an alarm and I just woke up. It was meant to be :) So I went downstairs and looked outside at the night sky and there it was...in all of its beautiful glory! I didn't get a photo because my camera isn't really good at taking night pictures, but sometimes I just like being in the moment. In my mind's eye I can still see it.

If you haven't seen any photos of it yet, here are some fantastic ones courtesy of NASA.

It's been a good year to see eclipses. I saw the solar eclipse in March and now as the year winds down I got a chance to see the lunar eclipse. What a beautiful show in the sky! I hope that you were able to see it wherever you are in the world!

Have a great day and a great week!

Friday, September 25, 2015

A Friday Photo and the Bournemouth Balloon


Today's Friday photo was taken in March 2013 in Bournemouth. I took this as I was walking along the path away from the beach and through the park to the city center. This balloon is tethered, but it can take riders up high for a great view of the city and the beach. I've never gone up in it, but perhaps I will one day soon. I'm afraid of heights, so we shall see  :)

Bournemouth is a lovely seaside town with a wide and spacious beach. It takes a couple of hours to get there from where I live, but it's a nice drive. We pass through Salisbury on the way so I love getting a view of the cathedral spire as we pass through.

We didn't get a chance to get to Bournemouth this year. The last time that we went was the summer of 2014. I'm looking forward to getting back down there in 2016 and when I do I'll share pictures here.

Happy weekend! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are! :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Welcome Fall


Welcome Fall 2015!!!

Fall/Autumn is my favorite season. Even though it's the gateway that leads us on to winter and the colder time of the year, the beautiful fall colors make up for it. It's like Mother Nature is preparing us for that winter weather smackdown that's coming by giving us all of this colorful beauty to behold during the fall season :) I love that!

So welcome, you beautiful season!

Have a great day everyone wherever you are!


Sunday, September 20, 2015

Walking In The Woods - Part 3

Happy Sunday!

Here are the last photos from our walk in these lovely Wiltshire woods last weekend. If you missed the others, you can see them here and here. As I mentioned previously, there's nothing flashy here, it's simply the beauty of nature and for me that's my favorite kind of flashiness :) I'm a person who loves the quiet so I relish every chance that I can get away from the constant noise of the world. Don't get me wrong. Sound and excitement have their place and I like them too, but having quiet time for me is like healing for my ears and indeed my soul. Balance is the key :)
 


The trees were so tall and strong and beautiful. What a wonderful day it was!


I hope that you have a glorious Sunday! :)

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Walking In The Woods - Part 2

Happy Saturday!

Here are a few more of the photos that I took on our walk in the woods of Wiltshire last weekend. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, it was a wonderful time. Everything was still quite green, but here and there I could see signs of fall arriving, such as the yellow leaf below that I saw along the path.


The sun was glorious that day, much like it is today. I loved the way that the rays streamed through the trees.


I have a couple of other photos to share tomorrow so I hope that you'll come back to check them out.


Have a great weekend! :)

Friday, September 18, 2015

A Friday Photo and Walking In the Woods


Today's Friday photo was taken last weekend on our walk in the woods. It was a really glorious day. It was warm and things were still leafy and green which I loved. Every time I walk in the woods here it makes me think of walking in the woods on my family's land back home. It's as if each location on either side of the world is connected in that moment and I am in the middle with one foot in each place. It's always an amazing feeling for me!

I love looking up at the canopy made by the trees as they shelter what's below. As you can see in my photo, I'm checking out the view above, but I'm always keeping my eyes open for what's happening on the ground too ;-) There's so much to see.

I have a few more photos that I took that day and I'll share them over the next few days. They're simply pictures of trees, nothing flashy, but then trees are so wonderful they don't need flashiness do they? :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are!

Monday, September 14, 2015

Walking, Reading, and Writing


I had a good weekend. How was yours? :) Mine consisted of taking a walk in the woods, doing some errands, reading, and working on my book.

I took some pictures when we went for our walk in the woods, so I'll share them later this week. It was great to get one last look at the green leaves before fall changes them yellow, orange, and red. I love fall so I'm looking forward to seeing the leaves change, but it was good to see the last bit of summer.

As for reading, I've been re-reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. I'm really enjoying it this second time also. She's an amazing writer, but that's obvious...duh ;-) I'm stating the obvious here.

As for my own writing, my book is coming along. I'm still fighting the urge to go back and edit. I have to smack my own wrist :-) I'm enjoying the process more and more as I go further. I think that I'm finally learning to just let go and write and let the momentum take me forward. I'm learning a lot during this process about writing, but I'm also learning life lessons that I needed to learn. Who knew? Lol.

Well that's all for now. As I mentioned, I'll be sharing some of my photos from the woods later this week. Have a great new week wherever you are!

Friday, September 11, 2015

A Friday Photo and the Last Bits of Summer


Today's Friday photo is one that I took just yesterday. We were heading back from the store and I wasn't driving so I took this picture from the passenger side. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, sort of like the summer days that we didn't get in June ;-) So I really relished having this lovely sunny weather while we have it. It's blurry because we were moving, but I liked the feeling of movement so I thought that I'd share it :-)


Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend wherever you are!

Wednesday, September 09, 2015

Queen Elizabeth's Milestone

Today is the day that Queen Elizabeth II reaches a milestone and becomes the longest reigning monarch in British history. She has exceeded the record set by her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days. That's a long time! There have been only four other British queens or kings who have reigned 50 years or more.

Monday, September 07, 2015

Life Lessons and Writing


It's been a writerly time for me over the past few days. I've been working on my book a lot more and that's what I'll be doing today also. I'm having to resist the urge to go back and edit at this point. Every bit of advice that I see always says that it's best to just write through, get the story down, and keep the momentum going. Then you can go back and edit with fresh eyes.

I have a bit of a perfectionist streak so it's like pulling teeth to not keep going back. Lol. This is proving to be a good life lesson for me about overthinking things. Yay for that ;-)

I hope that you're having a wonderful day wherever you are!

Happy Labor Day to everyone back in the USA also :-)

Friday, September 04, 2015

A Friday Photo and Summer Memories


Today's Friday photo was taken in July 2012 and all that I can think of is how time flies. I know it's cliche, but sometimes when I look back at these various photos I really can't believe that it's been that long because many of them feel like just yesterday. I remember very vividly taking this walk and coming to this path that led to the bridge.

In a way I guess that within yourself, inside your own memory, anything is accessible as if it were yesterday and that's the beauty of memory :)

This photo also makes me think of summer especially as we're heading towards fall now. Summer's green will soon give way to fall's yellows, oranges, and reds and I look forward to it because fall is my favorite season.

So long summer...see you again soon!

Tuesday, September 01, 2015