A Friday Photo and Paris Memories

Today's Friday photo is one that makes me remember a particular time very vividly. In April 2007, my other half and I visited Paris and it was lovely. I remember it being very warm and I adored the warmer temperatures. I had gone through my first fall and winter in England by that time so I was overjoyed to be hot for the first time in well over a year :-) It was good for my bones.

These are a few of the souvenirs that I brought back home and they're in storage now sadly. One day in the near future we'll have enough room so that I can unfurl my posters and put out our keepsakes more :-) That simple pleasure will be an absolute joy for me. I know in the scheme of things it's just "stuff", but having your things around you, especially when you've lived in a temporary state of being for too long, can indeed be a comfort. For simplicity's sake I'll just say...rediscovering this photo made me smile.

This photo is sort of like the photos that I've shared of past flowers over the last couple of weeks. The pictures of the flowers help me keep the memory of those gorgeous flowers alive and this picture helps me remember the fun times that we've had and helps me to look forward to other adventures. Don't get me wrong. I'm not living in the past by any stretch of the imagination. I'm definitely in the now, but it sure doesn't hurt to remember too :-)

Have a great weekend wherever you are and I hope that you make some great memories!

A Friday Photo and Some Ducks

Today's Friday photo as you can see is one featuring some feathered friends. I took this photo in June 2012. That was a prolific time for my picture taking I think, because a lot of the photos that I've shared lately are from that time. Lol. I took a lot of photos on this day in particular because it was a beautiful day and it was such a lovely place to walk.

I spent long stretches just watching the ducks go back and forth. It was mesmerizing. Nature is like that isn't it? :-)

I used to have a pet duck named "Duck Duck" when I was a little girl, but my duck didn't look like these. She was a fluffy white duck. I was very young...Lol...so I wasn't great with the unique naming at that point. That was one interesting duck. I remember that she loved cornbread and whenever anyone came into the driveway she would bark like a dog or in her case quack! Lol. My daddy built a little house for her and one of my favorite memories of my dad was him leading her to her house in the evening with cornbread crumbs. Those were good times :-)

So when I saw these ducks I thought of my duck and they really took me back.

Well that's all for my trip down memory lane and all things duck-related ;-)

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend! Take care and have fun!

A Taste of Home

Brit Boy and I had a good weekend. He got a chance to go to see football/soccer and I got the chance to catch up on some reading for school on Saturday. Then on Sunday we took a trip to one of my favorite places. It's a place called Dobbie's, which is a garden centre, but so much more than that. I've written about this store before. You can check out that post here. 

 

I love visiting because they have a wide variety of beautiful plants and flowers and seeds and all kinds of outdoor stuff that really appeals to me. It reminds me of a store that I used to visit back home with my dad when I was a little girl. In addition to a wide variety of plants they also have gifts and things for the home. They also have a restaurant and a section with food.

 

Ah, now we come to the real point of my post. I was so thrilled to find the cookies pictured below.

 

I haven't had any Pepperidge Farm cookies in years...probably since before I came here. I've never seen any in the supermarket here, but perhaps I've just overlooked them. Anyway, I was thrilled to find them and bought a pack. They are so good and until I took that first bite I had forgotten how much I missed that taste. As I've written here before, sometimes a taste of home is such a welcome thing when you're so far away from home. It's been a long time...I need a visit back home I think :-)



Remembering Donna Summer

I want to pay tribute today to the beautiful and oh so talented Donna Summer. As many of you know, she passed away yesterday from cancer. Like everyone else, when I saw this sad news I was shocked and saddened and simultaneously so many memories came flooding into my mind. It sounds cliché nowadays, but when artists like Ms. Summer pass away, we do remember their work as a soundtrack to our lives. Donna Summer was known as the Queen of Disco and she was definitely that...but she was also truly an AWESOME singer!

When I saw on Twitter that she had passed, my mind immediately went back to my seventies childhood and wanting to be a combination of Donna Summer, Diana Ross, and Chaka Khan J . I always imagined that I was this great singer when I was a child even though I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. But I let it rip anyway. I would tie pieces of cloth around myself in elaborate styles and fashion myself an evening dress. Then I would go out into our yard and stand on this huge rock that was my stage and I’d sing Donna Summer songs to our cats. The cats would ignore me or run away, but I was gettin’ down! Some of her songs had saucy lyrics, but in the 70s it was about the party and it wasn't about over analyzing everything. It was just fun and great music! When she brought out “She Works Hard for the Money” when I was a teen, I had dropped the makeshift dress and climbed down off that rock, but I was still singing along!

Donna Summer sang so many great songs and if you go on Youtube, they are all there to enjoy forever and that is a great thing! She will be truly missed, but her music will live on and that is the beauty of music.

Some of my favorite Donna Summer songs are: "I Feel Love", "She Works Hard for the Money", "Bad Girls", and "Last Dance".

"Last Dance" (below) is my all-time favorite song by her and it's the first song that popped into my head when I heard that she had made her transition. It showcases her beautiful voice and it makes you want to dance!

Rest in peace beautiful Donna Summer...

Anniversary Piercings

This is a double post day! Yay! ;-) In addition to my oohing and aahing over the pearl jewelry in my previous post, I've also been marking this day in jewelry history on a personal note. Lol. You see, today is the 36th anniversary of me getting my ears pierced when I was a little girl. Let's say it together...awwwww. I know that you're probably wondering why or how it is that I remember this exact day since at that point in my life I was basically only having elementary school thoughts dancing in my head ;-) Well, I have a thing for dates and anniversaries and even though I don't consciously make note of many of them, my brain has a way of catologuing them. It's my thing I guess. Although this particular milestone in my life is the exception to that rule. I do remember thinking to myself on that warm day that I wanted to remember this day just out of the blue.

I guess that the day stands out also because of how my piercing was done. My ears were pierced at home and one sister did one ear and one sister pierced the other ear. The first sister freaked out a little bit after she did the first one so the other sister took over. I wish that I had video of that! If I did I'd be posting it here. LOL. Oh, those zany times! Gotta love em!

So I just thought that I would share my little milestone with you and give you all a glimpse of how my mind is like a catalogue. Have a great day! ;-)

Remembering Whitney

As many of you know, on Saturday we lost Whitney Houston and it really saddens me like it does so many others. Whitney Houston’s voice was an amazing gift that she shared with the world and I celebrate that today. I don’t want to dwell upon the negativity that I’ve read and heard over the weekend about her troubles. I mean, her struggles were well-documented and I just don’t feel the need to go back over that tired old track over and over. What’s the use and why add to the cloud of speculation? As I said, I just want to celebrate her here in my little corner of the internet and share my personal memories of her.

The first time that I saw Whitney Houston was in Seventeen magazine, during the early 1980s. I was an avid reader of the magazine as a teen girl and I remember seeing beautiful Whitney there often.



Photos: Seventeen magazine

I thought that she was so lovely and I would try to mimic her style from the pages of the magazine. I remember reading a little blurb about her in the magazine and she said that she’d love to be a professional singer one day. And I thought, ‘How cool...isn’t that nice”. Little did I know that this girl that I saw in my Seventeen magazine was such a powerhouse singer! So fast forward to a while later and I’m watching music videos one day and this video comes on the television, “You Give Good Love”. It was the beginning of her amazing catalogue of songs and I was blown away. I remember being so proud of her because here was this girl that I’d seen in Seventeen magazine for so long and now I saw her like this in all her glory. Of course I didn’t know Whitney, but it felt kind of like I was seeing somebody that I knew before they were famous in a way...if that makes any sense. So over the years as she became this great legend, I often thought back to that girl in my Seventeen magazine.

I will always of course remember the incredible singer that she was, but that very young Whitney from the pages of my magazine will always stay with me too!

I'm not saying anything new as we all know how amazing her voice was and how beautiful she was...that is common knowledge. But I will say this...I truly thank her for sharing her amazing talent with us while she was here among us. Her voice will last through the ages...what a legacy!

Christmas Card Traditions

I've been up for a while today...way too early for a Sunday morning, but I guess that I'm awake early for a reason. Perhaps just so I could get this post in ;-) Anyway, it's been a pretty good weekend so far. Yesterday we went into town for a few things and to mail off some Christmas cards.

In the photo above: These are the airmail decals that I have to place on the letters along with the regular stamp. I didn't send this many cards...lol. I just have a bulk of these that I got for free at the post office a long time ago. Enough to last a lifetime probably ;-)

I love sending Christmas cards to people, especially in this age of e-cards and other techie ways to keep in touch. Don't get me wrong. I send e-cards and do all of the social networking things to keep in touch too, but I think that it's cool to at least try it the traditional way once a year. International postage isn't cheap, but I try to plan ahead to have the money available. And it isn't an amount that will break the bank anyway :-) I look at the postage as another Christmas gift on my list and it is chopped up and spread to several people instead of just one. This is the only time of the year when I get to send cards to my friends and family back home, so I truly relish it. It's a win win in my book!

My mom used to love to send Christmas cards and she did right up until her last Christmas. I would usually be drafted in to write quite a few of them out for her and I got hand cramps, but I knew it was important to her. It was a tradition. She didn't send a tremendous amount of them out, but she had a nice little list of core people that she had known for decades and she made sure to send a card every year. Interestingly, when I was helping her to write out her Christmas cards leading up to her last Christmas, I thought to myself that the list was dwindling so much in the last few years. I thought about how I had known some of those people for most of my life and how quickly life goes, so indeed we must relish every day. And I remember thinking how it wasn’t all sad because we were so lucky to have known those good people. Life is a joy despite everything, because of the people that we have the pleasure to know on this journey :-)

I know that I probably remember that Christmas very vividly because it was indeed my last Christmas with my mom. Otherwise those thoughts that I had while writing those cards probably would have evaporated from my memory. It is six years ago now and I’ll never forget that December and I’ll never forget the lesson about connection that my mom taught me by example.

I know that sending Christmas cards isn't everyone's thing and I'm not trying to convert anybody ;-) I just thought that I'd share a little piece of my memories and if nothing else, you get to see my airmail decal stash. Lol.

So even though I’m 4,000 miles away, I value the connections that I have and I know that making the effort is all worth it because I wouldn’t miss knowing these good people for anything in the world! :-)

Have a wonderful Sunday!

On the Eve of Thanksgiving

Today is a good day at the Yellow House. As many of you know, tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the USA and even though I’ve been living here for five and a half years, the tradition is still very much celebrated in this little house. Brit Boy loves the holiday too, and has always been a very willing participant in the celebration. So it is nice to share this holiday with him and embrace the gratitude and connection of the day together.

We’re actually going to celebrate on Friday because Brit Boy won’t have the day off on the actual Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, since the day isn’t celebrated here of course. He is having the day off on Friday so we can have a long weekend together though. So that will be nice. It’s going to be great no matter what day!

My thoughts are all over the place today, but in a good way. I’m having a hybrid of memory and new traditions going through my mind. Today I’m remembering the last Thanksgiving that my siblings and I had with my mom six years ago. And in the spirit of gratitude, I’m so grateful that we were able to be together like that, with her sitting at the head of the table at my sister’s house and giving us that beautiful smile of hers. I remember a lot of Thanksgivings fondly, but that one stands out to me more than any of them and it will stay with me forever. She was happy and that is the way I remember her. She loved the holiday season, so Thanksgiving and Christmas were her times. Right after Thanksgiving she would pull out her Christmas music and sing her way around the kitchen all the way up until Christmas. It’s interesting when you look back at a person in all of their glory and you really ‘see’ them. I realize now that besides all that she taught me in being my mother, she also taught me a lot about being a human being. My mother didn’t have the easiest life by any stretch of the imagination, but she had the greatest joy for life and she lived in the moment. I loved that about her...

Later this evening, Brit Boy and I are heading to the supermarket to pick up some ingredients for our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. I’m making some of the standard traditional dishes that I grew up with, but I’m going to attempt to make a new dessert. I know that lots of people make pumpkin pies, but in our house it was always sweet potato pies. That's what I love though...there are traditional foods that we all share in common on that day and then there are regional variations. Variety and tradition living side by side is a beautiful thing. I’m still going to make regular sweet potato pie, but I’m going to try this recipe that I found for these mini pies with a cream cheese type topping. They looked good when I saw them on the Food Network last year, so I’m gonna give it a whirl. Wish me luck! ;-) If I go ahead with trying it, I’ll share how they turned out...for better or worse. Also, it’s usually a customary challenge to find substitutions for some ingredients here. But after these past few years, it’s become a standard part of my life, so it’s kind of like a game now. Lol. It should be fun! I embrace the challenge!

Tomorrow I will get my dessert making done so that I won’t have that to on Friday. And hopefully if I get it all planned out right, I’ll be able to check in by Skype with my niece and have some laughs. We did this last year and it was fun to have virtual back home Thanksgiving. I got the chance to check out their food and it was a good time. My niece is twenty-one, but you would think that we grew up together because we laugh at the same stuff and have a good time on Skype. So I’m looking forward to that with my sisters in the background :-)

It’s getting very thankful around here and I’m looking forward to it all! I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out there who celebrates the holiday and a great Thursday tomorrow to one and all!

Our Trip to The Royal Wedding

We had a wonderful wedding anniversary and our trip to London was historic and lots of fun. The royal wedding had London all abuzz when we got there. Let me back up a bit though. And I have a variety of photos, so I'll just scatter them within this post independently with captions :)

We headed to London on Thursday morning, the 28th, by bus and train. When we arrived in London we made our way to our hotel to drop off our bags. Then we headed out to see the last minute preparations and see what kind of action was going on. We headed to Westminster Abbey and there were loads of people walking around. There were loads of media around and we saw recognizable reporters amongst the crowds getting interviews with people in the crowds. There were quite a few people camped out too and there was a definite buzz in the air.

Leading up to the side of Westminster Abbey

Front of Westminster Abbey the day before royal wedding

Some of the media across from Westminster Abbey

Then we headed to Buckingham Palace to check things out. Lots of people were camped out along The Mall and there were loads of media and people walking about here too, but the crowds weren’t as big. Since this was a bit of a strategic trip out, we decided that standing along The Mall would be the best place for us to catch a glimpse of things the next day. We really enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere as there was lots of happy anticipation in the air.

Top: Some media across from Buckingham Palace;Middle: Views along The Mall; Bottom: On the way to The Mall (all taken the day before the wedding)

I noticed something when we were watching the various media outlets in their makeshift studios. Whenever they wanted to have cheering in the background, they would have someone on their staff out to the side waving their arms in order to get people to whoop and holler :) And nearly every one of the news studios from different countries did it. A great unifying practice ;-) They also motioned people over who had signs so that they could get them in the background of their live shots whilst their anchors interviewed people. It was surreal and very orchestrated. Who knew? ;-) It was fun to watch. Brit Boy and I hung out for a while longer and played “spot the news anchor”, and then we headed off for a bite to eat. Then we went back to the hotel to chill in preparation for our early start the next day.

On the day of the royal wedding, also our wedding anniversary, we got up and out a bit before 6am. Some people were already out besides those who camped overnight, but not that many. We took a place along The Mall and stood behind some ladies who had camped out and a couple who got there a few minutes before us. Later loads of people filled in behind us. We got a very good spot considering the fact that we didn’t camp out for a spot. The couple in front of us were very nice and we chatted a lot. It was a great way to pass the time together as we all waited. The couple were from the United States like myself and have been living in London for a short time due to the husband’s short-term job assignment here. The ladies who camped out were from South Africa and England, whilst behind us there was a lady from Argentina. It was a very eclectic group in our little section. My own main personal intention for going to see the royal wedding was to experience this global event and that’s exactly what it was. I heard many accents from all around the UK, the USA, continental Europe, Africa, Asia, and everywhere around the world. It was truly a sea of humanity! And I loved that Brit Boy and I got the chance to be a part of this crowd and a part of history.

We were very lucky to get such a good place to watch. Crowds quickly swarmed in right after we got there. It was quite a crunch to be standing there and not be able to move our feet, but it was worth it in the end. Speaking of feet, our hands and feet were freezing. It was a chilly day and there was a cold wind blowing.

Top: The guards & tv cameras; Middle: The Fabulous Band; Bottom: Excited happy people :)

We tried to get some photos, but it was a tough assignment :) Some are rather blurred so I won’t bore you with them. When the royals were heading to the church, the cars sped by very quickly and the crowd went into a frenzy...so I got some pretty random shots. We could hear the ceremony on loudspeakers and they had these programs for sale for £2.




When they all headed back to Buckingham Palace, they came back at a slower pace but it was still tough to get a good shot. But I’ll tell you, seeing it all was something that I’ll never forget :)

Top four: Prince William & Kate; Middle: Prince Charles, Duchess of Cornwall, & Kate's parents; Bottom two: Queen Elizabeth & the Duke of Edinburgh

After they all passed by we made our way down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace. We had been standing for about seven hours so we were a bit stiff. The crowd bottlenecked at one point, so we took a shortcut through St. James Park and somehow got closer to the palace than we expected considering how enormous the crowd was. It was quite a crush so my photos turned out kinda random, but I got a few. We saw the balcony appearance and both of the kisses.

All of the above: the balcony appearance :)

And then it was over. We didn’t see Prince William and Kate drive out in the car, because like many others we had dispersed. However, the memories of those days will stay with us forever!

Here are a few inexpensive things we picked up as souvenirs. The free things were being passed out at or around train stations.

Top: flag £1; Middle: tea - free; Bottom: card - free:)

Brit Boy and I made our way out of the crowd slowly...it was quite a crunch, and then we headed to Covent Garden to have our anniversary lunch/dinner. It was so delicious and we were so hungry by that point. It was truly a wonderful day...and it was one that we’ll never forget. We were so happy to be there to witness it all!

The Mall heading to Buckingham Palace the day after the royal wedding:)

The day after, we had a bit of time to kill before we caught our train, so we went back to see how things were the day after. A lot of the scaffolding was being dismantled along The Mall and at the temporary television studios. And the sky was a beautiful blue...a perfect way to end a great trip!

P.S. ~ Check out Brit Boy's post about it at his blog: Getting Busy Living

A Glorious Day

(Photo courtesy of NASA)

I wanted to wish a HAPPY EARTH DAY to everyone! My heart sings with love for this beautiful planet that we call home :-)

And I can certainly not forget Good Friday and all that it conjures up for me. This Easter season immediately reminds me of my days growing up back in Georgia. Easter was always one of my very favorite times of the year and it always brings feelings of renewal to my mind. When I was a child, we would prepare an Easter program at church and it was a glorious tradition. All of us kids would participate by singing and/or reciting what we called Easter speeches. The Easter speeches were poetic pieces that we learned by heart and recited to the congregation and our proud parents. I look back now and realize how lucky we all were to be able to have that sense of community. Those times live now only in my memories, but I'm glad that they're mine forever :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Spring

I’ve gotten behind on my posting lately. I can’t believe it’s been nearly three weeks, but I’m back here again and I’m glad to be here. Just like many of you, life gets busy and some things slip...and my blog slipped way down the list ;-) Anyway, I’ve returned so thank you for visiting me again!

I was going to post about my food adventure in this post, just like I promised in my last post, but I just wanted to ease back in with one of those take a breath posts. I’ll do my food post next time.

Spring will be arriving in a few days and it brings to mind the feeling of renewal. Both of my parents have been on my mind quite a bit lately, so when I snapped the photo below of the daffodils blooming in our backyard, I thought of how I love and miss both of them. These daffodils remind me of being back home when I was growing up...when my parents were both alive. I love spring because it makes me remember the longer days and my daddy being out in the garden. I remember the smell of the freshly plowed earth and all of the planting going on. It's amazing how those little things stay in your mind forever.



So I welcome the arrival of spring and I pray for good things ahead for all of us everywhere, all around the world.

Memories Through Cornbread

It’s been a while since I did a cooking post, so it just seemed like a good idea for today’s post, since I need to get back into the blogging hot tub. I don’t love to cook, but I like it pretty well and hey, we've all gotta eat don’t we? For those times when I don’t want to cook, a frozen dinner is my best friend ;-)

There are times when I like cooking and times when I loathe it. It’s all about balance ;-) In those times of enjoyment, the thing that pulls me in is the chance to be creative, so that aspect is right up my alley.

I truly enjoy watching cooking shows, especially Barefoot Contessa. Her food inspires me to want to cook EVERYTHING and do it well. Her variety of dishes that she cooks always inspires me to try something new and I’ve learned lots of cooking techniques from her, so I love me some Contessa :-) And as a fellow Georgia girl, I love to watch Paula Deen when I’m back home visiting. I can see the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network over here, but they don’t show Paula Deen here. So that’s where the website comes in handy. Anyway, that’s enough of my TV favorites for today. Pardon my detour ;-)

So this past weekend I cooked cornbread muffins…well actually cheese cornbread muffins. I had a taste for some. I’m not a really big fan of cornbread or any bread really, but sometimes I get the taste for it. It usually coincides with me thinking about home or back to the times when my parents were still alive. When I was growing up, my mom made cornbread everyday and I used to love to watch her make it. The memories that I have of watching her make cornbread stick firmly in my mind. I don’t know why. I guess it’s the everyday normal things that you may take for granted at the time, but when you look back, those are the things that are burned into your memory forever. As time goes by I realize that memories are TRULY the beautiful things in life :-) The simplest, beautiful things…

Over the Christmas holidays, I received a package from my sisters and I had mentioned to them when we were Skyping once that I couldn’t get cornmeal very readily where I live. So I’d asked them to send me a small bag if they could. Well, in the Christmas package there was the cornmeal…just like my mom used to use :-) The sight of the bag instantly filled me with nostalgia. Here it is:



Yeah, I took a picture of the bag of cornmeal…it’s an expat thing. LOL. Anyway, I made some cheese cornbread muffins and they turned out pretty good. My mom was strictly old school though…she just made straight cornbread and hers was great, but I love to play around with a recipe from time to time.



I’ve been nibbling on these muffins all week and yesterday I crumbled some up in a bowl of soup…mmmmmm. Now that was good! Next time I may try putting some other flavor in there to see how it turns out. See, it’s that creativity thing again ;-)

I realized the other day how much I used to love posting about my culinary creations in the earlier days of this blog and I realized that I don’t do that much anymore. Well that will definitely be a returning feature here. I’m no chef or even a really great cook, but I just love mixing stuff up and seeing what happens. And also I love photographing things…and that includes food, so I hope you’ll come back and see what I cook next :-)

Until next time…

Remembering...

Today I want to remember all of those who were lost on 9/11...at the Twin Towers...the Pentagon...and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

They cross my mind from time to time and remind me to never take life for granted.

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! :-)

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.