Signs of Autumn

This wild Autumn sniffer was taking notice ~



Perhaps he got a whiffy sniff of the roast cooking with Yorkshire puds...



or perhaps he was wondering what kind of a tree had cones like these:



Maybe he spotted this shellish creature in the mock orange bush:





or wondered if there really was at least one more sweet strawberry to come ...



Do you think he spied Lil? Oh no!



Meanwhile ~ in the rose garden, Elle shines :)



and apples and oak leaves add blush to her beauty:

Pictures, Poems and Posies

Many thanks Flighty for another perfect heart award which I really love and enjoy sharing with all your blogging buddies :)

What's been happening since my last post! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and no reason at all to stay inside if not necessary! Here's a few photos taken over the past while, followed by a poem of sorts which will explain another reason for my absence of late ;)

First some reflections ~





Look what I found in the rose garden today~ enough for a posy! A mixture of Elle, Folklore, Wenlock, and one small Iceberg hardly visible on the right.



Samples of easy pickin's ~ one apple, one pear, and one bunch of grapes!


and now for my weekend ~


First I'll set the scene:

Roll ~ Action:



Well things are back to normal
(or as normal as they get)
after fixing all the damage
once my purse got soaking wet.

Of course I knew much better
than to leave it on the sand.
I wear it is a backpack
or carried in my hand.

Well… on this lovely sunny day,
my son and I set out
to make a movie at the beach
and here’s what came about…

The sky was blue; the sea was too ~
The sand, a strip of gold
but as “the actor” played his part,
I felt a heavy load…

My backpack seemed to pull and tug,
this coupled with the heat…
My shoulders ached. I took it off
and placed it by my feet.

Now while the movie rolled along,
the tide began to shift,
and circled, sneaking up behind
to set my world adrift.

Too late we noticed no more sand
was stretched out in a strip!
Although I grabbed the handle quick,
my purse began to drip…

and drip and drip and drip and drip…
and still it dripped some more.
Arriving home I pushed “remote”
to open garage door…

But nothing happened. Nothing moved!
More problems were in store!
The silly thing was useless now,
not like it was before!

I squirted in some compressed air
to dry its inner guts…
Then up and down, and up and down ~
the door - completely nuts!

I came inside to dump my purse,
then let out one long moan.
I saw another victim there…
My soggy mobile phone!

My cheque book was a lovely sight.
‘lectronics were all faulty.
My keys were turning shades of rust.
My dollar bills were salty.

I can’t complain about it though,
because I chose to put
my backpack purse with all my stuff
upon a sandbar….BUT

A lesson learned, yet once again ~
So when your shoulder’s ache,
go put the backpack in the trunk
and give your head a shake!

The next day I was off to town
to get another phone…
and then of course the garage door’s
remote was all but blown.

A fellow brought a new one by
and charged a pretty penny.
I paid him with my salty bills
and now I don’t have any!


But, I do have these :)

Happy Hearts

Yesterday, Flighty delivered a tree of happiness award to me which was a lovely thing to do. I especially love the hearts on it. I have a collection of heart rocks, heart-shaped baking dishes, heart-shaped necklaces, etc.

I wish I could remember exactly when I started noticing and collecting heart rocks, but it must have been when I spent a lot of time walking along the beach, obviously with my head down, and maybe even when kicking rocks! Anyway, I started noticing, picking them up, and lugging them home, some very small and some huge ones! Sometimes my pockets would be weighed down, and my arms full. I'm sure it was symbolic of my feelings at the time.

Time passed. One day as I was walking along the beach, I found a real beauty of a heart rock. I also noticed a young couple wading in the water at quite a distance. On the way back, they were wading in the opposite direction, and I found myself calling to them, saying, "I have something for you!" and I threw this rock toward them, as hard as I could. "Splash", it landed right at their feet (miraculously...). They bent down to pick it up and there it was, this large bright shiny heart-shaped rock. There was a stoppage of time, or so it seemed, as they both looked at it, then at me. They were thrilled, waved, and called out their thanks :) I wanted to disappear in a pink puff of smoke or something equally as magic, but instead carried on over the rocky shore. Another time, when I had found a heart rock, I saw a couple of older people sitting on a bench. I held out my hand and said, "What do you think this is?" The man (of course :)) said, "A rock?" I said, "Yes, but what shape is it?" and the lady said, "It's a heart!" and I said, "and it's for you..." Anyway, just thought I'd share a couple of my heart rocks with you :)


Now, where was I, oh yes, the Tree of Happiness Award, with its hearts. Six things that make me happy:

Keeping in touch with my sons

Walking to, and on the beach

Anything heart-shaped brings a smile

Sharing fun with the youngsters at school (oh, btw...recently, one little fellow informed us that his dad was in England and they do everything backwards there~ that made me laugh out loud) I'm assuming he was talking about driving on the other side of the road.

Exploring nature with my camera in hand

Writing poetry

Reading, which now includes blogs and meeting new friends

Learning about everything, including how to do things with Photoshop and Imageready


Oops! Too much happiness...

I think I'm usually a happy person, period. I have my ups and downs, but happiness always pops out on top, so it's hard to limit the list to six things, because there is no limit to happiness :)



PS just be happy this blog isn't about Pongy, the dead seal, or Spidy, the big fat spider who might have babies.

Sunshiny Faces and Busy Bees

I awoke to the radio announcer exclaiming that he had just seen a glorious sight! As the sun was rising, a rainbow appeared over it! Wonderful, I thought as I jumped out of bed ready for my run around the block!

But just a minute ~ what was that racket?

Well, the rainbow must have shot its arrow, and punctured a cloud, because it was bucketing down! Plan B. No running around the block in a rainstorm on the first day of school for the children. I didn't want to be a drowned rat before I'd even started the day, or end up slithering off the slick road, etc. In other words, I decided to forget the run and get on with breakfast!

On my way to work, the rain stopped, and out came the sun. It was a busy day, with children reacquainting themselves with their friends, and settling into their classrooms. My, how they have grown in two months!

When I got home, I went for a walk to the beach to get some exercise and fresh sea air ~ at least I thought it was going to be fresh sea air! (Possibly more on that, later!)

I took these photos the other day, and thought they exemplified the beginning of school ~ sunshiny faces and busy bees!







What can you see in this cloud photo? It was moo-ving quite quickly ;)