Sunday Snaps!

Happy Sunday Peeps!! Hope you're all nice and safe in your little corner of the world.  It's lovely to be talking to you again today.  I did stall for a little while with my Sunday feature this week, I must admit, thinking what can I give them for a change, as they must be fed up with snaps of the grandchildren!

Well, as you will see, I'm afraid it's what you've got again this week.  Hee Hee! 

This first one is of Eli when he was about 18 months old.  Don't you just love what it says on his little top.  I'm sure that will be true when he's a teenager!!

This second one was taken of Eli when he was just starting to investigate grandma's things!  I have to say that this didn't last very long, after he was told about it a few times, and little Ruby has never once touched any of my china pieces.  I never believe in putting things away when the grandchildren arrive, as they have to learn.

I've just included this one, as I love photos of little ones trying to catch bubbles!

No, this isn't Eli or Ruby! I found this photo of me, which must have been taken in about 1956, as I started taking piano lessons when I was nine.

You will probably remember that I started the year talking about positivity, and that this was going to be my word for 2012.  Many of you seemed to have the same idea, which is wonderful.  However, we would be Saints if we couldn't keep those negative thoughts creeping into our heads from time to time. 

I read a very good post from my dear friend Belle (and I know that she is also a dear friend of a lot of my bloggy friends ) who now calls her blog "Tales From A 1960s Flower Child (Now Known as Grandma)."  Don't you just love that title!  Anyway, this is what Belle wrote :

"I'm reading a book called, Living Beyond Your Feelings, by Joyce Meyer. In it she quotes Dr. Caroline Leaf. She has done research on the brain and how our thoughts affect it. Here is a quote I found fascinating."

"I teach people to understand that a thought is a real thing. I think many people think that a thought is merely something out there they can't feel or touch. But, it's actually a real thing. As you are thinking, you are actually building memories in your brain and the thoughts in your brain look like trees."

"The interesting thing is that if the thought is a good one, based on something positive, that it actually looks different in the brain than a negative thought. The toxic thought, as I refer to them, will affect your entire body. They form a different type of chemical than a positive thought. The toxic thought causes little thorns to grow in the branches of the nerve cells. These thorns are a little pocket of chemicals, and those chemicals are toxic. They squirt out their poison that can make you sick. The poison goes to the immune system and breaks down your defenses and makes it easier for disease to germinate in your body."

I have found it really good to actually think of a negative thought as a thorn on one of my branches, and that this thorn can hurt my body.  Since I have been thinking like that, I try to banish that thought immediately, thinking to myself "No! You're not going to make MY body sick."

Now I'm sure many of you might think that this is foolish, but all I can say is, that it certainly pulls me up each time, and so helps me to fill my world once again with positive thoughts.  Thank you, Belle, for passing that on.

So! I hope you enjoyed my Sunday Snaps today, and I trust that you will all have a thorn-free week.  Take care and I'll see you again soon. 

Quote from Pinterest

 



Bits and Pieces Post Today ....

Hi everyone.  Yesterday dawned with a lovely blue sky and warm (well, warm-ish!) sunshine, so off I went for a walk with a friend.  As we were walking along, it actually got quite hot - and this towards the end of January, here in England!  It was a real pleasure to see the snowdrops and irises poking through the gardens that we were walking through.  Before we know it, there will be banks of golden daffodils to please the eye.  There is even a solitary primrose in amongst the snowdrops.



I would just like to say how proud I am at the moment of my 'gawgus' number 1 daughter.  On Monday, she arranged a special fund-raising lunch in aid of Breast Cancer with a group of her friends over in Paris, with people donating prizes for the raffle.  I am delighted to announce that they raised the magnificent sum of 1,492 Euros.  Well done Emma and friends!

This particular charity is very close to her heart, after her very best friend (and Eleanor's godmother) was very ill indeed last year with Breast Cancer and this only a couple of months after having her first baby.  It was a very traumatic time all round.  I have to say that her friend, Kelly, was an absolute diamond throughout and an inspiration to all around her.  After months of gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy, followed by a masectomy, we are all very hopeful for the future.

Last evening I went to see my fourth film of the month.  Not bad, eh?!  This time  it was W.E., which was written, produced and directed by the one and only Madonna.

This is a difficult one! (to talk about - NOT the film!).   Of course, because of the era (the 1930's), the costumes were wonderful.  I don't know if any of you ever saw the film Julie and Julia, starring that wonderful actress again, Meryl Streep.  It was filmed a bit like that, in that you had flashbacks of the events happening around the time of the King's Abdication, and then a modern story going on at the same time, with the two main female leads interacting with each other at times, which was very clever.  I thought the actress who played Wallis was very good, BUT  the actor playing Edward, (David) Duke of Windsor, niggled at me all the way through the film really.  For a start, he was far, far too tall.  I believe the Duke was fairly small and, certainly, the Duke and Duchess were about the same height.  But even setting that aside, to be honest, I didn't think his acting was very good at all. 

This was a shame because I think Madonna created the story very well indeed and, of course, a lot of it is taken from the actual letters between Wallis and Edward (David).  I watched an interview with Madonna last week and her intention was to show the other side of the story.  In other words, we all know what the Duke gave up for her (a throne!) but what did she give up for him?  In actual fact, quite a lot and, of course, at the time she was the most reviled woman around for what she did.  Looking back, I think this was a bit unfair because all her letters to the Duke, right up to the time of the Abdication Speech, were begging him not to give up his throne. 

Anyway, if you are thinking of going along to see it, I think you will enjoy it.  Oh! There are a couple of scenes of violence against women.  Just thought I would put this in as an afterthought.

Two of my dear bloggy friends, Desiree and SkippyMom are grieving at the moment because they both lost their beloved pet dogs, Bonnie and Scooby, within a couple of days of each other.  Please hold them in your thoughts and prayers my friends.  As you can see, they were beautiful dogs.  The first photo is of Bonnie and the second one of Scooby.

Sunday Snaps!

Hallo dear friends.  Today, I've gone back to that happy day last June, when daughter number 2 got married.

I would just like to say, "whose clever idea was it to give Ruby a chocolate cake?!"

  

But she was enjoying herself!!

I hope that you will all find time to enjoy yourselves this week and, don't forget, "life is not a rehearsal.  This is it!"



Week Going Well So Far ....

It can't be Thursday again already, surely?!  Here we are, hurtling towards the end of another week...

I went to the cinema with my friend on Tuesday evening, to see Steven Spielberg's War Horse.  This film is set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War.

Beautifully shot throughout, this really is an epic film, and one that I would have no hesitation in recommending to you.  In fact, I would go so far as to say it is a "must see" film.  You might also be interested to know that all the scenes shot before the horse goes to war, were filmed on Dartmoor (a National Park), which is only ten minutes away from where I live.  I think you will enjoy the scenery! As I was watching the film, I knew that hubby would really appreciate it, so we are going together on Sunday afternoon!

I have to confess that I didn't know just what those poor horses went through during that war.  All I will say is, "don't forget to take your tissues along" - well, the ladies anyway!

Shortly before Christmas, my friend Claudia over at The Story held a giveaway, and, guess who won?! I received this lovely pair of ear-rings, so thank you for that Claudia.

Another really delightful bloggy friend of mine is called Jenny, over at kneesandpaws.  She has an Etsy shop, and I had seen these delightful little hand made cottages on a recent blog post from Jenny.  I thought that they were so cute, that I went right in and placed an order.  They arrived yesterday, and they just look so sweet, with the little L.E.D. nightlights inside them.  Perfect, in fact, for a night light for a child's room, or just to display on a shelf or window sill.  I love them!

I'm going out to lunch with another friend today, so, as you can see, I'm trying to make the miserable month of January as exciting as I can! Oh, and on Saturday evening we are going to friends for a meal.  All this food - Eeeek!!



"I'm at the age where food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact, I've just had a mirror put over my kitchen table". Rodney Dangerfield - not "thisisme". 

Thank you for all the replies about commenting on blogger at the moment, and for all the suggestions.  It seems that quite a few of us have the same problem at the moment :

Sunny Climes for Daughter Number 2....

Hi there.  Here I am again, very much hoping that you are all keeping well and in good spirits.  Don't forget, POSITIVE is the word for 2012!!

All quotes from Pinterest

Those of you who were following me last summer, will know that my youngest daughter got married, with the wedding reception being held here in our garden.



Well, money was a bit tight for them, so they never actually had a honeymoon.  They just booked into the medieaval hall where the marriage ceremony was held, for the night of the wedding.

Anyway, they are SO excited, because the honeymoon has just been booked, and they are going to the Dominion Republic for a week in April!  Both grandmas (and papa's) will be looking after the little ones during that time.  They wanted to go somewhere special and I'm sure it will be. I am so thrilled for them.

I just wanted to share this piece of good news with my little bloggy friends!

Hugs to you all, and I'll see you again soon.  Oh! I nearly forgot -I'm afraid that I am having real problems with leaving comments on some of my friends' blogs.  (Yesterday it was Linda, from Write from the Heart, and dear Tom from Shady Dell - Music & Memories and, also, "Auntie" sezzzzzz).  I always keep going in and trying again, so if you haven't heard from me, that's the reason why!  I don't know whether anyone else is having the same sort of problem.  I do hope that Blogger isn't going to start playing up again!



Sunday Snaps!

Hard to believe that it's the 15th January already, and Christmas seems like an age ago!! No real theme for my Sunday Snaps today - in fact, it's a bit of a mish-mash.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy them.  I told you of my trip to Topsham in my last post.  Well, I love quotations and little signs, so just couldn't resist these two!

The little photo in the heart shaped frame is of Ruby Violet when she had just been born!

Here are a few photos from Ruby's 2nd birthday party, which took place on the 29th December.

The next photo was taken just before we took the Christmas tree down :(



Finally, for this edition of Sunday Snaps, my gorgeous boy has just had his hair cut again! Eeeek! Now he really is starting to look grown up :(

"Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend".

Source unknown.

A Good Week ....

Hi everyone.  As the title of this post suggests, it's been a good week for me here in Devon.  On Sunday, hubby and I went out for a lovely lunch, followed by a trip to the cinema to see Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady", the film about Margaret Thatcher.  Love her or hate her, she was an incredible woman, and to achieve the office of Prime Minister of Great Britain was absolutely amazing.  I'm not sure that I will ever see another female Prime Minister in my lifetime.  Meryl Streep, of course, was absolutely brilliant.

Monday was a quiet day at home on my own, but I enjoy days like that.  I've always been quite content in my own home, and can always find plenty to do.  Tuesdays I always see my younger daughter and the two little ones and, thankfully, it was dry this week, so we were able to spend quite a lot of time playing in the garden.

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny, which was wonderful, as it has been quite a while since we have seen any blue skies over here!  You can just see a slight frost on the grass early in the morning.

Just look at the blue sky!

Determined to make the most of such a beautiful day, my friend and I did one of our favourite coastal walks, and how lovely it was to see the sea and the beaches again.  We really are blessed with golden, sandy beaches very near to where I live.

In the last photo, you might be able to see that a sea mist was just starting to roll in, but that was on the way back, so we had enjoyed the most of the sunshine by then.

Yesterday, I met a friend and we went to Topsham, which is a quaint little town, right on the river, and with wonderful little shops to browse around.  Also a  lovely place to enjoy one of our famous Devon Cream Teas! 

My friend goes to Auctions and buys pieces of furniture, and then renovates them so that they have what they call the 'distressed' look.  I did a post about this quite a while ago, and if you would like to take a peek, please just link here.  Anyway, she has had a lovely little table which I fell in love with from the first time I saw it, and she said yesterday that she was selling a few little bits and pieces! Yay! The table/desk that I so admired was actually the first piece that she had renovated, but she agreed to sell it to me.  I assured her that it was going to a very loving home.  So, here it is. I am absolutely delighted with it and it goes so well where I have placed it.

Fridays I look after little Ruby Violet, and I am writing this post whilst she is having a little nap.  Well my dear little bloggy friends, I think I will wrap this up for now, as I seem to have rambled on quite a bit, and I don't want you to get TOO bored with it all!  Isn't it funny, some days you can really struggle to find something to say, and then other days, you feel that you could go on for ever.  But, don't worry, hopefully I know when to stop! 

I'll see you all again on Sunday, with a few more Sunday Snaps so, until then, please keep safe.