Sunday Snaps

Happy weekend everyone!  Well, I have actually been having some fun with my Sunday Snaps feature this week.  In the past, I have used Picnik for editing my photos.  A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from them to say that their service would be ending in April (although I think they might be putting something else in its place).

However, thanks to the lovely Olive from Olive Out, I have discovered PhotoScape.  It would be well worth you popping over to say hallo.  Olive  has a lovely blog and she also takes some stunning photographs. 

Well, what can I say?! It is so much better than Picnik.  Everything is there in the one place, and you have so many different options to play around with.  Very easy too - believe me, if I can do it, then anyone can do it.

So here are a few photos that I have been playing around with this week.  Quite impressive, wouldn't you say?!

This is daughter number 2 with Ruby, taken in May 2010, when Ruby was 5 months old.

This is Ruby and I taken on my birthday last year.

This time with Eli on my birthday last year

Eli again - this time having a picnic with his little girlfriend!

This is the original of the picnic photo.  I just love this one, because, to me, they really do look like an old married couple having an argument!! To my mind, Eli is saying "there's no way that you're getting your hand on my biscuit!"

This is number 1 granddaughter with Alfred.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the editing of the photos today.  Perhaps it will encourage you to edit some of your own photos using PhotoScape (and, NO, I haven't been paid to say that!!).

Just remembered that I went to see The Descendants the other evening, starring George Clooney.  It has had very good write-ups, and I see that he is in line for an Oscar for his performance.  Well, all I can see is that my friend and I thought that it was something and nothing.  Really slow and I honestly couldn't recommend it to you at all.  For the life of me, I can't see why he should get an Oscar for that performance.  But, hey, that's just my opinion.  You might see it and think that it was brilliant!!

Now then, I know that a lot of my American friends will be getting really excited today as, guess what, YES, it's the SuperBowl this evening.  I can still remember this time last year, when I was amazed at all the food that was being prepared whilst you were watching this particular event.  Last year, for the first time, they showed it live on television here in England, and I did try very hard to watch it, but, because of the time difference, I only saw the beginning.  It certainly looked like quite a spectacle though.  From what I've been hearing, the adverts can be the best bit of the whole show!!  Anyway, whether you're supporting The Patriots or The Giants (see, I've been finding out about these things!), I hope you have a good game.  If you would like to read the post that I wrote about SuperBowl 2011, you can find it here.http://southhamsdarling.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-did-try.html

Enjoy your week my bloggy friends, and watch out for more love in my next post.

Brrrrr! Winter Has Finally Arrived....

Well, yesterday Winter finally arrived down here in Devon.  I dug out my long fur  coat, which always comes out of the back of the wardrobe when the frosts appear!  I jumped in the car to pop up to the village to get some provisions, and the car was telling me that it was -2 degrees C outside, and with the wind chill factor, it felt a lot colder, I can tell you!

But, the upside is that we have had clear blue skies for the past couple of days and the air was almost sparkling like diamonds.  On Wednesday, my friend and I took advantage, wrapped up, and went for a good walk.  After we had walked for about an hour and a half, and stopped for a coffee, we decided to then walk around the grounds of Saltram House, which is a National Trust property not far from here.  I don't know if any of you ever saw the film Sense and Sensibility when it came out a few years ago, but this was the house that was used in the making of that film.  It really is a magnificent Georgian Mansion.

Would you believe that I left my camera at home?!  Anyway, I took a few shots with my mobile phone.

This is the magnificent Lime Walk which was planted around 200 years ago.  I couldn't help thinking how much Eli & Ruby would like it here.  So much freedom for them to run around, and lots to explore.  At this time of the year, the gardens are completely free of charge.

It looks as if these steps and little gateway would lead to a magical place!

The Duck Pond just outside the coffee shop!

The Clock Tower to the old Stable Block

Entrance to the old Stable Block

Garden scene

Can you believe that Hydrangeas were in full bloom in January!  The frost of the past couple of days will probably kill them off.

The garden was full of Camellias in full bloom

A Folly in the garden - very pretty.  Just look at that wonderful blue sky!

Fireplace inside the Folly.  Eli & Ruby will love coming in here! I'd love to have a Folly like this in my garden!

If any of you are interested in the different frames that I have used on the photos today, watch out for my Sunday Snaps feature this week.

The lovely Eva, over at Eva Ason's Art Corner, has very kindly awarded me The Liebster Blog Award - thank you so much my friend, and I appreciate you thinking of me. Pop over to Eva's blog and admire her lovely artwork.

This Award is given to Blogs with under 200 Followers.   



The rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers

5. Finally and the best rule of all...have fun and spread the love.

I like this Award because, basically, it seems that I don't have to do anything, and I don't have to tell you anything about myself! Hee Hee!

You know that I love each and every one of you, so it is always very difficult to hand out these Award to just a few people.  However, it has to be done, so I would like to pass The Liebster Award on to the following Bloggies, with my fondest wishes.  If you would like to take the time to pay them a visit, I know that you will not be disappointed.  They are all special in their own unique way.

Stella from Stella by Starlight.

Grammy Goodwill

Shelly from La Tejana

Belle from Tales from A 1960s Flower Child (now known as Grandma) 

and last, but by no means least, my dear friend Tom over at Shady Dell Music & Memories.

Sorry this post has turned out to be rather long, but I do appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to read it.

It's February! The Month Of Love & Romance ....

Welcome dear bloggy friends to another month here in Blogland.  Aaah! February - the month of love and romance.  So your old friend "thisisme" has decided to bring some romance into YOUR lives with a few romantic posts leading up to the 14th February, Valentines Day.  By then, if I have my way, you will be all loved out!!

 

Today, I give you a list of top romantic films. Please feel free to add any that you might like and which are not on the list!

Casablanca

Brief Encounter

Wuthering Heights

Ghost

Bridget Jones Diary

The English Patient

Titanic

Shakespeare in Love

When Harry Met Sally

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Pretty Woman

And now my two favourite, black & white tearjerkers, which are about as romantic as you can get!

Camille

Greta Garbo & Robert Taylor

Now Voyager

"Oh Gerry, let's not ask for the moon, we have the stars"

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 :