Themes by Sheila

New Beginnings

2010-04-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

When major illness struck early in February, almost all updating of my websites and blogs came to a halt. and were left to get stale. After a lot of upheaval, including moving house, recuperation is well under way and life is slowly returning to something like normal.

Things will never be the same again, but we can make the different way of life the new form of normal. Life is now lived on the flat - no stairs allowed. No more hurrying around - life has to be lived in the slow lane. No more driving - now we go were we can walk, or where friends or a taxi take us.

This has a side benefit. When we walk we are not only doing ourselves good, we see lots of things that we never noticed before. Big things and little things.

Now that spring has really sprung everything looks fresher and brighter, and life takes on new meaning again. This will be the theme for April.

Food art 03

2010-01-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

More food art, this time on a push cart with a very complicated structure. This cart mostly sells baked potatoes, filled with a variety of fillings.

Not the best photo, but I needed to show the shape of the cart.

Food art 02 - kebabs

2010-01-03T04:24:00.000-08:00

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be much exciting to say about this mobile cart. But look again. The background is a complicated pattern of greens and yellows, providing a perfect foil for the mostly orange hued colours of the illustrations and main signwriting. It is a perfect foil for the menu, which is easy to read in sunlight and shade, even with very dark glasses on.
This cart sold kebabs, and more baked potatoes with filling, hot dogs and a variety of soft drinks .

Food Art 01 - potatoes

2010-01-01T03:43:00.000-08:00

I was wandering around our town with my camera during the clearing up period following a fiesta (festival) and it occurred to me that some of the signwriting on the mobile snack vans was a work of art in its own right. Usually there are so many people clustered around the vans that the art work is hidden. This discovery naturally led me to looking for more signwriting related to food. This van sells baked potatoes mostly, filled and garnished with all sorts of things.

This is the first one I noticed, which started the search. The results of that search is the scheme for this month. Food art as it is seen on the streets every day. Enjoy - it may even give you an appetite.

Feelin' Wet

2009-12-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of the previous post .....

We were right to buy the umbrella! The rain came down, and down, and we spent most of the morning sitting in cafes like this, or strolling around a shopping mall. The we had a long lunch. The sun came out long enough for us to go to a nearby specialist supermarket, then the rain came down again. And it was time to go home again. Ah well, there'll be another time.

This is the last in my "Feelin's" series.

A new series of thoughts and anecdotes starts on January 1

Feelin' threatened

2009-12-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Feeling threatened - not by people or any form of danger. Just by the weather - which turns nasty just as we arrive and our saved-for day-out destination.. Rain is on the way, heavy rain. Maybe even thunder and lightning. Will it pass us by or will we spend the day sitting around in cafes and restaurants?

We buy an umbrella, just in case ..........

Part 2 at the next posting on this blog.

Feelin' relaxed

2009-12-26T02:46:00.000-08:00

The Christmas rush is over, but it's still holiday time. All that had to be done has been done, the visitors have left, or gone quiet because they want to go. Time to relax.
Get away from it all.
Commune with nature.
Real life starts all over again next week.

Feelin' Happy

2009-12-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

During a short break for the holiday season, I will be Feelin' Happy with my life and family.

I hope your will also be Feelin' Happy and hopeful for the new year..

Feelin' Cold

2009-12-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

I don't like the cold. I don't even like to think about the cold. I hate living in a cold climate, and winter is my least favourite season.

But I do have admit there are some good photographs and pictures to be gleaned from cold weather, and the more snow there is the prettier, or more dramatic, the pictures can be.

I am thinking today of the excessive snowfall in the area that I am naturally from, which is usually fairly protected from the worst of the snow. I glad I'm not there, but feel sorry for the people who are and whose lives are being disrupted by this unusually heavy snow. Schools have closed as well, which makes me sorry for the teachers losing their planned end of term activities, but I'm sure the children were more than happy to have an extra day off so they could play in the snow.

Brrrrrrr ..............

Feelin' parched

2009-12-15T02:49:00.000-08:00

Feeling thirsty, feeling dry, in need of a drink, arid, needing moisture......

This is one palm tree in a city garden. Imagine whole swathes of land like this in Africa, and elsewhere in the world. Drought. Crops wither and die, animals and people die of thirst and starvation. The world says why did this happen? It must never happen again! But it does. Every year.

Is this global warming?

Feelin' the music

2009-12-13T02:20:00.000-08:00

They say plants respond to music. These plants seem to, even though they are sadly neglected. They receive little water or other attention, yet they continue to flourish, with filtered light at one side and music at the other.
There are two guitars here, leaning against an electric organ. What more could music-loving plants want?

Feelin' jagged

2009-12-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

Feelin' jagged - fraught, stressed, off colour, out of kilter, off key, on a different wavelength, irritable, and many more ways to not be at peace with your fellow man, or woman.

Feelin' ropy

2009-12-10T02:47:00.000-08:00

Feeling ropy - another way of saying you feel off-colour, or not quite the ticket, or under the weather, or not 100%, or not quite in the pink, or not at your best.
Or simply just not very well.

You can find more of my photographs on my other blog and through my website

Feelin' closed in

2009-12-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

Feelin' closed in

There are times when we feeled closed in. Surrounded on all sides by buildings and hurrying people, in a small room with lots of people, in a dense forest, in a crowded train, in a traffic jam or snarl up on the motorway.
Or in the park, in the gazebo surrounded by tall tree cactus.

Feelin' prickly

2009-12-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

Everyone feels prickly sometimes, even when everyone around them seems fairly smooth.

Weather and Moods

2009-11-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

WEATHER, CLIMATE AND MOODS

I am surprised at how locations and weather can change a mood. The photo is the view I can see whenever I want. But this week I am in England, where the weather is grey and damp, chilly and not very nice. My happy and relaxed mood is steadily getting more unhappy and tense, and I am so looking forward to returning to where I feel comfortable.
I have a friend who was born and raised in a warm sunny climate, but loves being in England and winter is her favourite season. This is something I can't understand.
Is this SAD or is everyone affected by weather and climate in one way or another?

Seasons - Autumn

2009-10-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

It's autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. The days are getting shorter, there's a nip in the air. People are thinking about turning the central heating on, about finding their warmer duvets and winter woollies . Where did I put my gloves?

The trees are showing off their autumn colours, and as long as they continue to display their red, orange and tan hues, people will be happy. They will try not to think about winter yet. How can they think of bare, stark, cold winter when there is still so much beauty around?

Children love to run in the woods carpeted with the multi-coloured leaves, kicking them up as they go. They make such a satisfying rustling sound. If they are lucky enough to find a horse chestnut tree, they can pick up the spiny husks and take out the "conkers" inside. After a few days drying and then threading on string, they are ready for the conker challenges and battles between friends - if such games are still allowed.

But it won't be long before we see scenes like this. Autumn and winter will embrace - and then autumn will be just a colourful memory.

Rant - Royal Mail strikes

2009-10-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

I am so angry about the proposed Royal Mail strike. Already it is claimed that millions of letters will never be delivered as a result of the random strikes, because the backlog is too great.

If they are not delivered what will happen to them? Will they just be destroyed? Does Royal Mail have the right to destroy mailed items that have been entrusted to their care?

Millions of people will be affected by the existing backlog and the proposed new strike. Not just by losing their Christmas cards. Even in these days of email and texting, people do still rely on the good, old fashioned mail. Because of the internet and email, online and mail order businesses are flourishing and growing. Customers won't bother to order if they know they won't get their goods. Alternative carriers won't carry small items (except at a sky-high cost) - so more small businesses are likely to go to the wall.

The strikers say this is nothing to do with them. The Government says this is nothing to do with them either, even though Royal Mail is owned by them. So the CWU (Communication Workers Union) and the strikers can happily hold the whole country to ransom, damage and destroy small businesses, and say it's not their fault. Our MPs will leave the house for the Christmas holidays knowing they are not leaving a pile of unanswered mail in their offices, the union bosses will rub their hands with glee at the chaos they are causing, and the postmen and their families will count the cost to them personally and say it's worth it.

NO, ITS NOT! You are paid to do a job - so do it. At least you have a job, unlike all those people that YOU are going to put out of work.

Ruins - kiln

2009-10-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

An old kiln, once warmed by fire, now warmed by the sun.
Still at the old mine complex at Aqua Amarga, a place of peace and fascination, a place to contemplate some of the relics of pre-technological achievement.

Ruins

2009-10-07T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ruins at Aqua Amarga, in Almeria Province, Spain. Just a few of many buildings left from the old mining complex.
Right along the top of a moutain ridge, there are magnificent views all round. There is little shade from the sun, and no relief from the wind. But it is eerily quiet, and very peaceful. Sitting up here, with your back against the old stones, just looking at the sky, sea and scenery, one feels relaxed and at peace with the world.