Every Day in Life is Beautiful

A gentle morning sky

taken from my balcony.

Soft petals and curves in pastel colours

which remind me of the colours of my temperature blanket so far.

Under a large oak tree, these bright and charming tiny cyclamen were growing.

There's such beauty in skies at any time of the day.

This was taken today as the tiny moon rose in the pastels of the sky.

With the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

last Monday on January 27th,

I wanted to re-read the story of Alice Herz-Sommer.

She was a gifted concert pianist and Holocaust survivor.

She said that music kept her and her young son alive.

I have two books about this lady. 

The one above and another entitled: 'A Century of Wisdom'.

I can recommend them both.

Alice was an incredibly positive person her whole life.

She is truly inspirational.

Her quotations are really meaningful.

Here is one of them:

"Life is beautiful. You have to be thankful that we are living.

Wherever you look is beauty.

I know about the bad things, but I look for good things"

Alice Herz-Sommer

The colourful presence of tulips in our homes brings such joy.

I crocheted a reversible heart for my front door with daisies.

The month of February makes us think of hearts!

I like the plain red side, but the three colours is fun too.

That's the one that's on show today.

I may change it for the red side on February 14th.

Here is a link for the heart pattern

I went for a lovely brisk walk in my neighbourhood

and on my way back, around 6 pm,

I stopped to enjoy this beautiful sky.

When I got home,

the sky was deepening.

"Every day in life is beautiful ... every day."

Alice Herz-Sommer.

The beauty is there even when we fail to notice it.

When we look around us with awareness

we can see it or hear it in the songs of the birds at dawn and dusk.

Yesterday, on returning from my walk, I heard a blackbird sing for the first time this year.

Continuing the 2020 Flower Challenge with a new flower to crochet every week of the year.

Here is Flower number 3

A little daisy.

If you would like to join the challenge.

Check out Anabelia craft design

May you find something beautiful every day of your life.

The Colours of January

The illuminated Lausanne Cathedral

as the bells rang out to celebrate the New Year!

The crowds were dense, but we found a bench to sip our mulled wine

which I had made at home and put into thermos mugs!

The tower was bathed in a deep blue light afterwards

and the crowds dispersed to continue their celebration

or to go home

I'm not a night owl, so I did the latter!

A delicate sunrise taken from my balcony with the cock on the church steeple.

I enjoy my daily walks and loved these tiny oval red berries

hanging on the branches like Christmas lights.

The centre of a beautiful Amaryllis bloom which opened up on Christmas morning.

A late afternoon walk with sun-kissed branches and a waxing moon

rising higher in the sky.

I decided to crochet a Temperature Blanket for the very first time.

These are the colours that represent the temperatures in the first seven days of January.

Cool colours, which are my favourites.

The average daytime temperature has been around 6-7 Celsius.

The dominating colours so far are Wisteria and Sherbet.

The middle round of the small squares is the coolest temperature of the day 

and the second round is the warmest.

I'm using white to join all the squares.

I couldn't resist getting a small pot of sunshine in the shape of these yellow Primula.

My daughter and I went to see the new film version of the musical 'Cats'.

It was very good. The costumes and settings were wonderful!

We had already seen it in London some years ago on the stage.

The Magnolia buds look very promising against the Winter's sky.

A small perfect rosebud was still blooming in one of the neighbourhood gardens.

Tightly encased catkins still know that they have to wait a little longer

before stretching their limbs!

I have used this image for my January header.

It's a subtle reminder that Spring follows Winter.

More catkins in the park nearby against a gorgeous limpid blue sky.

Another beautiful sunrise in shades of pink, blue, lilac and purple.

This one inspired me to take out my coloured yarns to start a separate crochet project

Here are all the colours.

Seven squares already joined in a row.

I'm considering adding single coloured squares to frame the others.

I've chosen Bluebell to do this.

This month of January is full of new energy

and we're already gaining an extra minute every day.

We are getting some grey days but a generous amount of sunshine and clear blue skies as well.

January doesn't need to be dull

it can be whatever we want it to be!

We just need to seek out the colour and beauty around us

and if we can't see any ...

well, let's just create it!

Why Blog?

On Saturdays, I love to have breakfast out before doing my marketing.

Some years ago, when I first created a blog, it was to have a place to put my pictures and connect with other people around the world who also enjoyed sharing their photography.

These days, blogs are being abandoned everywhere and many of my blogging friends have disappeared, sometimes without a word, other times to post on Instagram and Facebook.

I miss by old blogging buddies and their blogs and the easy exchanges we all had with one another.

I suppose I need to ask myself why I blog. First and foremost, it's to have a collection of my favourite photos in the same place for a given period, usually one or two weeks. It's a journal in images.

I also like to write, but to do that I need to be in the right frame of mind, so sometimes there are mainly photos and other times there is mainly writing.  I go by how I feel in the moment.

Is it important for me that others be interested enough to want to visit my blog and maybe leave a comment? Yes, it is rewarding and I really enjoy exchanging with other bloggers and visiting their blogs or sites too.

Does it touch me that I get less visitors and less comments than I used to get a couple of years ago?

I have sometimes wondered what visitors expect to see or read. It is possible that what they find in this space is personally uninteresting to them!

Am I posting here for my own pleasure? Does it really matter if others appreciate it or not?

I do not put up images or write because it's what I think others want to see and hear - I would lose myself and my integrity if I did that. Yes, I am posting for myself, sometimes just writing things out makes me see more clearly, but I do love to get feedback from my visitors when they have the time to linger!

Above all, I need to be who I am in depth and I always speak from the heart, so what you see or read here is really me, not someone I pretend to be!

So for the time being, I will continue this space here, because above all, it's a place I like to be.

When you visit and when you leave a comment, I am happy too, but this cannot be my main motivation. It's a gift when others come in to leave a visible trace of their presence.

This is what I wanted to share today, and these thoughts have been weaving themselves in and out of my mind on the subject for a while now.

I shall be interested to hear your voice and what you feel about blogging today.

Wishing you all a wonderful day and may February bring us fresh thoughts and new beginnings from wherever we were before!

Sandra

When there is a sunrise or a sunset in my neighbourhood, I first see it reflected in the windows of the building opposite.  

This capture is a recent sunrise.

It prompted me to go out on my balcony and catch the faraway trees

and neighbourhood church steeple:

***

Between Sunrise and Sunset

The fisherman chooses the best spot to witness the sunrise

I love this moment full of suspense and waiting when the colours

start to fill the sky and create gorgeous reflections in the lake.

Here comes the sun

Spreading a golden glow everywhere.

Pulling back to see the lovely clouds in the sky.

After the sunrise, the lakeside flowers come into their own

Rejoicing all who pass them by.

Another Hibiscus

in more delicate tones

Rudbeckia

Sunshine flowers

A cloudy sunset 

The swan family makes its way home

The water's surface takes on new colours and patterns

and little boats return to port.

Happy New Year 2017!

On this first day of the New Year

I wish you Beauty

Confidence in what lies ahead

even when it's still shrouded in mystery

May there always be a light shining in the darkness, 

however small.

Remember

the sun also sets on the most difficult of days.

and a new day dawns at the break of day

which brings us all a new beginning.

Discover new paths

even when they go uphill

those are the most rewarding!

Delight in the sparkles that come our way

and take the time to linger as glorious colours and patterns

enter into our line of vision.

Let the light come into our homes and into our hearts

Remaining supple when the wind suddenly changes direction

Unexpected happenings in life allow us to really see the essential

and invite us to change our priorities and adapt.

We learn resilience.

But most of all,

just love life and it loves you right back!

***

Not only is a new year a total mystery, but it is also full of new energy

waiting to carry us forward to new adventures.

Let's live them!

Wishing you all a New Year full of peace in your hearts

and the capacity to rejoice in all the little and wonderful instances

that are given along the way.