Sunday Selections #309

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?   I suppose it is a kind of a tribute to myself as a slow leaner.  All my life I have said I am not a terribly visual person.  Charts/graphs mean little to me.  I learn by reading rather than images.  However it has (finally) dawned on me that I spend my life looking at and for images.  I delight in changing light among other things.  And other minutiae.  So here are some of the things which have caught my eye recently.

The clouds came rolling in and it absolutely bucketed down briefly.  Very briefly.  I believe we had an inch of rain in less than half an hour.

After another storm later in the week I delighted in the light.  The road was steaming too.

 
I adore the architecture of spiders (you may need to embiggen to see their work).

And the sky.

The last two photos in that segment are reflections of the same sky.
And our avian visitors.

Not visual?  Colour me deluded.

And, in other news.  Himself has a significant birthday tomorrow.  We have too many 'things' and increasingly we give each other experiences as gifts.  Shared experiences.  For the past year I have been planning (and saving up for) an extravagant treat for himus.  We are heading off early this afternoon and will be back tomorrow afternoon.  I haven't yet told him about it, and hope he likes it as much as I expect.  Think big cats and luxury.  We both adore the big cats though I am probably the more luxury loving one of the two of us.  Photos will follow in the fullness of time.

Sunday Selections #308

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  I would be very, very remiss if I didn't start by wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year.  A much better year than the last, which was difficult for people the world over. 

However, 2016 is now 'cactus' (Australian slang meaning dead, useless, or broken) and we can hope for better things to come.  I do hope for better things to come.  In the interim I am also going to feature blooming cactus which, unlike the year that was, made me smile.

Starting with our night flowering cactus.  The blooms are huge - six or seven inches across, come out at night and last only one day.  I think the bud looks remarkably phallic - but that may be just me.

  
Not only is it a thing of beauty, it has a pleasant scent as well.  Which is at least partial recompense for the number of times I have inadvertently brushed the parent plant and its rotten spines have broken off in my flesh.

Also flowering at the moment is a much smaller cactus.  Unscented, but its flowers are much more prolific and last longer.

I hope the year(s) to come are full of wonderous things, love and laughter for us all.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Week after week she provided us with challenging prompts.    Computer issues led her to bow out for a while and I took over.  When Delores' absence looked like being more permanent I begged and cajoled for other volunteers to share providing the prompts, and Words for Wednesday became a movable feast.  Delores discontinued her blog for a while, but she has returned.  Her new blog can be found here.

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

This month the prompts were to be provided by Vest at his blog.  Life has got in his way (as it does), so this month I will provide the prompts.  
 
If he does put up a post, then we will just have more words to play with. 

This week's prompts are:

1. angel
2. lullaby
3. condition
4. sad
5. melt 
6. crocodile

And/or

1. formula
2. honeydew
3. bumble
4. sticky
5. hoax 
6. felon

Have fun.

Next month Granny Annie will be providing the first of the year's prompts, and in Febuary we are travelling full circle and they will be provided  by Delores, who originated the meme.

I am looking for other volunteers for subsequent months.  Please leave a response in the comments if you are happy to challenge us.

 

 

Hanukkah and Christmas have landed.

Hanukkah and Christmas have arrived here, and they are rapidly approaching those of you in the Northern Hemisphere.

For those who celebrate, I hope it is everything you wished for.

Sadly it is a difficult time for many, so please.

Today and every day.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Week after week she provided us with challenging prompts.    Computer issues led her to bow out for a while and I took over.  When Delores' absence looked like being more permanent I begged and cajoled for other volunteers to share providing the prompts, and Words for Wednesday became a movable feast.  Delores discontinued her blog for a while, but she has returned.  Her new blog can be found here.

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

This month the prompts were to be provided by Vest at his blog.  Life has got in his way (as it does), so this month I will provide the prompts.  
 
If he does put up a post, then we will just have more words to play with. 

This week's prompts are:

1. root 
2. fortuneteller
3. funeral 
4. gushing
5. carriage
6. bake

And/or

1. mobster 
2. chart 
3. melody
4. major
5. foot
6. limousine

Have fun.
  

Sunday Selections #307

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  Not really.  An assortment of the things which have appeared this week.

After some very hot days we had some rain.  Life giving gentle rain.  The garden and I rejoiced.  Jazz sulked.

As always we were visited by birds.  Including a very grubby corella (and some of his/her cleaner relatives).

A sunflower seed which the birds had overlooked took root and was allowed to grow.  And when I say 'allowed' I mean that the birds allowed it.

Some wet liliums gave me joy.

And a spiderweb which had caught raindrops rather than insects.  You might need to embiggen these images to see the rain jewels...

And, because it is very almost Christmas.
For more years than I care to remember we have been making Christmas cakes (and shortbread) to give to family and friends.  In four different sizes.
Some of this years crop  (and no, they are not burnt, it is the camera angle and the lighting in the kitchen).

Sunday Selections will not appear next Sunday.  For those of you who celebrate (and indeed for everyone ) I hope that the day (and the year to come) is filled with love and laughter.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Week after week she provided us with challenging prompts.    Computer issues led her to bow out for a while and I took over.  When Delores' absence looked like being more permanent I begged and cajoled for other volunteers to share providing the prompts, and Words for Wednesday became a movable feast.  Delores discontinued her blog for a while, but she has returned.  Her new blog can be found here.

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

This month the prompts were to be provided by Vest at his blog.  Life has got in his way (as it does), so this month I will provide the prompts.  
 
If he does put up a post, then we will just have more words to play with. 

This week's prompts are:

1. guest 
2. blowtorch
3. horizontal 
4. groan 
5. episode 
6. action

And/or

1. wreck 
2. featherweight
3. luxurious
4. parrot 
5. heating
6. grizzly

Have fun.