To Simply be the Best You Can

I have recently joined a poetry group where poems are shared and discussed. One limerick poem caught my eye which was to be a simple man with a simple plan and to do the best I can. A thought most of us would like to follow.

Life can throw many hurdles in our path and for some these hurdles are too high to overcome or move out the way, but with the help of friends and family these paths can be opened to allow one to shine and be the best they can.

This was my response to the limerick:

Simple words and simple lives are simply just the best
Accepting this and you will find a solution to the rest
Your worth will soon astonish
and then it will abolish
The thought "not good enough" to simply be impressed



Have a Happy day

The Sound of Silence

I wonder how often we actually stop to listen to the sound of silence. Not often enough. Life is so busy and hectic at times we forget to appreciate what is around us.

Do we ever take the time to watch a blade of grass fluttering in the breeze or a butterfly gently land on a flower and see the glorious colours they possess as they stretch their wings, all in a moment of pure silence.

I have read that the sound of silence is an illustrated seranade to the art of listening to one's inner voice amid the noise of modern life.

A little story.....

 

Some times silence is the only friend you want near you. Embracing the silence is to embrace life itself. There is so little silence, and yet it is everywhere if you just look hard enough. Nothing can truly break it, yet you can never grasp it. The tiny clicking of keys, the vent on a computer, cars passing by, dogs whining. It is never with you, not even while sleeping. How can something that is always there be so hard to reach, so hard to touch, so hard to grasp at? I must say silence is a good friend, a friend that rarely visits. Never to talk to you, but you hear it always. Never to look at it, but you see it everywhere. We cannot achieve true friendship with silence as human beings. We speak too much and listen too little. We don't take note of the small silences but rather the loud actions. Stop and listen, stop and hear your best of friends whispering to you and you alone. Do you hear him? Are you attempting to fathom what you hear? Don't try, for that subject is outlying for a mortal to attempt to understand, just listen. Enjoy the sweet sounds of silence. Alas the sweet silence must go again as you come back to your life, as you enter the noises and the actions of society once more. You feel at ease now....you feel relieved....almost as though you have spoken with a friend you hadn't seen in a long time....You just want to go back and listen once more.

The deepest sound is silence

Have a wonderful day 

The Fine Art of Writing

I remember as a school girl writing essays and my writing book being passed around the class being told I had lovely writing.  This was quite embarrassing to say the least, however, I did have some pride in the way I wrote and was therefore quietly pleased.

I always wanted to own a fountain pen and so I bought myself a calligraphy pen and I loved writing with this pen, I enjoyed writing with the broad tip.

I miss handwriting, there is a very personnal touch to a letter written by hand. I would take some time to write particularly as I enjoyed writing which became almost a story, before I knew it I was on to my third page of writing just about everything that had or was about to happen at that particular time. My sister gave me a diary one Christmas and I religiously wrote something in it everyday for many years. I still have my diary and often read it, however, I have given up daily jottings of events.

Sadly, typrwriters took the place of handwriting and now the computer and technology has superceded even the good old fashioned typewriter to a stage where we no longer need bother about handwriting making the written word almost extinct.

There are many different cultures that have very artistic lettering such as the Japanese. I have a friend who is learning to paint in Japanese calligraphy and I have to say this is indeed a fine art to be able to do which is very interesting and lovely to look at.

I would like to think that perhaps one day the fine art of handwriting will appear once more giving joy to those who enjoyed doing so.

Have a marvellous day and try handwriting your next letter, you may even enjoy the feeling.

Be kind to one another

Hope

I have only now discovered that the other day a very lovely elderly couple who live in our community have lost their home. Whilst they were enjoying a night out, their home was burned to the ground. All they were left with were the clothes they were wearing and their car. Home and possessions gone forever. Our thoughts go out to them.

It is times such as these we realize there are those worse off than ourselves.


In a fleeting moment all is gone forever
A lifetime of memories up in smoke
Pain and tears break a heart in two
And things will never be the same again.

But life goes on and we pick up the pieces
With help from friends and family
We see a light ahead, a way forward
That light is what we call hope.


Spare a thought for those who have suffered great loss

Enjoy your day

Stay Calm and Collected

In my last blog I was looking for a new tablet to replace my old tired one. I had to make a decision as to what make I would purchase. After careful consideration and taking into account the useful information from friends, I decided to stay with once again an Android tablet. I must say, I was wavering towards an Apple iPad, however, since my laptop and smart phone would not be compatible this made my choice that much easier.

I am now faced with the problem of setting my old tablet to a factory setting to delete all my data. This is, I may add no mean feat. As I set up the new tablet, all my data from the old one synced perfectly through, this is great I thought. But wait a minute, if  I now do a reset will I lose my photos and music on all devices???? so, I did a few experiments to find that indeed yes, I would lose my photos and music if I deleted them from the old tablet even when I disable the syncing from all devices.

Having had the guidance from a friend and checked on Google for answers, I find that after five days of reading, trying and totally being frustrated, I am back at square one with an old tablet holding all my data and feeling totally inadequate at reading and listening to instructions to effectively do what should be a simple function as this. One would think that in this day and age of technology, to simply press a button would do the job, of course what is the right button, now there is a thought!!

I guess there is only one solution for me I shall have to succumb to having this done by a qualified technician and pay for my inadequacy. I could of course put my old tablet in a drawer and forget about it.......or could I? No, I doubt that very much, I like to have these things tied and sorted having peace of mind that precious photos and the like are not going to come back and haunt me and become an issue of concern if the old device is once again reserected.

One consolation, I am enjoying my new tablet and learning the various functions that it has to offer and to stay calm and collective in the hope I find a solution and put all this frustration behind me and move forward to less demanding projects.


Have a happy day and don't sweat the small stuff!!

Decisions, decisions

I am in the process of replacing my tired Android tablet. But, what to choose.....having looked online for comparisons and shopped personally, I am in a conundrum. Do I go for Apple or Microsoft. Will it be iPad, Windows or Android. Will I choose WiFi, cellular or both. What colour even, how many gigabytes. Oh to have a technical mind. It's all too much at a senior age!!

A friend has advised I go with Apple, however, having only known and worked with Microsoft I am reluctant to change. I suppose if I make a wrong choice I only have to live with it for a few short years as batteries lose their power and storage can be an issue, although I am told 'get icloud' storage will no longer be  a problem and those thousands of photos can be kept safe, that's a relief then. So, yet another decision to be made.

No doubt in the weeks to follow I will eventually be sitting at home with a brand new toy, trying to come to grips with all the features to explore. Happy days!!

Don't worry, be happy!

The Return Home

A few snaps from my trip

I have just returned from a wonderful six weeks holiday in Scotland, taking in a trip to Paris for seven days and a long weekend with my Niece and partner in England.

The whole trip seemed like a whirlwind, having something to do each day and to visit family and friends, not enough time to spend with each only a few days or hours with some, although it was quality time and very enjoyable and memorable.

The weather was not too kind to us, however, when the sun did come out, it was very hot.

The time spent in the air was quite tiring, the first flight out of New Zealand was eleven hours to Hong Kong, then ten hours to London and another hour to Edinburgh. The same on the way back.
To sit in a chair for such long periods can be quite stressful, however, the movies, music etc in flight was not too bad. Then came the meals, my do we eat an awful lot of food, albeit very tasty and healthy then there is the nice glass of wine which assists in keeping the mind in a slight trance of wellbeing, well for some it does! So, after all the activities of meal time it is time to settle down to try and sleep, huh! no chance, not so easy to sleep in the upright position moving from one side to the other so you watch another film, then another and by this time your eyes are hanging out for sleep.
But, time moves on and its time for another meal and at last the descent down to our destination.

I did this same routine four times and by the time I got back to New Zealand although I had a marvellous time, I was ready to get home to a normal routine and familiar sights and a well earned sleep.

My husband had had six weeks of looking after the house, the garden and the dogs, and he did a splendid job too. I wondered if my dogs would have forgotten me, no they had not. I was sniffed, nuzzled and followed from room to room, they were happy Mum was home.

It is always nice to go away, but so much nicer to come home.

Having said all that, roll on the next trip back to Scotland, Och Aye the Noo!!

Have a brilliant day