Share Your World ~ 5/30/23

Di starts us off with the questions & I toss in some answers. To join in the fun & frolic, HERE are the rules & ping back.

1.  If money was no object, what would be your ideal holiday? Hmm, I don’t think I want to go anywhere where money is no object. I like simple. Some place in nature that is free & the only expense is getting there. Or maybe not even that since I always say there is so much beauty in my own backyard. I’d want my family with me & their significant others. The people are who would make the holiday ideal.
2.  Do you save for a holiday or put it on plastic to pay off later? Put in on plastic to get the points but use savings to pay it off. I save for lots of things not just holidays. In fact most of our savings is set aside just in case. I do not dip in too often. Maybe I could be able to retire?!? Aaaahhh now that sounds awesome.
3.  Have you ever been on a cruise? Once not what you think. B & I went on a harbor cruise in Seward Alaska. It was a 3 hour trip & I got seasick. Never again. Bleh!
4.  Do you send postcards or buy mementos? Yes! Postcards are a nice way to check in the old fashion way if I am travelling alone. For mementos, I had a thing for refrigerator magnets. I collected them from my travels & people gifted them to me from theirs. However, when we got the newest fridge, I never put them back up. I had elaborate plans to find a piece of metal & create some art but yea they’re all still sitting in a drawer.

Gratitude:  Sometimes, just having someone by your side is enough. For me, some by my side is always enough. See response to #1 above.

As always, more to come.

Share Your World 🌎 ~ 5/23/23

Time for sharing which is caring. Thanks Di for hosting. HERE are the rules and ping back.

1. Growing up, were you closer to your mother or father, or was it a balance of both depending on the circumstances? My mother & I had a very complicated relationship, almost co-dependent. I respected my father immensely, a definite role model. I miss them both very much & wish they were here to share their words of wisdom with me now. After all that I’m going with both.
2. What was your favourite toy as a child, and do you still have it? My teddy bear Henrietta. I just got rid of her in 2020 during a Swedish death clean.
3. Did you have any secrets? I mostly overshare but I learned a long time ago, how to keep certain things discreet. So yes, I have several secrets.
4. What did you want to be when you grew up, and are you anywhere close? I wanted to be a baker or cake decorator. I’m not even close as far as professionally but I’m a hobbyist home baker. Baking is one of my many self care therapies.

Gratitude: There is something to be grateful for every day, embrace it. Right now I’m grateful for the kindness of my cousin. After rejection by others in the family, he offered to meet me. Nothing definite yet but I’m forever grateful he offered likely knowing full well that I’d never ask. I’m convinced something will come up but the gesture still means the world to me.

As always more to come.

SA Botanical Gardens: Imaginary Worlds ~ Once Upon A Time ~ Mosaiculture

On Saturday, May 20, 2023, Lulu & I went to the SA Botanical Gardens to see the exhibition mentioned in the title. My featured image is how the show begins… Once Upon A Time. We took a self-guided tour deep into imaginary worlds & came out cleansed.

Yep, y’all know I’m the queen comma drama but damn this experience was healing if I do say so myself. At first I said, no pictures, be in the moment, inhale the surroundings. But then, I changed course.

We will go back multiple times before the October closing & on one of the next trips, I will wander around aimlessly & camera free. What’s so cool about these living mosaicultures is every time we return, the plant installations will be changed even if every so slightly. Constant attention by staff & volunteers are called for to upkeep these works of art.

There were six giants of the plant kingdom: Storybooks, Pegasus, Dragon, Rip Van Winkle, Mermaid, & Peacock. What follows are five galleries showcasing a giant in each. Mermaid will be saved for my Thursday Thoughts. I’ll also toss in a miscellaneous gallery – the forever rose garden & other assorted plants. I couldn’t figure out how to make my videos work here but I’ll keep trying for a subsequent post. Neither pictures or videos do justice, this is truly something that must be seen but even if you feel a fraction of what we did, you’ll be better for it!!

Storybooks

Only these 3 pictures, the rest was video.

Pegasus

Isn’t he adorable …

Dragon

Dragon was the star of the show. All these images look similar but there are subtle differences. You be the judge. I have some dragon videos as well, that I’ll post once I figure out how.

Rip Van Winkle

Peacock

I loved the variety in the peacock plumes, especially the succulents along the wing & on the tail.

The Forever Rose Garden & Other Assorted Plants

As always, more to come.

Share Your World ~ 5/16/23

Howdy folks! Di sets up the questions & I toss in my two cents. And away we go ….

1.  Children aside, do you celebrate your birthday/anniversary or is it just a normal day for you? Kind of a combo, we have a low key celebration usually involves food – special dinner made at home or the honoree picks the place. That is if we ever go out to eat again in a form other than take out. No elaborate gifts because how can we top each other? I’m B’s lifetime gift & he is mine. LOL
2.  Do/did you always give your child a birthday party when they were young? The oldest until about 5th or 6th grade, the baby not so much but there is a sad reason for that which I won’t elaborate on here.
3.  If your child was born on Christmas Day (or a few days either side of the 25th), did they have a ‘half birthday’ in June, two presents/celebrations, or something else? Neither child falls into that camp but I did. I always got a birthday cake separate from the Christmas desserts. One year I did have a 1/2 birthday, no gifts, just because, pool party in July … the summer between 7th & 8th grade. I’ll remember that party forever.
4. Would you prefer to give your child a party, or take them and a few friends on a special outing? Definitely the outing.

Gratitude: A child’s laughter is infectious, contagious and a bringer of memories to those of us in our twilight years. This very true. I came across something I wrote about my kids not too long ago that included how the sounds of their laughter is priceless. Nothing better than Pony’s chuckle & Lulu’s giggle. Snaps me right out of whatever bad mood I might be in.

As always, more to come.

Share Your World ~ 5/9/23

Di gives the questions & I toss in my two cents. With a plug nickel. Ha! HERE are the rules & ping back.

1. Do you feel comfortable walking in your neighbourhood at night? I do. We’re in a remote, not too remote area. I feel very safe but depending on the season, I worry about rattlesnakes.
2.  When you shop for day to day things, do you pay by cash or card? I use two different cards for points/rewards then pay balances in full. I think my official term is “dead beat”. I never carry cash anymore which used to occasionally pose a problem but now some places are saying “card” only.
3.  When was the last time you dressed up for a special occasion? So long ago, I forgot.
4.   Have you ever lied about your age? Nope. When I was in my early 30s I could pass for a teenager but after 40 everything changed. I quit coloring my hair in 2019 & am mostly gray. I think I look older than my age but when I ask B how old do I look, he won’t answer me. LOL

Gratitude: Making someone happy reaps its own rewards.

I believe this with my whole heart. Nothing better than to make someone smile or laugh.

Share Your World ~ 5/2/23

Time to Share Our Worlds. Thanks Di for hosting. HERE are the rules & ping back.

1. The First of May is a Bee Gees Song.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvr2n9q8t3I
   Do you like the Bee Gees and if so, what is your favourite track? I love the Bee Gees. Anything off Saturday Night Fever.
2. What was the first record (single or album) you bought? Hmm, let me think. I used to pass Record Rendezvous in the mall. Album art covers were as important as the music inside. I bought Rod Stewart’s A Night on the Town primarily because it looked like an impressionist painting. It was the first album I purchased with my own money. I don’t think I even really cared for the songs all the much. I liked Maggie May better but that was on a different album of his.
3. Do you know what was top of the charts the day you were born? I Feel Fine by the Beatles. I’ll take it!!!
   (You can check it out here source)
4.  Do you and your partner have a ‘special tune’? Not really. On road trips, we like to blast Metallica.

Gratitude: Music has no hidden agenda, it can inspire, soothe and calm.

Music makes it all better. Not that anything changes your circumstances but the distraction by the beauty of the sound & the movement with the feelings that are invoked is priceless. My life is a song. Like Zoe’s Extraordinary playlist. I wish the show was still on the air.

Z is for Zip It ~ 4/30/23

ZIP IT

This is used to tell someone to be quiet.

We made it! What a feat! Another Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is in the books. Well almost. I have to write about Z or Zip it first.

Funny what one remembers. My mom used to get very upset if we told each other to shut up. It just really bothered her.

Similarly if we stuck out our tongues at one another, she’d tell us we just made Mother Mary cry. Heavens forbid! That gutted me. I never wanted to make Jesus’ momma cry. I may have stuck out my tongue once but never again! To this day!

Now flipping the bird, that I can do! LOL. If she wanted to keep me from saying shut up to one of my brothers, the Mother Mary crying thing would have worked. Just sayin’.

Anyway, I have no idea what it was about “shut up” that got to her. We were encouraged to say “be quiet please” & a few times my brother tried “will you PLEASE shut up!” as if adding the please made shut up ok to say. Nope, shut up simply was not allowed.

And now she’s gone 25+ years & I can’t ask her what the big deal was about that. Maybe the rudeness or total dismissiveness? I wonder if she may have tolerated zip it? Zip it good. No, that’s whip it … whip it good. Devo in da house.

Fooled ya, not using Whip It as my song. Instead I leave you with Shut Up & Dance by Walk the Moon. Songwriters: Ben Berger and Ryan McMahon. We need some pep in our step as we exit the challenge.

See you next year! Not if I see you first! ZIP IT! Mom! HE’S BOTHERING ME!!! She STARTED it!! Yep, exactly what we sounded like. LOL. I love my brothers, missing two of them, only me & Jr left from the littles who were close enough in age to bicker like that.

As always, more to come.

Y is for You Catch More Flies With Honey Than With Vinegar ~ 4/29/23

YOU CATCH MORE FLIES WITH HONEY THAN WITH VINEGAR

It is easier to persuade people if you use polite arguments and flattery than if you are confrontational

I once had a boss who would say “You don’t catch more flies with honey, you catch more bees”. His twist on this idiom was that being nice can get you hurt. Nice guys finish last or something like that. And he was and IS a nice Guy. Miss ya JC.

Being sweet as honey might turn one into a doormat. You’ll get flattened. Flattery will get you everywhere. Wink, wink. But at what cost? A surface level connection at best, more like a house of cards ready to fall.

This post is going nowhere fast. Follow me for more idioms within idioms like the ones italicized above.

In all seriousness, I’m not done yet. LOL.

You can’t catch flies with honey unless they want to be caught. At least in my experience. No amount of persuasion, niceness, or flattery will change that. I can’t make them LOVE me! But, if you’re lucky and you cast a wide enough net, maybe some of your found family will accept you.

Now for the song … hmmm with all that’s going on in this post, what theme do I use? Well, I’ve been waiting to spring this gem on you. Let My Love Open the Door by Peter Townsend. I will use the E. Cola mix. This song is not about romantic love. See the American songwriter article linked HERE. Music always makes me feel better & this song lifts my spirit as I imagine singing these words to the one who holds the key to my existence.

When everything feels all over
Everybody seems unkind
I’ll give you a four-leaf clover
Take all worry out of your mind

Expect nothing but never lose hope.

As always, more to come.

X is for X Marks the Spot ~ 4/28/23

We’re almost to the end so I’ve decided to recycle a post. I forget that in 2022 my theme was haiku & a song instead of idiom & a song. Time blurs together for me as per usual. Here you go from 2021, April 28th – X Marks the Spot

As always, more to come.

W is for Waste Not Want Not ~ 4/27/23

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

If you use what you have to the full, then you won’t desire or need more

I feel a novella coming on but I’ll be brief. My mom & dad, the ones who raised me, were the epitome of waste not want not. Both grew up during the Depression & were avid conservationists before that was a thing. I do yearn for simpler times like that though things were not necessarily that much easier. With the limited technology, everything took longer to accomplish but in the end those extra steps made all the difference.

This idiom means so much more than be a recycler or never buy new though. More be satisfied. Don’t let your sH!t sit around & collect dust. Live without regrets. I couldn’t let this challenge go by without some metal. Mainstream metal but still counts. Wasted Years by Iron Maiden, writer Adrian Smith.

As always, more to come.