Saturday 19 December 2015

Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year .....

To ALL my friends 

In  every corner of the world. 

You have kept my blog going with

All your fabulous comments.  


My little twig tree on the photo gallery table. .
💟💟💟💟


Love these Angels..


St Marys church in Oxford..



A candle lit for everyone 

 See you all next year.
Take care and a big thank you. 

Sunday 13 December 2015

Picturesque town of Mondsee - Austria

We had a very quick stopover in

Mondsee

as we were heading back to Germany
for our last night..

Linda and I chose to go into the town
rather than the lake ..

Mondsee is a town in the Vocklabruck district in the
Austrian state of Upper Austria , located on the shore
of Lake Mondsee.







Wonderful decorative houses.



The Rathaus is the Town hall..





For all you

Sound of Music Lovers

this the church used in the film
for the wedding scene.


The Collegiate Church of St Michael
formerly the monastery church






It was a very short visit but very worthwhile.

A super trip for Linda and I.

♥♥♥♥♥

Friday 20 November 2015

The Art of colouring and a postcard..

As we all know
 
 
are now
the new relaxation to relieve
Stress.
 
I looked yesterday and the choice is amazing.
 
And just last week I received my first
 
(click on link to see a fab set)
 
from Singapore.
 
The Autumn Squirrel
 
Love the colours Krissa. Thank you so much. ♥
 


 
My friend Krissa had just purchased
 
 
and was doing a doing a bit of colouring in the book above
and her flatmate gave her a colouring postcard.
 
Krissa put her book to the side and coloured this instead.
 
And here it is in England ♥
 
Thank you.
♥♥♥♥♥
 
 


Tuesday 10 November 2015

Super Seven - Thank you..

Seven Wonderful cards from
fantastic friends.

This first card is from my great friend Marilyn who was on holiday with her
husband Trevor .   But didn't know where until she was at
the check in  at the airport. How did he keep this a surprise?
Marilyn how did you not know?? Thought you were the curious type.
Well done Trev!!!!



Pigeon Point is also known as Pigeon Point Heritage Park and is often considered Tobago’s most beautiful beach and is home to the famous thatch-roofed jetty which has become an internationally recognised signature of Tobago

 Sure we could all do with some SUN!!


The next three cards are from a very good friend Leon( also friend of my eldest son) ,  who  went for a break to


where his family live. 

Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres from the coast of Africa and 2,250 kilometres from the coast of Brazil

The Wideawake Tern

Known as the Sooty Tern in other parts of the world, here it is best known for it's call of "Wide awake!", and it gives the island it's second name. It is a graceful bird with a forked tail and pointed wings, generally white below and black above with a white patch on the forehead.
Their main food is fish and squid.
They are widely distributed around the world in tropical latitudes. On Ascension they breed in colonies called "Fairs", the main ones being in the south-west corner of the island, Mars Bay Fair, and Waters Edge Fair, but they are also found in small numbers on Boatswain Bird Island. In 1998 there were adjudged to be 400,000 birds in the two main colonies.




(click on the link above to read more)
There is a lot of mystery behind the Land Crab. How did they get there? Nobody knows.
Apart from visiting green turtles and seabirds, the crabs were probably almost alone on the island for most of the million years since it rose above the waves. Johngarthia lagostoma is only found on Ascension and, in much smaller numbers,
on three Brazilian islands further west.
Since they can neither swim nor fly, nobody knows how they got here. Being land crabs, they are unlikely to have rafted over on timber from Africa or Brazil, says Richard Hartnoll of the University of Liverpool, UK, their only persistent investigator. Their larvae might have survived long enough to float over on the intermittent ocean currents from the Americas – but their nearest relatives today are to the east, in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea.


The donkeys are found mainly in Georgetown and around One Boat, those living in Georgetown are often woken in the early hours by their loud braying.  
Some are relatively friendly and will allow you to pet them, but they can become rather boisterous and dangerous to road users during mating season.  Ascension’s donkeys have developed rather curious eating habits –
probably due to the lack of vegetation for them to eat, they’ve acquired a taste for cardboard
and will happily devour any boxes left lying around!







This next card is from my great friend Jackie --
The super traveller. She has sent me cards from everywhere.
Jackie's blog is
You will have to click on the link to read more about her travels, amazing.)

 Palm Springs, a desert city in California, is known for its hot springs, stylish hotels, golf courses and spas. It's also notable for its many fine examples of midcentury-modern architecture. Its core shopping district along Palm Canyon Drive features vintage boutiques, hip interior design shops and buzzy restaurants. The surrounding Coachella Valley offers hiking, biking and horseback riding

The mountains in the background are the
San Jacinto Mountains
which help with the fabulous weather in Palm Springs.


We then go to
WARSAW
with a beautiful card from a lovely blogger friend from Poland

OLA...her blogs are
Lakomym Okiem  - cooking blog
and
Daleka Droga - travel blog
Both written in Polish and English.
Ola and I have been friends through quite a while and we
just exchanged postcards.
Here we have the
The Łazienki Palace is a Baroque palace and is located in the largest park in Warsaw that occupies over 76 hectares of the city centre .
The Łazienki Palace is located in the largest park in Warsaw that occupies over 76 hectares of the city center. From 1674 the property and the nearby Ujazdów Castle belonged to Count Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, who built a Baroque Bath House named "Łazienka". The building, erected on a square plan, was richly decorated with stuccos, statues and paintings; some of the original decorations and architectural details are still preserved from that period.
In 1766 King Stanisław II Augustus purchased the estate and decided to
convert the pavilion into his small, private summer residence
(To read more please click on link above)

And today a card arrived from Trevor (my friend Marilyn's husband)
I love his cards as they are not only a huge surprise(like a lot of yours are  too, lovely and a surprise. )  but also what he writes!!!!☻
(Hi , Weather cold, Beer cold, Goulash hot!)


Thank you Trevor.
I know a few of you have been to Slovenia .
Esme from Chocolate & Croissants certainly has!!
Remember my postcard?


A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL..

Interesting countries and interesting topics to write about.
All so different.

♥♥♥♥♥♥


Friday 30 October 2015

Una bella cartolina consegnata a mano .

A beautiful card delivered by Hand..



A few weeks ago.
a very special   friend came to
all the way from Italy
for 24 hours .


Taken in the Williams Collection/Museum.



He was invited by a friend of his
who works in Williams Factory to
attend a Staff  Open day.

It was amazing to see him as it was one year ago we met,
at the same event.  Christian is as passionate about Williams
as I am about Italy !!  So you can imagine how are chat went !!!!


We only had a short time to chat this time , I was working
and they had to leave.  But before they did, he gave
me this beautiful card..

It is a concertina card from Genova (Genoa)

(Very difficult to photograph  - sorry.)..

Santuario Basilica di S. M Delle Vigne

Santa Maria delle Vigne is a Roman Catholic basilica church in Genoa, northern Italy. It is known from the 10th century. The main altar was completed in 1730 by Giacomo Antonio Ponsonelli.







In the photo below, the little door you can see is where my friend lived!!


I have included this little video taken from the Internet..
to show you inside.. I hope you listen and enjoy.
 

 
Grazie to you dear friend. 

Friday 9 October 2015

OXFORD - The Parish Church of St Frideswide

I have  lived near Oxford for 10 years and
never been into this church until two weeks ago.
I go past it on the bus
but it is seems to be always
closed.
 
Until one day two weeks ago, I was helping my friend
at the Bed and Breakfast and had an hour free.
 
There was a BEE FESTIVAL , being held by
the Friends of the Earth , Oxford Branch.
We need to protect our BEES!!
 
We need the British Government to stop using
Bee Harming Pesticides. They are actually illegal
within the EU !!  We are in the EU , so they need to listen.
No BEEs means NO Food ,

 
From the outside it looks unfortunately rather dull , grey and closed.
But once inside I think it is amazing.
 
 
 
The church is dedicated to the patroness of Oxford, St Frideswide.  It was designed by the 19th-century Gothic Revival architect Samuel Sanders Teulon of Westminster, London, built by the local firm of Honour & Castle. The foundation stone was laid in 1870 and the church was consecrated on 10 April 1872 by John Mackarness, the Bishop of Oxford. It was originally intended for the church tower to have a spire.




(Info taken from the web)
 








 




 
I think I was in the right place at the right time .


Friday 2 October 2015

Postcards Galore - From Slovenija to Swaziland..♥

A lovely blogger friend named
Esme, sent me one from

Bohinj - Slovenija

I will have to check but it might be a first. If it isn't
I don't mind , lovely of Esme to think of me and my collection.









Bohinj is a valley that stretches from Soteska to Ukanc.
On the south side, it is enclosed by the Lower Bohinj Mountains,
which rise to 2.000 meters, and on the north by the Triglav mountain range with Mount Triglav, Slovenia`s highest mountain (2864 m).  Bohinj is one of the most beautiful places in the heart of the Julian Alps and in Triglav National Park

Even though I love towns and Cities , I do like to experience mountains and valleys.
Makes me relax , and so good for Fresh Air.
 
 A beautiful card, Thank you Esme ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥
The next two cards came from my friend's husband Trevor!!
Bless him, he remembered ☻.Instructions from my friend Marilyn ☻
 
The first one is from
 Lake Baikal in Irkutsk, Siberia.







Irkutsk is by far the most popular stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway between Moscow and all points east. With Lake Baikal a mere 70km away, the city is the best base from which to strike out for the western shoreline. Amid the 19th-century architecture, revived churches, classy eateries and numerous apartment hostels, plentiful English-speaking agencies can help you plan anything from a winter trek across the lake’s ice to a short walking tour through the city


He then moved on to



The Red Square, Mockba. (Moscow)

Trevor said he was following the steps of Rasputin!


Moscow became the capital when Ivan the Terrible proclaimed himself the first tsar in the 16th century. Peter the Great moved his capital to St. Petersburg in 1712, but, after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Moscow was made the capital of the Soviet Union and seat of the new Soviet government, with its center in the Kremlin.

BIG THANK YOU TO TREVOR.
His cards are always a pleasant surprise. He does
travel to places far and beyond.

The last card was from my friend Marilyn
and this definitely is a first.!!!

SWAZILAND


 

 
This is a postcard showing the Reed Dance.
 
This is Swaziland’s best known cultural event.  In this eight-day ceremony, young girls cut reeds, present them to the Queen Mother (Indlovukazi) – ostensibly to repair the windbreak around her royal residence – and then dance in celebration. Up to 40,000 girls take part, dressed up in brightly coloured attired - making it one of the biggest and most spectacular cultural events in Africa.  
(info taken from the web)

Really amazing postcards .
Thank you to Esme, Trevor and Marilyn.
 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Sunday 27 September 2015

Have you ever tried Luging?

I HAVE!
Not this type of Luging though..
Before our holiday Jacob, Gillie's youngest son,  was telling me all about
the Luge..

(A one- or two-person sled for coasting or racing down a slide , used especially in Europe) 

 He really wanted me to have a go, so I risked it all!!
I was very apprehensive about going down on a sled from a height
and me in control .   Also had to go up in a Bubble lift.
I am not a lover of lifts at the best of times.
I put all my fears to the side.

You start off here , climbing into your Bubble lift to take you 800 metres up ..

  
When you reach the top, you grab your sled and position it at the start of the metal slide
and then you are off !!!


You control it with a gear stick - Forward for fast and back to slow down or Stop..


I wasn't fast but I wasn't slow ,, I actually had FUN!!

 You cannot get off half way through , once on you are committed.
Here is the proof ..Yeah I did it.


To give you a better idea of how it is ,
I found a little video on YouTube..

Hope you watch it.!!

Then you will see what I braved.

The person on the Luge is in the fast lane, I was
in the lane to the right. For beginners and slow people.




It was GREAT!!!