Christmas Spirit

It's starting to feel like Christmas

This year has flown by so fast and the last few months I've been so busy at work that all I wanted was the year to end and my Christmas - New Year holidays to begin.

The Christmas spirit just wasn't coming through and the enthusiasm for Christmas was really waning.

But my holidays have begun and the tree is up and it's finally starting to feel like Christmas.

I started a tradition after my son was born to buy an ornament each for my daughter and son. Even though they've grown up, the thrill of buying them an ornament still continues.

So here they are for this year

My card this year for Christmas

Wish you all Peace Love and Joy this Christmas and always.  Have a Blessed one.


The Thursday Challenge this week is a favourite photo for 2013. There were so many and so hard to choose.

So I closed in on some and not surprising they all seemed to be of the sky. The sky is so fascinating but the moon is mesmerising and when you have both you can't help be drawn to it.

And so I chose this picture:

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Attractive

Looking through the eyes of children

On Friday morning, the fire alarms went off at work and "evacuate the building" rang out loud and clear.

So off we went and assembled on the other side of the road as we are instructed to. 

Luckily it was nothing serious, probably someone left the toast burning and that set off the sensitive alarms.

Usually we're busy chatting and notice very little of what's happening around us but that day we were in front of a childcare centre and the little kids were peeping through the glass window with amazement and wonder and so much glee. They were so thrilled to see the fire engines.

And so I took a closer look too for the first time and took some pictures.

So here are the pics of the fire engines that the kids found so "attractive" :

In looking at the engines, I took more notice of something we often take for granted. I was also grateful that we have these services that help us in our time of need and save lives. I was actually quite fascinated with all the equipment they carry.

Fire engines are attractive. We should learn to look at things through the eyes of children. The look on their faces when they saw the engines was priceless.


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Thursday Challenge

A personal touch

Personal touches turn ordinary into special

This week we celebrated a very special birthday - my son's.

It's a tradition in my family no matter how young or old the person is, to celebrate with a cake. But my son does not like cake and never eats it and baking a cake is not one of my strengths. So instead I bought him a small chocolate sponge and then decided to add some personal touches to it to make it special and interesting.

Over the last month, the supermarket that I shop in was giving away little miniature groceries for a little supermarket. They looked so cute that I decided to collect them. My son and I enjoy opening up the packets and finding the little things inside. Made us chuckle each time. And eventually they came in real handy.

So here it is, a personal touch turns a very ordinary cake into something special. And this is a moment I want to treasure. My son wasn't expecting this and it put a smile on his face.

Happy Birthday my son. Many blessings, lots of love and hugs.

This is the moment 

This is the time 

When the momentum and the moment

Are in rhyme

Give me this moment 

This momentous moment ..
(from Jekyll and Hyde)

This week's Thursday Challenge prompt is Patterns - Shapes, Textures. Trees, Clouds ...

So I tried to find some pattern in my mini groceries and settled on geometry and the textures of all things dairy. So they are ....

New Zealand's Whittaker's chocolate  - yummiest chocolate ever. If you haven't tried this one, you've never eaten chocolate!      

             

Mini eclairs - absolutely divine - chocolate and cream - melt in the mouth moments.

Amazing how many things one can make from dairy.

Have yourself a very special day.


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 This Moment - Soule Mama

A single photo capturing a moment 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment 

A moment I want to pause, savour and remember

Thursday Challenge

Moments of joy

Little things bring us great joy

This week was a bit up and down - some anxious moments and some that brought me joy.

So looking back on those joyous moments, I found that it was really the little things that brought a lot of happy moments this week.

Sometimes it's just hard to pick a single moment, so here are some of them, the many moments I want to remember this week ...

Chicken noodles that my son loved so much he wants to eat them again and again - now that was a moment that brought me the most joy.

My little clip on ipod arrived - my nano decided it's had enough and is slowly fading. This time I thought I'd get a little clip on to help me with my exercise routine. I'm always picking up the nano as it drops out of my pocket so the clip on is a real treat. Wasn't sure of the colour but the green looks awesome.

A free angel reading from Angel Soulfood on FB yesterday. Most days we have the faith and in our hearts we know but just now and then the little demon of doubt creeps in and we question whether all this is true or just a straw we hold onto to give us strength to move on. 

Yesterday morning as I sipped my tea, I looked across at the hills and asked the same question - are you really there, why then are you silent. Then as I looked through my FB news feed I came across a post from Lisa Beachy - ask your Spiritual Team to prove they are around in a surprising general way. Just ask for a sign. And so I did. Soon after that Jodi Chapman of Soul Speak posted that Angel Soulfood was offering free readings and so I put my name down. 

I'm always blown away by how the Universe works and inevitably always obliges and restores my faith in it and all that is Divine. Couldn't have asked for a better sign. And the reading truly brought me great joy.

My lovely Pohutakawa tree that I thought was dying suddenly starts to bloom again. So happy I won't need to cut it down. And little Pohutakawa are peeping through. - Summer is round the corner. Yay.

So thrilled to see the little birds dropping by and enjoying the bread crumbs meal I put out for them. I love watching the birds eat. But have to stay very quiet and still as any movement sends them flying.

And last but not least, I can see the hills again - my neighbour trimmed his tree that was blocking my view. I had wished he would trim his plants and guess what the Universe obliged yet again. The storm some weeks ago must've damaged his tree and he finally trimmed it.  I can enjoy my hills again.

So grateful for the little things that bring me joy.

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 Linking to: 

 This Moment - Soule Mama
A single photo capturing a moment 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment 

A moment I want to pause, savour and remember

The Festival of Lights

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year

Today (November 03 2103)  is Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Indians all over the world.

Diwali marks the day Lord Rama returned to his kingdom of Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. The people rejoiced and lit lamps in his honour marking the end of the dark days when Lord Rama was in exile and the commencement of Lord Rama's reign as king which was a period of great joy and prosperity for the people.

That tradition of lighting lamps or little diyas continues today. It signifies the end of darkness and the start of new things, of happy and bright days. Hence some communities (mine included) celebrate the day after Diwali as the New Year.

Diwali always brings great surprises and I had an unexpected visit from my lovely friend that brought me great joy today.

And here are my little lamps - in keeping with tradition - my quiet celebration of Diwali. Not quite the traditional diyas but good enough I think.

Wishing you all good health, wealth and prosperity, peace, happiness, love, and many blessings.

May your path be a joyful one and may His light be ever present.




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Linking to: 

 This Moment - Soule Mama 

A single photo capturing a moment 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment 

A moment I want to pause, savour and remember

Wordless Wednesday at Abracadabra

Honouring Pink

A very pink day at work

October 25 2013 was a very pink day at work for breast cancer awareness. Work pods were decorated in pink and we all wore pink clothes or had some element of pink on our attire. There was also a bake off and the theme was of course pink. I was tied up with some work so wasn't present for the bake off sampling so there are unfortunately no pictures of that.

It's a pity that not everyone at work participated in the pink theme. We all work very hard but it's also nice and respectful to participate for causes.

So here is the pink theme of my group. Best said of course as always in pictures.

these are a few of our favourite pinks 

Paper roses - so cleverly done

pink duckies 

some very clever artistry here

This is a day I do want to remember in honour of all breast cancer survivors, sufferers and those who lost their battle with it. 2 in my family are survivors and 1 succumbed to it - this post is for you all.

And keeping with the pink and work theme for the Thursday Challenge Landscape prompt, here is a picture I took a couple of months ago at the start of Winter from my workplace. (Added a pink hue to keep it in with the pink theme)

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 Linking to: 

 This Moment - Soule Mama

A single photo capturing a moment 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment 

A moment I want to pause, savour and remember

Thursday Challenge
"LANDSCAPE" (Mountains, Trees, Forest, Lake,...)

Bubbles

Bubbles are so hard to capture

(when the wind is blowing hard)

It turned out to be a pretty nice day today and the morning was bright and sunny albeit a bit windy.

And as I was catching up on my blogging and reading, I saw these bubbles rushing past my window. Some kids must've been having a blast. I enjoyed watching them too.

But capturing them on camera was another thing altogether. They were rushing by so fast in no particular direction which meant that when I pointed my camera in one direction they decided to fly away to the other.

But I did manage to capture a few - more by luck than design. Hope you can see them - some pictures marked with arrows.

And as the Thursday Challenge prompt is Monochrome ((Black and White, Sepia, Old Looking,...), I thought I would experiment with the picture above and convert it to black and white. I thought the bubbles are easier to see in colour though. What do you think?

Linking to: 

Thursday Challenge

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What's the weather up to?

Weather can't make up its mind

Not sure what the weather was doing yesterday (Saturday).

It started out with rain - luckily it didn't rain too hard - as the market sojourn would not have been pleasant otherwise.

Then it fined up and the sun came out, the blue skies started showing through and it actually got quite warm. Will be a good day after all, I thought.

Not quite, the grey clouds rolled in and then it started misting over and it got quite dark. Then suddenly the mist lifted and the hills were visible again.

What was the weather up to? Changing its pattern constantly. Couldn't quite make up its mind.

And that is best told in pictures ... (taken over 3 hours)

Linking to:

Thursday Challenge
"SHADOWS" (Shade, Darkness, Patterns,...)

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