Tag: Life (page 33 of 47)

July 21, 2016 / 0 Comments

School’s Out for Summer!

School’s out for summer! I can hear Alice Cooper singing those sweet lines in my head as I type. Here’s to road trips, long walks, sleeping in, staying up late. To new adventures. To having a movie fest, playing board games and cards. To eating delicious food prepared at a slow pace.

Here’s to living off PB&J and pimento cheese sandwiches, laying in the sun and eating potato chips. To spur of the moment picnics. To making out while listening to good tunes and to taking each day as it comes. Here’s to summer, long may she last!

{Image found // Pinned HERE}

July 20, 2016 / 0 Comments

The Day to Day

I’ve been quiet here again. Not intentionally by any means. I continue to be saddened by current events. Has the world gone mad? In light of all that is happening I’m focusing on keeping the house cozy. Ensuring that it is a place of refuge and love. I’m focusing on my walks and taking in the butterflies, poppies blossoming in a rainbow of colours, the trees dancing in the breeze. I’m listening to podcasts and music, drinking lots of sweet tea and trying to stay cool in the heat.

I’m just taking one day at a time. Tomorrow brings with it the last day of school and truly the beginning of summer for us. I can’t wait!

July 13, 2016 / 0 Comments

Sunshine

I headed out early for my walk today and was rewarded with a gloriously cool morning and lots and lots of sunshine. Although, now it is pouring with rain outside my window.

Here’s to the summer! Please bring us lots more sunshine, it makes my soul sing!

July 10, 2016 / 0 Comments

What The World Needs Now

I can’t even bear to turn on the news at the moment. In the past three weeks, I’ve yet to read one happy story. Is this what the world is coming too? Surely there is goodness left, kindness left? The light is stronger than the dark. I believe in that!

Hug someone you love a little tighter today, do small things with love, commit a random act of kindness, make a difference for someone else. I think Burt Bacharach and Hal David said it best, “What the world needs now, is LOVE, sweet LOVE!”

July 1, 2016 / 0 Comments

An Evening Alone

We made it through the week! It’s always exciting to wake up on a Friday and go to work, the day always seems brighter, knowing it is the last of the working week. But this week, getting through was a particular feat, as there has been more downs than ups.

Mr. Michie is one of the chaperones at the prom tonight. I can’t wait to hear his stories when he gets home. It is being held in an old barn, which will just be beautiful. My high school always had our prom in the cafeteria. I never went to prom. My girlfriends and I would always have a big night out instead. I don’t regret not going. I’ve always marched to my own little beat anyway.

I don’t often have an evening to myself, so I plan on watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn and stretching out on the couch.

Hopefully the weekend brings a bit of much needed quiet and rest with it. Here’s to the weekend, long may it last!

{Image found: The Norwalk High School Prom in 1968 // Pinned HERE}

June 30, 2016 / 0 Comments

Soldiering On

Do you know what it feels like to be walking out of the ocean and be knocked down by a wave? That feeling when you are dragged under and you try to fight your way to the top gasping for air, but are knocked down again? That is how I feel lately.

I’m still in a state of disbelief that Brexit is carrying forward. Even though this was simply a referendum and Parliament has yet to say that it will be acted on; that Article 50 will be invoked. Everything is moving on as if we will leave the EU. It’s just this giant snowball effect that seems to be gaining huge momentum before it crashes into the brick wall at the end of the hill.

I’m hearing so many stories at the moment from others and they are shocking! One such story comes from one of my husband’s colleagues. A man working with her husband who is originally from Pakistan and has lived here for maybe 10 years, is now a citizen of the UK. Last week he voted to LEAVE! His reason, he stated was because of immigration. Ironic isn’t it? I mean what do you say to that? How do you combat ignorance? How do you combat moronism?

I try to use my morning walks to clear my head. At the moment, I seem to be listening to a lot of Miles Davis and Alec Baldwin’s Podcast “Here’s The Thing”. Yesterday, I caught up on one I had missed from February of this year, where he spoke to Molly Ringwald. I’ve long been a Brat Pack fan and like many others, I’m sure, I was shaped by, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink. To this day, my sister and I still shout out lines from The Breakfast Club to each other. In catching up on some blog reading this morning, I saw on Julia’s site that Sam’s house in Sixteen Candles is currently on the market. It’s always funny to me how things seem to collide. When you notice something and suddenly it starts popping up everywhere.

I used my walks to exhale. To continue to see the beauty around me and I am blessed to always be rewarded. I came across a snail this morning, slowly making his way across the sidewalk. His shell was lovely. I watched a bunny eating his breakfast in someone’s front yard. I watched the sun play peek-a-boo with the clouds. I feasted on a cup of tea and two toasted slices of banana bread this morning with apricot jam. I just was.

June 24, 2016 / 1 Comment

A Changed World

We awoke this morning to a changed Britain. A change that I feel very saddened about. Whether you wanted to remain or leave the EU, the decision now made will forever change this country. I am under no illusion, this morning I awoke in a different place. I’m not one to use my blog to discuss politics. There are plenty of people who do that and who do it far better than I could.

I know that the EU is not perfect. I know there is a lot of bureaucracy and complications. But I feel it would be better to keep working through our issues together and united. Even though we live within this union, Britain is still it’s own country, whether Britain’s feel like it is or not. It is still a unique place with a fascinating history, vibrant cities and a fantastic culture.

The margin to leave versus remain was slim. Why Britain didn’t do one of the things it is best at, which is just to complain but carry on anyway, is beyond me.

Not being a British citizen, I saw everything unfold from the vantage point of another angle. Now, I have studied in the UK, I have a Master’s of Philosophy in Art History and Connoisseurship from the University of Glasgow. My husband is British, and I have gone through all of the legal processes and financial costs to be able to live here as a legal resident. I have contributed to my community. I pay full taxes and I live by the rules.

However, for all my other rights, I have no recourse to public funds, which let me just state here, I am not after, but, I also do not get a vote. I state all this to say that I am not one of the “immigrants” that have been so nastily spoken about in the paper as of late, but from some people’s remarks I know that my being here poses a threat to them as well.

If I could have voted, I would have chosen to remain within the EU. The campaign waged was extremely ugly. Especially from the opposing side. Those that wanted to leave have lead a poisonous toxic campaign filled with racist remarks, bigotry and incorrect facts. I can’t begin to count the numerous pieces of propaganda concerning funds going to the EU that could instead be used to fund the NHS that were shoved through our postbox. All stating facts that are untrue. The vile attitudes that have gone on throughout this campaign were brought even more to light this morning when Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip had the audacity to say that this triumph had come to fruition “without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired”.

Maybe Mr. Farage failed to remember the heinous crime that was committed against MP Jo Cox last week by Thomas Mair. Last week, when asked in court what his name was, he stated, “My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”

I think we are living in a world where fear mongering is being used as a tactic to gain the upperhand. History has taught us what happens when fear is deployed in this way. Wars have been started! Maybe I live in a fantasy world where I would like us all to get along. If I was ever in a beauty pageant, I can tell you that “world peace” would feature in my speech. We’re all in this together. This outcome is a giant step back, not a step forward.

The ramifications to leave the EU might not show themselves as quickly as the financial implications for this decision have already done. But they will begin to unfold as things slowly tear apart from the seams.

June 22, 2016 / 0 Comments

Sugar Cookies

There was a heavy drizzle my entire walk this morning, it started as I walked out the door. The morning was quiet, I only passed a few other people. The overcast day and the rain put me in a baking mood, so I decided to roll out a batch of sugar cookies. They will be the perfect dessert tonight. I might have snuck one or two already, but that was just for the purpose of quality control!

June 20, 2016 / 0 Comments

Rambling

I headed out for my walk this morning in the pouring rain, with a podcast that Mr. Michie introduced me to, blasting in my ears. It was a dark and creepy theme, which fit the morning’s gloom perfectly. I rambled along, changing my normal route as I went. My main goal was to try to avoid being splashed by the cars that were speeding by. I was drenched when I came home. I left a very wet trail behind me as I weaved my way upstairs to warm up in the shower.

The rain was coming down so hard at times and bouncing along the pavement, that it’s what Mr. Michie would have called, “dancing rain” if he was walking with me. The weather definitely didn’t make it feel like we are celebrating the Summer Solstice today. The afternoon has brought with it the sunshine but dark clouds still threateningly linger.

My Mom told me that the full moon tonight is a Strawberry Moon. This, coinciding with the Solstice, won’t happen again for another 70 years! I hope the sky clears up enough tonight that I can see the moon in all her strawberry glory.

The Summer Solstice, always makes me think of my Swedish neighbour who lived next door to us when I was growing up. He would sit outside for hours in the summer watching the fire flies flicker on and off as the they gently floated around his yard. He liked to keep a portion of his garden wild, so it always looked like a wildflower sanctuary. He loved the light and relished in the long days that summer brought.

After spending a portion of winter in Denmark, I can fully comprehend the Scandinavian appreciation for light, as darkness seems to envelop you during the winter months (even though everything feels cozy by the glow of candlelight that seems to bathe the Danish world in a golden amber hue.)

I thought about him on my walk this morning as I rambled along. It’s funny what little triggers can make a memory flitter through your mind.

May 27, 2016 / 0 Comments

I Miss the South!

As I headed out for my walk this morning, the sun was glistening in the sky and there was a nice breeze going, that was offsetting the warmth of the sun. It was a walk that started out full of optimism and excitement over what discoveries I would make along the way.

Half way through my walk, I was already down trodden and it wasn’t the heat, or the fact that I was tired from not sleeping that great last night or that a blister on my heel was rubbing against my sneaker. No, I can deal with all of that and still stay upbeat. It was the people I was passing! In the 50 or so other walkers, joggers and strollers I passed, I said “Good Morning!” to every single one and in all of those, “Good Morning’s!” only two people responded, TWO!

One man only responded because the path narrowed and there was no way for him to get out it, I guess? But he didn’t look at me and just mumbled a gruff reply. The other was from a gentleman who like me, was smiling. He cheerfully replied while his cute little fluffy white dog ran down the path. Everyone else pretended they didn’t hear me.

I have to tell you, this morning my walk left me disheartened and terribly missing the South. There is no way I could do the walk I do in the time I do it in if I was in the South. Because, everyone stops everyone else to comment on the weather, the gardens, the seasons, a simple “Hello!” to a neighbour turns into a catch up on family news and life. I miss the South where gentleman hold doors open for you instead of rushing past you. Where people are simply polite to one another. I miss being everyone’s, Sweetie, Honey, Lil’ Miss, Ma’m and Shuga. Where no one is a stranger.

Now, I’m not saying I’m after the other walkers, joggers and strollers life stories. But if someone offers you salutations the polite and basic human kindness thing to do is to reply.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better walk! Here’s to the weekend, long may it last!