May Quotation Challenge

May Quotation week from Lynne.

As I write this I still have to blog the last 3 weeks which I am finding very enjoyable and easy having just come back from a lovely holiday in France 

 Maybe this week my quote is more on the serious side but another dimension to our lives

“ The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”

This month my quote comes from a very famous man that we have all heard of......Mahatma Gandi 1869 – 1948  

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India.

Even after his death, Gandhi's commitment to non-violence and his belief in simple living--making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet, and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest -- has been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world.

Please try and watch the videos as they are historically interesting. Well I found them informative and interesting!

Video here http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898/videos

Biography here http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898

I shall be interested to see how you interpret this quote. 

We all serve others, at home - our family, at work and in other ways whether we raise money for charities or work for charities.  [I know some of you do both of these.]  I also know that children are very involved in thinking of others and often are raising money, definitely for Comic Relief and Red nose days!

It is good to see most of us back weekly once again, I know several of us were worried we wouldn’t see the year out, but I am sure we will. 

Love to you all

Lynne xx

Nostalgia Challenge.. Party On!

Here we are again at Week Three, I can't believe how the months are flying by. Col and I have been lucky enough to have a few odd days away and it has really made up for the lack of good weather and the chance to get the boat in the water, but it has also made the weeks just fly by!

We are very home based this week and next as we are playing host to a bunch of family and friends who are coming to us for Colin's 50th Birthday... to be honest it is his birthday early June but we wanted to celebrate over a Bank Holiday weekend to add to the sense of 'party' and also so we all had the extra time to recover!  
Zac was due to be away on his ship by now but they have kept all his cadet cohort back a month so they can be at the naming of the new 'Royal Princess' in June, so it is all working out nicely. 

So we are at my prompt for May..' Party Memories'.... tell us about some of your special party memories.. they can be a long way back to your first birthday party memories or as recent as a good party for New Year or a wedding in the past year.. all you have to do is share the memory, the laughter.. or even the tears!

• childhood birthdays
• weddings
• graduations
• college parties (!!)
• milestone celebrations .. 21st / 40th / 50th birthdays or anniversaries
• fancy dress and themed parties.

One of the best do's we had in recent years was Col's folks' Golden wedding, so many friends, family and colleagues over a few days; it was so good, we had fishing trips, cream tea afternoons and fish & chip suppers.. everything to make a memorable time..

I will pop in and out and say hello, and say sorry too for being a little elusive the past couple of months.. maybe getting my house back to normal will help me settle back to blogging more regularly.. oh and if Zac goes to sea it's a better incentive too, to keep him in touch with life at home! 

Add you links here.. party on my friends xx

Let's Reflect May - End of the Enjoy Week

Hello blogger friends,

I hope it's only the end of the challenge week but you will continue to enjoy life. 

If we are lucky enough, the weather could turn around and the sun might even show a bit of his nose again.

Thanks to everybody who participated. May be it's just in my imagination, but I have this impression that we are all busy but try to share our time so everybody organizing a challenge gets some participants.That's really nice.

Tomorrow will be Kathy's turn. She said my week was nicely announcing hers, so let's see what she will surprise us with.

I will see you again for another let's reflect challenge on June 10. 

In the meantime, take care everybody, 

Anne xxx

Let's Reflect - May

Hello everybody,

welcome to Let’s Reflet May !

What a sudden change in the weather we are having. After miserable weeks of cold and rain, we had a couple of gorgeous days and it makes such a difference to the mood ! The sun is shining, the grass is greener than ever, flowers are blooming.

( May be you will have noticed I started working on my challenge some days ago . . .  as it has been miserable weather since then ).

When it's my turn at Lucky Snapping, I always say that time passed by so quickly and I've been so busy . . .  well it didn't change much this month but I would like to concentrate on something else : Although our little group has a bit of struggle, we all manage to keep in touch even if a bit more loosely. For some of us, it has now been almost a year and a half we do that. I think it's worth mentioning because it's great that people from 4 different countries (if I am not mistaken) , people who with a couple of exceptions, have never met, enjoy so much each other's company.  
I very much appreciate following what you are up to.

Back to business :

 This month, our word starts with an “E” and to celebrate this beautiful weather (or bring it to you if you are still stuck with grey skies) , we have a happy word :

ENJOY

You most certainly know what this word means, but here we are :

1. Take delight or pleasure in (an activity or occasion).
2. Have a pleasant time.
   

Each time I travel to the States, wherever I go,  I notice there are 2 things the Americans constantly say: Take care and the other one is Enjoy. Especially this second word, they use every 5 seconds for any kind of occasion, so I assume it’s part of their way of living, what certainly is a good thing.

This month, I want you to tell me what you specially enjoy.  Some psychology gurus say that it’s important to have a secret place where you feel happy and when you close your eyes you can go there.  That’s a nice thing to do but there are also thousands of other things, little or big we can do for good, that make us happy.

So what do you do that makes you enjoy life : Do you dive into your favorite hobby, do you meet friends or family, do you go out, do you watch a good movie, do you bake, do you play with your pet or your kids…

What's this thing you do that makes you say at the end of a day or a week-end " I enjoyed my time so much ".
 

There are so many ways to be enjoying and celebrating life, what’s yours ? 

I can't wait to see what you will come up with.

Take care everybody, Anne xxx

The View Challenge: Additional Prompt #2

Have you got time to take your neighbourhood photo? If so link it up below.

I love it when the trees become all fluffy with new growth.

The View Challenge: Additional Prompt #1

How does it look from your kitchen window this month? A bit better from mine, some good growth and a bit of tidying.

We have some basil in the window and next to it we have planted some, I have never grown it from seed before so hoping it works :)

Outside the camellia is just coming out, looking forward to the pyracanthus next.

The View Challenge: May

Finally, we might be able to take a view photograph in the sunshine :)

The Months

January brings the snow,

makes our feet and fingers glow.

February brings the rain,

thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes loud and shrill,

stirs the dancing daffodil.

April brings the primrose sweet,

scatters daisies at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs,

skipping by their fleecy dams.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses,

fills the children's hand with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers,

apricots and gillyflowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,

then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit,

sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasants,

then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast,

then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,

blazing fire, and christmas treat.

Sara Coleridge

So, time to get out and photograph our favourite views this week.

My view from the coastal path of north devon is this one

I decided to enter the Woolacombe 10km run last sunday and we had to run aling the beach what felt like a million times and up the cliff to the south west coast path and along that. Well, lets just say I knew I had been :)

Ok, I will be back with some additional prompts through the week.

Thanks from April.....

What a busy week and you have all found time to blog about 'Birthdays.' Such beautiful pictures and wonderful memories. (lynne delved right in and got out some lovely images to share with team lucky snapping!)I love that for some of you the word 'Birthday' has hit the right week. (Janice and your 80th birthday for your mum!)Thanks for celebrating and sharing with us your images and I really enjoyed setting a challenge this week and hope to do it again for you all!! Thank you for taking part!! Much love april xXx