Life is a Journey

Life seems to be moving too fast these days and i feel like i want to get off just so i can enjoy every second, every minute, every hour..... i can see the light of a new day but sometimes it passes me by without my even realizing it has gone until the colours of the night creep in..


I stop and look back sometimes and the road fades away to nothing.....sometimes I feel like i have missed huge chunks of time and promise myself that on this new day i will experience it all and live in the moment.
I think about the people who have passed through my fingers, some have reached up and touched my heart and remained there, and some have continued on their own journeys down life's path.......i think about all that has passed in my life and wished that each memory was as clear as the ones i have today......


Sometimes i look forward but there is a curve in the road and that is as it should be as i don't always want to know what's around the corner........there is a quote i like....if you want to go places you must either get behind and push or go in front and pull, if you stand to the side you won't go anywhere......

But for today i think i just want to stand at the side listening to the cicadas singing their songs, i want to hear the wind rustling through the oak tree and hear its own wind songs, i want to pick roses to put in a vase and bring inside so i can smell their perfume as the gentle breezes waft around them.....and i want to watch the petals fall onto the table to make their beautiful pattern of shape and colour.....i want to feel the sun on my face and the wind in my hair, i want a hug from a small child and a smile from a stranger......i want to live this day.....




And yes tomorrow i will continue on my life's journey i don't know what is ahead of me but i am going to try and take it slowly and see what comes my way and live it all.....

Memories of Childhood

This is my most favourite beach of all time probably because of the wonderful memories i have of a childhood spent here in the holidays staying at my grandfathers house.
The secret tree hut hidden away where make believe games seemed real, where sliding down the hill on a piece of cardboard was an adventure and thrilling all at the same time.....the fact that the ocean and the harbour (above) were so close to each other that you got to enjoy both, made this place unique to other beaches i have been to.......whether you wanted the thrill of the ocean waves or the calm of the harbour......they were there for you to enjoy....



Alot has changed since those visits as a children now thousands flock to this beach over summer, cars travel at a crawling pace and brown bodies are everywhere to be seen, there are now high risers where there used to be beach cottages but having seen all these changes i can;t help but feel a special joy when i finally arrive here...




The memories are with me to pull out and relive and smile at so that the magic of childhood is still felt today.......wouldn't you want to be here, blue skies, blue water and clean soft sand that falls between your toes like silk!!!



This place is called Mount Maunganui or The Mount as it is referred to because of the mountain you see in this picture and there is some of the high rise apartments in the distance.....there is much maori folklore about this mountain.....




If you climb to the top of The Mount which you can do if you have the energy! it is well worth it just for the view.....here you can see the ocean and the harbour......for those that want something a bit easier paced you can walk around the mount and the views are just as spectacular.......
i am lucky to be able to visit this place often as it is only an hour and a half from where i live and my two daughters, husband and partner and three grandchildren live here as well.......as some of you will know there have been two tsunami warnings in nz and because of this this place has been on alert which is a bit scary for a mother who has family there....and as you can see it wouldn't take much for a wave to sweep over all.........but deep in my heart is those memories that i have and are still creating so my happiness still grows......

Being new to blogging i have been told that i should have a name under any quotes, peoms that are not my own.....so please note the quotes in the last post are not mine and i am sorry but i do not have a record of whose they are except for the last one i will be sure to note the names in future and give credit where credit is due......any poems or quotes of my own will have my own name listed under them as well........

Keeper of Trees

This is the wonderful Oak tree that is in the back of our garden.....i love its ever changing beauty through the seasons and the bird life it brings to my garden.... not all our neighbours have a love of trees as i do and would really like to see it gone .....

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.
Some see nature all ridicule and deformity and some scare see nature at all.
But to the eyes of the man of imagination nature is imagination itself.......



Looking up into the tree you can see all its beauty, when the branches are bare of leaves it frames the sky and feels like it is reaching up forever..

When the oak is felled the whole forest echoes with its fall but a hundred acorns are sown in silence by an unnoticed breeze....



in the depths of winter i still see it beauty and grace.......

Oak trees come out of acorns, no matter how unlikely that seems. An acorn is just a trees way back into the ground for another try, another trip through one life to another......



The textures and colours are amazing



I cherish trees because of their natural correspondence with the greener, more mysterious processes of mind, and because they seem to me the best, most revealing messengers to us from all nature, the nearest its heart........................................ John Fowles

The Out and the In

Breakfast....what a spot


The view is breathtaking and you feel like you are a million miles from anywhere....


The french room where i stay complete with sleigh beds, lavender, shutters, french colours and a amazing view to the forest beyond


The Stable at the end of the garage.....


these are the garages and what you see when you round the corner of the driveway, the larger of the buildings is what you thought was the house when you got a peek coming up the drive.....just arriving to view all this sets the mood for what is to come.....

Houses

Ever since i was a young child i have always been interested in houses both inside and out, i remember visiting my aunties old rambling house and being fascinated by it..... when it was pulled down to build something new i walked around and just didn't get it, the old house contained within its walls memories of all

that had passed, it had a mystery about it which i liked.....
I was lucky enough to have a mother who let me decorate my own room how i wanted, it was small but i was forever changing it around and changing its look..... from tin foil on the walls, to huge posters, to stringing straws for the door coming in.....
When i moved to the big city i was fascinated by all the variety of homes there, so much so that my girls would point them out and say to me there's a nice house mum .... my husband reackons i am the only person who during a movie or tv programme i will say hey look at that ...... whatever it was i had seen .... i am a details person....

The photo above is of a friends house that i get to stay in......i meet this lady when another friend invited me along on this house tour, i knew the house because it had been featured in a magazine and i was excited to be going..... you come to this house from an old country road, through a weathered old gate, you travel slowly down a drive overflowing with native trees, until you reach a clearing with its pond and old willow.......you catch a glimpse of what you think is the house and become excited!! but around the bend you see this little cottage peeping out amongst the trees, hidden so you don;t get a hint about what is to come.....and let me tell you it is full of surprises and about three hours later we had finished our tour....because as you can see from the photo above it is a big house!! to your right is what you see when you come up the drive..... keeps you guessing on what is to come doesn't it..... and did i tell you this is a new house! and was built by the owner..... stay with me and tomorrow i will take you inside.....you won;t believe it.......

Inspiration

I have been inspired by many other blogs i have visited and i have been amazed at how they have changed how i view the world......there is a saying by Mother Teresa that i think sums up what i would like my blog to bring to you the reader.........they may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel, kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are endless.......