Another Willow

If you happened to be reading my blog last July, you might remember how I love willow trees.  I took this picture of a gorgeous specimen from the opposite bank of the River Wye in Hereford.  Next to it was a rather scruffy island being used by the water fowl.  I thought it made a really pretty picture trailing its leafy branches in the water.

Technical Glitches and Cinderella

Well, after all sorts of technical problems, I'm back in here again.  First it was a hard disk problem, and when that was fixed, the phone line went down and I couldn't get my broadband to work.  Now I'm a poorer to the tune of nearly £170 for all that, so I need to get my fingers flying to earn it back, especially as my car tax was due this month and Christmas is just around the corner.

Which reminds me, the Writelinkers Christmas 2010 Ezine is out.  Do check out all the Writelinker contributions by clicking the link.  My own is on page 20.  I wrote about going to pantomimes and used this illustration from the 1865 issue of Cinderella that I found at Wikimedia Commons.

The 2010 Jigsaw

This is our last jigsaw puzzle which has taken months to complete.  It was 1500 pieces and we bought it unopened at a bargain price in a charity shop.  All but half a dozen pieces were put together by my hubby, as I have been pretty busy with other things and haven't had much leisure time at home.  Hubby was so glad when it was finished.  He said it was really hard work fitting together all that sea and sky.  Didn't he do well?

Entrecard Dropping

I'm going to have to change my EC dropping tactics.  These days I combine it with adgitizing and go through my inbox for the day before.  Recently I've been a bit more selective within my inbox.  There are so many irritating or downright uninteresting blogs to drop on.

I know people have different reasons for opening a blog and are free to post what they like provided it's not plagiarised, but I don't see why I should be forced to open ones that get me so aerated. Usually it's because they have clearly purchased and posted 1 dollar automated articles that hardly make sense and rarely follow the theme of the blog's title. 

I have considered leaving EC altogether as quite a few have already.  I believe I get lots of traffic from adgitize anyway.  But there some EC friends I don't want to lose touch with, so I'll continue with it for now.

Perhaps it's time to update my favourites and do my dropping from there.

Dry Stone Walling

We went for a walk recently at Durlston Country Park on the cliffs above Swanage, and came across these examples of dry stone walling.  I’d heard that classes in the craft are run there, so thought this must be a result of them.  Don’t you think they are very artistic for something with such a practical use?

 

River Wye and Hereford

On our Herefordshire holiday, we spent a day in the county town.  We intended to visit Hereford Cathedral, plus the Mappa Mundi and the chained library there.  First we took advantage of the good weather and walked over the ancient bridge to take the footpath on the other side of the River Wye.  We found people very friendly.  One woman talked to us on the bridge and told us the river was running really high, and that usually you can see wide concrete platforms that support the span pillars.

 I've already shown you a picture of the giant statue guarding our car, and of course it was only  a matter of time before I gave you a classic view of the cathedral from the other side of the river.

It was only a short walk along the river bank to an attractive footbridge to get back to the town centre.

On the other side of that bridge, we found a grand memorial pillar guarded by canons.

I wasn't a complete stranger to the town as I'd spent a few weeks close by on a training course in my youth, but all I could remember was the riverside walks and the cathedral.  Although it has inevitable changed, it was good to go back and retrieve some happy memories.

Are Your Children Happy and Joyful?

We all want our children to have sunny dispositions and find the joy in life. That’s not only great for them, it means our lives will be happier too. It’s such a relief to believe that your offspring can take life’s knock-downs and be able to bounce back up and move ahead. When this doesn’t happen, you’ll go on and on feeling their weight on your shoulders.

Parents therefore need to give their children a joyful grounding in their formative years. First of all that means setting a happy example. It doesn’t mean shielding them from all the unpleasant things that happen. It means demonstrating that you have the strength to deal with them, to put them in their box to be taken out at the right time, and carry on enjoying the rest of your life. It means visibly counting your blessings, whatever is going on.

Sometimes the unpleasant things can be the children themselves. You may have a child that is prone to grumpiness. Don’t let it get to you. If you react in a similar way, you are starting a vicious circle, in which the grumpiness will grow and develop, and joyfulness will fly out of the window. You need to keep happiness inside the home. Just keep smiling and try to distract your child with a reward for overcoming the grumpy mood. 

You can read the rest of this article here.

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Cherry Tree in Autumn

I was going to post this as a Wordless Wednesday, but I got to thinking that my blog is supposed to be about how my writing life interconnects with all that I do and see.  I realised that I’ve been lazy about writing in my blog, relying so much on photos recently.  So I must post more words.

You may remember seeing a picture of the ornamental cherry tree in spring, when it was covered in blossom.  Now we are at the other end of the year and its leaves have changed to this wonderful rich orange colour.  Soon they will be leaving altogether; indeed there are many on the ground already, and hubby is bemoaning the fact that we’ll have to get out there with the leaf sucker and collect them up.  They fly into our neighbours’ garden too, so we feel we have to help collect them in their garden as well.

I hope you can see them well enough in the picture, which I took through window glass.  At the time I noticed it was a bit smeary and needs cleaning after our recent carpet laying exercise.  So that’s what I’m off to do now before it gets too dark this afternoon.

Walking With Batgirl

A couple of weekends ago I had a visit from my daughter, granddaughter and the little dog they often  look after.  We were lucky enough to have some good weather for our walk in Upton Country Park along the top of Holes Bay.  When we met other walkers, they were all anused by the batgirl costume.