In The Pink

These ladies are my three Aunties and Paternal Grandmother; Nell (or Helen), Maureen, Alma and Beryl. Today was Aunty Alma's funeral and I am very sorry to say they are all now gone; but together again.

Last weekend we had my wonderful nephew come and stay. We went out on the canoe and had a picnic lunch, spoiled ourselves with a Chinese takeaway for tea, and played play-station until bedtime! (Need for Speed II Underground!) I have to say we have missed him sorely this week and wish he could come every weekend! Anyway, this was his room. I managed to keep it this tidy for about a day after he left before we filled it with our rubbish again! At the moment it is currently housing a double bed and all of the rubbish that was under the bed, plus a huge pile of clean washing that needs ironing and putting away!

Well I am very happy to say this sun is shining and the birds are singing again this morning however I did not wake up in a fabulous mood! I had a trying afternoon yesterday and a bit of a wierd nights sleep culminating in a dream about my paternal grandmother who sadly died about 10 years ago now. Although it was lovely to spend some time with her again, albeit in a dream, I woke up feeling very sad. I have always really treasured time spent in dreams with people who are nolonger with us. It is as close to sharing time with them as you are going to get, but it can also unlock emotions either un dealt with or buried deep. Anyway, I refuse to let yesterdays events and last nights dreams impact on this day in a negative way and so with the help of two buckets of tea (bucket is only a slight exageration, I have a wonderful and huge breakfast mug) and a long walk outside in the fabulous company of the pups, the birds, the sunshine and the ever encroaching Spring I am sure I can shake...

Dedicated to my wonderful family and friends for their kind thoughts, messages and good company.

I have been itching to post some New Year photos but the weather here has been a little grim in recent days. After the snow and frosts we have a spell of fog, cloud and drizzle and it does not make for an attractive landscape. I did have a lovely walk around a local wood yesterday with the pups but did not take any shots. Anyway today I am going to take my camera out anyway and hope for the best. I got a new lens for Christmas and am really keen to see what it can do. Its a wide angle lens which I plan to use for landscapes but I have also been given some advice for other ways to use it by a photographer in the family. We had a lovely visit with Sensory Dragon yesterday and she is currently winging her way back home. We are having a Star Trek Next Generation afternoon courtesy of Channel One (formerly Virgin One). We had a late one last night so its going to be a fairly lazy day. We watched Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law which we had not seen and really...

Well we have made it out of the duvet, off the couch and actually done some chores about the house! We got a call this afternoon to say that Sensory Dragon (AKA Mr Dancin's Sister), who is visiting family in the area, is making a visit to us this evening and staying over until tomorrow! It will be so good to see her and is a great start to the New year. It is also nice to have someone coming round over the holidays while our house is all festive still! And it gives us an excuse, not that we really needed one, to extend and consume the holiday spirit! Image Credit: Wikimedia

I am delighted to announce the arrival of my friend, and Mr Dancin's sister, Sensory Dragon to the world of Blogging over at Brambles, Rambles & Shambles ; a blog predominantly dedicated to the development of her garden, which is a restoration project in progress. If you have an interest in gardening and home produce I recommend you keep an eye on this blog. I am looking forward to being able to see the developments in the garden in between our visits to Cornwall, which tend to be less frequent than we would like given the distance between us. Welcome to the Blogosphere Sensory Dragon ! Happy Blogging! (Image Credit: Clipart N Graphics Haven )

Mr Dancin and I visited Beacon Hill Wood Fair at the weekend with Mr Dancin's parents. It was a great day. I took lots of pictures to blog as there were so many amazing wood crafts there. We could have spent lots of money on everything from candle holders to furniture to log cabins! Anyway here are some of my images starting with a magnificent Golden Eagle. I have to say I hate to see the birds in captivity and on perches but felt privileged to be able to see this fabulous bird up close. We are going to another fair this weekend with my family and I look forward to another very enjoyable day out.

We have had my parents staying with us for the weekend and had the most wonderful time, including a bit of a sing song session last night which lead to my few previous musical posts. At 2am I gave it up and went to Bedfordshire! It was lovely to have some quality family time. My Mum taught me some new crochet which was very exciting and will hopefully be the start of me developing my skills in that area, having been limited to crocheting squares. I have always got a lot of joy out of it but I am now looking forward to going further. My Gran taught me to crochet squares when I was little. It is a very peaceful past time. My Dad, reminded me about the The Grumbleweeds, which I had completely forgotten about, who were a group of comedians and impressionists around on the TV when I was growing up, and we all had a hoot listening to some old Barron Knights tracks. (As posted below!) The main event of the weekend was my Mum's driving experience day but that is not my story to share...

This is the Bing picture of the day, they are stilt fishermen in Sri Lanka. Apparently it was 38 years ago today that Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka and became a republic. Happy Birthday Sri Lanka, you are the same age as me! My maternal Grandmother was from Sri Lanka which makes me part Sri Lankan too, something I have always been proud of.

These are the Tulips I gave to my lovely Mum for Mothers Day, she took this photo of them, as I gave them to her a little early, to show them opening out. Happy Mothers Day Mum!

I took the pups out early this morning, well early for a Saturday, and have been sitting at my PC since I got back with morning sunshine streaming through the window and birds singing loudly. It is a lovely start to the day. Mr Dancin is still asleep but he had a very late night and also has a busy day rehearsing with the band so I am leaving him to it. The dogs have now had breakfast and have gone back to bed for a while! Anyway, one of the things I did this morning was download the pictures I took while away visiting my parents last weekend. These were taken on a Sunday morning walk. In the image above Roxy's paw has just gone through the ice of the puddle! The other images are air trapped under the ice in some rather pretty patterns. I know the weather is still cold but all in all I don't think it has been a bad winter. I know the snow causes problems for people and we are not really prepared to deal with it here. In my parents village no gritting was done and the roads and ...

Blimey! It's mid February already! It always amazes me how quickly the beginning of the year goes although I do feel like I have achieved a lot this year which is good. I also turned 38! Its nice to be back in even numbers, I prefer them to odd ones for some unknown reason. The picture opposite is one of my birthday gifts from my Mum and Dad. This beautiful mirror now takes pride of place in our living room. There are a couple of lovely ladies who work in our local garage in the mornings. I often fill up there are we have quick chat and a laugh. Well I was talking to one of them before Christmas and she told me that for her 18th birthday she was asked by her family what she wanted and she said a gilt frame mirror for her house. They bought her one and she has always had it in her living room. She then told me that she treasured it so because in the years that have passed since she was given it everyone she loved in her life has looked in it to straighten their hair, or hat or just...

I have started a music club for my nephew this year. As a member he gets 6 free cd's a year which I am attempting to select from the best of all genre to give him a good taste of what's been and what's out there. I am having so much fun thinking about it and my fella and I have just been sitting and chatting about which albums are up there and best represent a particular music style. I already have a list of cd's to cover the next three years and it is hard not to send him several every month but I do not want to overload him. I would rather give him a chance to have a really good listen to something and make up his own mind. If he wants to then further pursue an artist or genre he can. I am very excited about what he will think of different artists and can't wait to chat to him about it throughout the months and years to come. Image Credit: University of Brighton

I have found rainbows to be very difficult to photograph, but thanks to my Mum pointing out this double rainbow during a recent visit, I got a chance to capture one of them while it was still quite vivid. I've missed Sky Watch Friday, but I have been sky watching. Happy Weekend All! To join Sky Watch or see other participants click here

I have a lot to thank my family for. I am lucky to be able to say that I have always enjoyed a close relationship with all of my family: my Mum is an angel, I am grateful that we share many dreams, talents and wishes and I strive to be as good a soul as she is, my Sister and I have enjoyed a wonderfully close relationship for most of our years...except a few years as young children when we fought, I was a pain as a younger sister but very soon we developed a close bond which I deeply treasure and she is an amazing woman and dedicated mother who inspires me to this day. My Father has always been a hero figure to me, he is honest, strong, wise and very funny, and is a handsome devil. See, I told you! So today I would like to pay tribute to my father by posting some songs for him. As regular visitors will know I love music, I think I would have always been a big music fan thanks to my parents genes! However I owe my good taste in music to my family who started me out on a good track, enco...