HAPPY NEW WEEK and HAPPY FULL MOON!I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Black-Billed MagpieSeedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming USAU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServicePhoto labeled Public Domain (Copyright Free)
OG - I meant to reply to your post last night but - obviously - didn't. I would say that expecting too much of yourself is far better than the reverse. I'm sure that if you weren't so determined you would never have tackled and coped with your health issues as well as you have done, particularly this year. As you say, you are evaluating things now and can choose what to step back from. I agree with LINDY - sometimes a day set aside to do just what takes your fancy seems a good idea.
J might have to cook himself something or eat out this evening!
ROSY - lovely to hear from you and like LINDY I laughed about the lamb. That is the sort of thing that I might do even without a late night beforehand!
Rained all night and quite windy. I heard my garden refuse bin blow over in the night - BANG. Obviously not full enough....
I hope all has gone well for OG at the eye appointment, and that something can be arranged so that everyone eats, tonight!
Heather: Hope your bin didn't disgorge everything onto the path! Its got very windy here, I went out with just a thin fleece on and wished I had worn a "proper" winter coat instead, when I went to do some errands in town this morning. This included getting my camera memory put onto a disc, so now I can add some more pics to those already shown, plus show you this one of the Birthday Boy a couple of weeks ago, when Matthew was 3:
( I drove "Ruby" into town, and was pleased to find that she has a good heater system for when it gets colder!) My OH has been advertising our Old Heap, as the car itself still goes well and starts every time, so as a very large estate car, it might be useful for a workman or builder as a workhorse. It does seem a shame to scrap a car when the engine etc. are still working well.
Morning all: Not leaving for Arizona until Saturday (dreading the drive through Los Angeles, but have downloaded interesting stuff onto my iPhone, which gives you something to listen to instead of fretting about how SLOW you're driving. Staying in Palm Desert for the night en route both ways.
OG: Agree with Heather re your determination to Do Stuff, but it's smart to back off instead of wearing yourselves out with tiresome meetings, etc., etc..
Lindybird: Gorgeous little boy! What a charmer!
Rosy: Good to see you.
Safe journey, Annette, and I hope its not too frustratingly slow. It does help if you have something to listen to, to take your mind off things. Matthew has had his curls cut off since the pictures were taken: his hair seems to grow very fast. He's enjoying going to nursery, now, and is absolutely smitten with all of the musical activities there. I have him down now as a future conductor of the Halle orchestra!!
Had a phone conversation with sis-in-law this morning, and she has been told by a friend that they heard that a dog had died recently, after eating something similar on a north Welsh beach. We are lucky indeed that Bonnie has survived her drama.
Lindybird: Loved those curls! Ugh - awful about that dog; sounds like Bonnie was indeed lucky. Wonder how many casual visitors would know about the hazard...
Off to Tai Chi and to stop by our TV/Cable supplier's office to see what they mean by sneakily increasing our monthly charges!
Here are some more pics from our trip: We left the pleasant park, and the Monastery, and drove in the coach a short way to the river - this is the famous River Tagus, and is very wide where Lisbon has now grown in size beside it, giving them a sea port which is safe from the oceans occasional bad moods. There is a vast history of the famous Portuguese explorers leaving from here, and they are rightly very proud of them all.
On the way to our next stop, we passed an ultra modern building which is a Cultural Centre, for Exhibitions etc.
We arrived to visit this, the very famous Monument to the Discoveries. Built in the late 50s and completed in 1960, after it was first conceived in the 1930s but the original was destroyed and then this built, it is a tribute to all of their brave and famous explorers, who went out in their small (by today's standards) wooden ships, and found many new parts of the world, including beginning trade with the Orient. It looks outwards, right on the edge of the mighty river, and is set into a large mosaic of marble like a compass. This is the first impression you get of the vast size of it - 50 metres high.
Detail of the intricate and beautiful marble compass.
As it is approached from the rear: there were hundreds of people of all nations, there.
More of the Monument to the Discoveries:
Detail of the lead figure, Henry the Navigator: notice the ship in his hand. Along both sides of the monument are other figures, 33 in all, who are all real people, including Vasco da Gama and Magellan. Some of them were scientists and map makers.
I liked the "waves" on the floor....
View to the right, looking out towards the sea.
One of two metal globes alongside.
Detail.
More of the Monument: seeing it, was a real "Aaah" moment.
The light was better at the time, to view the other side. It actually touches the edge of the water at the front so you cannot walk around the front of it.
The detail was amazing: they had put a lot of thought into the design.
The lead figures from this side: he has a map in his left hand, I think.
More of the Monument:
If you look into the distance, you can see a huge cruise ship just leaving.
People were constantly arriving and leaving, and of course most of them were taking selfies!!
More detail. The whole thing was most impressive.
Next to it, a big art construction reading in English, the word "LOVE". There were hundreds of locks and love tokens attached, and a man was in a little hut selling these nearby.
We did not add to these...... !
Right next to that, a beautiful modern Marina, full of expensive looking yachts.
Thank you, LINDY. Great pics.