Wednesday; peaceful;

Nature is cruel....but also extraordinarily beautiful;

 pleated leaf of  the Bismark palm.

Peaceful for me means, walking around in the garden and take in all the flowery and earthy scents, the visual pleasure of unexpected beauty,  a leaf illuminated, a petal glitter from last nights rain.

Today I am invited to visit Sarah's garden. I am looking forward to see her garden. It is always a pleasure to    talk to a fellow gardener.


Down By The Salley Gardens by William Butler Yeats

DOWN by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white
feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not
agree.
In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white
hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

Lichen adorning a tree;

© Ts

Tuesday; a tiny speck...

Dawn in the Currumbin Valley;

WHO do you think we are? 

Monday; Sola;

The lovely Setsugekka, Camelia sasanqua; is always the harbinger of autumn, the first of the Camelias to flower. The white flowers pristine, sometimes with a breath of pink. It is deilcately beautiful.

This morning I have to make myself to write about something beautiful; the words are not flowing today;
Outside the wind has chased the clouds to make  room for blue and gold, I did not expect it this morning.
Perhaps my day improves too, something chasing off the clouds.

To cheer me up a few lines of  A MERRY AUTUMN
 It's all a farce,—these tales they tell 
        About the breezes sighing, 
    And moans astir o'er field and dell, 
        Because the year is dying.

 Such principles are most absurd,— 
        I care not who first taught 'em; 
    There's nothing known to beast or bird 
        To make a solemn autumn.

 Now purple tints are all around; 
        The sky is blue and mellow; 
    And e'en the grasses turn the ground 
        From modest green to yellow.

 The seed burs all with laughter crack 
        On featherweed and jimson; 
    And leaves that should be dressed in black 
        Are all decked out in crimson. 

                Merry Autumn, a wonderful hymn by Paul L. Dunbar.

Somewhere over the oceans is an other world where spring sows tiny bells of happiness.


♥


A favourite;

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction.


And an other favourite
...tomorrow is another day.

Sepia Saturday 117 - Scouts;

Scouts is a difficult meme for me, no photos, nothing, nobody past or present has been a scout. My middle daughter had once a go at cadets in her first years at Maclean Highschool. Nothing has come out of it not even a photo. As far as I know my father did not like organised obedience. He hated it when he had to do his obligatory military training and also the successive  trainings every year for three weeks and after 40 for 2 weeks.  My daughters never showed any interest to be a  "Browny" what the girls were called in those day I have a nephew he has refused to do military training and service and had to something else, like community service. Before that many went to jail which was the only option if you did not do military service. For the females it was optitional.
I remember the scouts in Switzerland, they were little busy bodies feeling very important in their khaki uniforms and big hats. In lieu of the missing scout pictures I post some from the early years of military service of my dad.

I do not know the year of  this picture, but I know it was  in the second  world war, when all Swiss men had to go and defend the borders. Here he was in the cooking brigade, I think he did not mind it because he liked cooking! He always cooked on Sunday for us. My dad is right at the edge of the picture.

It looks like there were a few more which were not amused.

My mother with some  Swiss soldiers;  No clue why they are here, I guess my mother might have cooked for them. My father is not in this picture. He might have taken the picture. 

To me it looks rather odd, at that time it must have been  serious.

Here in front my father not wearing his uniform, why? His hands in his pockets, a very big no no; standing there not very elegantly  but very sure of himself.

No clue when or why?

This is my contribution of uniformed men, hope you enjoy.

 please click Sepia Saturday

Wednesday; Treats;

From Fabrizia with Love...

8 years old;

As Grandparents we have the privilege of being hugged from little arms and whispers, I love you goi. (Grossmammi) and we receive delightful paintings of the family dog.

It was a thank you for a sleep over on March the 30. 2011 

Panda Love 2009

6 years old;

Snowmen in SUMMER was Fabrizia's interpretation of her Painting. 2007

She was 4 years old.

Pantry doors as gallery for memories; drawings and paintings from the grandchildren

♥Happy days with your grandchildren♥

Monday; From Evolution to Revolution;

HOPE

“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero”' 

Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity  and change at every level of biological organization.
Earth and its inhabitants are in a continuous evolutionary process.
In the process of  evolution we are building up but we are also destroying.
Our knowledge has given us an arrogance which we can follow through history;  We think we are unbeatable, we do not reckon with the balance of nature in evolution. We pick at it, take it apart and put it the wrong way together. We make and try out a huge amount  new molecules. We make new food chains to combat diseases in crop but create in doing so new ones. We manipulate  all the food that is available today and we think we get away with it.  What we gain might be lost also, a terrible dilemma. We change DNA, we frack the earth, we pollute the oceans, we pollute water and earth with  poisons whiche will not ever be retractable, it is evolution in a negative process which nature has in store for us because we are “blessed” with bigger brains.

In the process of evolution, people have always been on each other throats for superiority. On all fours we fought for food;  Then advanced on two legs and found the club to hit each other on the head. Then we advanced a bit further to the sword and were able to cut us to pieces. A bit later we advanced to make a gun and  we all know the consequences it brought.  Our evolution is still pushing us, we have now the nuclear bomb. It has already been used and evolution does not let us stop here, as bad as it sounds but the people’s arrogance plus addled brains, drunk by success, do not see their downfall.
It has nothing to do with religion or what ever the prophecies are, it is pure evolution  of a species with a bigger brain; what goes round comes round.

Revolution;
A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.
 Aristotle described two types of political revolution:
Complete change from one constitution to another Modification of an existing constitution.
Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration, and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions.
A  Revolution can only help us now to come out of our quagmire if we have a complete turnaround. Change our behaviour towards nature, towards anything living. Unfortunately,  I do not think that this is possible, evolution  has its own way with us. Revolutions work for a while, a very short time, until it falls all in a heap again.
The movement which is now in control of the world stops at nothing even if it destroys itself in the process.  So I say, seize  the day while you can.

'Carpe diem' is usually translated from the Latin as 'seize the day'. However, the more pedantic of Latin scholars may not agree if you suggest that translation. 'Carpe' translates literally as 'pluck', with particular reference to the picking of fruit, so a more accurately translated  “enjoy the day, pluck the day when it is ripe'.
The phrase 'carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero' translates as 'Pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the future'.

©TS

Sepia Saturday 116; Hair;

Beards, are absent in my family, always have been. My ancestors must have been completely against facial hair.

They all looked as clean shaven as Richard E. Grant as Sir Percy aka Scarlet Pimpernel.

I had to call again on my grandson Lucian who has a head full of curls which I think make up for the best beard. This was in 2004.

In 2006 he was in year 12,  17 just before University. At this time he slicked his curls down with lots of gel!

Is this called a good head  of hair?

Enjoy

Sepia Saturday