Lilac

W is for.............Windows 

• Window-such a simple word really but when you stop to look at the variety in any city it makes you realise how creative people can be.

This photo does not show the beauty of this window nor is it able to convey the incredible atmosphere that was created in the chapel it overlooked. Sunlight was filtering through from outside and the lights inside lit up the coloured  glass pieces until it seemed to glow. The whole space was surrounded by wonderful windows so that everyone was bathed in  light and rainbow hues. In made me feel very peaceful.

Everywhere we looked in Paris there were startling images that took our breath away.

Everyday we are together M and I try to spot the "magic moment" we had enough magic moments in Paris to last us a lifetime. I hope someday you can get to go too and feel inspired as we were.

Oooooo la la P is for.......Paris

I am so excited tomorrow M and I are heading over to Paris for a few days. The last time I went was years and years ago, I remember being very pregnant and it was freezing cold. I think I knew where every loo in Paris was.

This time it is just the two of us.We have managed to find a little place right in the centre of things, so we should not have to go far to spot one of the dozens of Art Galleries or museums.

We laughed at the reviews for the accomodation because it appears that only one of us will be able to stand up in the room at any one time i.e very small and cosy.

I know its late but any tips  for good places to eat would be gratefully received. Also does anyone know of any interesting fabric or yarn shops.

Thank you.

A is for......

Well I never thought I would be joining in something so soon into this blogging adventure but I think this will be a nice way to focus my blogs until I find my "voice". Until yesterday I did not even know what meme meant now  since coming across this particular one on the Bella Dia site and after a quick google search I am somewhat enlightened. So here goes....

A is for Africa.....

I was born and have lived most of my life in the UK but my mind and senses were opened to a whole new reality when we lived for some years in Africa. How can you capture the magic of this continent in a few words or photos it has to be experienced to be understood even in a small way. But small is not a word that comes to mind when you think of it. Everything seems bigger and more vivid than back home. The trees , animals, flowers, especially the insects are big and bright and the sky stretches further and higher and wider than any vista in the UK.

At night the sky is almost palpable, a  black velvet expanse wrapping around the  shadowy landscape,on a clear night it is pierced by thousands of glittering lights. The stars do appear brighter because the night is not tinted by the orange glow of streetlights or the constant flash of headlights like here. Maybe you live somewhere quiet and remote away from cities and this is your experience too but it was not mine. And it did make me feel incredibly small in such a vast universe but also awoke in me a childlike wonder at such a fabulous sight. How good it felt to be in awe so as an adult.

I want to write more and tell you of the amazing rainstorms that fill the sky with thunder and lightening and wash away the road surfaces again and again since the raindrops seem to come down without spaces between them. And that the rainy season in  Zimbabwe prompts thousands of frogs to emerge from secret places and fill the road so that you dare not drive for fear of squashing them. Or I could tell you of driving at night and seeing spooky white shapes swaying too and fro in the road ahead and realising just in time that it was a herd of elephants plodding across the road from one part of the vast game park to another.

Enough enough I hear you say. Yes I must stop because I could sit here all night remembering wonderful things and how much the experiences there changed my life and outlook on the world.  But if you do get the chance to go then I hope your time there is as good as mine and that you too appreciate the resourcefulness and resilience of people you meet as well as the many wonderful places and things you will see.

Oh and remember if a baby elephant sniffs your armpit with his trunk he is sort of saying hello. Credit for the photographs is due to Tony Costa at this site .