Monday, October 31, 2011

Look through any window, door or archway... Magnificent Monday Oct 31st.

Hiya everyone and welcome to another Magnificent Monday to kick this week along. I'm late; been tiling our new sun room, and laying those tiles then spreading and cleaning all the grouting has really locked up my joints, but a brisk walk with the dog and I've loosened up enough to get this article moving!

This week - "Look through any window, door, or archway."

What do you see?

Sometimes the most unexpected sight can be found beyond a new door or archway, as was the case for us when we visited Szentendre Village, 30 minutes by train North of Budapest, Hungary. We knew of its reputation as an artist's village, and were not disappointed. We enjoyed the high quality and range of style of pottery, painting, sculpture and other arts and crafts displayed on the sidewalks and in the wee shops, or little markets, but when we set off to explore more of the village, we truly didn't expect the sight that awaited us. Wandering down a small road, we peeked through an arched gateway to see what we thought was just an old building.
  
An abandoned building?



Old commercial buildings fascinate me; I have a love for them. Not those cold, old concrete shells, or the stark steel and shattered glass buildings, but warm, colourful, cake-crumbly buildings like this, where each brick laid by hand bears the fingerprints of old time experienced craft tradesmen. Derelict brick factories resonate with my need to know more about their history; why they were built, what industry or trade was carried out within them, how the workers and staff lived, worked, ate and breathed in them? To me they are not empty; they are still alive and lightly breathing, just resting but awaiting a new phase in their cycle of existence; perhaps a renovation, or a conversion? 

Demolition doesn't mean the end of that building; each re-claimed brick has a new life in some other building or new home, fence, shed, or decorative paving; the "soul" of that building lives on, albeit in another form. A metaphor for life perhaps?



This abandoned building we discovered was "alive"! "People" inhabit the building, watching from the windows, climbing the walls or about to jump to the ground.



I was enthralled with how this village's innovative authorities have commissioned an artist to turn this scungy, derelict factory into a living art work. Instead of a run down eyesore, this old brick building, well past its ''use-by'' date, was now transformed into the most eye pleasing modern art.


What did I say about an old building still living on?


Tradesmen continue working in the building that breathes again.


And if they don't like living there, they can jump out and take off!

I wonder if the artist has created this artwork to portray the same concept of a building's "life force" that I appreciate when I see old brick factories like this?
 Has the artist sculptured to merely record the past history of the building, or is he trying to show how the "Life" of the building continues?
If only they could talk, what stories they could tell?


More about - Szentendre Village

To join in this week's Magnificent Monday-
1. Paste your name and a link to your " Window, door or archway" article in the Mr Linky tool below.
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Island Seduction: Samoa Rush!


Island Seduction.


Virgin Cove Resort was going to be a base for Kay and me from where to explore Upolu Island, Samoa: the big plan was to get around and see as much as we could on our holiday over the Easter break. We fully intended to...we had everything planned to rush around in the hired RAV4, and we'd set aside a couple of days of our valuable time, but somehow the plan went awry.

We should have known you don't rush: Samoa's not like that!
Samoa is beguiling, seducing, and lays herself out in front of you, beseeching you to explore her fragrant, luxuriant and ample body slowly. She's bedecked herself with flowers behind her ear for a reason...and we were seduced!

Samoa will not be rushed, so we didn't  see as much as we could because there's something we'd forgotten...Island Time!

 Yes, we slipped too easily into Island Time.

Island Time meant we just didn't quite get around to doing what we meant to do. It entrapped us, slowed us right down, ensured we would end up going nowhere, and we'd take our time getting there.

The upside was it made us look at our immediate surroundings with more appreciation. The lure of the white coral sand beach 20 metres away, and the warm, crystal clear water of the coconut tree lined lagoon just didn't let us wander away: they enticed us back whenever we thought of venturing off. It was all there for us. Why go elsewhere?

It was fun just sitting in a deckchair on the verandah of our Garden Bungalow, a glass of wine in one hand, looking up from our books to watch mudskippers flipping across the muddy banks of the small nearby stream; or sharing the intense excitement of seeing large land crabs scuttle out of their burrows right in the middle of the pathway to our doorstep, to grab a newly fallen leaf before dashing back again! That was enough activity for us!

 The walk to the village of Sa'anapu, just 1200 metres away, cured that untimely and unwanted need for  physical exertion. Meantime we spent our days at Virgin Cove Resort swimming, reading, sunbaking, and enjoying the wonderful meals at their cosy restaurant: Masi masi, or tuna, is fresh caught, and well presented with a tasty cheese-sauce to die for.


Our exploration plans were as idle as the RAV4 : parked up and forgotten for 4 days.

 What did it matter if we didn't get around the island? Samoa impressed us right from the start, and we both knew we would come back. So let's leave other things to be discovered next time.

Why rush?

Find out more about Virgin Cove Resort here- Virgin Cove Resort, Upulo, Samoa.


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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Beijing signs: Travel Photo Thursday Oct 27.


"Chinglish signs" seen in Beijing. 

No worries mate. 

Fair enough, I'll go along with that.


Gee, and I was in real need of a squat! 


Not a sign, but a very interesting piece of wall art. 

The greatest sign of all from this guy who wanted to jump in front of the camera just to have his pic taken.

A few signs we saw in Beijing in 2007. 






Travel Photo Thursday is on again where travel bloggers post up their great pics from around the world. Join us. Post up yours and head over to Nancie's Budget Traveler's Sandbox and link into the fun!


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Monday, October 24, 2011

Johhny Clegg for YouTube Tuesday! Oct 25th.





Welcome everyone, to this special performance  by Johhny Clegg for YouTube Tuesday! 





 One of South Africa's greatest musicians, Johnny Clegg has been a favourite of mine since 1987 when I first bought his "Third World Child" CD, recorded with the group "Savuka". Third World Child was a very brave recording by Johnny Clegg and Savuka, with its references to the struggle against the apartheid political situation of the time and mention of various martyrs and  Nelson Mandela.


 I now have many CDs and DVDs of this exceptional showman. Attending his live performances is not just a musical experience, but also a learning one; this excellent entertainer is also a great commentator on South Africa's life and history as he introduces his songs. When you attend his live performance (as we did when he toured New Zealand a few years ago,) you will feel you are taken to South Africa with his music and stories about the history and culture of the "Rainbow Nation".


 In 2008, Kay and I travelled with G Adventures from Cape Town to Windhoek. Our excellent guide Gerhard (Guts) Swanepol asked me if I had heard of Johnny Clegg, and I was able to say "I love that guy!"
Then he loaned me his MP3 player and I listened to a song I had never heard before of Johhny Clegg's. That song was "Impi". It stuck in my mind and later I was able to search and find it on YouTube. 


 Last week's Travel Thursday Photo of the Zulu Memorial at  Isandlwana brought back memories of our time exploring the Battlefields area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and brings "Impi" up to the top of my playlist.


 "Impi" is a song about the Zulu victory over Chelmsford's army at Isandlwana.

It is said that during the battle of Isandlwana, the initial charges by the Zulu impis were beaten off by the constant decimating fire of the defenders, and the warriors had gone to ground after seeing so many of their tribesmen killed. 
The attack had stalled and defeat faced the zulus, until one Impi leader stood and challenged his men to rise and fight. Further charges, and the defenders rate of fire lessening, allowed the zulu to breakthrough and the bloody slaughter saw over 1300 troops and support personnel killed. 

 The war chant is blood stirring. Listen and imagine the challenge to battle, and how you'd react.
 We have elephants in all their majestic power to watch to the music.
I love that elephant.


Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza
Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? 


All along the river chelmsford's army lay asleep
Come to crush the children of mageba
Come to exact the realm's price for peace
And in the morning as they saddled up to ride
Their eyes shone with the fire and the steel
The general told them of the task that lay ahead
To bring the people of the sky to heel


Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza
Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? 


Mud and sweat on polished leather
Warm rain seeping to the bone
They rode through the season's wet weather
Straining for a glimpse of the foe
Hopeless battalion destined to die
Broken by the benders of kings
Vainglorious general and victorian pride
Would cost him and eight hundred men their lives


Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza
Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? 


They came to the side of the mountain
Scouts rode out to spy the land
Even as the realm's soldiers lay resting
Mageba's forces were at hand
And by the evening the vultures were wheeling
Above the ruins where the fallen lay
An ancient song as old as the ashes
Echoed as mageba's warriors marched away



Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza
Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? 

Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza
Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? 




Translation for the Zulu challenge- 
Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza - Warriors ! There is the warriors challenge
Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? - Who will touch the lions?,




Share your favorite video every Tuesday. Be Creative, and have fun. The video can be about anything.
Visit Tiger Time for more great YouTube Tuesday selections. Josh is the man with the plan! Leave your name and link in his linky tool so everyone can view your video selection.
Leave your link in my comments section so I can drop by and see your choice.

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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Magnificent Monday: Favourites.

I have that great morning buzzy feeling when I jump out of bed. Yep, we're in for a great day: things are going to happen! I can't wait to get stuck into cleaning up the garden. A few rampant plants need trimming back and they're going to get it. No mercy... I'm going to murder them!

My tea has cooled while I'm breakfasting and listening to the morning bird chorus. Yet as I pour another cup, the up-and-at-it buzz turns into a mindcloud... a sense of unease grows...there is no-one else home but I swear I feel the presence of something. What the hell is going on I think as once again I check the doors; they're locked. Downstairs is empty. Peering outside, there's no movement apart from some foliage gently swaying in the light breeze. That's strange...the street is deathly quiet but it should be alive. Where are the early morning workers walking or driving past? Weird! Not good....
The tea tastes insipid; something is bugging me too much to enjoy the morning reviver. I better go check the window once more.




What the hell! That wasn't there before. Where on earth did that come from? It's heading straight for our window!
I'm stunned stupid. Seconds tick by... and then it moved... I swear it moved... it's closer... heading straight at me....
Tearing myself away I know I have to get to the garage... the chainsaw is fuelled and raring to go. That bloody triffid won't get me this time. I carved up his mates just months ago easy as, man. They're no match for cold steel whirring along at 2,000rpm, ripping into their flesh, slicing off limbs and ripping vascular bundles apart, splattering juice and green gunk everywhere. When that chainsaw rips into its stump there is just one huge green mist enveloping everything. Was a tough fight last time: two of the bastards came at us, trying to poison us with their ejectile stingers! I just managed to chop them down; dunno what would have happened if there was more of them. Hard enough to slash two of them...any more and we'd have been done for...headed for that great compost heap in the sky... transplant takeaways!

Grabbing the chainsaw I rush outside hoping to catch it by surprise from behind, but...I can't believe what I see! Hundreds of them, all heading towards our house!


Help! We're done for! 
Those triffids must have been breeding secretly in our garden just waiting for the right moment to burst forth and attack all at once. The Earth is doomed. We're being overrun. We'll fight them off as long as we can but this may be our last broadcast....er...blogpost...




Day Of The Triffids is one of our favourite movies. Even though the ending is rather contrived, the original 1962 version with Howard Keel grabs us better than the 1981 BBC TV series.

Now every time we look outside our windows we're reminded of that great suspense film, as it seems we are besieged by many alien plants. They are Furcraea Bedinghausii, a member of the Agavaceae family, monocarpic, sending up a flowering stem 4-5 metres high after a few years. The stem will be covered in hanging flowering bracts, which then grow hundreds of bulbils that will drop and grow into new plants. The front of our house is planted with many of these, and as you can see some mature plants are growing the massive inflorescence. The fact they are all leaning towards us gives them an air of attacking alien life!

Hundreds of these green and lemon
blooms will cover the hanging bracts.
Bulbils growing along the bracts.
Last seasons Furcraea in full bloom.
We shall survive this season's attack; in fact we'll rather enjoy it. They are such impressive landscape specimens and the neighbours are enjoying the spectacle as much as we are. Our favourite plant for this summer.

What are your favourites? Favourite city, place, activity, person, song, film... whatever? Let's read about them.


 To join in this week's Magnificent Monday-
1. Paste your name and a link to your "Favourite" article in the Mr Linky tool below.
2. Leave a comment to show you care.
3. It's good etiquette to edit into your article a reference to this article to let your readers know also.
4. Visit each post, leave a comment and share Stumble, Digg, Tweet and Facebook etc so we can all benefit.







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Thursday, October 20, 2011

This Moment. Fri 21 Oct. Lucy!



{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Adopted from Soulemama. Drop in there and leave your link and comments also.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Meet your great, great, great,...great, great, great,...great, great, great,great, phew...flipping great, great, great, great ( and some more...)  grandma!

National Museum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is where I took a photo of my earliest rellie.
This is a replica of the re-constructed fossil bones.

Check this site for information. http://www.crystalinks.com/lucy.


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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Travel Photo Thursday. Isandlwana, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.


Memorial to the over 1,000 Zulu who died at Isandlwana. The British camp was between the small hill on the left and the foreground of Isandlwana hill. 

The Battle of Isandlwana, January 22, 1879 was the first major battle of the Zulu War and resulted in a crushing victory by Zulu warriors over invading British troops. Lord Chelmsford had divided his force, forging ahead to the east, hoping to contact the main Zulu Impis, and left his supply and reserve forces camped under the watching eye of the 'Sphinx', the hill known as Isandlwana. Ignorance or arrogance precluded any attempt to fortify the camp: no expectation of attack was contemplated. Meanwhile the main Zulu impis had advanced unseen towards the encampment, bypassing to the north Lord Chelmsford's searching column. On the morning of the 22nd, a small patrol discovered the main impi force, precipitating an immediate attack on the British camp. More than 1300 troops, irregulars and support personnel were slaughtered in the worst military disaster inflicted by a 'native' army against the British Army.
http://www.britishbattles.com/zulu-war/isandlwana.htm

Later that day the Zulu impis went on to attack the little settlement at Rorke's Drift, this battle immortalised in the 1964 film "Zulu" starring Michael Caine.

"Zulu" has been said to be the single most inspiring South African tourism advert ever.

I can say it certainly inspired our interest in South Africa's history and to visit the Battlefields area of KwaZulu-Natal. We went on to explore much of the area where Zulu-Boer, Zulu-Anglo and Boer-Anglo wars were fought. With a South African guide, and using local guides we were able to learn more about the complex history of conflict in South Africa, and how this places this huge country with its multitudes of tribes, races, and cultures in the modern world.

Looking from the other direction across the battlefield.
White stone cairn memorials mark British dead. 

The British camp spread across the foreground and to the right of the picture. The white stone cairns mark the spot where Chelmsford's forces buried the remains 4 months later. Each small cairn marks 25 bodies. Larger cairns mark 50 bodies buried. To the extreme right of the hill of Isandlwana, or the 'toe of the boot" is a white marker denoting the position where some of the last remaining holdouts who retreated up the hill were killed. 





Travel Photo Thursday is on again where travel bloggers post up their great pics from around the world. Join us. Post up yours and head over to Nancie's Budget Traveler's Sandbox and link into the fun!


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Monday, October 17, 2011

YouTube Tuesday: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

This is a very special presentation for YouTube Tuesday. A gentleman born blind, who creates amazing melodies. Gurrumul draws on his heritage of his Gumatj nation from North East Arnhemland, Northern Territory, Australia, and sings songs that emanate from the depth of his heart, reaching out and touching your soul leaving you rejuvenated and inspired. How does someone create such beautiful songs?  This performance is extraordinary for his ability to draw your emotions to the surface, surround you with peace, and leave you wanting more. I guarantee you will press replay. 

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu


We first heard this singer-songwriter in South Africa, when we were staying at a guesthouse in the Battlefield's area. The housekeeper's daughter who lives in Australia had recently sent his CD across. Gurrumul remains as a backdrop to our Battlefields tour, the peaceful and inspiring qualities of his music contrasting eerily with the history of conflict and death in such a beautiful land. Returning home I sought out some of his music and now appreciate Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu as the greatest indigenous Australian musical performing artist.


Grab a coffee, kick off your shoes, lean back, close your eyes and let this performance envelop you. 


Then share this widely...more people deserve to enjoy him.


More info, songs and lyrics are found here- http://gurrumul.com



Share your favorite video every Tuesday. Be Creative, and have fun. The video can be about anything.
Visit Tiger Time for more great YouTube Tuesday great selections. Josh is the man with the plan! Leave your name and link in his linky tool so everyone can view your video selection.
Leave your link in my comments section so I can drop by and see your choice.

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Magnificent Monday: Water.

Hi and welcome again to Magnificent Monday and our theme  this week is ''Water".
Waves, rivers, watersports, waterspouts, reflections on water, boats on water, boats underwater, bodyboards, surfboards, seashores, and more -bring them all over and link them up in the Mr Linky Tool at the bottom.  

The vital ingredient to all life, water is so precious. So calming to look and contemplate upon, yet so powerful in its anger. Bringing us life with its gentle rain, taking life with its storms and tempests. Nurturing our crops but savaging our fields with raging flood waters. We pray for it, yet we often curse it. Goes fine with a dram of Single Malt also...just a wee drop though.




If you have ever seen any of the world's largest waterfalls you can only be impressed by the mighty and awe-inspiring demonstrations of the power of water. Thousands of tonnes of water crashing and thundering over the edge of faults in the earth's crust to smash down in foamy torrents on rocks below, to flow through canyons and rocky defiles, feeding headwaters of mighty rivers that may flow onwards for 1,000's of miles through our continents, re-vitalising the land with water borne silt and nutrients deposited with annual floods and bringing life to all along the edges.

Ethiopia's rainy June-September season sees torrents of water cascading down once dry, rocky mountainside gullies into streams and rivers feeding Lake Tana in the northwestern plateau. Fed by a natural spring at Gish Abbai,  the Lesser Abay stream which flows into Lake Tana is the source of one of Africa's grandest rivers- the Blue Nile, which joins with the White Nile at Khartoum, Sudan to create the Nile, generally regarded as the world's longest river.

Long a dream destination of ours, finally standing at Tis Issat Falls, 30 kms south of Barhir Dar on Lake Tana, we looked for the Blue Nile...and found a shitty brown one! Heavy rains meant the falls were thunderously alive with water so silted up, so full of soil washed down off mountainsides and plains and heading at high speed up to Sudan and Egypt!


Catch a taxi or tour from Bahir Dar. Then a 30 minute walk across this old bridge, and around a hillside. 

We had to get through the usual gauntlet of locals with handicrafts, hustling a few birr off passing visitors; very high pressure tactics. Even the children's choir were doing their best to earn a living. Loved them. Kay taught them a new song.


Not one of the world's highest, but at 45 metres still a grand vista. 

In full flood here, but in the dry season more rocks than water.

Have a look at how green the country is. 


Heading back after a very scenic hike. 



To join in this week's Magnificent Monday-
1. Paste your name and a link to your Water article in the Mr Linky tool below.
2. Leave a comment to show you care.
3. It's good etiquette to edit into your article a reference to this article to let your readers know also.
4. Visit each post, leave a comment and share Stumble, Digg, Tweet and Facebook etc so we can all benefit.



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Monday, October 10, 2011

YouTube Tuesday: Oct 11, Ray Wylie Hubbard.


Share your favorite video every Tuesday. Be Creative, and have fun. The video can be about anything.
Visit Tiger Time for more great YouTube Tuesday great selections. Josh is the man with the plan! Leave your name and link in his linky tool so everyone can view your video selection.


Leave your link in my comments section so I can drop by and see your choice.

This guy Ray Wylie Hubbard has to be up there with the greats in Country music today. I love him. I collect every CD I can find. The guitar-ring, the lyrics, and delivery for a live recording are superb. Full of soul.
And if you don't like him, well SY,WFT well at least he is, I'm not but it's a great saying.



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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Magnificent Monday: Smiles can light up the world.

Welcome to another Magnificent Monday, to kick this week off on a high note. 
Smiles can light up the world. The glow of a a spontaneous smile is immediately appreciated and engenders a positive warm response, no matter how off one can be feeling. This week, an online friend is having a heart procedure and I know he'll be reading this, so I went through a few albums and pulled out a few snaps of warm-hearted smiles I have captured from our travels. Let's post up more articles and photos of ''Smiles" and light up his world. Let's send heaps of positive energy flowing his way.


I love these Ethiopian  kids expressions, especially that look on the face of the one on the right. 

 Ethiopian kids would greet us with "Hey Mister, you, you,you, youoooo!"   .


Young girl at Sunrise Children's Village, Siem Reap, Cambodia, an orphan girl  smiles as she knows she has a chance others dream about. 


These kids want $1 for a snake! I love the cheeky expression on the child's face on the right.
Siem Reap Cambodia.


Look at the expressions on every child's face here. Kindergarten supported by EHRA at Anixab, Damaraland, Namibia.

Meeting Savitri, our sponsored child in Jharkhand State, India. The joy on my wife's face makes this one of my most treasured photos. Savitri is overcome with the attention and burst into tears soon after.


Our Mongolian host family with a heap of smiley faces- even Grandma is, believe it or not!

I'm not allowed to smile while the facial mask gets to work! But I do occasionally.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

To join in this week's Magnificent Monday-
1.Paste your name and a link to your "Smiles" article in the Mr Linky tool below.
2.Leave a comment to show you care.
3.It's good etiquette to edit into your article a reference to this article to let your readers know also.
4. Visit each post and share Stumble, Digg, Tweet and Facebook etc so we can all benefit.



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Friday, October 7, 2011

This Moment: Fri 7th Oct.


{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Adopted from Soulemama. Drop in there and leave your link and comments also.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.






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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Mongolian Cultural Evening. Stupendous Performance.

Welcome to this week's Travel Photo Thursday.
  Mongolia was a travel experience we have very fond memories of. Naadam Festival runs in July throughout Mongolia and features skills of archery, horse riding and wrestling. It is the premier event for the tourist. At the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia, commonly called Ulaan Baatar Opera House, they stage cultural performances during the week of Nadaam. Truly a wonderful sight. Costuming is glorious and colourful. Acrobats are stunning. Musicians produce rich and vibrant music, and the renditions of throatsinging  are amazing.
Yes, I am using all the cliche words but look and listen: totally justified. Awesome, stupendous, awe-inspiring, fantastic....! Get to their performance if you can when in UB.







These photos taken on my first digital camera, a Sony Cybershot at around 2 megapixels, which recorded a crappy video, but also allowed a still photo with sound recording function which I have included a piece of. So don't worry if you're expecting a video...it hasn't frozen, it's a still pic with sound, I hope you like the orchestra. 







All photos by Jim McIntosh.

More great photos being posted up for Travel Photo Thursday over at Nancie's BudgetTraveler's Sandbox.
Check them out and join in the fun.




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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Little Strawberry: Future Travel Plans.

After I saw these I ate all but one!
This guest post was written by my youngest daughter. I thought I should clarify that before any more readers think this is the best, cutest, sweetest article I have ever written. I think I'm going to chuck writing in...I go out of my way to relate all my tales of intrepid travelling, my derring-do with wild animals, surviving elephant rampages, and Mongolian food, to be told this is the best article yet. Sheeesh!
..........................................................................



Once upon a time, in a fruit bowl far, far away, there lived a Little Strawberry.

And she was the most beautiful Little Strawberry you ever did see, with a big, red, plump belly and bright, green hair. All the other Strawberries were happy and played together in the fruit bowl.

But this Little Strawberry was sad. She did not have a mother. She wanted a mother so bad. One day, the Little Strawberry decided she would find her mother.

The Little Strawberry looked around the fruit bowl, and she saw a long, yellow thing.

“Are you my mother?” The Little Strawberry asked.

“No, I’m a big Banana, I’m not a strawberry!” said the long, yellow thing.

The Little Strawberry sighed. She looked around the fruit bowl again and saw a round, orange thing.

“Are you my Mother?” she asked.

“No, I’m only an Orange ! I’m not a Strawberry!” said the round, orange thing.

The little Strawberry sighed again. She looked around the fruit bowl, and saw a bunch of purple things.

“Are you my Mother?” asked the Little Strawberry.

“No, we’re a gang of Grapes! We’re not Strawberries!” the bunch of purple things replied.

The Little Strawberry began to cry.

“Is there no one here that will be my Mother???” she yelled.

The fruit bowl was silent.

Then, suddenly, The Little Strawberry heard a voice from the back of the fruit bowl.

“I’m a kind Kiwifruit!” the voice said.

The Little Strawberry looked past the big banana, the only orange, and the gang of grapes, and there she saw a Kiwifruit. And it was the most beautiful Kiwifruit you ever did see. She had a big, fuzzy, brown body and bright, green hair – just what the the Little Strawberry thought a great mummy should look like!!!

“I’ll be your Mother!” said the kind Kiwifruit. “I love Little Strawberries. They're very special fruit, just like Kiwifruits!”

The Little Strawberry was so excited, she jumped up and down. The big banana, the only orange, and the gang of grapes all cheered.

“I have a Mother! I am the luckiest Little Strawberry in the fruit bowl!!!” sang the Little Strawberry.

And they lived happily ever after in a totally organic way.

The End.

A wee story written by one daughter for her elder sister, who is progressing through the child adoption process. Eldest daughter living in UK is known as Kiwi there by all her friends.
 I guess the child will be known as '' Little Strawberry." Cute Eh?


One Little Strawberry is probably going to have a profound effect on our future travel plans!




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