Redesigning & Downsizing . . .

Well as you can probably see, I have been doing a little bit of redesigning around here!

Just don't ask how long it took me to do the new header! (all that choosing and resizing of photos took quite a while) it is a good job that I enjoy that sort of thing.

As some of you know, I have a lot of blogs!
All are valid in their own way - but I know I am spreading myself too thin and that prompted my decision to downsize and concentrate on the five that will get my attention.

Oooh, I've just realised that it is six blogs if I count I Saw Sunday and that is not to mention twitter and my Tumblr blog. - Eek, now I am starting to feel overwhelmed again!

So, the blogs that are staying are. . .

The Streaming Now. - This one! with photos and bits and bobs from my day to day life.
Joy Frequencies. - My first and original blog where I write about my way of looking at life.
My Name is ZING. - Short posts that capture the moments (often included here.)
Out of my Ocean. - My Poetry blog.
Panopticulated. - Where I keep my writing that I do for the various prompt sites.

And of course I Saw Sunday. - Where we share what we noticed in the previous week.

So there you have it. Phew! Actually in doing this post I have realised that I haven't quite downsized as much as I thought I had!

Photo: Close up of the rust on the metal boat hanging in my garden.

Captured Raindrops and a Moment of Magic. . .

"Early morning sunlight casts a perfect silhouette of my lilac tree on the frosted glass

of my kitchen door. Liquid yellow light runs in rivulets across the terracotta floor.
Timing just perfect for my newly opened eyes to catch this beautiful moment.
In minutes the Sun will be higher in the sky and that rare scene will be gone
and no one else will witness the beauty that was in my kitchen this morning."

- My Name is ZING

What a work of art - look at the sublety of shading on those petals.
And the beauty of the centre just takes my breath away!

I suspect that this intricate and pretty flower may be what some folk call a weed?
Not sure what it is but I like it. :-)

And here's our metal chicken. A real part of the garden, so much so,
that the cats often walk up and greet it when we spend time outside. :-)

When we moved here there were lots of things around the garden that had been left by the previous occupants, an old couple. One of them was this old vice and the sturdy hunk of wood it is mounted on. It now sits in the ground in a quiet corner with spring bulbs growing at its feet. This wasn't the only thing that stayed, read about the others here. - Here before we came.

Raindrops on leaves, a rock full of quartz crystal points that was a gift to me from the ocean,
one summer long ago in Cornwall. And there beside it, the tiniest pale blue flower.

"This week i've just been wandering around my garden eating gooseberries
and blackcurrents off of the bush. Mmmm, instant snacks." - me :-)

More raindrops . . . sitting so perfectly on that green leaf dish.

Now for a splash of colour - our trusty village postbox.

More colour from the fruit in my kitchen.
It made me laugh this week when I found out that my sister Deborah thought
that apricots were baby peaches. :-) - Sorry Deb, I had to share that. x

And now for a moment of magic!

I was sitting at my desk when something caught my eye,
I turned my head and there on the wall just beside me was this
beautiful dancing display of light. I grabbed my camera and snapped
some pictures before it disappeared and the moment was lost. . .

I hope you have all had a good week.

A selection of my other posts this week . . .

I wrote from the point of an inanimate object for a poets united prompt - HERE

I wrote a new poem this week called The Missing Sky - You can read it - HERE

I posted words and image to celebrate the summer solstice. You can see it - HERE

Happy Sunday everyone. x

Thought of the week

"Expect nothing, appreciate everything." - unknown

I am linking this post to week 41 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us? We would love to have you on board and we will make you very welcome....I promise. :-) Come on, join in!

Beautiful Roses and Village Views . . .

"The quiet cup that holds this still morning, is crazed with tiny hairline cracks of birdsong
- almost imperceptable through the airtight filters of sound subduing glass.
A subtle soundtrack to accompany the silent film that is playing
on the other side of the window pane."
- My Name is ZING

Through my window I saw this beautiful sight. . .
The pretty sky and the beautiful big trees
backdrop for the white flowers on my blooming tree/bush.

They smell wonderful but I haven't got a clue what they are!
Have you any idea? Close up picture below.

In my garden some of the roses are blooming...

This beautiful one is still in bud. . .

Here is one of my favourite plants. . . I am not much of a gardener and don't know much about plants (except how to love them and appreciate their beauty.) But there was a big bush of this growing outside the kitchen window of our last home. I potted up a small plant that had self seeded and bought it here with me. I have clumps of it growing everywhere. . .

"Joy is not in things, it is in us." - Richard Wagner

Now to continue that walk around the village I started a few weeks ago. . .
(I really had trouble whittling down the photos for this weeks post, I had so many.)

I snapped a photo of this old faded advert on the side of the original village shop.
(It has now been converted to a dwelling and we have another small community shop.)

Then in the distance those two beautiful trees.
Now what is that between them?

Yes, the old village stocks!

Another pretty window surrounded with greenery
that will soon be laden with tiny grapes.

When replacing the thatch they recently had those holes blocked up.
We used to see the doves flying from them.
(I am sure they weren't eaten! not like they would originally have been.)

An open gate. I loved that splash of wonderful colour set amongst the greenery.

And then these poppies caught my eye. . .

and one beautiful fallen petal. . .

It has been a week of sunshine and showers and everything is growing at such a rate.
My gooseberries, blackcurrents and redcurrants are ripe and really need picking before the birds have them all. I don't mind sharing but I do like first pick! :-)

I hope you have all had a good week.

Also this week: Read what I saw in the images of Elizabeth - HERE - and Jinksy - HERE.
And here's another one written this week - HERE

Happy Sunday everyone. x

Thought of the week
"When its all said and done, all roads lead to the same end.
So its not so much which road you take, as how you take it. "
- Charles de Lint

I am linking this post to week 40 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

When the Inner and Outer Worlds Connect. . .

"We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect.
The judgement of the intellect is only part of the truth." - Carl Jung

Earlier this week I awoke suddenly from a very vivid dream about one of my much loved cats Teddy, who died a couple of years ago. (He was the son of Ms. Mitz and brother to Bina and Sammy.)

It was so real and so lovely to see him again, that when I woke up it really stayed with me, and I had trouble shaking the sadness that his death always leaves me with.

A few hours later and we were driving to a nearby town for me to pick up a doctors prescription when I mentioned the dream to my partner. As we drew up to the doctors and I jumped out of the car I saw in the distance a cat that looked just like Teddy. I turned to try and get my partners attention to show him but he was manouevering into a parking space to wait for me.

I went into the doctors and after a short wait at the pharmacy I made my way back outside and held the door open for a lady with two children who was trying to get them both inside, she thanked me and said "mind out for the cat! I think he is waiting for someone!"

I looked down and there at the door looking right up at me, very pleased to see me, was the Teddy doppleganger! I bent down and stroked him for a few minutes, he was so like him it was uncanny.

I got back to the car and told my partner, he had seen him walking toward the doctors and said that he even had his distinctive walk. He had noticed the 'coincidence' of the matter too and was amazed that the cat had been waiting just outside the door when I came out.

Now what was going on there?

A clear case of synchronicity, it lead to some deep discussions on the car journey home. And the strange feeling of the dream world bleeding through into this one has stayed with me.

The inside world and the outside world connected that day.

Have you ever had any experiences like that?

I nearly slipped down the cracks
that opened in my reality today.

Fissures in the once solid ground
threatened to swallow me as I passed.

The looming dream world too close for comfort,
infiltrating the light of day.

No longer content with its sleep populated realm,
it tore a hole in the thin fabric that separates
these two different worlds.

Maybe these rips are always there,
hidden, unseen.
But today,
I noticed.

- S.B.

Poem by Susannah Bec - (taken from my poetry blog - Out Of My Ocean)

And the Red Hot Pokers are Pointing at the Sky . . .

"The perceiver is reflected in what is perceived." - Amrit Desai

In my kitchen the Buddha waits. . .

for the gooseberries that are almost ripe. . .

. . .and the blackcurrents ripening daily.

I have walked the garden eating redcurrents and blackcurrents from the bushes.
Soon I will be joined by the blackbirds and thrushes. :-)

In the garden touches of yellow against the green. . .

And glimpses of purple peeping . . .

greenery and buds trail around the wind chime. . .

And daisies turn their faces to the sunlight. . .


Meanwhile in my front garden, red hot pokers point at the sky. . .

. . . and through the window, the cats watch me taking photos. :-)



My other blog posts this week - Where Shall We focus Our Lens

. . . and for the Thursday Think Tank prompt I wrote - Tiger

Happy Sunday everyone. x

Thought of the week
"No matter what they tell you,
you don’t have to stay within the lines."
- Natalie Portman

I am linking this post to week 39 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

Sunlight, Shadows & Seed heads

"Happy people do not demand a lot from the world
because their happiness proceeds from a place deeper
than the world can touch." - Alan Cohen

As we drove through the village today the sun was shining and everything was blooming most gloriously. As we parked up near our village shop (which is run by the community) I snapped this photo from the car window as I waited for Joe to return with his free range eggs.

Another pretty cottage snapped from the open window of the car as we passed.

Back at home I noticed the shadows and sunlight on this scene outside our front window.

And then as I got indoors, I saw the shadow of the stained glass sun
that hangs in the window reflected on the opposite wall.

In the garden there were seed heads...

...and spilled petals.
(Peonies are so beautiful but over too soon.)

There were bedding plants waiting to be planted...

And those that already were. Do you notice the black spring?
Joe had to do some work on the car to replace it as it was broken,
I nabbed it for the garden! ;-) - believe it or not I have a pretty
motorbike exhaust pipe in the garden too. lol

Earlier we went to a car boot sale.
As we parked up I noticed this queue of bins and the faded paint on the building,
I bet if I stared long enough I would see all sorts of images in that!

I walked around with my camera at hip height just snapping away.
Here are a couple of interesting shots I managed to capture of the things on sale.

Back at home with a couple of my purchases.
...a nice white cat.

...and a pretty clip for my hair.

Believe it or not I had 170 photos on my camera when I downloaded them today.
So many good ones, I could have done this post ten times over.
Still, I managed to pick just a few to share. :-)

(Late addition - I have just posted some more photos over at my other blog Incredible Joy)

I would also like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely man Joe - it is his birthday today!

Happy Sunday everyone. x

Thought of the week
"Every morning we are born again.
What we do today is what matters most."
- Buddha

I am linking this post to week 38 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

Happy Birthday to Someone Very Special

A very special lady has a birthday today...

My lovely Sister!

Happy Birthday Deborah I love you very much x

I am so glad that you are both my sister and my best friend.

Have a wonderful day!