Where I am reminded of the importance of play . . .

This week we explored the newly refurbished play area near our home.
Of course I took my camera with me! There were so many great colours and shapes, I was soon snapping away and came back with loads of pictures.

I resisted the urge to play on most of the things but the seesaw got the better of me, I was soon giggling away as I soared into the air. It was great fun and surprisingly high! Joe was on the other end and as he was heavier I felt I was going to be launched into orbit every time I went up.

"To play is to yield oneself to a kind of magic." - Hugo Rahner

The blue swing below is almost like a hammock, Joe tried it but as the park was filling up with little children, I thought I had better give up my turn. :-) Though from the look of it, I am sure it would have been a favourite! I quite fancy one of those in my garden!

They didn't have anything like that when I was young, as a child I always loved roundabouts and slides best. What was your favourite?

Being on the seesaw reminded me of the rhyme - 'see saw, marjorie daw. johnny shall have a new master... ' Did you sing that too?

Here's the lovely big swing, complete with its wonderful shadows. . .

As well as looking comfortable, it looks really interesting too. . .

Especially against the rubber matting beneath it
(eventually the grass will grow through that.)

I wasn't brave enough for the climbing frame!
But it looked fantastic against the blue sky.

Almost like some sort of monument!

Some more interesting shapes. . .

. . . and shadows.

Meanwhile back in my garden. . .

A certain adorable golden cat with a striped tail - A.K.A. Sammy, has taken to climbing the lilac bush and making his getaway over the fence.

Now you need some background here. Our cats have never roamed free and are usually content to laze around in their outdoor cat run, or roam the garden. (When they are not curled up on cushion indoors of course.) And both Bina and Mitz never exhibit any urge to see beyond the fence and hedge, but Sammy? well occasionally his naturally curious nature takes him too far, then suddenly he is somewhere unfamiliar and we have to find and rescue him.

It is not a good idea for him to get out, as there are three working lurchers living next door! and he has no experience out there! or any fear of cars or dogs. He has led a very sheltered life.

But we don't want to have to confine him to the cat run and indoors. So Joe jumps into action!...
With his pump action water gun! (bought specifically for this purpose of course.) LOL.

There are only two places that Sammy can get out if he really tries. So Joe watches and as soon as he goes near either of those areas, the water cannon shoots a jet of water against the fence just where he is going to go....and he runs! Terrified that the 'fence' is going to get him.

After a few goes at this and the resultant wet fur, he carefully avoids the areas and the problem is solved for another year. Periodically we will have to go through this whole procedure again, but it always works! (and secretly I think Joe rather enjoys patrolling with his water pistol!)

"You've got to keep the child alive; you can't create without it." - Joni Mitchell

Now do any of you remember this photo from back in May?

If you would like to read what happened to this little seedling
then read this blog post I wrote this week. . .
*Growing Where You Are Planted*

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you have had a good week. x

Thought of the week

"Live and work but do not forget to play,
to have fun in life and really enjoy it."
- Eileen Caddy

I am linking this post to week 46 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

All images and words - Susannah Bec

Skies, Shadows and Sunshine. . .

"Yellow light dazzles and daubs. I am smeared in sunshine."- My name is ZING

I never get tired of seeing the sun shine. That glorious yellow light illuminating leaves and greenery, casting its intricate shadows and warming my skin. Perhaps it is something about being British and the fact that when the sun arrives, like spring after winter, it is so welcomed. Would it lose its meaning if it was constant, would we long for dull skies and rain? I am sure we would. Though I don't like too much heat, the sun shining and blue skies always makes me smile. . .

Such beautiful skies - see the cloud that looks like a new moon?

"Just remain in the center, watching. And then forget that you are there." - Lao Tzu

And then the stark contrast of shadows . . .

See the moss circle in the drain cover - a miniature green world! :-)

(I didn't realise until I downloaded these that I had captured my shadow!)

The Importance of Shadows. . .

The shadow black stripes, define you,
throw your light into sharp contrast.
Give you a depth and a fullness,
that without them would not exist.
To be manifest and well rounded,
you need the light and the shade.
You are not a pencil drawing
scrawled on a flat surface.
You have body, you have shape,
dimension, form and movement.
Without the shadow blacks . . .
your colour would have no meaning.

An unexpected cat shadow too!

And now, Bina observed . . .

"She sits on the windowsill, tail wrapped around her delicate paws.
The light catching her profile and highlighting the cream coloured patch on her nose.

She turns and sees me watching and begins to purr. "

- My name is ZING

"Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life." - Buddha

The sun setting - seen from my desk. . .

(As you can see, my windows need cleaning! lol - I am not very domesticated! )

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you have had a good week. x

Thought of the week

"Language is the dress of thought;
every time you talk your mind is on parade."
- Dr Samuel Johnson

I am linking this post to week 45 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

All images and words - Susannah Bec
My name is Zing quotes are written by me and taken from the blog of the same name.

Sunshine and Shifting Perspectives. . .

"The tiny bird and his shadow sit on my fence top.
He has his back to me, but I can see his little body moving.
And though I can't hear it through my double glazed windows,
I can tell that he is singing. . ."

- My name is Zing

This week the sun shone, and it seemed that summer had settled into her stride. I sat in the garden, listening to the birdsong and the soft hum of insects going about their day. I watched the air full of little tiny insect bodies going about their life and was struck by the realisation that we were co-existing, sharing the moment on a lazy summers day in my garden. . .

I spent time this week, taking close up photos.
Looking at the fine details of things. . .

"Dancing shadows play across the wall, sunlight glints on everything shiny.
There are pools of light in dark corners. Outside, white butterflies
flutter like floating flowers. Pinned like delicate brooches to the
Buddleia blooms they collect the nectar that is their life.

The thought crosses my mind, am I collecting nectar,
or am I still fluttering around the bush looking
for somewhere safe to land?"

- My name is Zing

I caught this butterfly in flight, and the shadows against Joe's workshop.

"The beginning is always today."
- Mary Wollstonecraft

Our side gate - with its faded paint and promise of the garden beyond. . .

And then I found this seedling
it inspired a blog post. . . Thinking about the Journey

Looking at things so closely is a good thing, as long as you don't get too wrapped
up in the details and forget to look at the bigger picture. . . Because then
sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees, as the saying goes.

I walked this dappled path thinking of that. When I came across this wider view
and I realised that for balance, both perspectives are equally important.

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you have had a good week. x

Thought of the week

"All will be well, all will be well, and all manner of things will be well." - Julian of Norwich

I am linking this post to week 44 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

All images and words - Susannah Bec
My name is Zing quotes are written by me and taken from the blog of the same name.

Fast Roads, Sunsets and Rain at Last. . .

We were driving home from shopping when the sun began to go down. It didn't take long before I was hanging out of the passenger window taking photos as we sped along the fast road home...

"Speeding by the sunset - a blur of yellow

streaks the coming night with gold."
- My name is Zing

And then at last the rain came. Hesitant at first, then later in the week we were treated to torrential downpours! The rain filled up the almost empty water butts, the bird bath was full to overflowing and the bowl I put out for hedgehogs and garden creatures, was full to the brim too. .

"In the grey green moment before twilight, a solitary dove lands.

Rain drips from the silent bird table and falls to the waiting earth."

- My name is Zing

The garden welcomed the much needed rain and there was colour everywhere. . .

One patch of this is all green, one is variegated. Though they came from the same plant?

I think (if I identified it correctly earlier this week) that this is called Loosestrife?

Does anyone know what this plant below is called?. . .

And relaxing and taking it all in, Bina poses for a photo! :-)

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you have had a good week. x

Thought of the week

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible

and necessary to resolve it."- Rene Descartes

I am linking this post to week 43 of I Saw Sunday - Why not come and join us?

All images and words - Susannah Bec

Remembering. . .

“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.”

I wander through the corridors of me
in search of that tiny room
that contains
all I have forgotton

The dark holds such memories
it is taut with unspoken things

Things that lay just below the surface
unseen, but dangerous, even to the sure footed

Those small wrinkles in our bedrock become molehills
that can be magnified into mountains
in those inner cinemas
of the unconscious

I need to find the very darkest corner of me

and there, behind the fears
and the debris

of a life

half lived

I know I will find the spark

That pinprick of startling light. . .
just awaiting the breath of my awareness
to fan it into a fire, that will flood the shadows
illuminating those inner rooms with the brightest light

I reach out with eager hands and pick up that burning torch
I hold it aloft, until all the dark internal places
have seen the light that I carry

Lit up from within

I remember

myself

*


"Do not fight the darkness,
the light in and the darkness will disappear."

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

I was sorting through my Joy Frequencies blog and found this post from last year.
It felt appropriate for some reason to repost it here today....So here it is. :-)
Image and words - Susannah Bec.
More poetry at my blog Out of My Ocean

Sunsets and Small Stones. . .

The week started out very warm and things slowed down as they always do, as warmth soaked into waiting bones. The dappled dance of the sunlight and shade cavorted on the canvas of the nearby building. While underneath the big plane trees, warm people found shelter under the spreading canopy.

"The heat haze hangs heavy over the leaf green land. The air has weight. I feel it pressing into my unwilling limbs, wrapping itself around my shoulders like a shawl."

- My Name is Zing

As the two day heatwave fled, leaving us with more moderate temperatures, I began to make some changes to my blogs. You've probably noticed that I've made a new header for this blog. (I love designing blog headers!)

You can read about some of the changes and my decision to let some blogs lie fallow for now, in a post I wrote earlier this week--> Redesigning and Downsizing.

This week I also decided to join in with July's a river of stones over at My Name is Zing where I will be posting my captured moments as 'small stones' every day this month.

So that's enough news! Let me get back to what I saw this week :-)

Outside the town hall, the hanging baskets were in bloom. . .
And in my garden this week, were more splashes of Red. . .

and a carpet of Purple underfoot. . .

Sweetpeas growing up outside my window. . .

and a dash of Orange. . .

Then there were the most beautiful skies. . .

"I wanted to take pictures of the day leaving and the night
covering the vast heavens with stars. So I walked out into
the moth rich darkness, and was entranced by the intricate
silhouettes of trees etched against the sky."- My Name is Zing

And then last but not least. . .

I was waiting in the car while Joe picked up something from a local industrial estate.

While I was waiting I looked around from my passenger seat vantage point, for things of
interest or beauty (as I do! ;)) - and the first thing I saw was this scene below.

Almost an abstract art image - I love the lines, shapes, angles, and shades of blue.

And then, I saw the scene that became my first entry for a river of stones . . .

"Growing among the rusted metal
and stark utility of factory units.
The tiny yellow flowers bloom."

- My Name is Zing

My second river of stones entry was a moment of reflection that I had this morning.
I wrote about it in the post beneath this one.

I hope you like the new look! I am intending to post here more regularly from now on. :-)

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you have had a good week. x

Thought of the week

"It's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise." - Nancy Thayer

I am linking this post to week 42 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. :-)

Images and words Susannah Bec.