Childhood memories and hopes and dreams

One of my favorite pass times when I was a tot was to look at all the buttons my mother kept in her button tin. It was a brown shoe polish tin - very utilitarian and totally delightful because you couldn't see what was stored inside. I distinctly remember thinking that I'd have to have a tin full of buttons  when I was a grown-up.

My mom still has her button tin and it still holds its fascination for me, but I have been fortunate to have inherited my mother-in-law's collection of buttons. I'm currently sorting through them to select which ones to pass on to Cupcake Couture's Button Hunt. I wonder whether they will be of any use to her?

There are a few buttons that I will not be able to part with though. These delicate pink ones on the left are being saved incase I'm lucky enough to have a baby. My husband said that if I'm saving pink buttons we will most likely end up having boys! 

Today's view:

It's VERY bright and sunny at the moment so the sea is mostly just reflecting the sun. Perhaps if I were to take this pic later today the sea would show as bluer than blue but it's good to feel the sun in the sky - it makes me feel energized and reminds me of the fact that some of the best things in life are indeed free (uh, oh, my apologies for the cliché).

White horses

Could not drag me away from you....

Apologies for the mis-quote. I always seem to remember only tiny bits of song lyrics. This one is from Gino Vanelli's "Wild Horses" but I was thinking of the white horses on the sea because it has been a very windy day. Regrettably you can't see the white horses in my little photo.

A few of my favourite things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens and some new stuff that brings a smile to my face.

The view {update}

Our weather is currently as changeable as the weather in the UK. These are pics of my view from yesterday and the day before that.

Change in the home

I like to follow blogs about de-cluttering (see my post here) and the latest that I've fallen in love with is called Small Notebook - For a simple home. Reading Rachel's post "Are you making Your To Do List Too Hard" was just as though she had seen right into my mind and then, like Mary Poppins, had whisked everything into shape.

It was wonderfully appropriate because I'm looking forward to doing some tidying and reorganizing this weekend (pictures on Monday if all goes well). We've bought some beautiful second-hand furniture and I've been thinking all week about what should go where and whether my ideas will work when the time comes.

If Mondays are known for the blues, what colour are Fridays?

Having heard of synesthesia (check out the Wikipedia definition here), I guess some people do assign a colour to Fridays. I imagine it should be silver - all sparkly with anticipation of the weekend ahead and the opportunities to do what we enjoy and with a hint of the possibility of a party.

That's so long as you don't work in retail, where weekends have become just another two days to sell sell sell. I'm in two minds about this. I have friends in retail and sympathize that weekends for them don't exist. My longtime friend would like shopping on a Sunday to be banned! However, I love being able to shop on the weekends. If I shop during the week I am on my own but if I shop on the weekends I usually have company.

Here's to this weekend. Hope you all have a blast.

Early start

I am quite an early riser so this is the sunrise at 5.26am (according to my camera). I'm not really fully awake till at least 6.30 but I know a good sunrise when I see one. I have to confess that other members of my family who are not early risers do not enjoy being woken up to enjoy the sunrise, so here it is for you, dear reader, to enjoy at any time of day.

My camera isn't an SLR so luckily I can take pictures like this without having to look directly into the sun and so my retinas remain intact.

Relaxation and nature

I am beginning to see that nature has it's way of working things out for itself. Take for example the way my cat can be utterly relaxed...

and out of the window the view of the sea and the sky is totally exquisite without any fancy camera work or filters or photoshop.

Good news for "older" moms

I've been aware for a long while now that the closer I get to thirty-five, the greater the chance that I may have a baby with Down's syndrome. My last birthday was my 35th so the following piece of news is a positive one for me.

From the New Scientist "Blood test accurately predicts Down's syndrome".

And in other news... here's today's picture of my sea view. The weather looks a bit ominous and I'm fairly sure that there will be rain this evening.

Should have, could have, and skilled procrastination

This is my guitar that I should be practising right now. Meanwhile I am hooked on my daily fix of blog reading and posting.

Today's post is inspired by Hayley over at everything inbetween who started her year with a clean-up. I'm planning to do some serious de-cluttering in January. My favourite de-cluttering site is The Clutter Clearing Consultancy which is run by Clare Baker. I love her approach because she understands that some people have a fundamental problem overcoming clutter because, like me, they are procrastinators.

These are a pair of "before and after" pics from Clare's website.

And if those don't inspire you then take a look at 365 Less Things and the section titled "Week 1 of 2011 Mini Mission". It's an excellent and manageable way to start to tackle the accumulation of "stuff" that we tend to generate. I really have to agree with those people that say that a cluttered life creates environmental stress that we take out into the world with us. But to counter that I ask myself: If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desk a sign of?

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.

As I am writing the rain is pelting down in fat diagonal stripes. The two photos of my view were both taken today, the first at about 2pm this afternoon and the second just now at 5.30pm.

I love rain and the splashy sound of cars driving by in the street below give me a sense of refreshing cleanness. I think today I've started to feel as though the New Year has properly begun.

Deep Blue Sea

Today is a beautiful, sunny Friday. Thank you, Durban, for such fabulous weather.

Winter Wonderland

I've been admiring Tania Kindersley's photos of her bit of Scotland in winter (her blog Backwards in High Heels is a daily treat) and because I have been trying to convince my husband to visit England in winter, I came across some photos of Kew Gardens in the snow. 
This one is my absolute favourite though. It's by BearTomCat (BTC) / John. He's an amateur photographer who seems to mostly do macro photography but this icy statue is just perfect. It's called Hercules in Ice.

Here is today's view from my window. The horizon in almost invisible so I'm guessing that out there it's still bad weather. It always makes me stop and think when I realise that at the same time that we are having such warm and humid weather, another part of the globe has snow and ice. Somehow for me, it puts my life into perspective, that I am just a small link in a giant chain that is human life on earth.

On a clear day you can see forever

My title today is the title of a 1965 play by Alan Jay Lerner and later a 1970 film starring Barbara Streisand. It's a phrase that has always lodged in my mind because I love places where you can stand and look from left to right and see the horizon in all directions. I'm lucky enough to live in Durban and in a house with a sea view (so covetable) which shows the far off horizon to the East. I'm thinking of starting a series of the same view because our weather has been so very changeable recently and the series may prove interesting. I've been inspired by Tania Kindersley of Backwards in High Heels. Thank you Tania.

The Package Project rides again

I was thoroughly disappointed when I found that I had joined the blogosphere too late to participate in last year's Package Project, a spectacular, amazing, awesome, super cool (sub zero) initiative by Cupcake Couture.

Explanation directly from The Package Project website: The Package Project is an exchange aimed to connect bloggers around the world and to grow the blogging community even further. It is all about swopping pretty packages and handmade delights. The packaging only makes the exchange more fun so get creative...strings, manila tags and ribbons galore. Each package must be a joy to receive and each time you do receive one...pop out your camera and snap away. This way we all get to share in a bit of your excitement.

Organisation 101

Take a look at Hayley's post on everything inbetween. She's started the year with a big tidy-up (something I usually only get to in October after squirreling everything away during winter) and her ideas are really super cool.

Image from http://www.highhopesstamps.com