Weekly Photo Challenge – Layered

The first time I read the theme of this week’s photo challenge ‘layered’ I thought of the wonderful cake creations talented bakers have done, I thought layered cakes show distinctly the different layers. I then thought of different layers which we find in our natural environment and this is the point I draw from the many photographs my friends have shared with me.

First up is this beautiful garden taken by a friend on one of her many walks I love the different ‘layers’ of different textures of plants and flowers layered beautifully.

 

In Zimbabwe it is spring and the following photograph is what the country side looks like at this time of the year:-

Here you can see the layer of trees and rocks  mingled together. What I like is how the texture of the rocks peers through the beautiful shades of the trees.

 

Here again you have different layers of different textures of flowers.

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Apologies

To all my valued followers yesterday you may have seen a blank blog post, I apologise I have been having problems with my broadband. It will soon be put right. Thank you for your patience. I will soon be back on the blogosphere and connecting with you all. In the meantime I wish you all happy blogging.

Daily Prompt : Aloneness

The daily prompt for Friday the 18th of August 2017 was ‘solitary’ as I thought about my interpretation of it I decided to use ‘aloneness’ as the tittle of my post. Just reading and thinking about it made me feel  that something was not right in my head. the word solitary invoked mixed feelings within me.

Sociologists have instilled in me that every human is a social being meaning that there is an inherent need to want and enjoy friendships and companionship. To seek to be alone can sometimes be viewed as ‘weird’ Yet there are many people who love and enjoy their own company, it is perfectly normal to want to be alone.

Growing up in a big family and having a small house for eight people  I always had people around me it was practically not possible at any given time to be alone. It was fun to always my have my parents and my siblings around 24/7, yet deep inside me there was a yearning of wanting to be own my own at times. I could never explain why I needed time own my own it was when I became a teenager that I understood the need to be on my own.  I worked out I needed to have a space to process my own thoughts on several issues without being influenced by those around me. The only place I found that peace and quiet was just walking into a church and be quiet, I never used to tell anyone of my church trips even my closest friends because I needed to be quiet.

For me ‘solitary’ is about allowing myself to find myself away from the hustle  and bustle of life and find solace in the sound of silence. Now that I live on my own it  is possible to  walk to solitary places like this one

where I am able to spend some time on my own and connect with my inner self and nature. I enjoy the company of those close to me and my friends but now and then I love being on my own.  It is in those solitary moments that I am inspired  a lot, I find meaning in the silence.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Ooh Shiny

I have not been posting lately, I had major problems with my broadband which have now been resolved hopefully for good.

This weeks’ brief of the photo challenge is about, diversions, distractions and delightful detours. My challenge will focus on the last one ‘delightful detours.  The times I really want to do something I usually resolve not to be distracted by anything. I usually succeed until someone starts cooking in the kitchen, the smell of good food will always distract me.

It varies from my grand daughter baking scones:-

or a nice fish meal by my niece

or one of her chicken dishes with a mango salsa

I loose all concentration and head for the kitchen, I call it delightful detour.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Delta

The brief of the week’s photo challenge is to show a photograph that reflects change and transition. Different countries have their unique seasonal transitions which is seen in nature. For this challenge I have decided to go into my archives and take you back to Zimbabwe and share one seasonal change which I love which is from winter to Spring, this is as from August to September.

Last week I shared the jacaranda tress which are not indigenous Zimbabwean trees, the msasa trees are indigenous and they mark the transition from winter to spring and then to summer.

This is the beginning of the transition when the trees begin to get their leaves after the winter season. The different  rusty colours  colours can be seen just beginning.

Here every msasa tree is showing the change.

In this one the different shades can be seen.

This is how the msasa trees look early in a spring morning. This is my favourite season I just enjoy driving at this time of the year because everywhere you look the msasa trees look stunning. By end of September the msasa trees are all green as summer settles in.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Transient

My interpretation of last week’s photo challenge of things that do not last brought to mind small pleasures I enjoy only for a limited period of time.

I have used this photograph before for another post, I feel it suit last week’s photo challenge. The beginning of Zimbabwean ‘summer’ is marked by the bloom of the jacaranda trees they only last for a month and then they are gone. They are glorious while they last once they are gone you are only left with the memories of the lilac colour which is no longer visible. The jacaranda bloom are one of my momentarily pleasures which are transient.

 

Swings are my grandson’s little pleasures so every time I am visiting one of my tasks is to go and spend time with him at the swings. He loves being swung into the air which he  loves to bits. That moment of being in the air does not last because it can not be sustained for a long time for safety reasons. The two of us enjoy it as long as it lasts.

Weekly Photo Challenge – focus

Last Friday’s photo challenge was  about showing a photo that represent focus. Focus is about concentrating, what it meant to me was about what captures my attention whether I am on a walk or something that stands out and I decide to capture every detail of it. I do not have a sophisticated camera except my smart phone.

I just want to invite you to see what captures my concentration in my daily encounters in the following photographs. ENJOY!!!!

One frost morning

February 2017 daffodils.

 

green locust

Light feather

Blue berries

The Holy

Early summer bloom 2017

 

Mushroom

Daily Prompt : Triumph

Triumph is that great feeling of happiness which you have as a result of victory or a major achievement. As I watched both the 2012 and 2016  I saw triumph written all over the faces of those athletes who had won a medal whether it be bronze, silver or gold. As each told their journey to that point of victory I heard  stories of sheer determination, and how each one of them had  given  up things they loved doing in order to achieve what they had set themselves hence the feeling of triumph.

When I saw this daily prompt  at first I thought it would not be easy to go anywhere with the prompt, the more I thought about it the more I was drawn to write a post. Most people have aspirations but they never attempt to have a go because of fear of not achieving their dream. The reason they suppress the urge to do try their dream is that people may have told them that they can not do it, or they may have heard people  say it can never be done.

To those who  against all odds pluck up some courage and give a try and the discover that it is possible to achieve what they may have dreamed of for years are the ones who have moments of triumph because they would have conquered what other people thought can not be conquered. Most of all they will have fought against their own doubts in them selves. The following photograph reflects triumph against all odds:-

This plant is blooming from what seems like a dead thorny plant yet it emerges brightly as if it to say I have  I am a victor.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Heritage

This week’s photo challenge is about sharing a photo of something which says “heritage” which can be from one’s own country  or culture. What I have chosen is not so much a “heritage” but something which is uniquely Zimbabwean.  ” The Balancing rocks” as they are always referred to. The  balancing rocks have become  major monuments in Zimbabwe.

The “Balancing Rocks” are geomorphological  features of igneous rocks found in many parts of Zimbabwe, and are particularly noteworthy in Matopos National Park and near the township of Epworth to the south east of Harare. The formations are of natural occurrence in a perfectly balanced state without other support. The formations were created when ancient granite intrusions were exposed to weathering as softer rocks around eroded. They are also known as “rock kopjes”, they are seen in the form of huge angular blocks of granite “piled on top of and beside one another, forming pillars and stacks, like a child’s building blocks.

Their popularity grew when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe featured the formations on the last series of Zimbabwean bank notes.