Sky...

'I must go down to the sea again
to the lonely sea and the sky'...
- John Masefield   

A Skywatch post

During the Summer months
we spend a lot of time 
on the water and I'm always
in awe of the beauty
of the sky.

The sky in these last two photos

was translucent

and the colors were quite magical.

Today I'm joining

Mary for "Thursday's Inspiration" 

and Bernideen's "Open House Thursday" 

and Skywatch Friday

and Claudia for Favorite Thing Saturday

I would love you to visit

both these parties

to meet other like minded bloggers.

Why not join in - it's fun!

I meant to tell you

that down under in the

Southern Hemisphere

daylight saving ended last weekend

when we put our clocks back one hour

... sad to say goodbye to

2012/13 Summer!

Thank you for your lovely comments

and welcome to my new followers.

À bientôt
and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥

Trésor Collage a parting gift...

My dear friend Carol who now lives
and works in the UK
has just been home for a
month long Summer visit.

Out of all my friends
she is one of very few who "get it"
regarding my love of blogging,
and visiting thrift shops
looking for old linen and lace trésors!

We spent some lovely time together
which included shopping,
enjoying afternoon teas at
'The Florentine Tea Room'
and
'Little and Friday'.

I wanted to make something special
for Carol as a reminder of her visit home.
I pulled out all my most precious
laces and fabrics for her to choose from.

Carol chose a beautiful piece of old
French embroidered linen
(given to me by my dear blogging friend Barbara
who sadly died in February this year.
You can read my tribute post here).

An old piece of toile fabric with images
of roosters especially caught her eye
(this was given to me by Lilla -
thank you L).


Carol's mother was from England originally -
 her maiden name was Cockerell.

So, being the fervent francophile that I am
I translated the 'Gallic Cockerill'
to 'Le Coq Gaulois'!

On the right hand side I included
a piece of New Zealand Paua shell
as a reminder of home.
Carol told me she has it hanging
on her bedpost!

Today I'm joining Becky for
Blissful Whites Wednesday

 and
Claudia for 
A Favorite Thing Saturday

There are three great Giveaways
on my side bar
you won't want to miss!

Rhonda of "A Little Bit French"
 and 
Manu of "Vintage Savonette"
and
Vicki of "2 Bags Full"


just click on the giveaway image
to take you to their blogs



À bientôt
and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥

Chinese Lantern Festival

In late February each year

the Auckland Chinese community

hold their lantern festival

in Albert Park

to celebrate

Chinese New Year.

All the colorful displays 

depict Chinese scenes 

 of old folk stories.

The trees were so

beautifully decorated.

We all enjoyed a fun night

with everyone in such a happy mood.

I'm joining Mary for

Mosaic Monday

do pop over and meet

some lovely bloggers -

you may like to join us!

Thank you dear friends for visiting me,

I've been working for the last two 

weeks - hence the lack of posts!

À bientôt

be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥