WPC: One Love……Love Music

“If music be the food of love, play on; give me excess of it…..” ~ Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night.’

For this Week’s Photo Challenge, Anne McCarthy has chosen the theme ‘One Love’. Can you imagine a world without music? I certainly can’t, and as long as I can remember, music has played an important part in my life. The love of music is something that has followed me since I was a child in the 1950’s when my small fingers first touched the piano keys at a boarding house in Blackpool where our family was staying for a week’s holiday by the sea. I was probably five-years-old, and standing up could  just reach the piano keys. I managed to pick out ‘God Save the Queen’, with one finger, and my dear mom, thinking that I absolutely must be a child prodigy, decided to send me for piano lessons when we returned home. Well, I wasn’t a child prodigy, but learning piano did nurture my love of music.

Music with the power to heal and uplift the human spirit, has often been called the universal language, and is always so welcome when it just seems to pop up on my travels. I can’t resist taking photos of musicians who have added to my pleasurable sightseeing experiences, and Italy yielded a few such photos, like this street musician playing the well known love song ‘Besame Mucho’  whilst an elderly couple had an impromptu dance on the sidewalk. Such a special memory.

At a rooftop restaurant also in Rome, we were serenaded with the same song.

In the Piazza San Marco in Venice, the music group at the Grand Cafe, had many diners feeling the love and up on their feet dancing.

Even at a small lunchtime venue in a back street of Venice, a merry band of musicians appeared to make our meal more special.

So there you have it; My ‘One Love’ is a combination of my love of music, my love of travel, my love of Italy and all this of course in the company of my darling hubby the love of my life.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday: Following in her dad’s footsteps

And so it begins.

Relaxing pics for Jake’s Challenge.

“Place to Relax” is this week’s theme for Jake’s Sunday Post. There are so many places one could relax in and some people have the ability to relax and even nod off, wherever they find themselves. My son is one of these lucky people, and after flying down from New Jersey to see us in Florida, with three demanding little ones, he just flopped down on the sofa and slept for about and hour.

My youngest granddaughter  seems to take after her dad.

Riding on the back of her dad’s bike really tired her out.

Some people go to the beach to relax.

I wanted to relax on my favourite bench, but unfortunately this couple had the same idea.

Of course, my sister’s dog Dingo, spends most of his life relaxing. It’s a dogs life.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my relaxing pics, and didn’t nod off in the process. To see more interpretations of Jake’s theme, just click on his badge below.

We’re on our way up to Johannesburg to spend a week with our daughter and family. She has lots of outings and treats lined up for us, so I may not have much time to spend on the blogs, but I’ll pop in when I can. Have a relaxing weekend.

A few days in Merry England

Our short stay with my mom-in-law in England was so enjoyable. The weather was much better than I was expecting, and there were definite signs of Spring.

Her garden is so tranquil and even in winter, looks really lovely.

A couple of weeks previous, there had been storms and gale-force winds, which had almost uprooted this poor tree.

On the Sunday, it was righted again with the aid of a rope and a strong stake in the ground. It was given lots of water, and we’re holding thumbs that it will recover from its ordeal.  The old Magnolia tree in the front garden was bursting with buds, and I would love to be there when they all start to blossom.

The lady of the house was delighted to have ten members of her family around the table for Sunday lunch, and was positively sparkling.

I showed you a Florida sunset a few days ago, but England also has some really beautiful ones, and this was definitely worth a photograph.

I’m sorry I haven’t visited you much lately, but I’m just getting my life back on track, after being away from here for seven months. I went with my sister to visit my dear mom yesterday. She has become really frail after suffering a bad bout of pneumonia late last year, and is now living in a care home. It was wonderful to see her face light up with joy to see me again. We took her out for lunch to her favourite restaurant, and she managed quite well with her walker. I was so proud of her, and you will of course be hearing more about her whilst I’m over here.

Celebrating being 100 and a half.

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Joy

We are now in the car on our way back to Florida, after spending a wonderful Christmas with our son and family in New Jersey. I just saw the WPC for this week, and decided to share a pic of the joyous family members we’ve been with for the past week. We’re definitely going to miss seeing them every day, but we have wonderful memories of our times together.

To see more entries for the challenge, just click on the badge below.