Cloudboats.

I take the title of this post from a song I once heard a school girl friend singing, while we waited in line for some boring exercise.

Her sweet young voice was so exquisite, and beautifully true. I could not believe my luck to be chosen to sing in the same school choir as she~ my voice was made for descant and harmony.

I still find myself singing harmony to many songs I love~ even though it is only inside my head!

Nowadays, my voice is a dismal, cracked, flat, imitation of a voice, but at least I have the memory of singing in that choir, and the pleasure it brought me.
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Some of you may have noticed I seem to have rather a penchant for taking cloud photos, or sunsets. I find the sky is never boring, and some of the cloud formations are just so lovely. Of course, there are many times when my camera is not to hand. Although I now have a Smart phone, it has a somewhat dumb driver, and I have trouble getting my photos to be successful on the phone. User Error 19, I think they call it? Or indeed, any other number you might wish to choose! One size fits all, for me.

Here is another sunset, mild and tame. In the past a blog friend who used to read here, suggested I make a coffee table book of the life and views of this pine on the left.

This was taken a few nights earlier, and it held a somber blue quality that I loved. Yes the lone tall pine is in centre shot this time. Our palm in the foreground can be a nuisance or a frame. I do like it, and it is much nicer than the dratted power lines that can mar my shots.

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It was my beautiful Sister's Birthday on 15th Nov. I tried to phone her, but missed catching her. I left a message, and she called me back today. It was like a tonic, talking to her, and laughing. She talks 'Kiwi', and not many Aussies do, so it is a treat to hear from home. Her exciting news is, her youngest daughter is expecting twins! And, they are identical, so that is wonderful news.                                                          

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When my son was quite young, he adored the Pink Panther, and his father took him to several  Pink Panther movies, with Peter Sellers. As a family, we attended some together, and they were good fun, and we all enjoyed them.

Larger Pink Panther stuffed toys were hard to come by, but we had contacts in the toy retail world in those charmed days, and one of our friends informed us he could get us a large size Pink Panther.
Back in those days, there was some ridiculous Import Law regarding stuffed toys that were imported, into New Zealand. . If they had a zip, they could be regarded as something different to what they really were,--- a stuffed toy---(for goodness sake, what was so sinister about that?). So our "Pinky" or rather our Son's Pinky, had a large zip in the centre of his back, that led to .....nothing.  Just a blank aperture, with cotton insert for lining, and no pocket!

Nevertheless, our Son loved his "Pinky" dearly and he had a lot of fun posing him with friends and family, and  playing Pink Panther movie scenes with his sister. 

Somehow Pinky survived the culling and the paring, when we moved from New Zealand to Australia, and he is still a part of our lives today. Maybe a little tattered, and worse for wear, but children and dogs alike love him!

So here, is Pinky, posed by my Son, on my bed, with Zane the miracle dog. We still can't believe how lucky we are to have found him and he is the perfect dog for my Son. He knew a small dog would fit the bill, but he did not fancy what he refers to as a 'small poofy dog' with lots of white fluff. Well Zane is not poofy and he doesn't have much white hair, but his nature is just beautiful and he is a perfect 'fit' for Son.

Lastly, here is this evening's offering. I love the lightened Cloudboats.

A wonderful friend, Mary Canning has created an 'Open' Facebook Group, which anyone can join. It is devoted to photos of Ups in our everyday world, and anyone, who uses Facebook,  can post and join in the fun.

(Some of my friends who also read fb, will find a pic or two duplicated.)

A Psychologist friend once told me if you are looking "Up" it is impossible to feel "Down". I believe this is true, and I try to find "Up" every day.

If I did not, I would be a blithering idiot in some mental facility, quietly- or loudly, even- going quite mad.

Bob Dylan, Not Dark Yet.