Picture Moments at the Beach

I took this dreamy calm picture with my old iPhone 4 at Myrtle beach.  It is so strange how a rickety old fence, a bit of sand and tiny yellow flowers can bring back a happy calm memory.

The reality is I probably looked really crazy walking around the beach snapping away at everything that catches my eye trying to capture the moment.

Happiness is a choice.

This photo is not the whole "picture" of what I was looking at. There was probably a big ugly garbage can right outside of frame. I choose to focus in, edit out all the distractions and see this tiny corner of happiness at the beach.

Life is a lot like this. I have had to discipline myself to just glance at the news headlines to be informed of world events. But I cannot let the negativity of the world distract me from the good and the beautiful things that happy everyday.

Thank you for reading

Sunset on The Cape Fear River

I took this picture with my iphone on the bank of the Cape Fear River while the sun was setting. The light was so beautiful over the brown (LOL!) flowing ripples of water. Muddy bottom equals muddy water.

In the background is a train trestle. All the times I have visited the river I have never hear or seen a train pass over. 

In the foreground, you can see the mud from the recent severe flooding that occurred in the area. The water rose up to the bottom of the train trestle. Incredible to see.

Despite the it's muddy scars, there is still beauty to be found and nature moves on. Time did not stop and life moved on.

Disappointments and setbacks happen in life, but how we recover and response to those stressful, frustrating, or sad passing moments defines our lives.

Rise Up. Refocus. Lessons learned. Keep flowing forward through life.

Thank you for reading. 

Thomasina

Dogwood Trees Are Blooming

Dogwood

I had a wonderful time this morning photographing the gorgeous flowers in my backyard. Thankfully I was able to take pictures of the dogwood trees before their delicate white blooms fade and fall to the ground. It seems these flowers bloom quickly and just a quickly disappear.

What a wonderful sunny cool Spring day to be outside exploring my overgrown backyard. I had so much fun grabbing close ups of every flower I could find. Creative. Happy. Relaxed. Energized.

A beach trip would have been wonderful but it was nice to stay home and appreciate the things that surround me daily.

Camellias

My yard has two hardy camellia bushes that have stood the test of unpredictable Winter/Spring cold then hot temperatures. I was afraid the frost would ruin the flowers and buds but once again these flowers set an example to me to stand strong against the harshness of life and bloom ANYWAY.


I hope you are having a happy, creative and productive day.

Thank you for reading

Thomasina

Spring is here! Time To Bloom

Azaleas beginning to bloom.

 Hello Everyone!

 

Long time no blog. I am back now just in time for Spring. Thank God winter is over. Now it is time to enjoy the beautiful budding flowers and sprouts of green. I definitely feel happier during the Spring and Summer months. Sunshine and blue skies - my life's motto.

 

 

Love how everything is coming up green.
 

 

This photograph is a lesson in you can't believe everything you see. It looks like just a peaceful shady green corner of my yard. In fact, it is next to a busy street and drive way. Photographers frame and crop images in a way to compose a picture that is not the actual reality of the real place, situation or even a person.

 

Always remember "there is more than meets the eye". In my beach photo landscapes ,I have cropped out so many trash cans, random people walking by and drainage pipes it is hilarious.

 

 

A daffodil that is truly a survivor.
 

 

This flower (some people think of it as a weed LOL!) is a daffodil with the strongest will to survive I have ever encountered with any plant in my yard. I remember this seeing this flower's beautiful buttery yellow bell blooms since my childhood. It has fought back against being trampled, cut down over and over with the lawn mower, and harsh weather conditions for many years but magically appears alive and strong year after year.

 

 

This year has been a stressful time for me and America so I took inspiration and strength from not only seeing the daffodil spring back at the beginning of Spring but this time it looks even more lush and strong than it has in many years. This plant is growing completely alone but decided to return and be beautiful every year.

 

Be Persistent.

 

 

Be Consistent.

 

 

Be strong.

 

 

Rise Up.

 

Thank you for reading. More blogs are coming.

 

Thomasina

 



Peace

 

 

Waves from the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach

 

 

 

The beach has always been a place of peace, relaxation, happiness and mental cleansing in my life. As I drive down to South Carolina, all of my problems fade away to nothing. The constant chatter in my mind is silenced.

 

 

There were many years when I was unable for many reasons to go to the beach and my life suffered because of that. Being near the water (a lake will do in a pinch LOL!)  instantly makes me focus my calm energy and smile. I will never ever take for granted any trip to ocean after so many years of wanting to visit and being unable to.

 

 

It's my "inner mermaid" longing for her ocean home beneath the crashing waves that pulls me towards the coast every chance I get.

 

 

I am sending out this peaceful foamy sunlit wave to you. I want to give to you the same peaceful calm strengthening positive energy I receive every time I stand on the sandy shore.

 

Today is your positive hopeful productive day. Believe in your inner strength. Run towards your goals.

 

 

Peace be with you my friend.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thomasina



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mermaid Standing In The Bright Sunlight

 

These pictures are a much better view of the Mermaid statue I got a little while back from The Christmas Tree Shops in this post.

 

 

 

 

She is a beauty. I think she has a very serene peaceful smile.

 

 

 

Nice details with the shells entwined in her long hair.



 

This is a back view of the pieces. Honestly I am really not a fan of the "distressed" chipped away look. I wish it was a solid white finish.

 

 

 

 

Side view. She is about a bit over a foot tall.

 

 

 

Closeup of her tail scales. In my previous post, you can see the iridescent effect on the inside of the clam shell better in those pictures.

 

 

Back view of the clam shell on a coral reef. Tiny clam shells and even a pretty pearl in front of the base.

 

 

Close up of the base.

 

 

 

I got really lucky to walk into The Christmas Tree Shops store and find this gorgeous mermaid. None of the mermaid pieces they had displayed since have been remotely as nice as this one.

 

It was so exciting to add this to my tiny mermaid collection. Usually I never see mermaid things when I am shopping so this was a great find.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thomasina

 

 

Sunset At The Cape Fear River

I saw a beautiful sunset over the Cape Fear River yesterday. The temperature had warmed up to "short sleeved weather” and I took full advantage of it.

Pale blue sky with a fluffy sunlight clouds.  Perfect warm breezes for the peaceful moment right before twilight.

Spring is coming. I am so excited about the coming changing of the season.

I hope you are having an amazing, happy and peaceful day. 

What is your favorite season?

Thank you for reading my blogpost.

Thomasina

Used Book Mini Haul

I was out and about exploring when I drove by a thrift shop I had not been browsed in a while. 

Not letting the weird old stuff cleaned with cleaning liquids smell deter me, I found some book treasures. My grand total for this haul is $2.41. 

Always stop and browse at the odd thrift store, you never know what you will find.

Journal for 25 cents. I could not resist this for obvious reason. My name starts with a "T" so this was meant to be. I get excited when I find the letter T in a font I like. 

This will be a great reference book for when I am writing my mermaid novel. Lots of big detailed colorful pictures of sealife and underwater environments. 

When I find things that are connected to the beach, ocean or mermaid art,  I always feel encouraged to continue writing my mermaid action novel, mermaid children's book and creating mermaid art. 

Individuals - Portraits from the Gap Collection 

I love photography books because there is so much inspiration. Whoa! I just flipped to the back of the book and found a CD!  That made the $1.08 (regular price  was $35.00) an even better deal. Cool!

This book has lots of portraits of celebrities from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. It's cool seeing these people in their prime. I have been facinated by how some people who are famous age gracefully and some do not.

So that's my quick used book haul. I will give more indepth reviews later.

Thank you for reading my post. 

Thomasina

Book Reviews: Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page and Scott Weiland Not Dead & Not For Sale

 

 This book was not very long but it definitely an interesting powerful read. Scott Weiland (lead singer from the Stone Temple Pilots) has had a very turbulent and creative life. He made a lot of bad decisions (over and over again apparently) but he somehow never gave up. 

The book itself was not very long and very readable. Weiland describes the horrors of drug abuse in a matter of fact way that never wallows and glorifies the filth of it like other band member books (Motley Crue for one). He is very open and frank about his mistakes but the intriguing part to me was how he was able to maintain his creativity during some very dark times.

A lot of songs were written when he was dealing with his dark moments. It is thought-provoking to read his song lyrics as they relate to what he was going through at certain times in his life. I was very inspired by how he never stopped creating and kept pushing himself forward. 

The book is a documentation of a man who made a lot of mistakes and how he acknowledges his mistakes and really wants to do better. 

I definitely would like to own this book and that is the highest recommendation I can give for a book review.

Next, the not so great book by a rock and roll legend.

Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page is a book of photos but was actually kinda boring. The lack of text was the problem. No new insight into Led Zeppelin.

 A lot of pics that if you are a fan of Led Zeppelin, you have probably seen before but that is a "rare"  picture in that particular shoot that hasn't been shown before.

A lot of pictures of the stamps on his passports were featured. Again boring. How in the world did such an talented, creative, business savvy man make such a mundane book?

If you are looking for any new insight or clarification of legendary rumors about the band, this is not the book for you. Jimmy Page wanted to highlight the most important and impressive moments of his musical career. But there is barely any text worth reading among the pages.

He is obviously an extremely private person who wanted to just display his life's work through pictures and let the pictures speak for himself.

I would have enjoyed this book so much more if he talked more about his creative process and how he overcame his addiction to drugs. Also I would have loved to get his insight on the music industry today. I will search recent interviews for the answer to those questions.

Check this out from your local library or just go to your local bookstore, sit down and flip through the pages for free. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan who has a collection of Led Zep tabletop books. This book should have been the best Led Zeppelin fan book to add to my collection but I was really disappointed in the lack of interesting content in this book.

Both books can be found on Amazon.

Have you read any of these books? Tell me what you think.

Thank you for reading!

Myrtle Beach I Will See You Very Soon

Myrtle Beach November 2013

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving.  The end of 2014 is also almost here. Time seems to speed up more and more every year.

Work has been very hectic and I hope to be back posting blogs more regularly soon.

Tomorrow I am am going to go on a mini vacation to Myrtle Beach. Finally I am going to see the ocean again. It has been too long. I was not able to go when the weather was warm but I don't care. Looking at those ocean waves is like balm for my soul.

This time of year the beach is  not crowded so this is a big plus for me. I don't like visiting the beach during the busiest times of the year.

I am  really excited to see the Christmas decorations. Christmas as the beach is so cool.

Lots of pictures are on the way. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!

Fountain Of Summer Light

 

Light

Water

Peace

I still remember how relaxed I felt standing in front of this beautiful splashing fountain. As I was walking around downtown and I just happened to stumble across the park where this fountain is located as the sun was going down. One of life's cool moments that just happen. It is so important to just stop and enjoy a moment of peace and savor it.

This picture does not do it any justice. The sun was hitting the water at just the perfect angle. I wish I had this fountain in my backyard. 

When you explore, you never know what treasures you will find. Get out in your city and find new things to inspire your life every single day.

Thanks for reading!

 

A Picture Tour of Raleigh North Carolina

Wells Fargo Building on the left. These are some of the tall buildings in downtown Raleigh North Carolina.

This is a display in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Christ Church - I love these beautiful columns.

I used to walk to this church to calm my stressed mind. Very peaceful here.

Courtyard of the church

This is part of the NC Museum of Natural Science building and a restaurant.

State Capitol building

State Capitol building - front view

Reflections On The Water

 Standing on the pier at the lake looking down at the shimmering water.

 The sun was shining so bright and hot this day. It was like the sun reflecting on the surface of a mirror. I think that might be a turtle in the water in the center of the picture. It is hilarious to see their tiny heads peaking up out of the water like miniature loch ness monsters. LOL!

Mermaid diamonds floating on the water. 

Life gives you what it wants to give you. Whether you want changes to happen or not, things are never going to stay the same. If you do not adapt to a new challenges in life, having a peaceful productive existence is really hard to maintain.

Looking at the rippling waves at the lake this day, I thought about how sometimes in life you just have to "sparkle and flow" through the hard times.

There is nothing the water in the lake can do if a branch falls into it. The lake will have to allow the waves in the water to move the branch to the shore, sink to the bottom to become apart of the lake or be actually removed from the water. Patience and perseverance is the solution.

When something or someone difficult falls into my life, I try to remember to sparkle (be positive) and flow (let the situation move towards a productive result). Being always upset and agitated about every single hardship or annoyance is exhausting. I would rather spend my precious life moment seeking an enlightened solution that spreads positive energy in my life.

One important life goal I have to be like this beautiful glimmering lake water and let life's difficulties just flow across me while I push forward to reach my hopes and dreams.

Thanks for reading!

 

Campbellton Outdoor Amphitheater - A Magical Elf Meeting Place

 Campbellton Landing Amphitheater in Fayetteville, NC

I imagine this as a magical place where a high council of elves who meet in secret to discuss how to best deal with the annoying humans that have invaded their secret forest.

The amphitheater is located on the banks of the Cape Fear River. Click here to see the how the Cape Fear River rose high enough to flood the areas around the stage. When I looked at this picture, I was absolutely amazed and terrified. The distance between the water and the top of the river bank is very high. 

In my previous post, the pictures of the river banks may not seem to be very high but they are. The amount of water to rise that far to reach the amphitheater is incredible. I now have a very healthy respect for the power of the  Cape Fear River.

 The sitting areas are wooden planks with grasses growing out of plots of earth. This  is how the amphitheater seating was set up for plays in the recent past.  I wonder how the amphitheater seating looked when it was new? Was there actual seating where the grass grows now? 

It's so sad to see it now being used. I heard in the news recently that because of the flood damage, there was not going to be play performances presented there . Although, the amphitheater looks like a modern day abandoned roman amphitheater, I stood on the stage, the lights in the ceiling were actually turned on. 

This would be perfect for watching live music and movies outside at night in front of the Cape Fear River. I really hope this will happen soon. Maybe I will take my computer loaded with a favorite full length Alice in Chains concert or a favorite movie, a wonderful takeout dinner, a comfortable chair and have my own outdoor event.

 The stage is not very large but bigger than it looks in this picture.

 My view standing center stage.

 Standing side stage

 This is a view standing at the top at the back of the amphitheater.

 My photo of this forest does not give it justice at all. It was truly a magical and exciting experience to stand there hearing the quiet nature sounds, the leaves gently moving in the breeze and  fluffy plant seeds or flowers (I have no idea what they were) floating down. Think the floating fluff (not as much LOL!) in the forest seen in the movie Legend. Definitely a beautiful moment I very lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

I hope you enjoyed the photos I took. Have you ever been to an outdoor amphitheater like this?

Thanks for reading!