I was visiting a friend. We were out walking. I saw this tulip all alone. Isn’t it a bit strange?!
It looks so healthy and strong. Was it transplanted? Was it the only bulb that survived? Tulips are always in groups, where are the others? This one does look beautiful.
I have a lot of questions to ask this dear tulip!
Hello Fellow Bloggers, in keeping with our rubber duck theme this week. Look what I found. In Hong Kong right now, an art installation by Florentijn Hofman, a Dutch Artist. It’s been 10 years since his first rubber duck visited Hong Kong. This time, two ducks for “Good Luck!”
Hoffman created this Rubber Duck Series in 2007. His ducks have been touring the world. I do remember years ago seeing in the news, the one rubber duck in Hong Kong, and thinking, “What, a HUGE rubber duck?” Now, there are two.
Visit WION’s (The World is One News) YouTube video to see the ducks zooming around Victoria Harbour. It’s fun!
So, what do you think? Are you smiling?
It’s Wednesday, I thought we could use a funny post. Check this out on Amazon, a special on rubber ducks, tags, rubber bands, etc.
Do you really need that extra swim suit? Why not pack some rubber ducks and leave them around the ship. Yes, people are now leaving rubber ducks with messages on them around the ship for “other” passengers to find.
Have you found a rubber duck on your cruise?
Would you join in the fun?
I just read a great article on a vacation with no phones. Well, that’s the idea. Finland has declared that this summer they want tourists to enjoy the island of Ulko-Tammio, a national park, know as the “happiest country in the world” without using their phones. YES, without using their phones.
This was music to my ears. I’m tired of phones and constant picture taking. I just want to RELAX. The idea of going to a National Park and enjoying nature as we did “before” cell phones sounds marvelous. I talked with other friends, they feel the same. The constant pictures/selfies takes away from enjoying “the moment.”
I went to Google to see “where” Ulko-Tammio is as I have not traveled to this area. As you see, it’s very far North. My daughter was in Norway last December. She said it took a couple of flights to get there. Not always easy to make the connections, less flights, etc. However, once in Norway, so beautiful.
So, let’s see what happens. I do feel that the right people who want to enjoy nature will gladly put their phones aside. Laughing, wouldn’t this be funny. You are walking in the forest, you decide you just “have to have” the photo of a bird and you hear on a microphone, “Miss, this is a phone-free zone, please put cell phone away. PLEASE put cell phone away! Have a great day!”
Ah, but without my cell phone, how would I take a photo to PROVE I was there?? Wait, I could photoshop the perfect photo, you’d NEVER know! Then I could use AI to write my post. You see where I’m going here?
Finally, a happy and interesting story in the news!
New adventures await…cell phone free!
Did you know people were paying over $200K to tour the Titanic wreckage, which is 13,000 feet deep in the Atlantic ocean? This latest tour left on Sunday. It was reported lost after one hour forty-five minutes. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach the Titanic’s wreckage. The submersible had 96 hours of oxygen when it left. The media says there are five people on board the vessel.
This is a scary situation. I’ve always thought that to be down in a submarine for months on end would be claustrophobic. Imagine a smaller vessel that has reported technical problems in the past.
There is a lot to discuss on this topic as we sit and wait “hoping” they are found.
Would you want to go on a tour of the Titanic if money were no issue?
Life is funny. I went through a drawer and found my old Ipod. I knew there was good music on there and different podcasts I used to listen to, so found my headphones and went out walking.
It was GREAT, so many songs I haven’t listened to in a long time.
This one by Freddie Stroma came up, “Possibilities.” It’s a really sweet sounding song. I was going to share the song from YouTube, but it looks like YouTube might be taking our “sharing” options away, at least for THIS song.
Happy exercising — Enjoy!
My friend and I were driving in the car this weekend when she burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny,” I said, keeping my eye on the road.
“THIS sign for tattoos,” she said.
Luckily, she took a quick photo, so I could see it. She really had good eye sight. From a distance, you have to squint your eyes to read the sign. I zeroed in, so you could see it better.
What a clever advertising idea. Tattoos are painful.
Having worked in advertising for a long time, I really enjoy seeing “humorous” signs.
This one was a WINNER! Now to find out, does it bring in business?
People ask me, how do you get things done? I look at them in surprise. Why, I multi-task, of course. I can do a zillion things at one time. Like a video in full speed. It’s true.
This weekend, for example, I needed to clean my windows, but I also needed to go walking. The weather was so nice, I wanted to read my book at the park. As I was thinking about what “choice” to make, I realized I could listen to an audio book while I cleaned the windows and when I walked. BRILLIANT IDEA!
The key is the narrators . I started searching the library for books. Luckily, we can play a sample, so it was an immediate thumbs up or thumbs down.
By chance, I found The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth. The storyline is good, set in Crete during WWII, so I could learn a little bit about their culture. I was pleasantly surprised with a multi cast of narrators. Normally, there is just one narrator. I’m always amused how narrators are fantastic at portraying a woman’s voice, a man, a child, a grandparent, etc. — it’s really entertaining — and that they remember throughout the book what voice they need to use for each character.
If you’re not a fan of audio, you should give it a try. Gee, you can garden, wash your car, chop vegetables while listening to a good book. Definitely worth it!
Share what you’ve been reading. I’m always on the lookout for something new to read.
Our mental health depends on what we feed into our brains, right. I’ve stopped watching the news. I only do a quick scan online of daily news events to be sure there hasn’t been something “big” that happened. Otherwise, I pass on doom and gloom, never anything positive.
Last night, I was in one of those moods. You know, where your brain could go either way, ie negative / sad or happy / uplifting. Why does this happen? I don’t know, but we have to IMMEDIATELY decide what path we are going on. I had a choice to make. I decided no news! Instead…
ENTER MHz Choice. A lot of their shows are mysteries. What I like is that they have a category for mysteries without violence, for simple folk, like me. Some violence is OK, but I was trying to avoid the news, remember.
Being Italian background, I thought, why not look at the Italian shows. I enjoy hearing the Italian language spoken. I did a quick scan, Bullteproof Heart came up. At first I thought, hum… was it going to be “too slow” or “too boring?” We don’t know unless we look at the Trailer, right.
I was pleasantly surprised. It’s such a cute show. The Italian conversation and expressions, put me in such a warm hearted mood. A news reporter, Bruno Palmieri (Gigi Proietti) is about to retire, then something happens (you have to watch to see) and he continues to work. Can’t give it all a way.
Here’s a good scene from YouTube:
The English subtitles are nice and clear. Although, they say you improve your Italian better if you listen and read subtitles in Italian at the same time, but sometimes they talk too fast!
ENJOY!
This weekend I saw my parents. I was visiting for Mother’s Day. They are in their 80s, inevitably our conversation turned to different memories. I’m not sure why, but we started talking about toys we had as kids. I asked my mother if she had FINALLY gotten rid of that clown doll my twin brother had. It was scary looking. For the longest time, my mother had kept it in this trunk of hers.
I always had a bit of a fright when I opened that trunk, and there was that doll with the scary grin. She said she had given it to my brother. I hope he gave it away. We discussed how some people have a real fear of clowns. I don’t have a fear of them, I just didn’t like that doll. It was a plush type of doll. It came out during the popularity of the “Bozo the Clown” show. Anyone remember him? I never liked that show either.
My mother loved the Raggedy Ann dolls. Coming from Italy, they didn’t have dolls that looked like that, so she was always collecting them. She said, just like clowns, there we people who found these dolls scary. Really, I would not have thought that.
So, what doll, stuffed animal or toy did you or your kids dislike growing up?
Brilliant Viewpoint 