Lest We Forget

 For My Boy ,

and all the Boys and Girl, Men and Women that are missed and never forgotten !!

Introducing

Mockingbird Texas

http://mockingbirdtexas.blogspot.ca/

Please check her out if you have room to read one more Blog.

You will not regret it !!

I Know this wonderful Lady from a FB group. She is funny, sassy ,full of wisdom and a great writer.

Active Child - Johnny Belinda [Official Video]

I don't know what i love more, the song or the video.

My ear-worm for the month!!

Everybody in the path of Sandy ,please stay save !!

We are only suppose to get some rain and wind .

The Journey Mary Oliver

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice –

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do –

determined to save

the only life you could save.

~ by Mary Oliver in Dream Work (1994)

Aging

"Aging is inevitable, Maturing is optional"

So I'll be turning 50 in March.

I refuse to go gray gracefully and cut my hair.

Love current Music ...Florence and the Machine anybody ?

Still love to blast Alan Parsons in my car. 

Hate Fashion and dress the way I want.

What's the problem you might ask?

The problem is ,I feel one way inside and look in the mirror and wonder who is this Woman ?

Sometimes I feel like I don't fit in this society and it's expectations. 

I always marched to the beat of my own drum, but sometimes i get this nagging feeling that i'm getting to old for this !

Do I HAVE TO grow up?

Time Flies

when you are having fun...or at my age anytime.

My Dad and Brother have come and gone. It was good to have them here and reconnect. 10 days go by quick when you try to see things and show them around.

I like this process because it makes you look at your surroundings with new eyes . I was so afraid that my Brother would be disappointed (my Dad has been here) They live in the beautiful city of Freiburg surrounded by the equally beautiful Black Forest and i felt that maybe he would be bored .

But he said he liked it...the wilderness, the space and specially the Ocean which is less than an hour drive away, and he said he would love to live this close to the sea.

We don't always appreciated what is right under our nose.

 lesson learned !

click for a better view

On morality

so i did this personality test on which character i resemble the most from my (at the moment) favorite book series A Song of Ice and Fire

So here is the result:

 The Song of Ice and Fire Personality Test ...

Eddard Stark

You scored 180 Adaptability, 140 Humor, 370 Integrity and 210 Activity!

If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.

You are Eddard Stark.

Also known as Ned, you are a pillar of morality in a corrupt world. No matter what kind of people or situations you encounter, your sense of honor remains as strong as it can possibly be. You are rather introverted, but you are deeply caring person when it comes to your family and friends. You are forthright and often disgusted by people who are sneaky, deceitful and manipulative. You are serious, reserved, and righteous.

You are also similar to Catelyn Stark and Brienne of Tarth. Your polar opposite is Euron Greyjoy.
sounds pretty good , doesn't it ?
EXEPT!!(spoiler )..........the Man had his head chopped off at the end of Book one, while the sneaky, deceitful and manipulative characters are stillmerrily causing havoc at the end of book five
So what does that tell us?
Good thing i'm not THAT righteous ;)I'm also not very brave ,which the book character was.

you get the hint 

My Dad and Brother will be here in a month and i have a million things i would like to get done.

First i need to sort out and purge my basement , so i can store the things that are now taking up space in the bedrooms, that will need to be made ready for my peeps.

Sounds easy, right?

You haven't seen my basement 

Spring

Early Spring

gorgeous weather

=

so for the rest of the season i will look like this 

and smell like this

that my Friends is why i like 

Winter 

My name is Gabriele

and I'm a 

gadget-holic

folded like a cheap suit

and ordered a tablet after i just bought a reader (which i love BTW)

I'm weak!!!

ps. I still use an old flip cellphone , so i'm not that bad 

AM I ??? 

Treasures

Two days ago was the anniversary of my Grandmothers passing, which made me look through her prayer book again. 

I'm amazed at how well she looked after this little religious card she received at her school graduation in 1928. It also contains between it's pages the newspaper obituaries of her Mother and one of her Brothers.

Even though i'm not very religious i treasure this little Book......When i have a rough day i press this Book close to me , imagining that she is with me. I don't know what comes after we leave this world but my hope is that i will see her again.

Ich hab dich lieb, Omi !

Clean Up!!

unfortunately i'm part of Mankind.....I need to do more

Free Things

My e-reader arrived and i been playing with it

But the most exiting news is that a slew of Lucy Maud Montgomery books are free 

YAYYYY

On saying I Love You

Today is the day before my Son died 5 years ago.

It is also the anniversary of the last time i talked to him.

I'm so happy i got to tell him I loved him one more time, to hear his voice.

He called me from a satellite phone from the middle of a desert in Afghanistan..what made him call that day?

I had this dread before his deployment...do we sometimes know things deep down?

Tell the People you love that you love them and don't sweat the small stuff.

Happy (white) Easter

always thought it was suppose to be white Christmas :S

OH WELL, this is Canada after all and we have been spoiled with an early spring and nice weather.

Yesterday i bit the biscuit and ordered myself an e-reader

isn't she purdy

I'm hoping to get back to my first love, which is reading.

Not that anyone would know it with my horrendous spelling ability and being on a constant war path with grammar.

But i LOVE Books, always have!!

I relished receiving books for my birthday or Christmas when i was a child.

Now my love includes my laptop and camera.

Hubby didn't know what to give me for my birthday ...he always complains that i'm hard to buy for, which is true . I'm not materialistic and don't feel i need a lot, but he came yesterday and suggested that i buy myself an e-reader and i had to tell him that i just ordered one that morning lol ...great minds ;).

So we will call it a birthday present from my husband

 (works for me)

Cuties

Enjoy :)

Ides of March

well at least it will melt soon (hopefully)

49

last year in my 40's 

I don't make a big deal about my Birthday , but turning 50 next year (if i'm still here)

makes me wonder where the time has gone . And then the realization that i might be here for another 40....what am I going to do with myself  ??

Have to figure this out :S

 But then life has taught me that what I envision will happen, usually doesn't.

So, I guess I will let life surprise me :)

Big Miracle

I'm sure a lot of people have seen previews or went to see the movie Big Miracle in  theaters.

If like me you like to know the real story behind the movie please go checkout photo journalist Bill Hess blog Logbook Wasilla Alaska Beyond, he also authored the book  Gift of the Whale

He is one of my favorite bloggers !

His love for Alaska , it's people, nature and his family inspire me .

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th of January 1984 was a lucky day , because Patrick came into our world

To this day i still don't know how the name Patrick came to me. I looked at him and he just was a Patrick. 

We miss him terribly.

this video is in honour of his Scottish ancestors and the Scottish name we carry, he was proud of it.

Happy Birthday ♥

How to guarantee that it doesn't snow

Buy one of these 

It is suppose to be delivered sometimes today :D

Radical ?!

"Environmental and other "radical groups" are trying to block trade and undermine Canada's economy, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Monday."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/01/09/pol-joe-oliver-radical-groups.html

I don't really use my Blog for political discussions, but I think this is the first time in my life that would consider myself a "Radical"

Also I think statements like this are counterproductive .

http://naturecanadablog.blogspot.com/2012/01/enbridge-fails-to-make-its-case-on.html

for the loving comments and great advise (and letting me vent)...i feel better now.