Photograph taken by Xenia Tran, unedited.
Camera: Lumix Panasonic FZ38, setting: Outdoor Action
Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Jubilant
Tag: inspiration
Wordless Wednesday: Fun Run
Grandma Alice
My grandmother Alice was born in Zurich, Switzerland, and nearly lived to be a 101 years old. I wrote the poem below when we were celebrating her 100th birthday. It was the first time someone in our family had lived this long.
Grandma Alice
I am writing on the page
with your rings on my fingers,
remembering how they sparkled
when you told stories with your hands.
Stories of your travels,
that taxi ride in Jordan,
when you were thrown out in the desert,
hands landing in the sand.
Today you are so frail,
a whisper of a fighter,
when you hold my hand
you become the child I used to be.
We toast your hundredth birthday,
my hands arrange the flowers.
‘Next time I’ll get this many,
it will be my funeral,’ you say.
With one squeeze of your hand
you abseil down our web,
dropping the cord still further.
ready to be free.
With one last wave we say goodbye
and in my heart I am with you,
I hope you will find those places
you never got round to see.
© Xenia Tran
This poem appears in
which was published in December 2017 and is now available from Amazon in Europe and North America.
The photograph was taken by my great-grandfather when my grandmother was approximately ten years old.
With love from Xenia xxx
Daily Prompt: Generation
dVerse Poets Pub: Poetics – First Things First
Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: Grandparents
Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth
I took these photographs last September, when we were hiking up Mount Cairngorm in the Scottish Highlands. The sun had been shining as we were making our way up the mountain when some clouds rolled in with light rain, creating a beautiful rainbow between the mountains.
The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth
Wordless Wednesday: Hope
Wordless Wednesday: Bliss
What We Do In Life – Three Day Quote Challenge
We would like to thank Tippy Tales for nominating us to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge.
When we were looking for a quote to complete our third day of the challenge I pointed my paw at the one below. This quote by Banksy seemed very poignant now that I have reached another crossroad in my life.
I now walk on the lower side of the hills, in the glens and on the beaches where it is easier for me to breathe.
I am taking everything in and am grateful for the magic in every moment we spend together. I want to create happy memories which I can take with me when it is time for me to go.
So here is my quote for you, I hope you enjoy it.
What we do in life echoes in eternity (Banksy)
With love to you all,
from Seamus xxx
If you would like to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge, here are the rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Post one-three quotes for three consecutive days.
- Nominate three bloggers each day.
Our three nominees for today are:
There is no pressure to participate. It will be fun if you do and you can write in your preferred language and on your own time schedule.
One Genuine Insight – Three Day Quote Challenge
We would like to thank Tippy Tales for nominating us to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge.
I used to bark often and loudly when I had something to say. I realise now that our companions can always hear me, even when I whisper. When I came across the quote below it immediately rang true. I hope you will enjoy it too.
Sometimes one genuine insight is worth all your previous experiences in life (Sydney Banks)
With love to you all,
from Pearl xxx
If you would like to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge, here are the rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Post one-three quotes for three consecutive days.
- Nominate three bloggers each day.
Our three nominees for today are:
There is no pressure to participate. It will be fun if you do and you can write in your preferred language and on your own time schedule.
The More One Loves -Three Day Quote Challenge
We would like to thank Tippy Tales for nominating us to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge.
The quote I have borrowed and am sharing here today is one of my favourites:
The more one loves for no reason at all, the easier their life, the greater their friends and the happier their times (Mike Dooley)
With love to you all,
from Eivor xxx
If you would like to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge, here are the rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Post one-three quotes for three consecutive days.
- Nominate three bloggers each day.
Our three nominees for today are:
There is no pressure to participate. It will be fun if you do and you can write in your preferred language and on your own time schedule.
Opening The Closet: Liebster Award
Whippet Wisdom has been nominated for a Liebster Award by Violet Parsons at Crazy Cat Mama. We only started blogging four weeks ago and this nomination came totally out of the blue. We are delighted to accept this award with gratitude and love for Violet and her felines.
Violet lives in Northumberland, England, and is taking a course in animal care and welfare management. Her dream job is to become a cat behaviourist. If you want to check out Violet’s blog and follow her adventures with her beautiful cats Dee, Neo and Lemmy please click the link above.
Below are the ten questions that Violet asked me:
- What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about life, love, nature, dogs and animal welfare. - What is your favourite animal (wild or domesticated)?
My favourites are both dogs and wild horses. - What is your favourite food/meal?
Grilled salmon with peppers, courgettes and wild rice. - If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?
Through our involvement with several rehoming charities and shelters and our many adoptions of rescue animals over the years it feels as if we are all working very hard to heal the symptoms without addressing the cause. If there was a way of bringing together a group of experts from different parts of the world who could come up with a peaceful solution that would end all animal suffering, I would happily give it all to that. - What is your favourite pastime?
Walking in nature with my husband and our dogs. - What is your favourite genre of books?
I have two favourites: non-fiction and poetry. - If you could go on holiday anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
To a dog-friendly cottage in Assynt, Western Highlands. - What is your happiest memory?
Meeting my husband. - What is your religion/belief system?
I believe in God. He has guided me throughout my life and his light and love have helped others through my work and my art. - What does love mean to you?
Love to me is the breath of life.
For the next part I have been asked to open the closet and reveal eleven random facts about myself:
- English is my second language.
- I am a newbie to blogging and social media.
- Puerto Vallarta in Mexico is one of the favourite places I visited in my younger days.
- I am no longer as fast as our whippets.
- I went to see The Clash six nights in a row at the Lyceum in London (early 1980’s).
- Pilates, yogalates and yoga keep me bendy.
- My paintings have hung on hospital walls during Art Well exhibitions.
- I ran a mini-series of voluntary workshops on colour healing at a women’s prison.
- In 1987 I spent three months hitch-hiking through the Middle East and sleeping under the stars.
- I stopped drinking coffee six months ago and feel so much more awake.
- I love growing our own fruit and vegetables in a doggie-proof part of our garden.
Having consulted with our lurcher and two whippets, these are the blogs we nominate with love for the Liebster award:
Bedlam & Daisies
Lily and Ardbeg
On Pets and Prisoners
Chosen Perspectives
Seven Cats and Counting
Colder by the Lake
Rachel Mankowitz
I appreciate and am grateful for the creativity and the sharing of these bloggers’ thoughts which are so inspirational to others.
Accepting a nomination can be a bit time-consuming and if you do not fancy doing the award I can totally understand.
If you choose to accept, here are your questions put together by our canine-human blogging team:
- Do you believe in miracles?
- Is there someone you would like to thank who said the right words to you at the right time?
- What is your favourite walk?
- What are your favourite creations in nature?
- If you could be an animal for a day, what would you like to be?
- What makes you happy?
- What do you treasure most in your relationship with your pet(s)/best friend?
- What inspires you?
- What makes you laugh?
- Do you have any advice for newbie bloggers?
- What question would you love to answer, that we did not ask?
If you decide to do this, it is easier to save the award picture and rules as a photo and upload it yourself.
Have fun!
We send you all so much love,
Seamus, Eivor, Pearl and Xenia
