Little-Germany in Georgia

On Easter Sunday we took a trip out to Helen, GA for a little bit of sightseeing and lunch. I also took the opportunity to stock up on some authentic German sourdough bread and Dr. Oetker cake mixes.

It was a gorgeous day to take a drive. Helen can be a little kitsch but it is charming too, in a weird way. We had a German lunch at "Hofer's of Helen", which was very enjoyable. Strangely enough Ben and I were the only people having a beer - what does that say about us, or does it say something about the others in the restaurant? Oh well, we enjoyed it!

We had a short horse cart ride, which wasn't all that exciting, it basically went around the block. But Alex liked it none the less. He even got to sit on a horse! After a short while this little voice piped up "I'd like to get down now?!" - he can be very polite!!

Motorbikes were thick on the ground - we had fun looking at all the 2 and 3 wheelers driving up and down the main street - it was quite a show!

PS: What does F.R.D stand for??! Federal Republic of Deutschland?

 

  

All good things come in threes!

Today I played around a little and had fun creating a few triptych collections.

I think this is a fun way of displaying several pictures in one frame!

 

 

We are Green - a Bubbly Celebration

Yesterday was a day of celebration in our household. Actually it started the night before, when my husband Ben looked up from his phone and said: "We are Green!". To you that might not make a lot of sense, but to me those three simple words spelled massive relief and great joy. After months of collecting paperwork, having physicals, being poked and prodded and then waiting and waiting and waiting some more, we had finally received the email confirming Green Cards had been authorized and issued! 

Immediately the bubbly went into the freezer and an hour later we enjoyed a glass!

We are thankful! We are grateful! We are overjoyed! 

We are here to stay!

Cheers!

H2O

Ocean:  A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills. ~ Ambrose Bierce

 

While I was searching for my butterfly pictures the other day, I came across these pictures (it is amazing what you'll find on a virtual search). I thought it would be nice to share them because we don't see these amazing beings every day. 

It made me think of water. H2O.

It made me think.

 

"Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people. Since the very birth of human civilization, people have moved to settle close to it. People move when there is too little of it. People move when there is too much of it. People journey down it. People write, sing and dance about it. People fight over it. 

And all people, everywhere and every day, need it."

-Mikhail Gorbachev, President of Green Cross International

 

 

 

Easter Weekend

We enjoyed a busy Easter Weekend, although I must admit that I missed having my family together on Good Friday and today, as we are accustomed to in Europe and South Africa. On the other hand this is better than what we had while living in Dubai in 2008, where my husband had to work on Easter Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon I did my best to be a little "artistic" and colour some hard boiled eggs. I thought all the glasses of brightly coloured water made quite the picture!

We had a little Easter Egg hunt in our back yard for Alex on Sunday, on a most glorious morning! The temperature was beautiful and the birds were singing - it was just perfect! We are now officially awash in chocolate eggs, bunnies and chicks.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter and that you enjoyed the time with your families & friends!

 

Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life.  ~S.D. Gordon

 

 

 

The Butterfly

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,

it became a butterfly"

Yesterday, while sitting on the deck having lunch with my son, I saw a beautiful butterfly - it is in these moments that I wish I had a built-in SLR. Needless to say it was long gone by the time I thought it might make a lovely subject. But then I remembered that I'd taken pictures of butterflies a while ago, so today I went on a virtual butterfly search and found them.

They are such graceful beings, so beautiful, fragile and absolute masters at flying. 

The last picture has a fair amount of movement in it, and still I think it works. I just love that pop of orange-red amid the green and the fact that it is busy drinking the nectar from that tiny purple flower is lovely!

The Hunt is on!

On Tuesday I got together with my fabulous playgroup-friends and we organised a little Easter egg hunt for our little ones. I know it is not Easter yet but it was fun to do this activity with friends and just enjoy the lovely spring weather we are having - I adore all the fresh, lush green vegetation around, it makes for such a beautiful backdrop.

The kids had a blast and I had fun taking pictures of them. Although they were like moving targets racing around the lawn, in and out of the sun - a great learning curve for me! 

{I've decided that I must start practicing "smiling" with Alex, all I get are these rather weird, cheesy grins that make it seem like I'm a dentist that is trying to check his teeth.}

Some Things That Easter Brings

Easter duck and Easter chick,
Easter eggs with chocolate thick.

Easter hats for one and all,
Easter Bunny makes a call!

Happy Easter always brings
Such a lot of pleasant things.