A summer selection....

 Hope my followers!!! are having a wonderful summer...someone mentioned to me that I had not blogged for a while - true; moving cities and the flow of the summer were the culprits ...

 Now I am settled I am showing you - in these two pics , vibrancy and artistry in unexpected places .....

 Here is my wonderful Urban balcony - it's a jungle out there ...

 ...yet somehow calm and serene !!!

 I love antiques ; I love shabby chic ;  trying to combine the two in my new environ .

 Beautiful, beautiful ...gifts / treasures /vintage I have collected over the years

Special friends have given special gifts ...

 

 Who can spot the old among the new ???????

The sun goes down in the city , the world turns to gold , and the mystery of nightfall begins to reveal itself....

images of experience

It is the cherry picking season in Albania and I was invited out to the country to ...pick / eat cherries !!!!

Living in the family was an amazingly beautiful old woman who had spent her whole life in this one area living and working the land .She was 86 and still climbing trees to pick the juicy and biggest !!!

Duly inspired to capture images of experience , the next day I went around town and captured these images.

I caught this animated discussion ; everyone has time to stop and tell their story !!! even cars stop in the middle of the highway to talk , kiss relatives and exchange news .

 This woman , very Romany quite a distinctive attire and to me , appealing ....

 Sometimes I have to be very subtle , it's not easy encroaching on intimate moments , there are a range of responses .Some love it / others hide thru shyness or religious reasons .

 The old men here take such a pride in their appearance and I love this look , the blazer; the hat - very Italian and very classy !!!

Old /not so old faces that tell a story are fascinating to me ; the old men have a wonderful cragginess, that is very photogenic

 This precious old Lady took a long time to photo , she was ages in the shop , tiny and very distinct ....

 Methinks this guy doth protest too much ,, there was a lot of laughter and teasing from across the market ; but I captured his mischievious look , don't you agree ???

Needless to say ; I have been invited back to eat a meal and so I will , taking pics and showing you the lovely old lady !!!!

rambling rose

I really wanted to write down some thoughts that would be: poetic/thought provoking/deep, in a spiritual sense and all round meaningful ...!

It is risky not to sound sentimental, depressive or misunderstood when one commits pen to paper, but here goes and hopefully you can catch my drift.

I am being to true to my profile when I tell you that I am where I am in the Universe!!!! 

I can't be any younger and I can't undo the past. 

I just want to flow in the present - now - where I am, with what I know ...

Here are last night's musings in poetic form .....

"she was told to go sit on a rock...
the spirit led her out into the desert , and there she was 
then the desert became the wilderness 




she did not know how long she lay on the rock in the wilderness beyond the desert 
                               or why?








her heart remains open, but no-one peeps in


her ego is long dead or so she believes


but still she dreamt of revenge ; 
      still she cried out in anger , but who will listen when the silent scream roars in the void 




       Still .... the world will birth those with talent ; gifting ; opportunity ; purpose 

                     and others look on in awe and waiting envy" 

How many of us have projects incomplete, books they have yet to write. Adventures they are yet to  embark upon. 

I feel for you all, as I struggle with the same issues and if i am honest I don't know how to emerge unscathed from doing battle.

It's not as though we are ungrateful for the era we live in... potential and promises and opportunities are what we were weaned on...

but there is still 'us' who holds us back.

My point in all this is - if I don't accomplish 'it all'... be merciful to myself, live out my day in joy 

remain poetic and if I think no-one is hearing me, I still take comfort in the knowledge that the desert has heard me and the wilderness will answer me.

(Here are some beautiful images from a local albanian artist.)

Spring

 I may have been absent from Blogging recently ; please forgive me ...Life was on hold as I readjusted to the season...Now spring has sprung and I wanted to show you the beauty of my Albanian city garden....

 We took Oliver (my grandson) out to the market one saturday morning and treated ourselves to wonderful plants ; they were added to the roses that are now so prolific fragrant and colourful...

 A rose by any other name !!!

This jasmine is so beautiful / delicate and has the space to grow along the post which is holding up the vine ... there is space for all!!!!

Hope whatever space you have encircling your lives, is as colourful fragrant and enriching; we have a wonderful Creator, who gives us beauty in abundance... x

Albanian fashion.....

Albania is a very mysterious country to the Western mind ,
 Speaking generally yet  poetically; She is like your strange / quirky cousin who lives an alternative lifestyle and you can't fathom out what makes her tick !!!!  / Or she is like the Gypsies of my childhood - fascinating/ captivating and other worldly ... certainly not in my sphere !!!!

With this in mind I want to give you a glimpse into the style of the 'Shkodra Woman'
 The picture above is the theme - how glamorous she is , and what is pleasing to her eye in the fashion realm

Weddings are immense !  This is a selection of what is on offer on the High Street , although I am talking to the Girls in the beauty parlour and they say things are changing , with a shift to the natural and individual.

A Guest to the Nuptials has the choice of these creations ...

Mannequins always shock me as I walk past , do a double take  and ask the question, are they real ?

The young people I see walking the city streets are good looking, smart

 and sophisticated on the whole , the females being nicely made up . They actually look stylish in these coats.

I do wonder if anyone buys these 'frocks' ?
 To me they look very uncomfortable to wear ; feminine is not an adjective I would attribute to the style .




The home is colourful,  captured by these garish cushions  ; very different from the  creams / fawns and neutrals - so popular in our neck of the woods...

This lovely 'stylish' old lady wanted to know what I was doing ? She is one of many who are not afraid to inquire.....

Just for  Andy Warhol fans !!!! Who wants to purchase a creation such as this - 'Pop Art' at it's Craziest!!!!!

This shoe though you can purchase to wear ... any takers?

Fur coats are still 'A la mode' These being sold on any street corner, out side boutiques ... .I quite like fur , please don't judge though , it's just bringing back fabulous memories of my maternal Grandmother - she looked AMAZING in fur!!!!!

So there you have it , a window into another aspect of the Albanian Female .... so would love any comments / opinion /feedback ...x