mysundayphoto

My Sunday Snapshot – Mandala

January 12, 2020 by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

Just before Christmas we went to the local village for the Christmas lights turn on. One of the things I noticed before it got too dark were these gorgeous crocheted mandala hanging from a tree. I thought they looked so lovely hanging in the twilight.

I’m currently working on a big crochet project which I will share with you later, but I’m certainly going to consider making my own mandala like this in the future. Maybe one of the smaller ones.

Mandala

There are many meanings and traditions surrounding mandalas. They are traditionally circle shaped with intricate patterns inside.

They are often associated with meditation or the performance of sacred rites. Mandalas can be fashioned in cloth, stone, paper, bronze or thread. There are few rules in designing a mandala, but the circle is most important.

There are many benefits from creating mandalas;

(taken from 100mandalas.com)

Relaxes the body and mind
Cultivates the feeling of happiness, inner peace, and general well-being
Eases stress, anxiety, worry, overwhelm, fear, and depression
Activates creativity and improves focus
Enhances self-esteem and self-acceptance
Fosters a sense of connectedness with one’s self and others
Improves sleep
It’s fun!

I’m looking forward to creating my own mandala. I have coloured them in colouring books before and felt it really satisfying. Now, I really want to have a go with some crochet. I can’t wait to get some hoops and get started.

Have you ever made a mandala, or do you remember seeing one that felt special to you?

My Sunday Snapshot – Wheelchair

January 5, 2020 by Anne Sweet 5 Comments

My new wheelchair

last year my power chair broke but I managed to get it fixed. I was going to get myself a new one but we ended up having a lovely holiday in Cornwall instead. The wheelchair was still working so no worries.

Then just before Christmas I went out to do a little shopping with my husband and eldest daughter and it just wouldn’t work. My husband spent about 20 minutes in Hobby Craft on the floor trying to fix it. We got it working eventually but it was a bit unreliable after that. It would cut out while out and about which is never good.

So, My eldest son decided he would help me buy a new wheelchair just after Christmas. I’ve done a lot of wheelchair research and it’s so hard to get something that really fits your individual needs. Then I came across this site which sells these fold up wheelchairs a lot cheaper than I’ve seen anywhere else. So I took the plunge and bought one.

I’m loving it so far I’m just keeping my fingers tightly crossed that it delivers.

So, it might not be the most exciting photo this week, but it’s a very exciting new purchase for me.

A post with my old wheelchair.

My Sunday Photo – Baking

October 6, 2019 by Anne Sweet 13 Comments

My Boo has always loved baking. She loves cookery programs and is always willing to help in the kitchen. But most of all she loves making cakes and cooking. Today’s photo is blast from the past.

Photo of Boo baking, with a large bowl of cake mix and shes licking the spoon — *Who doesn’t love licking the spoon?*

I think this photo captures Boo perfectly.

Baking with Bee Berrie

We were talking the other day about the last time we went to London with the kids. I’ve been since I’ve been in a wheelchair (And hated it) but the kid’s have not been for years now. The last time I went on my own with Boo for cookery class with Bee Berrie when I was a Happy Eggs Ambassador in 2015.

We woke up at 5am to get the train to London in time for the class that started at 9am. I had woken with a migraine hangover but I knew I had to do this for Boo. We drove to the station and caught a train to London, where we then caught tubes to the place we needed to go.

Boo spent the whole morning baking cookies and cakes and we had such fun. When it was over we had about four giant boxes to carry back to Birmingham.

After leaving the class, laden down with boxes, we managed to take a wrong turn and got horribly lost. I put all the boxes down outside a shop and tried to find a map to see where we had to go. The shop owner came out and asked if he could help. He gave me a big bag for my boxes which made things easier. (It’s not wonder I got lost the boxes were so big I couldn’t see where I was going!) Then he gave me instructions on how to get to the right tube station.

Baking Cookies

Yesterday Boo said she wanted to bake, she hasn’t done so for a while. So I went in the kitchen to watch while she got all the ingredients she needed, weighed them and baked chocolate chip cookies all by herself. I’m so glad that she’s not lost her love of baking. I may ask her to make a cake today 🙂

Here’s the cookies she baked yesterday.

a plate of chocolate chip cookies that Boo Baked by herself. — *Chocolate chip cookies*

My Sunday Photo – Silly Boy

September 29, 2019 by Anne Sweet 12 Comments

The Little Man is such a Silly Boy

silly boy, with a big green balloon on his head.

know the photo quality is rubbish but I couldn’t resist sharing as he made me giggle so much.

I’d just woken up, five minutes before the alarm. It happens a lot, I don’t know if it’s my body clock or whether my body just can’t stand the pain of lying down any more.

I wake up stiff and in pain and it takes me a few minutes to actually get into a sitting position. I have bars I can grab to help me do this. Often, The Little Man will already be awake and helping me by pulling my stiff legs but this morning I was struggling alone. Once sitting I grab my medication..again, this is normally given to me by The Little Man, it seemed strange he’d not come in, I did wonder why. Then the alarm to wake me started up and I switched it off quickly.

I pulled myself to my feet and made my way across the landing. The girls room is first so I opened the door and announced it was time to get up. Then I reached The Little Man’s door and this is how he greeted me. The silly boy just wanted to make my day begin with a smile.

The Little Man has the same body clock as me and is always awake early. Star is the same, although she’ll lie in bed reading until I call her some mornings. Other mornings she’ll get up because she needs the toilet or she’s hungry. Boo is the only one I have difficulty waking. She’s like her Dad.

Linking up to My Sunday Snapshot. You can see my other Sunday photos here.

My Sunday Photo – Lorikeets

September 1, 2019 by Anne Sweet 11 Comments

Lorikeets are rainbow coloured small parrots from Australia. When we were on holiday in Cornwall we visited Paradise Park. They have an amazing flight of the Rainbows experience in the Australian Avery. You can go in and see the gorgeous Lorikeets flying around freely. You can also buy a pot of nectar for just £1 and watch them come to you and feed. They love to sit on your hand if you hold out the nectar, but they are not shy. They will even walk up your arm, and Graham managed to get one to sit on his head.

Today I’m sharing some of my Lorikeet photos.

Lorikeets

This first photo was taken by Star on her Dad’s mobile. He’d taught her how to do some special effects so the photo is not edited.

I think Graham was the bravest, he had loads of lorikeets all over him including one sitting on his head. We used to have a budgie that sat on your head, we’d let him fly around when we were in the house. Sadly, we have cats now, so I don’t think keeping a bird is possible. We couldn’t let it fly around safely.

A Bird in the Hand

Star loved the birds, she was the first in there with her pot of nectar. She loved having them sit on her hand.

The lorikeets were such gorgeous colours, that’s why it was called the Flight of the Rainbows. I didn’t notice straight away just how similar the Little Man’s shirt was to the colour of the birds. This one seems a little confused, maybe he thinks the Little Man is a giant lorikeet?

The Little man holding a lorikeets while wearing an orange and blue t-shirt

Boo was the only only one who was a little timid of having the birds land on her. But she had more courage later when she was able to hold a full size parrot.