Vivez Bien * Live Well

Monday, March 19, 2012

Blog it Forward and Random Monday Musings

My friend Veronica from the fabulous blog Tassels, Twigs and Tastebuds asked me to participate in her Blog it Forward series where I reveal some of my innermost secrets. Please go and pay her a visit if you dare!


I have 10 very random Musings for you this Monday.

1. Since I have been blogging now for over a year, I feel that I know you well enough to introduce you to my children. Here they are.


We also have the cutest new addition to the family....




She is the only other girl in my family and her name is Blossom.



Named after this....



...and not this, as some people have suggested. Really!!






2. I have always been quite addicted to beauty. I love looking at beautiful paintings, I love being in beautiful surroundings, I love searching for beautiful pictures in magazines and the web and taking in every last detail. The beauty that I'm referring to doesn't have to be expensive or luxurious, in fact I'm more likely to find beauty in simple and natural things. I believe that someone like me would be described as an aesthete, but when I looked at the definition of aesthete I was a bit shocked.


aes•thete or es•thete (stht)



n.


1. One who cultivates an unusually high sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature.


2. One whose pursuit and admiration of beauty is regarded as excessive or affected.

Is my pursuit of beauty excessive or affected I wonder?




3. Has anybody found an alternative to Picnik - there is less than a month left!  My photographic skills are somewhat lacking and I found Picnik to be a good friend in that regard. It has also been so much fun playing around with colours and textures. (I tried to make a photo of my dogs look a bit like an old fashioned postcard here.) Any tips on a replacement for Picnik will be most welcome!



4. I did a post here on potting benches and I thought I would show you my talented friend Debbie's little potting corner. See how cleverly she has used an old washstand, planting annuals in the basin! One day I will do a post on the rest of her home if she will let me!


5. This bunch of flowers goes to one of my readers, Agnés. She leaves me wonderful comments in French which I love because it gives me an opportunity to practice my very basic French. I try and work out what she is saying and then go to Google translate to check whether I have got it right. You will be pleased to know, Agnés that my French is improving a little bit thanks to you so keep them coming!




6. Whatever happened to those lovely girls from Under Spanish Moss. They arrived in the Blog world with a bang and left with not even a whimper. I miss their beautiful posts and often wonder what became of them. Anyone??




7. Did you know that in Africa we don't have to backwash our swimming pools ourselves, we just call in the elephants! LOL




8. I am going to stick my neck out here and say...



.... that I think putting extremely ugly contemporary furniture like this in an extraordinarily beautiful room like this is a travesty!!



9. Did you see the movie "Midnight in Paris"? It is worth seeing a few times just for the Paris scenery alone.



10. To end off my very random ramblings, I would like to leave you with this inspirational thought.

Have a lovely week

Till next time
Sharon x

16 comments:

  1. Hi Sharon ...oh wow this is a bonus and compliments my post so much!! Your family is gorgeous as is Blossom! What a great post with many things to ponder. Thank you sommuch for taking part in my Blog it Forward Series.... I had the best time her visiting older posts and really enjoying all the beauty. We are so alike in our persuit of beauty... I always say if I lived in a shack it would be a pretty schack!Somehow I would make it that way... I think we were just born with a gene that likes our surroundings to be pleasing to our eyes and no it does not have to be expensive..all you need is a walk through a township to see the beautiful wide African smiles to lift your heart!

    I also wonder about Spanish Moss Girls and I use Picasa for mosaics but will miss Picknic. Agree that room with the contemp stuff is basically a NO!! But what a gorgeous room. I have not seen the movie!!! Must do for sure. I watch the Bourne Identity over and over for the Paris scenes as well ..lol!

    Have a great day and thank for the blog Love!

    Veronica
    xx

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  2. Your blog is gorgeous....wandered over from Veronica.

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  3. I saw your interview and loved learning more about you. Your boys are all handsome and your puppies are too precious, Blossom is so cute, you have a beautiful family. I miss the gals over at Under Spanish Moss too and have no idea what happened there. I agree they made a very big splash and then disappeared without a word. I have a feeling with work, family and everything their blog got to be too much since it does take up a bit of time but they could have said good~bye!

    XX
    Debra~

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  4. Sharon, you do love beautiful things and I love what you share at your blog. Yes that modern furniture in that room is awful. I have heard a lot of people are using picmonkey.com for their photos. I have not tried it yet since I use Picasa.

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  5. Picmonkey.com makes a great Picnik replacement! BTW - lovely blog!

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  6. What a gorgeous family! thanks for letting us into your world Sharon;
    Your pursuit of beauty is just what the world needs; i always love to visit this beautiful universe over here.

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  7. Dear Sharon, You asked aboutPicnik, the photo editing site, which will disappear in April of this year. THERE IS VERY GOOD NEWS. PicMonkey offers the very same features because they are the same group who developed Picnik. If you check into my blog post, dated March 9, 2012, you will find a direct link and more information. Gina

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  8. Your boys are so cute! I love the image of the elephant drinking. Amazing!

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  9. Very cute post, and it was very nice getting to know you better!

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  10. Loved reading more about you at Veronica's. Your new addition is precious, Sharon!!

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  11. Beautiful boys Sharon!!! You must be so proud. Your dog is adorable too!
    I don't know what to do about Picnik either!!!!!
    Oh I so agree with you about the contemporary furniture...yuk!! It seems all the show homes here use contemporary furniture and i just hate it!

    I enjoyed your post!
    Pamela xo

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  12. What a great post Sharon and yes you certainly have an eye for beauty!! Your have such a handsome family and the newest little female is a cutie! I've tried picmonkey and it's very similar to picnik and it's also free. I don't know why Google is messing with a good thing!

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  13. Oh, Sharon.... what handsome boys you have there! I've got a Jack and a Ryan, too :) and... our only girl is of the canine variety! Too bad you're so far away. I think our families would have a great time together. The boys could run around, and we could go in search of beautiful places :)

    I recently got Photoshop Elements, but I'm still trying to figure it all out!

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    1. I hear you. I mastered Picture It and I keep going back to it because I can actually make things like scrapbook pages there. In Elements I am stumbling and it is frustrating.

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  14. You have four very handsome happy looking boys! I have two boys and they sure keep me on my toes. :)

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