Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille October 12th 2016 autumn leaves

I woke up this morning, the air was fresh, cool breeze and dark time. Fog all over our garden, children on their bikes, waiting for each other to go to school. Summer is over, children are cheerful with their back packs. The wind whispering as crispy leaves fall from trees, heaps of gold, brown and red on the ground. It’s also time for harvest, our grapes by our front door and the two apple trees at the back. There was not a lot of harvest this year, enough to stew the apples for apple crumble and pies, and the grapes for some juice. We are very grateful for the produce. It’s also the time to take some of our plants, like olives, banana and palm plants in the house, as well as our pet tortoises. No more garden paradise for them. They are staying in with us.

autumn like a dream
when the wind brushes the leaves
fairy tale that weaves

kids back to school
cheerful to see each other
summer is over

harvesting apples
crisp copper leaves falling off
chilling the air

(c) ladyleemila 2016

For: Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille October 12th 2016 autumn leaves

Haiku Horizons prompt “carry”

invest in our kids
the future belongs to them
they will carry on

agree to traverse
together we can carry on
till the end of time

For: Haiku Horizons prompt “carry”

Gigil

Carpe Diem Utabukuro #13 “a balloon caught” by Jack Kerouac

A balloon caught
in the tree – dusk
In Central Park zoo

© Jack Kerouac

colourful balloons
kids’ summer fest in the park
the fun they all had

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

Autumn eve –
my mother playing old
love songs on the piano
© Jack Kerouac

when I came to visit
mother singing with her friend
all of us cheering

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: Carpe Diem Utabukuro #13

Ten Things of Thankful 161 (Courage, courage) #10Thankful

Hello everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We had a quiet one and I’m very grateful for it. Just a cosy watching tv or dvds in the attic. Just me and Him Indoors. That’s my first thanks – to Him Indoors, who’s there with me through thick and thin.

Next – HRH the son and his beautiful bride and I’m going to see them this weekend. And then we all go to India for their wedding, the Indian version, with 500 guests.

My beloved Mother, who still rocks at 79, and I’m visiting her in the UK this weekend before she flies back to the Philippines. Next year for her 80th birthday, all of us will be flying to the Philippines to celebrate it, probably on a Christmas time so we can all be able to take some holidays.

To my siblings, my sister and two brothers and their families – all my nieces and nephews, bless them all. I love them.

Very grateful for our health – well, sort of healthy-ish. We just have to enjoy and be active by cycling, swimming and walking, try to eat healthily and be positive.

Very grateful for the flowers in our garden.

Not to mention, some herbs, our grape and apple trees

And the bees and butterflies who come and visit our flowers

Which reminds me, we’ve got an insect hotel for the little ones

And last weekend, it was children summer fest at the park

Have a lovely week everyone!

For: Ten Things of Thankful 161 (Courage, courage) #10Thankful by Lizzi

OBW 155 ~ Play

organ grinder

orchestra

tortoises playing

with cars

in the band

blind musicians

For: OBW 155 ~ Play

TJ’s Household Haiku – Bouquet

balloons for the kids
vibrant colours in the park
one sunny Sunday

flowers in the market
vibrant yellows and purples
a lovely bouquet

great for the centre table
on their wedding day

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: TJ’s Household Haiku – Bouquet

Companion – Daily Prompt

Thomas was so unlike Jessica in all aspects – his eyes narrowed to crinkled slits to her big brown eyes; his bushy eyebrows merging into one and sometimes his eyes crossed in exasperation because of his long eye lashes to her “pretty as a picture” face; his being so mischievous that he was punished on his first day of school for biting a boy’s ear to her quietness. She never really needed to talk because he’s always there, telling them he wants an ice-cream and can they give one to her, too? And while he easily mocked and taunted the others, he seemed to be afraid of making fun of her especially when her big brown eyes gave him a “don’t you dare” look. Their being dissimilar cannot keep them apart. They were the best of friends. Where one went, the other one followed. She whispered to him the answer when the teacher asked him something and he didn’t have a clue of what it was about. He illustrated 2 sketches because she could not draw. She shared her sandwich with him and they ate it together with their drinks. And he walked her home every single day, even though his house was on the opposite side of town.

For: Companion

It Wasn’t That Easy!

https://pixabay.com/en/people-boy-music-brown-finger-arm-316500/

“This can’t be that hard,” that’s what we thought, the son and I. The son was six and he just finished his Music Appreciation and the teacher was asking if he wanted to learn a new instrument. The teacher showed and played the piano, guitar, flute, cello and other instruments and the son chose piano. I thought I’d learn to play piano, too. So we asked Evgani, the Russian teacher if he could come to our house and give us some lessons.

Evgani came once a week and the son would have an hour’s lesson, then me. It wasn’t that easy! We were supposed to practice during the week, but because of other activities (karate, football, sleep over, play dates), we were not able to practice. Evgani would come and both of us would play in a haphazard way. We managed to play tunes in the end, but I was so embarrassed that every time he comes, I’d put the washing machine on so as to create some other noise. After a year, we both gave it up and moved on to do other things. Oh well.

For: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER: WEEK #21 – 2016 by rogershipp

Generation – Daily Prompt

Good day everyone! I loved my grandparents. My granddad or Tatay as I called him, was a very clever and educated man. He read a lot and that was were I got this habit of reading. When I visited him, there would always be some books that he was reading or had read and he wanted to share some parts or quotes to me. I could also borrow them later. When I had some awards in school and needed to say a speech, he wrote it for me. We also did some crossword puzzles together. And as for my Granny or Nanay, I learned a lot from her – how to be strong and independent. She gave all her grandchildren (girls, mostly) the same piece of material and we ended up wearing the same dress, but with different designs. She had a small store at the end of her life and when we were there for a holiday, we helped her. She gave us some sweets or small present afterwards. She was an interesting cook, she would mix one weird ingredient to another and voila! a meal (not to everyone’s taste, but bless her soul, we tried to eat it).

Look at this black and white photo
Golden anniversary of our grandparents
We were all there, some not even born
Most of them were not with us anymore
And so with this in mind, my homage

Tatay was my idol, a great reader
Died of Parkinson’s disease, still reading
He put the meanings of the difficult words
Wrote them in pencils at the side of books

Nanay, still beautiful in her old age
Long wavy hair, deaf as a post
Her cooking, shall we say, creative
Mixing things we normally don’t mixed

Tia Carol and Tio Fred, both in heaven
Both doctors, humble as pies
Good storytellers, took life leisurely
Spoke the dialect I cannot understand

Tio Alex, bless his soul, only brother
Worked in Customs, good looking
Tia Ludy, still with us, still elegant
Brought the kids on her own

My Mum, my darling mother
Pregnant with our youngest brother
My Dad, I still miss him, now gone
Memories in our hearts and souls

All siblings and cousins
Now all with own families
We used to play together
Our own family portrait

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

my family, my flesh and blood
for that I can sing a ballad
we all take it in great humour
all different but similar

my father’s a chef, mum’s teacher
brother’s nurse, sister a babbler
our dog woofs, of course, our cat purrs
all different but similar

we are there when one’s in trouble
and we are rich in wise counsel
we like food, crackers and cheddar
all different but similar

my family, my flesh and blood
all different but similar

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: Generation