30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 7

Home Thoughts
by Carl Sandburg

THE SEA rocks have a green moss.
The pine rocks have red berries.
I have memories of you.

Speak to me of how you miss me.
Tell me the hours go long and slow.

Speak to me of the drag on your heart,
The iron drag of the long days.

I know hours empty as a beggar’s tin cup on a rainy day, empty as a soldier’s sleeve with an arm lost.

Speak to me …

What are you thankful for today?

I am grateful for my two homes, the Philippines where I was born and bred and Germany, where I am happily living with Him Indoors.

The shore that call us home
Was the title of the poem
By Samuel Hazo in 1949
Makes me think about my life
Every time I go home and meet my
Family, friends and relatives again
After some time when I’m here
And they are there living differently
Yet parallel to each other, there’s this
Nostalgic feeling, of being home again
This land or these islands I miss so much
It doesn’t matter where I am now, and
I’m building a home with my family here
But over there where I used to call home
Full of childhood memories, of school,
Of college, of my first experience at work
First love, first kiss, first of everything
These experiences made me and taught me
They gave me a solid foundation of how
It is to be me, all the trials and errors
They gave me the confidence to try and
Explore different things and I have proved
That I can do it no matter where
So even when I’m happy here
I’d still be a girl with a fringe
I’d always go back to the shore
That calls me home, the Philippines

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

yacht

lavender

tortoises

home is happy
home is cosy
home is warm
home doesn’t regret
home doesn’t mind sharing
home grows with love

it doesn’t matter
where or what is home
home is with Him Indoors
and HRH the son
our three tortoises
our flowers in the grden
things we share
experience and memories
I love our home!

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: 30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 7. Also for: NaNoPoblano Day 7

Him Indoors’ Supplies

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Maria with the blog, Doodles and Scribbles. Thank you Maria!

Once a year we drive to Britain. We usually stay the night in Maastricht and then carry on driving to Calais, take the tunnel to Dover and drive to the Midlands. HRH the son and his beautiful bride meet us and they also visit Granny and Grandad for the week. It’s also an opportunity for me to visit my brother and family. On the way to Britain, our car is full of our suitcase, some beers from Bavaria as we have the best beers, as well as boxes of wines and Sekt, as they are cheaper and we’ve got a better selection of wines. On the way back, we have to fill the car with Him Indoors’ British supplies, as I call them – HP sauce, Worchester sauce, cheddar cheese, salt and vinegar crisps, malt vinegar, Branston pickles, Patak’s curry pastes, ginger snaps, teas, boxes and boxes of black tea, etc. He made shelves in the cellar and we usually fill them up when we come back from our drive to Britain. Him Indoors and his supplies – love him and them!

For: FFfAW Challenge – Week of October 11, 2016 by Priceless Joy

Him Indoors and I – Write a Fairytale Set Here – Writespiration #96

I was accepted to have an apprenticeship with BASF Chemical Company, in Ludwigshafen, Germany. It’s the largest production site worldwide and the company’s global headquarters and research centre. I spoke no German, but then, I’ve survived in France and Switzerland without French, so why not? I was convinced I would get by and would learn the language when I was there. I was allocated in the Inorganic Department, producing and analysing some dyes. Herr Raider provided me a name who was also working in the same building, but in a different laboratory. “He’d help you get sorted,” he said. Hence, first thing in the morning, I knocked on Room 602 and a tall English man opened it, some parts of his white shirt still untucked from his trousers. “I am, indeed.” was his answer to my question and that hooked me! “Such an accent,” I thought. He helped me obtain my lab gown and safety goggles that morning and waited for me for lunch every day. “There’s your English man again,” my Laborant would say.

That English man is Him Indoors…and we got married two years after we first met….and we’ve just celebrated our 30 years anniversary this year!

For: Writespiration #96

Last Night – Objects in a Box (#4? 5?)

Just had our chicken and mushroom pie and that was lovely. Him Indoors went upstairs to watch Big Bang Theory and I went to the study to finish a poem that I was working on before dinner. After that, I went upstairs to watch telly with Him. I took the large throw blanket from the couch and made myself cosy and warm. The reclining armchair was really comfortable. Him Indoors was lying down the other couch. We shared a nice bottle of Chablis while watching Sheldon and his mates. I’ve seen that episode, so I wasn’t really concentrating. My eyes wandered around the room and I noticed a small decorative box which I’ve done in one of the hundred courses that I took. It was a paper mache one with colourful flowers. Some board games we played when the son was here were still on the table, the Monopoly money still stacked. I also found a packet of seeds which Him ordered for next year’s planting. I guess more chillies, the hotter the better for Him. After some time, I needed the car muffler as I couldn’t hear what Sheldon and Leonard were saying anymore. Him Indoors was snoring away, typical at this time of the night, so I came prepared. The emotion that night? Cosy, typical night in our house and feeling warm.

For: Objects in a Box (#4? 5?)

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 24/16 – “bus”

PHOTO PROMPT © Ron Pruitt

When we first got married, Him Indoors and I visited the Philippines. We flew to Bicol, one of the provinces in the north of the Philippines and on the way back, flights were cancelled. Instead of waiting for the next flight which could be the next day or the next week, things could be very flexible in the Philippines. Anyway, we decided to take the bus to Manila. Everyone seemed to have the same idea. The bus station was full of people, chickens, pigs, children, cargoes, you name it, they were there, chaos! We ended up being in a decrepit, no air-con bus. We had to stand the first couple of hours. Did I mention that the bus was so full, people were literally hugging each other, not forgetting all the chickens, pigs, baskets of fruits and vegetables, etc. There was a stop – wheel fell off. We waited 3 hours for the man to get nuts in another town. We stood by the side of the road in the middle of the night. People started getting out, so we were able to sit. Then we stopped the second time – puncture on one of the tyres. Another wait. After that, the driver raced another bus along the motorway with a horse and a cart in the slow lane. Never again, we promised. Such a bus experience!

For: The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 24/16 by Linda Hill

Together – Daily Prompt

I have known you for a long time
Through thick and thin we’re together
We’ve been working out the answer

More seas to swim, mountains to climb
More adventures and challenges
More photos to take, more kisses

Cooking with rosemary and thyme
Lots of curries and stir-fries
Together with our lows and highs

The warm breeze whispers through the chimes
Such a melody we produce
When we fight, we’ve got to have truce

We fight but make up at teatime
One shouts, the other one listens
Life’s not perfect but we have fun*

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

* The Constanza, created by Connie Marcum Wong, consists of five or more 3-line stanzas. Each line has a set meter of eight syllables. The first lines of all the stanzas can be read successively as an independent poem, with the rest of the poem weaved in to express a deeper meaning. The first lines convey a theme written in monorhyme, while the second and third lines of each stanza rhyme together.

Rhyme scheme: a/b/b, a/c/c, a/d/d, a/e/e, a/f/f………etc.

For: Together

Other “together” posts:
https://any1mark66.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/together/
https://boringbug.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/why-terrorism-should-be-condemned/
https://orangehairedalienorabrowning.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/full-moon-sky-dragon/
https://lanternwords.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/gather-together/
https://hotwhitesnow.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/connected/

Photo Challenge #128 – Painting the Moon

With this brush, I paint the moon for you
Crossing out the storms and bad weather
Having the sky the right greyish hue
Giving some parts a mysterious blur

Entering some stars that sparkle at night
With this post, I count my blessings
You’ve always been my knight
Never hurting my feelings

That you’re here by my side
And we’re both free
Both enjoying the ride
And watching the prix

That our only son with his bride
Are making their marks in the world
Of course, with our support and guide
And a kaleidoscope of images whirled

Turning every chance into challenges
Therefore, I’ve got nothing left to wish for
As we climb mountains and cross bridges
Waiting for more things to explore

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

Source: Unknown

For: Photo Challenge #128, Wordle 263 Aug 28 by Brenda Warren

Shadows ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #52

Spring with our shadows
Ladylee and Him Indoors
Winter with our shadows

Together we glow and grow
In mountains, seas and moors
Spring with our shadows

Things we care to know
Went through a lot of tours
Winter with our shadows

Sunshine, rain, wind and snow
Filling up and making our memoir
Spring with our shadows

We met thirty two years ago
Went through oceans and shores
Winter with our shadows

With health we’re aglow
You’re mine, I’m yours
Spring with our shadows
Winter with our shadows*

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

* A Villanelle is a nineteen-line poem consisting of a very specific rhyming scheme: aba aba aba aba aba abaa.

For: Shadow ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #52 by Patrick Jennings

Haiku Hub Floating Challenge #1 – Heritage

Ritu from But I Smile Anyway is our first host for Haiku Hub and the prompt is “heritage.”

Two weeks before the son’s wedding, Him Indoors took his great granddad’s watch from the drawer and looked at it one last time. He wore it on his wedding, a pocket silver watch from 1909, with a silver chain and a silver medal at the end. The medal was won by his great granddad from rugby and it still has the encryption of his name and the year. Ah, great heritage! HRH the son was delighted when we presented it to him. He’s always been proud of his heritage, being half Filipino and half British. It was nice to see him happy.

An old silver watch
Passed on by his great granddad
The son wore it, too

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: Haiku Hub Floating Challenge #1 – Heritage

Carpe Diem #1029 Felt With The Heart

[…] “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” […] Hellen Keller

like a dove’s cooing
all the experience and love
I’m very grateful

in silence and stealth
we make our own history
together we face life

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: Carpe Diem #1029