Simple Pleasures for Marianne.

Marianne of East of Malaga, has asked us to think of some of the simple pleasures in our lives, which don’t cost much, and are often free. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of our lives, we just take them for granted and forget  to be grateful for these small things which are essential to our well-being.

A perfectly formed Hibiscus flower. Such a miracle.

A scrumptious bit of self-indulgence which you know you really shouldn’t have, but can’t just resist.

A delicious breakfast, which for a small cost, can be cooked by someone else, who will also do the washing up. 🙂

The angelic sound of little children’s voices singing Christmas carols.

Just sitting dreaming, whilst a sunset unfolds its magic before your very eyes.

The daily pleasure of seeing the resident water birds cavorting on the lake outside our kitchen window,

such a wonderful start to the day.

A walk along an almost deserted beach, and listening to sound of the waves as they wash up against the rocks.

Seeing an unexpected sight in a busy car park.

These simple delights which cross our path, may seem like nothing much at the time, but looking back at my photos, I realise that it’s the accumulation and the memory of these serendipitous pleasures, that make life all the more enjoyable.

To see more entries for Marianne’s CBBH challenge, just click here.

One of the stipulations of this challenge is that I introduce you two two other bloggers who I follow.

First up is Paula, of  ‘Lost in Translation’ , who describes herself as “A life’s traveller, a soul explorer, a thinker and a linguist with a lot to learn.” Do pay her a visit. Her posts are always fascinating , and more often than not, her photos have a musical accompaniment.

Secondly there is Cindy-Ann, of ‘The Only Cin’, who is a South African blogger living in Johannesburg. The link will take you to her ‘about’ page, which I’m sure will tempt you to read more of her fascinating and witty writings.

Peaceful in my back yard for Jake.

Jake has asked us this week to do a peaceful post. I hope that you find that most of my posts are peaceful, with the possible exception of the jackhammering and the parasailing, ones. 🙂

Today, whilst hubby was busy again in the kitchen, building cupboards, not cooking, I took a walk outside to see what was going in in our peaceful neck of the woods.

The only sound was of the wind gently rustling the palm fronds, and not a single person was to be seen. The only inhabitants of the lakeside, were the birds. The Great Blue Heron seems to be the kingpin around here, and he stood meditating by the water’s edge for quite a while,

before marching off to see what was potting a bit further down.

His friend, the Anhinga was busy drying his wings, and didn’t want to chat to anyone.

and the duck family were practising their  swimming, up near the golf course,

under the watchful eye of mom and dad.

The Wood Stork was umm…… just stalking around, 🙂

and then there was a bit of action, closely watched by the Ibis.

Mr. Great Blue decided to go over to the other side of the lake, and catch himself some breakfast too.

Yummy  sushi  is his favourite dish.

The most peaceful creature of all though, was Lizzie lizard, who just sat motionless, waiting for her breakfast insects to venture near.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my peaceful morning in my back yard. To see more takes on Jake’s theme, as well as his own amazing images, just click here.