Perpetuum Jazzile ~ A Cappella version of "Africa"

This is such a lovely experience to listen to and watch, maybe even close your eyes and enjoy the wonderful 'music' and even a 'human' storm...turn up your speakers to get the full effect......but I won't say any more, just that I'd love to see this live!

Important:

Please don't forget to stop the music on the blog by clicking on the Off button at the end of this page before you watch the video ~ thanks!

http://gimundo.com/videos/view/an-a-capella-africa/



Enjoy!

From my File Pictures ~ The Siege Bell Memorial

I took this picture from the Lower Barrakka Gardens almost three years ago

during a Craft exhibition that I took part in as part of the traditional craft makers at work

presented by the Malta Crafts Council.during the very

First Notte Bianca held in Malta

The Siege Bell Memorial is situated on the bastion adjacent to

the Lower Barrakka Gardens

right above the entrance to the Grand Harbour.

It commemorates the award of the George Cross to Malta and

was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II to honour those

who lost their lives during the Siege of Malta in 1940-43

commemorating some 7000 servicemen,

merchant seamen and civilians who died during WWII

14,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the tiny island of Malta,

damaging and destroying 30,000 buildings and pushing the population to near starvation.

Yet the besieged Allied Forces and the Maltese themselves

operating from this tiny island

in the Mediterranean, were instrumental in altering

the course of the whole war.

~~~~~~~~~~

A PLAQUE WAS UNVEILED BY H.E. PROFESSOR GUIDO de MARCO

(then PRESIDENT OF MALTA)

ON 15TH APRIL 2002

on THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AWARD

which reads:

THIS BELL TOLLS IN

MEMORY OF THOSE

WHO GAVE THEIR

LIVES DURING THE

SIEGE OF MALTA

1940-1943

The Best of Remembrance

is in the National

War Museum. Valletta

The Latest from our Rooftop.....and Father's Day!

With lots of care and patience, regular watering and a little or a lot of sun and some wind too, my little flower container has produced some fine foliage from the seeds I planted a while ago...I am very happy and I can spot some little buds showing already. I'm hoping they will survive the strong winds that have been blowing over our island these past couple of days.

Can you see the bald spot on the right side...still can't figure out what had happened there but a couple of seeds have sprouted so you never know there might be some late blooms!

Since yesterday was Father's Day, what better way was there than to spend some quality family time together? We had my in-laws and my Mum over for a Bar-B-Q and my husband cooked a delicious meal for all of us. Hmm, I hear you say why should he be cooking on Father's Day? Well, he loves it and always does a great job of it, definitely better than if I tried...I made potato salad and a fresh green salad with tomatoes. We had water melon for dessert and later we enjoyed a lovely cheesecake our daughter made. It was very windy but we managed to at least have our meal up on the rooftop and dessert downstairs. Thanks everyone for lending a hand, also to our son and his sweet girlfriend. We all had a great time.

~ I hope all the DADS in your family enjoyed their special day ~

And as a memory to those Dads who are no longer with us

and of course, especially

In Memory of My Dad...

I see your face,

Your precious smile,

I hear your guiding words

Always worthwhile...

You were forever there

To lend a hand,

Against injustice

You'd take a stand...

'Living the day'

Was your favourite saying

And you'd remind us each day

To be thankful when praying...

I'm so glad God chose you

To be my own special DAD

And when you left us

I was so sad,

But in knowing you're happy

In God's garden of Love,

I ask for your Blessings

From Heaven above.

Doreen Scerri © 2009

Friendships, old and new.....

A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway.

~ Fr. Jerome Cummings

Friends are kisses blown to us by angels.

~Author Unknown

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought

into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.

~George MacDonald

A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

~Author Unknown

Friendship is a sheltering tree.

~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future,

the key to sanity in a totally insane world.

~Lois Wyse

A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.

~Author Unknown

The best rule of friendship is to keep your heart a little softer than your head.

~Author Unknown

Friends are relatives you make for yourself.

~Eustache Deschamps

We make friends throughout our life, some live in our memory as we move on in our lives, some stay in touch and others it seems we cannot live without. When I stop and think how many friends I have made throughout my life, I realise that it all depends on what we mean by the word friends...there are acquaintances that I had known for only a short time and we really connected and are still in touch through regular (or snail) mail, through emails as well as through other forms of communication that we are blessed with today. Through the internet I have made several friends through my favourite craft forum, we share ideas, problems, exchange gifts and generally treat each other as friends. I am really thankful for this opportunity. I must say that at first I was a little wary, watchful in a way that our parents have so rightfully taught us. But that's OK and actually I prefer it that way and that is what we also have taught our children.

True friendships are hard to define ... A true friend is a little more than a very good friend.

Jesus Christ gave us the definition of a true friend: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:13-15). Jesus is the pure example of a true friend, for He laid down His life for His "friends." What is more, anyone may become His friend by trusting in Him as his personal saviour, being born again and receiving new life in Him.

Making new friends can be fun too, keeping them is another question and it depends on both parties of course and losing a good friend, even if over a silly dispute, can be painful. We learn as we grow older that respect plays a very important part in true friendship.

WOW, this was supposed to be a short posting on friendship and I am still writing...

Talking of friends and also making new friends or meeting them for the first time, a few days ago I met this very sweet French lady who is a colleague of my husband and who has been visiting our island occasionally as work demands. It was so nice to meet her and to get acquainted, we spent a lovely evening together by the end of which we wished each other well with hopes to meet again. She has a very good command of the English language with a lovely French accent which I loved listening to and talking to her made me wish to visit Paris, well maybe one day! If you are reading this I'd like to say I cherish our new friendship.

It is so nice to know I have friends from around the world and

I would like to say you are all very special and I am so glad

to call you my dear friends!

Friends are very special people we can be ourselves with,

talk with, laugh with, hope with and believe with!

~~ Sue's Blog Candy GIVEAWAY ~~

Hey everyone come and have a look here, my sister Sue is giving away a lovely prize to celebrate her 1st ANNIVERSARY blogging as well as her 10,000 visitors...click here to take part...

http://craftysusie.blogspot.com/

The closing date is Sunday 28th June 2009 at midnight( Gmt +1).

CONGRATULATIONS SUE AND MANY BEST WISHES!

MORE AWARDS!

MANY THANKS to my dear sister Sue of http://craftysusie.blogspot.com/ for these lovely awards. I apologise for not posting them before but as you know I was without my own PC and therefore quite limited as to having my own files, timing, etc. Anyway here I am so thanks from the bottom of my heart dear sis. . .I AM TRULY HONOURED!

I think at this point in time I had better pass these on by offering them to all those who visit my blog so please feel free to post them on your blog and pass them on to others.

In order to make things easier on myself and others who will accept the awards, I will not list any conditions to follow except that they do their best to forward them to as many as they see fit in true friendship...as I hope I am doing here and to post the relative links of those offering the Awards. I too kindly ask that you post a link to my blog, thanks!

The Most Favourite Award says...

“These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.”

The Honest Scrap Award says I must list ten honest things about myself so hmm, let me see, I hope I can find ten...so here goes...

1. First and foremost I believe in Jesus and I love God, my family and friends.

2. My favourite colour is blue (all shades of blue).

3. I collect thimbles and teapots and angels.

4. I love writing poetry and doing all sorts of crafts.

5. Nature and music inspire me.

6. I hate back-biting and gossip.

7. I love looking at clouds and the sea.

8. I enjoy working as a volunteer mostly within my parish community.

9. My new hobbies are blogging, photography and gardening (hmm, that's not bad for this year!)

10. I hope to learn parchment later this year and would also love to learn One-Stroke-Painting.

Hmm, that wasn't so bad, I think I'll go back over that and see a little bit about ME!

Both of the above awards as well as The Lemonade Award require that they are passed on to 8, 7 and 10 blogs respectively. However, seeing as these are being passed on as best as I can and in good faith, I am hoping that they will be shared likewise with many who deserve them.

~ Thanks for visiting and I hope to see these awards on your blogs too ~

Back on track...

It feels so great to be back...I can't believe I have not posted for so long and apologise to all who have been checking in for updates...but finally here I am on my own PC and thanks to my computer whiz kids who have upgraded all the parts, programs, etc. and given a new heart and brain to my PC...what a lovely surprise it was to come back home after a weekend retreat and find it all set up! Thanks also to my wonderful husband for this wonderful birthday gift.

And so I am hopefully back to stay, I say hopefully as, since last Sunday, I have been nursing a sprained wrist and yesterday all of our island had no electricity most of the day. I am hoping things will settle down soon so I can get back on track! At least I have started posting again : )

.....for waiting and checking back!