Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

As much as I love eating cake, adoringly gazing at photos of delicious-looking cakes and other gorgeous food is lots of fun too! This cake makes me hungry, makes me want to visit my nearest library and may be one of my favourite cakes ever! Yum! Post by Title Wave . In case you can't see a photo above this text, click here to visit the Title Wave Facebook page to have a look at this super-gorgeous Library Cake for yourself!

I enjoy taking photos, viewing the world from a photographer's point of view and sharing the beauty of the world with others. There is so much unrest, fighting, hatred and injustice going on in the world that I believe it is vital to 'take a moment' every once in a while to realise that the world is not all bad. In fact, it is extremely beautiful and diverse and can bring us so much pleasure and enjoyment! "We are all dreamers creating the next world, the next beautiful world for ourselves and for our children" ~ Yoko Ono I believe that if only more of us focused on sharing beauty and love instead of spreading hatred, discord and intolerance that the world could truly be a better and more amazing place. Peace is possible, if only we give it a chance! Having decided on the awesomeness of this wall, I wanted to share it with others. Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea - beauty, nature, functionality and light all in one! :-) Post by Nimavenl . What do...

"Once More, With Feeling" is the title of an episode of popular US television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was the only musical episode in the shows's seven seasons with the cast all singing and dancing and experiencing life differently through their singing and dancing. While the episode was by no means my favourite Buffy episode, the title stayed with me. It will be no secret to anyone who's ever visited my blog (or my Twitter or my Facebook or... you get the idea) that I enjoy taking photos, enjoy sharing the beauty of the world I live in; that I love sharing with the world some of the amazing scenery I see when I look out the window or go for a walk outside. Photo by @Nimavenl I take photos of that which I see around me, however what I see isn't just visual. It's influenced by what I think and feel and experience and hear and smell around me, it's not just a static image but a feeling, an impression, a sense of wonder and amazement and...

As it gets colder outside and I am trying to find excuses to stay indoors more and more, I'm trying to come up with new ways to entertain myself away from the wind, the rain and the cold. I've rediscovered my 1000-piece "Starry Night" puzzle by Van Gogh (yay for getting past the point I was at last time!) and am trying to decide on other crafty projects for when the puzzle is finished. I take photos, like puzzles & games and I enjoy writing, however that is about as creative as it gets for me. I'm perfectly content spending a whole weekend doing puzzles, playing games and reading a good book. I enjoy doing those things as much as others would enjoy a DIY project, the restoration of a car or building model trains and such. I do love the feeling of being productive, however when the weekend comes around I'm happy to turn my brain off and enjoy Weekend Mode. No stress, no hassles, no customers yelling at me, no alarm clocks and no schedule to stick to....

As written about from time to time on this Blog, I am an avid photographer. I've been using Instagram (a smartphone app for sharing photos with other users) for about 8 weeks now. It is an amazing thrill to see that other Instagram users, absolute and total random strangers I don't know and have never met or had contact with before, like the photos I take. They sometimes even like them enough to leave comments or to follow my updates. As not everyone these days has a smartphone or cares to download and/or use a photo sharing app, it is very handy that Instagram photos are also available outside the app. Click this link to see a copy of all my photos on Pingram , and if you happen to have your own Instagram account, don't be shy and come on by! 

Source: Wat Lees Jij

Wandering around the mall last week, I decided I needed to work on my creativity - and possibly get me a new hobby. A week later, I'm wondering why that crazy thought entered my mind. I read, I write, I do crosswords, I enjoy photography - surely those are good hobbies to have?! Source: Wikipedia My muse disagreed however, and when I saw a 1000-piece puzzle of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night , I simply had to buy it. I honestly can't remember the last time I completed a puzzle that didn't involve words, so to say that completing this puzzle is a challenge is definitely an understatement! It's a challenge I'm enjoying, however! As of today, the outside pieces are all in place, as are the bottom left and the top right pieces. As for the rest... I have about five piles of purple puzzle pieces ranging from pinkish to almost black, a pile each with brownish and blackish pieces, another huge pile of greenish pieces, a bunch of stars ready to be fit...

Having already posted a few shots on my blog, I guess saying I take photos of nature and animals is obvious. The only photos I've made so far this month are all at a friend's place - mostly kids playing and pets, which means these are personal photos and not ones I wish to share online. Some photo I would like to share are these: The photo was taken at Vogelpark Avifauna , a bird park in Alphen aan den Rijn here in The Netherlands in August last year. This amazing animal walked right onto the terrace we were sitting at, and while I have to admit I was a bit freaked out - really, how often does the wildlife walk to the table! - it was also amazing to see so many birds up close. Another photo I'd like to share is one I took in my home town. I love being near the water, and have lived near the sea for most of my life. My home town is sadly not near the sea, however it does have lots of water, which means lots of opportunities for photos! This photo was taken in July ...