Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

Another weekend approaches and I am reminding myself that I still need to update my blog to add the right photos to not just one but two "Photo Challenge" posts. Actually, I haven't even posted the second Challenge post yet - even though it was supposed to be on my blog some five days ago - and still need to do that. How bad is that? I promised myself and my readers / visitors that I'd post photos every weekend yet haven't done so. Which means I've let myself down, and my readers and visitors too. As I go through my emails and read articles online, I try to gently nudge myself towards my laptop's "Pictures" folder. That's where the photos live once I've downloaded them from my camera onto my laptop. That's where I need to go. That's where I need to direct my attention. Yet knowing I need to do something and actually doing it are two very different things. I'm not usually this bad with sticking to my promises, with following ...

I've been reading a lot the last few weeks. I wrote about it briefly - in this 09 August 2015 post - however didn't elaborate all that much. I haven't even updated Goodreads (which is where I keep track of what I read and want to read) to show or share what I'm reading. Those who know me won't be surprised that I'm reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series and loving it. Starting to get to the last few books and have to say I almost want to take a break from reading just so the series will last longer! All this reading means I haven't been blogging much, haven't shared many posts on Twitter and have barely updated Facebook. And honestly, while I try to keep up to date with what's going on in the real world, I find myself thinking more about what's going on in MZB's fictional world than our real one. So, here's a quick post today with a few quotes about reading... The quotes were all found on Goodreads . “The more that you ...

Happy Scar-Day to me... Surgery was two years ago today. Without that surgery, I wouldn't be alive today. Feels like I should be having a party or something! I'll just have a beer instead... To Life!

Just now, I read an email about an earthquake in New Zealand - I get an email every time an earthquake happens, through GeoNet (the official source of geological hazard information for New Zealand). At exactly the same time as I read the email, the ceiling lamp swayed. Not from an earthquake on the other side of the world several minutes ago, of course. It's just the wind coming in through the open window. Still - it's one of those strange coincidences that keeps life interesting. I like those! Screen Capture from GeoNet - Quakes with details of the 'quake I received an email about

Note To Self: Use knife to cut vegetables, not to slice finger. 2nd Note To Self: Tomatoes good. Tomato sauce good. Hey why is it red I didn't spill any tomato there... Oh wait because I cut my finger. .. Blood sauce bad. 3rd Note To Self: When cooking, the pot on the stove with boiling water in it is hot. Hot means auchie ow auw ow = bad. Really: Duh. Remember not to to touch. 4th Note To Self: Walking away from kitchen while cooking is not advised. Sitting down to write notes to self is fine, usually, just not when it makes you forget about stirring. 5th Note To Self: Remember note number three. And for crying out loud, don't pick up a hot pot with your bare hands, you will hurt your fingers. 6th Note To Self: That pot holder hanging on the hook by the stove... Use it... 7th Note To Self: No, that cloud does not look like Drogon. Really, it doesn't. Which doesn't mean it wouldn't be cool to ride a ... Cooking! You're cooking! Stop dreaming ...

How cool is it to be mentioned or featured online?!!!! Thanks for featuring my photo / blog post Steve G. Bisig, I'm honoured! :-) Nature & Landscape Photography is out! http://t.co/vis0AtuIh0 Stories via @NLCT @nimavenl @RSarkuv — Steve G. Bisig Photo (@SteveBisig) May 19, 2015 Thanks for featuring my work Steve G Bisig Photo , I'm honoured!

Only weeks after a 7.8 magnitude quake struck Nepal, another 7-pointer (7.3 this time) has hit the same region. The first quake caused a lot of damage and thousands of deaths. It was felt not just in Nepal but in surrounding countries as well. The second earthquake earlier today has, according to news reports, caused at least 30 40 57 66 deaths and injured hundreds thousands. No doubt the numbers will continue to rise. As the hash-tags #NepalEarthquake and #prayforNepal trend on Twitter, I can't help but think of what the poor people of Nepal must be going through. After losing so much (and so many) already, people in one of the world's poorest regions again go through agony, suffering and heartbreak. Everyone has lost a relative, a friend or a neighbour, or all of them in #Gorkha . http://t.co/e1XjISSAee pic.twitter.com/Sr096cyjSP — Nepali Times (@nepalitimes) May 11, 2015 Having lived in Napier, New Zealand for several years, I am no stranger to earthquakes...

This is A-MA-ZING! and actually has me nodding at almost every point. I am autistic - I have Asperger's Syndrome. I am not weird or strange or unnatural, however it is likely that I am not what you would call normal or average. I am different, unique, special and amazing in my own way. Best of all - I like who I am and I do not need to be 'cured' by anyone. I simply want to be accepted for who I am as a person instead of treated as less than adequate because I don't fit someone's narrow interpretation of 'normal'. this is v me #actuallyautistic pic.twitter.com/ZgZMWeJgEu — heely doc martens (@ekamangan) January 28, 2015

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!

A description of my day so far. Dramatised (if only a little) to insert humour, edited because my exact daily schedule is no-one's business really and polished because certain things simply don't need to be shared online with strangers! Wake up. Get dressed. Make coffee. Sit down to drink coffee while reading. Make myself breakfast and head out for the morning. Come back home, make coffee, then sit down to write down some thoughts. Get up to make more coffee - Walk to kitchen, rinse coffee cup and turn Senseo on. Wipe bench and stove, promise myself I'll clean the kitchen floor today. Fill sink for first load of dishes. Load washing machine and turn on. Sit down again. Turn laptop on, check emails.7 Remember I wanted coffee earlier - head back to kitchen, actually make cup of coffee. Check Twitter and reTweet interesting Tweets from my timeline. Sit while staring into space contemplating gender inequality and literacy rates around the world. Remember that I made coffee and ...

On navigating meltdowns when your child has autism. http://t.co/qd0iACmx9R #JDAM15 pic.twitter.com/VFtW3kjYbx — Kveller (@Kveller) February 5, 2015 Growing up, I knew I was a little different from others. I didn't always react or respond as I was expected to. I didn't always understand sarcasm or social cues or say the right thing. I preferred reading to group sports, didn't like being touched by strangers, would insult people without noticing they were insulted, loved learning but hated school, was (and am) pretty much obsessed with Star Trek, loved learning about people and society but sometimes had trouble understanding others... Today I understand that I wasn't strange or dumb or weird or unsocial or unfriendly or awkward or stupid or silly or anything of the sort. I was simply me, simply being true to myself, simply too young and innocent to understand that all people are special, individual, unique and amazing. I was too young to understand tha...

Dear Reader,  This is a bit of an angry rant.  Please read at your own discretion.  Dear Google, I use your services. Well, I use Google Search, Gmail, Blogger and Translate. Most of your other so-called services I just complain about. Or actively avoid, as in the case of YouTube. You see, dear Google, I am liking you less and less. We became close friends some ten years ago -- our 'ten year anniversary' is coming up... Will you congratulate me and tell me you love being friends with me? Of course not. At most you'll hassle me about buying something, spending my money on something, installing something that will allow you to better track my online movement or... No, wait. Let me start over. What will happen is this: In your quest to learn more about me, who I am and how I behave, you will only collect more information that gets passed on to more parties wanting to use that information to send me advertising you or they think I might like, send me offers to s...

I put my headphones on earlier (as there was some construction work going on close by) and was listening to Manu Chao which tends to make me smile and want to dance along. As I walked (or waltzed? seeing my hips were definitely moving) into the kitchen trying to remember all the words to " Me Gustas Tu " I was focused on the music. And on the smell of coffee coming from the coffee maker, in all honesty. Which means that, without pause or hesitation, I walked straight into the open door of a kitchen cabinet which struck my forehead and has now left me with a pretty impressive bruise. As I stood in my kitchen repeating "owowowowowowow" I figured this might make for a fun blog entry which is why instead of drinking my coffee while it's hot, I am writing down these words. You know what - I've decided that hot coffee comes first after all; it smells divine.

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, the floor creaked. Not unusual, however something that still reminds me of our cat who died last year. Just for a few seconds lying there in between sleep and waking, I allowed myself to imagine our cat was still alive and prowling through the house; that it was her making the floor creak. Catching some Sunshine | Nimavenl As I wiped away a tear I smiled and reminded myself of the famous quote from Alfred. Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam that it is "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." How true indeed and such perfect words for when one remembers a loved one who is no longer with us (no matter the species of that loved one!). Today's photo is for all those who have loved and lost - Always remember the good times, the sunshine and the times that made you smile, laugh and love.

In verband met de wijzigingen in de zorg dacht ik vandaag: Toch maar even kijken of mijn zorgverzekeraar en mijn ziekenhuis elkaar wel aardig zullen blijven vinden volgend jaar. Ging er eigenlijk 'gewoon' van uit dat de twee giganten goede banden zouden hebben en al had ik er een tijdje terug iets over opgezocht, had ik er verder niet meer naar gekeken. Toen ik begin 2013 ziek werd hebben minstens twee cardiologen en vier assistenten mijn hart bekeken in mijn lokale ziekenhuis. Het waren er meer, maar ik heb zes gezichten duidelijk onthouden. De ECG en de echo - standaard bij elk bezoek voor een hartpatient - waren voor deze zes professionals blijkbaar reden om te besluiten dat ik een probleem had met een van mijn hartkleppen, de pulmonalisklep. Toen geen van de professionals de klep goed in beeld kon krijgen tijdens de reguliere echo, is er besloten dat een slokdarmecho nodig was om de klep beter te bekijken. Een echo via de slokdarm betekent (in mijn eigen woorden) dat er e...

Early Morning... Well, not so early any more by the time I added watermarks to the photos and decided what to write in this post! Still - it was dark when I got up, surely that counts as early! As it got lighter and I went to make a cup of tea, this amazing sight greeted me. O f C ourse I rushed to the balcony to take several photos to share! @Nimavenl We really do live in a very beautiful world!  I just wish we - humanity - could spend more time enjoying our world, loving each other and appreciating being alive to enjoy the beauty. Instead, we hate, we disagree, we dislike, we fight, we torture, we rape, we insult, we discriminate, we kill, we terrorise.  "Our lives begin to end the day we become  silent about the things that matter."         Martin Luther King, Jr @Nimavenl I refuse to let terror win - I believe in humanity. Peace   :)   Shalom   :)   Salaam

"Kanker  Een klein woordje  Met zo'n groot effect." Via Facebook gevonden. Als iemand weet waar dit plaatje precies vandaan komt (zodat ik een link naar die pagina kan plaatsen) dan hoor ik het graag.

Took this photo a year ago on what I think was my first solo outing after surgery. Post by Nimavenl .

It was my birthday yesterday, I turned thirty-one. It wasn't nearly as spectacular as turning thirty, however that's most likely because for some time it looked like I might never make it to thirty! My heart is still beating strong and I am healthy, so bring on the coming year! Ready for the next challenge :-) Shared this photo and amazing (ahum!) poem on Facebook yesterday. Love this view, so am very happy to share it here as well! "A long time ago, not that far away at all, A little girl was born, they called her Nicole  She grew up to take photos and write so-so poetry, Today it's her birthday, so Happy Birthday To Me!" Source: @Nimavenl 

Woke up today to my (ahum) lovely and (ahum ahum) considerate neighbours drilling into shared concrete walls, banging on shared walls, hammering away and - I can only imagine - generally having a good time pretending to be workers at a construction site instead of people who live inside a building they share with other people who all have their own lives.  It's not a fun way to wake up; being forced awake by things happening outside my own flat yet inside my building. I can't change anything about the banging and noise or the complete disregard my neighbours have for other people, however I can't get away from it either. Not without leaving the entire building, which means waking up, getting dressed and leaving the house to... to.... to try to go to sleep in a park or by the side of the road because sleeping inside my own house is impossible? Do they seriously not realise that their walls are also my walls? That when they start banging away, everyone else in the bu...