Mapping

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie

Happy Thanksgiving, my bloggity friends!

Skywatch: mapping Forensic Accounting

Reflections: at the Sweet Secret Cafe

Can you tell if a mushroom is edible or poisonous?

 Flowery hangout

I can tolerate my own cooking ;)

November is waving goodbye. That fast, wasn't she? It's been a good month. Now time to wrap up the week -

Mapping Forensic Accounting. It was part of a 4-day seminar which I enjoyed doing. With time pressure though my screws splattered in all directions and my mind wandered to  the -

Sweet Secret Cafe. Not a bad place to mentally be to make up for the frustration of not having enough time for concept mapping. The photo is an old one; taken when I was physically present and had a sweet time there.

Hundred Foot Journey. Three reasons why this film was so much fun to me - Helen Mirren, food, and France. Its brief mention of mushrooms brought back lovely memories of my wedding breakfast. 

Blooms. They enhance walking around to help get rid of harmful cholesterol. 

Capsicum omelette for Thanksgiving. Not the best obviously but I like Thanksgiving, and although it's not a holiday where I am I celebrate it anyway.   

Linking with Friday's Fave Five & Willy Nilly 5

Stops along the way

Sally's Blues: fishing boats by the talipapa

Reflections: Big Ben in the Venice of the East (Huahin)

Skywatch: by the river

I was stuck with colleagues in a river jungle. Nice place, lots of cheery chatter, we were well fed, but work was work. It felt good when the remote controls, powerpoints and microphones were put away and we were on our way home. That's when the fun began - so much of it I forgot I had to pull off twelve hours the next day. But glad I am to be chatting about them:

Talipapa or temporary fish market was our first stop. A breeze cooling through the parked fishing boats and to our hall of work, AC-coated faces says how great it was for lungs to function in such a morning.  

Blue crabs - our main purpose of stopping by the talipapa. 350 baht a kilo (11 USD). Wait, is it just me or do blue crabs turn pink anyway when they are steamed?

To the beach we go! You could guess where we took our loot. 

Foodie fun. The vendor prepared everything and provided sauce to go with the other seafood that we bought. As the flavors slid down our alimentary canal, I thought the taste lived up to its reputation as part of a cuisine that's ranked 8th in the world by CNNGo.

The Baguette, our final stop. It's a cafe in Huahin (Thailand's summer capital) that gives off a lovely hint of Europe. I miss those breakfast baguettes in England, but back to Thailand first: the office secretary turned a new age that day. As we sang her a happy birthday, the white patrons in the other tables sang too. It was cute of them.

Linking with Fave Five & Willy Nilly 5 

Packing up pronto

xxx

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This was a weekend work trip with colleagues to the province. I love the sumptuous meals in the hall above the floating cottages by the river and the houses among the trees where we slept at night. But the best part was going home. I'm not a fan of packing up but if it's to go home, then I happily pack pronto! 

Linking with - Share the Joy * Water World * Smiling Sally * Our World * Ruby Tuesday

Sweet November

Reflections: celebratory tea

Skywatch: a bougainvillea roof

And then it's time to acknowledge the good of the week. Here are my high fives:

1. Progressive, transition lenses. After two years of neglecting, avoiding and hesitating, I finally set foot in an optical clinic and came to terms with a 'perk' of aging. My traditional books, here I come! Back.

2. BBC modern adaptation of Cinderella. That bit on university research was very appealing. It's fun when a fairy tale sounds intelligent and not just all charm and romance.

3. Free expert knowledge. Last week when I mentioned my Mom successfully battling pneumonia and enlargement of aorta, I meant she was already breathing on her own. But she's not totally out of the woods yet as she's having difficulty swallowing food. A friend in the medical profession shared keywords of possible causes. That helped me form my own questions to ask the physicians.  It's comforting when you have at least an idea of what's going on and what to do next. 

4. Cousin time. As an only child and now as an adult I realize how daunting it can be to make pivotal decisions alone when an elderly parent is sick. I appreciate this cousin's availability to talk things out with me. 

5. Celebratory tea. Hope is a good thing. Optimism helps. Celebrating them lifts the spirit.

Linking with Friday's Fave Five and Willy Nilly Friday

The Red Temple

Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir

Popularly known as Lal Mandir or Red Temple, and originally built in 1656, it is the 'oldest and best-known Jain temple in Delhi, India.'

Too hot that day, I only stayed a few minutes to take a couple of photos and ran back to the car. But then I did not need too long to be impressed by such structure. I loved the moment I took in the sight.

Sharing with - Rubbish Tuesday / Our World / Ruby Tuesday