#8PhotosofHappiness for #MondayMusings

43 Comments#MondayMusings, Blogfests, Music, Photography, Travel, Write Tribe

Clowie of Clowie's Corner
Thanks to Clowie’s Corner for inviting me to participate in the “8 Photos of Happiness” event, started by
Ariel’s Little Corner of the Internet. See below for more details.

It’s difficult to choose only 8, from a lifetime of memories, but here’s what I came up with:
[Is it cheating to use photo collages? 😉 ]

Of course, you knew it had to start with dogs, yes? 🙂

1. Three things that make me happy in one photo, namely Hubby, home and doggies. This photo was taken in 1998, two years after we moved in. The Dalmatian was our beautiful Tasha. I used to sing “You Are My Sunshine” to her because she was.The others were houseguests, including little Saba, the Jack Russell, whom we knew for over 17 years. Read her story HERE.

Home with Hubby and Dogs
♥ Hubby, Home, Hounds ♥

2. This one goes all the way back to 1975, again showing three happiness items in one photo. The puppy was 8-week old cockapoo Sheila, our very first dog together. This was my favourite poncho, purchased during a visit to Germany in 1970. I wore it often and still have it. The car was a snazzy 1971 Torino 500, which hubby had purchased three years earlier (coincidentally – or perhaps not – on my 17th birthday).

Sheila, 8 weeks old.
♥ Puppy, Poncho, Primo Wheels ♥

3. & 4. We’re going back to 1968 now and my grandparents’ home in Germany. Here they are with my parents, on Christmas Eve. The second photo is me with my cousin, enjoying New Year’s Eve festivities. Some of the happiest memories of my youth were from that time period, 1965 to 1969 when we lived in Germany.

Christmas 1968, Germany
♥ Christmas with Oma & Opa in Germany ♥
New Year's Eve 1968
♥ New Year’s parties at home in Germany ♥

5. Another thing that always makes me happy is music. I love going to rock concerts and am on a “concert high” for days afterwards! (Making up for lost time, as you can read HERE.) This is a collage of some concert photos. Top row, l-r: John Kay & Steppenwolf, Eric Burdon & The Animals. Second row, l-r: Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones. Third row, l-r: Black Sabbath, The Who. Last row, l-r: The Moody Blues, Rod Stewart. (Click on the links to view more of my posts about these musicians.) If you’re interested, you can see the most recent concert list HERE.

concert photo collage
♥ “Rockchick Rapture” ♥

6. Hubby and I had some of the most fun in the late 70s and early 80s, running an amateur men’s soccer club. He played, of course, having started at the age of 6 in Italy. Our entire social life revolved around the team and there were parties after every game. They did well, which made it even more exciting. Many victory celebrations! I was the PR person, liaising with the local paper and writing the weekly newsletter.

♥ Winning soccer team, 1980♥
♥ Winning soccer team, 1980 ♥

Travel always makes me happy too and there have been so many fabulous trips!

7. One of the earlier excursions took place in March 1967 when my mother and I vacationed in the Canary Islands. This included a day trip to the Spanish Sahara (now called the Western Sahara). You can read details HERE.

Canary Islands & Sahara Desert
♥ Fascinating trip! ♥

8. Saving the best for last! In 2013, I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream, by taking a two-week tour of Greece, as part of our month-long 40th-anniversary trip to Europe. Ancient history is another passion of mine and I had been yearning to visit Greece since I was old enough to read about it. That first night in Athens brought tears to my eyes. One of those “pinch me” moments! Top row, l: First glimpse of The Acropolis from the hotel rooftop bar. r: We made it up to The Parthenon! (Easy, compared to some of the other ruins we explored.) Middle row, l: Flame cauldron at Ancient Olympia. r: Hanging monasteries of Meteora. Bottom row, l: Palace of Knossos, Crete. r: Santorini; a true paradise

Greek trip collage
♥ Greece; a lifelong dream fulfilled! Number #1 Bucket List item crossed off.♥

So, these are my 8. A collage only counts as one photo, yes? 😉
[Collages made using FOTOR]

To participate in the 8 Photos of Happiness event:

  • Thank your nominator (me) and link to them in your post.
  • Link to the creator (Ariel’s Little Corner of the Internet)
  • Post your 8 photos of happiness (The photos can be anything that represents a moment, object, place or feeling that makes you happy.)
  • Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it or let the photos do the talking!
  • Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers!

Rather than tagging a whole list of people, I’m only going to nominate two – with the proviso that there’s no pressure to participate. These ladies are both excellent photographers and fellow Ontarians:

Laurel of Alphabet Salad
Cathy of Cattitude and Gratitude

In addition, I’m extending an open invitation to anyone reading this. Please join in if you’d like to. The more, the merrier! (See above for guidelines.)

What makes you happy?

Looking forward to your comments!

Debbie

Also linking up with Write Tribe’s #MondayMusings initiative.
Click on image for more details.

Write Tribe #MondayMusings

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43 thoughts on “#8PhotosofHappiness for #MondayMusings

  1. Debbie, this was a most enjoyable compilation of some of your life events. I love the pics as well as the stories.

    1. Hi Gina! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed my trip down memory lane. It’s been an interesting life, that’s for sure. Still more to come. Thanks for dropping by!

  2. Oh Debbie! Love this. I saw Parul’s post and that led me here. I would love to do this, seeing as I often have a photo-overload. Visiting you always sets me off on a musical journey and this time is no different! Hugs. Thanks for sharing. Such a pleasure to read your post! Very uplifting!

    1. Great – I’ll look forward to your post as well, Vidya. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed this. It was hard to choose from a lifetime of memories. Have a good weekend.

    1. HI Kim; Glad you enjoyed the photos. 🙂 The soccer team was great fun, especially since I was the only woman in the group. Thanks for taking the time to drop by during your holidays. Hope you’re having a blast!

  3. Living in Germany and travelling to neighbouring countries was a wonderful experience Shady, one I appreciate more and more as I look back on it. It was so exciting to go back there prior to the Greece tour. First time in 41 years and little had changed! Can’t say enough about Greece; a magical country! 🙂 I hope they can get their economic woes sorted out.

    Thanks for taking the time to read my story about Saba! This is an ongoing series, but I actually stopped writing it, because it was emotionally difficult to relive the endings. So sad about Fuzzy. 🙁 What a shame your mother didn’t get another dog. That parrot sounds rather unpleasant. No solace there! Thomas’ English Muffin is an interesting name for a dog. Bet he was cute! 🙂 Cocker Spaniels are nice too, but then, I love most dogs. This is a love passed down from many generations on my mother’s side. Dogs were always part of our family. Now, I have dogs around me all the time and get paid for it. How cool is that? 😀

    Thanks for sharing your memories, Shady. Always a pleasure to read your comments. Cheers!

  4. awww your posts about your family are always so heartwarming 😀 Loved the stories through the pictures. It\’s a cherished collection indeed … so many beautiful memories 🙂 Loved reading.

  5. Hi Debbie. I had trouble getting past the doggies. I’m sitting here with my little chihuahua under my laptop keeping warm, lol. She loves when I write. Your happiness journey was amazing. Love the poncho! And you still have it! Awesome! Loved the pics of your travels. Photos say so much. And the stories add that extra for us! Your pics of the concert were fantastic too. I know what you mean about being on a high for days afterwards.

    Thanks for having me at your place.

    Denise 🙂

    1. Oh good – a fellow dog lover and also a “rockchick”. 😀 Chihuahuas are so cute. I’m watching America’s Got Talent and there’s an act which features one named “Mr. Piffle”. Yes, that poncho is still in the closet – I couldn’t bear to part with it. Might even wear it again, one of these days. That would be a sight! A woman with long grey hair wearing a fringed poncho. Bring on the weird looks. Love it! 😉 Thanks for dropping by and have a good weekend.

  6. It must be hard to choose only 8 happy memories from a lifetime of happy ones. Thanks for sharing and may you continue making more happy memories.

    1. Hi Jeffrey; I’m always posting photos online – even without a reason. 😉 It’s fun and people seem to enjoy it. Thanks for checking it out and have a good weekend.

  7. I don’t think it’s cheating to use a collage – it’s a great idea, I only wish I’d thought of it!
    I really enjoyed seeing your selection of photos – they made me smile this morning. Thank you for taking part.

    1. Glad you enjoyed the photos, Clowie. 🙂 Yes, the collage was a great way to sneak so many more in! Thank you for inviting me to participate.

    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Angelika. 🙂 Yes, it was difficult to choose. That’s why I came up with the collage idea. Thanks for dropping by and have a good weekend.

  8. Loved your pictures! So good to know a little more from your past. I will check out this happiness event. It seems a good one to participate 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  9. Love seeing photos! I have to smile because I think I have similar pictures of my relatives with the same background and the Christmas tree with candles on it and Lameta. I don’t have candles and grew up with coloured lights but I hang Lameta on my tree and it is a combo of the fly away stuff that one buys here and the lead tinsel that we got direct from Austria (My relatives now live in Austria for many years). I know lead is not right, blah, blah, blah but it hangs so nicely on the tree and I will never change. I love the Greece pictures also and love ancient history. I just bought my magazine of Archeology Today. The first time I heard of Meteora was in 1982 when I was in Austria. I was watching some French or Italian film dubbed in German-a comedy-quite funny and the climax was shot there. I was awestruck by how remote and beautiful it looked and wondered how it could be built. I have since read up on it but still marvel at the feat.

    1. Ah yes, the European tinsel was so much better! 🙂 My parents and grandparents always used real candles on the tree, but those are a bit dangerous, so I use light bulbs instead.

      Meteora was incredible, Birgit. I need to get my act together and do that article about it. One day, soon – hopefully!

      Glad you enjoyed the photos. Thanks for dropping by and my apologies for the late response.

  10. Debbie these are wonderful, I too love learning about individual journeys, but I’ve talked about my one big adventure, going to Alaska, in my early 20’s for vacation and staying, so often on my blog, I’d bore the hell out of everyone. But i do have a collection of pictures, and not the beautiful digital ones either that fill my scrapbook. Although, one day when I’m feeling nostalgic, I may take you up on your invitation, Thank you for sharing!

    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Yolanda. 🙂 Your Alaskan adventure sounds fascinating! I’d love to see those old photos and I’m definitely going to check out your blog. Nostalgia is a byproduct of ageing, but I enjoy reliving those memories.

  11. Such a great collection! I don’t want to sound weird, but I’m loving reading about your life! It’s interesting and inspirational.. I hope to see and do a lot of this stuff in my life 🙂
    My first happy memory would probably be my first dog, too! She was a Dalmatian mix and sorta a butthole, but I loved that dog. I’ve only gone to concerts so jealous of that!

    1. Glad you’re enjoying my memoirs, Madilyn. 🙂 It’s fun for me to relive them as well. I’m sure you’ll do plenty of great things in your life. Dogs are often the subject of happy memories. Part Dalmatian you say? I bet she was stubborn. 😀
      Going to concerts is one of my favourite pastimes. Guess I’ll never grow up! 😉

  12. A fabulous collection of memories Debbie! I so enjoyed looking at your photos and reading the stories behind them. Really a treat for us readers!!! You have lived a marvelous life for sure. And absolutely, collages count as one photo! 🙂

    1. Glad you enjoyed the photos, Michele. 🙂 It has been an interesting life so far and I hope that continues. Not getting any younger, though. Things are starting to slow down just a bit.