a mysterious book...

I have completely forgotten to mention something...

Last Sunday, Slawek and I took Angie and went for a stroll along the River Thames in London. We were close to the Hay's Galleria when we decided to stop and have a drink at one of the bars by the river . We sat at a table outside and noticed that somebody had left a book there. Our first thought was to give it to a waiter or hand it over to bartenders. We thought that somebody had lost it and would probably come back to look for it. Then Slawek spotted a white label on the book's cover. The inscription revealed: 

CONGRATULATIONS!! 

You have just found a BOOKCROSSING Book! 

Look inside...

A Bookcrossing Book? I thought, what the hell is it? 

We opened the book and there was another white label that read:

I'M NOT LOST!

I'm a travelling book!

Please pick me up, read me and then give me a ride somewhere else.

You can find out where I've been and let the world know you found me, all by visiting the website and entering the BCID number (the number was written on the book's side with a black marker)

Only then we started understanding what was going on. Basically, average people (like me and you:) ) can release their books "into the wild" and then follow their journeys online, see where they have been, who has read them and how far they have gone.

I found out that the idea itself was created in 2001. A year later, it attracted huge media attention and became a very popular and widespread phenomenon. There is more than 770.000 registered BookCrossers who have registered and released over 5.5 million books worldwide!!! 

It's the first time that I have actually come across something like that... I'm wondering why I haven't heard about this project before... I find it rather fascinating... it is like writing a letter, putting it into a glass bottle and sending it off into the ocean... kind of romantic... :))

The book we have found, Jeffrey Deaver's Manhattan is My Best, was not very interesting, though. I didn't really like it and found it a bit boring and dull... Nevertheless, I think the idea is fantastic and I will definitely release some of my books into the wild :)

Visit www.bookcrossing.com for more info on how to share your books with the world :)

A visit to the vet...

I took Angie to see the vet today. She's had a very strange looking nose for the past few days. It looks like it's been stung or burned or scratched or... I don't know... it just looks strange...

If it was minor wound or not serious injury, it would heal by now... well, it hasn't... so Slawek and I decided to take Angie to the vet...

I called the vet's office this morning and made an appointment for 12.10 pm.

It turned out that Angie's nose has been infected... it could have been anything - a scratch, a bite, a little something that got into her nose and ignited the infection... even a blade of grass could cause the problem... it could be really anything... We got some antibiotic tablets that we need to give to Angie twice a day for the next 5 days... hopefully, it will solve the problem... if not we'll have to come back to see the vet again next week...

The vet checked Angie thoroughly: heart, eyes, back legs, paws, ears, teeth, belly... Aparently, she's in a perfect condition :))

Symphony...

To live content with small means...

to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion...

to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich...

to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart...

to study hard...

to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never...

in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common...

this is my Symphony...

by William Ellery Channing

I have found this quote searching the net today and though it was absolutley wonderful... very inspirational, great words to live by...

Saturday in Camber and Rye

Slawek and I jumped in the car and went to explore Camber on Saturday. We took sandwiches, cookies, some breadsticks and drinks and wanted to have a great, quiet time on the beach. We took a blanket, our cameras and a kite. We got there at about noon, parked our car at a parking near by... the weather was beautiful - it was nice and sunny, +20 degrees... it was just perfect...

So we grabbed all our stuff and started walking up the dunes that protect the village of Camber from the sea... and the moment we reached the beach, everything changed... the wind was blowing like crazy, it got quite chilly suddenly, the sun hid behind the clouds... total madness... We didn't want to dash our hopes of having a nice time so we rented a windshield, found a perfect place on the beach, put a blanket on golden sand and relaxed... 

At least, that is what we tried to do... to relax... but we couldn't... the wind was just horrible!!! It was so strong that even renting the second windshield did not help much... sand was swirling around and was basically everywhere... we couldn't eat or drink anything because it was getting into our mouth... yuk!!!

Slawek couldn't fly his kite because the wind was too strong... we didn't really explore the beach and didn't even try to soak our feet in the sea as it was too chilly... nor did we take any photos on the beach because we feared the sand would damage the lenses...

Angie, of course, was the only one having the best time of her life... she was jumping on the sand like a rabbit, got playful with other dogs there and was getting friendly with other people... she was trying to run away from big, oncoming waves but manged to get herself wet anyway :))

We spend approximately 3 hours on the beach and decided to drive to Rye - a small town located just a couple of kilometers from Camber. 

Rye is a small, ancient town located in the East Sussex countryside. It is placed on the edge of a hill and provides a nice view of Romney Marsh and the River Rother. We went for a stroll through its beautiful, small paved streets filled with historic houses, small boutiques, antigue stores and cafes.

please enlarge this photo 

to see the full name of this antique store...:D

We saw a beautiful fortress - the Camber Castle built by Henry VIII in the 16th century to protect the town from invasion and a medival church from Georgian times; we discovered the Martello Towers from the 19th century and a stunning mill called the Rye Windmill.

The town is really nice and peaceful and we had a great time there :)

On our way back home we took some countryside roads and were passing by huge fields of colza. The fields filled the area with bright, deep yellows and were simply beautiful... I couldn't help it and forced my way through the middle of the field for a photo op :))

World in My Eyes...

Let me take you on a trip

Around the world and back

And you won't have to move

You just sit still

Now let your mind do the walking

And let my body do the talking

Let me show you the world in my eyes

I'll take you to the highest mountain

To the depths of the deapest sea

And we won't need a map, believe me

Now let my body do the moving

And let my hands do the soothing

Let me show you the world in my eyes

That's all there is

Nothing more than you can feel now

That's all there is

Let me put you on a ship

On a long, long trip

Your lips close to my lips

All the islands in the ocean

All the heavens in the motion

Let me show you the world in my eyes

That's all there is

Nothing more than you can touch now

That's all there is

Let me show you the world in my eyes

Depeche Mode

from the album Violator

written by Martin L. Gore