A Happy and Blessed New Year 2016

Some parts of the world already celebrated their New Year and we will also do the same in over an hour now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!

 "A new year is like a blank book, the pen is in your hands,
It is your chance to write a beautiful story for yourself,
Happy New Year 2016."

Facing another year in our lives, I wish everyone a blessed and happy New Year 2016 full of hope, love, inspiration and most especially peace in all corners of this planet to prevail!

To my family and friends near and far,  I wish you all good health always, happiness, peace of mind, contentment, more blessings to come and may all your wishes and dreams slowly coming true!

God bless us all! God bless planet Earth!

Spring Time is Gardening Time

Hey folks! How are things going on in there! I just look at the calendar and it seems that the month of March is almost over.  Yes, three more days to go and I am ready to face another month of the year. I can't wait for the weather to really be nice and friendly.  Today was  a gloomy and rainy weather.  It was raining the entire day and outside is  still  cold.  This is typical spring weather since Mother Nature needs rain and more rain.

I can't  wait to see these tulips in my garden again.

Since it is spring season now, I can't wait to hit the garden again and do some clean-up and gardening. Some flowers are  already blooming  in our garden especially the crocus.  The tulips are slowly growing too. In two or three weeks, I believed they will be in full bloom.

Lovely tulips from last year's spring.

Spring  is one of my favorite seasons of the year.  This season refers to the ideas of rebirth, resurrection and  regrowth.  This is the time to see lives and nature growing again. The plants and the trees start to bear flowers, leaves and branches. It is simply a season to rejoice for a new life and beginnings.

I can't wait  to see more flowers and green environment so soon again. This is the reason why  I so love spring  season. Most of all spring time is gardening time!

I wish everyone a wonderful spring season! Cheers and take care everyone!

Thankful for a Quite Good Start of February

It is time to say goodbye to the first month of the  year! It is over now and I am gladly welcoming February. I hope January was a wonderful month to all of you. I know in some parts of the world especially those who are affected and are victims of  wars and hunger  specifically  in some parts of Africa and Asia,  life is really hard.

I was watching this German TV Program called Weltspiegel tonight. It is a very interesting program hearing some news from some parts of the globe. They featured tonight some scenes from Africa and the refugees from Syria who  are trying to escape from the conflicts that are going on in the  country.  Their lives are really very difficult. Pity to see  especially the young children who are experiencing such hardships. I hope one day, this world will be a better place to live-in and let's slowly work for it.


So far, the  so-called "love month" is starting good for me. I had a chat from my family back home and in the United States. Thanks to our modern technology and communication where I can have contacts with them for free.  I am happy to talk with them again.

I am also very happy because my sister sent me some pictures of the current project in my home country. The building  of another home  inspires me more to strive and work hard. I hope one day, I can  go home for good and have a good life. lolz!

Today was quite a busy day but I am very happy to accomplish  little things at home. From doing the laundry, to cooking and organizing some things,  these are little things but it makes me happy accomplishing them.

I guess, that is all for now. I am slowly off to bed. Tomorrow will be a start of another working day. Lastly, I want to thanks my sisters from the US for all of the support for this home project.

Cheers to us all and may this month be a great one to us all,  coupled with love, peace, good health, happiness and more blessings.  Take care everyone!

Hello April! Goodbye March!

It is inevitable now! The first day of April is finally here! I am happily saying goodbye to March and gladly welcoming one of my favorite months of the year. Spring has sprung  as well! In fact, spring just started last March 20 in our area. This is according to the calendar in front of me.  I just took a look at the calendar once again a few moments ago,  and also found out that March 30 is already the beginning of summer season. Awesome season indeed!

I can feel the breeze of spring time.  Our garden is also  beginning to smile. Some flowers like violas, hyacinths, tulips, narcissus and other spring blooms are already flowering  now. This beauty of  nature simply amazes me.  Spring  is indeed  the season of  rebirth, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. This is the season to start another life again and maybe a good and better one. I am trying my best!

Yesterday, I already started to pack my luggage for the great travel that will start to happen  this month. Of course, I am quite  excited about it. It has been a long time since I did not visit  Asia especially my homeland Philippines. I will finally be seeing my family again.  I am very excited. I am  praying to God for safe travels again. I will be  visiting more places  during this 6-week of travel in Asia. So help me my Lord!

To everyone! I  am wishing you all a blessed and fruitful month of  April..Good health and happiness  as well! God bless us all!

Who tell the Crocus to Come back on Spring Time

The weather was just lovely today!  It was not so cold and the sun was shining.  I  woke-up quite late this morning. For some reasons, I don't want to  come out from my warm bed.  I was actually awake at around 7:00 in the morning but decided to go back to sleep again.

After taking my brunch, I decided to go out and went to our garden.  I was so happy seeing the first spring flowers.

Such a lovely and amazing beauty of nature..Crocuses or croci are blossoming now in our garden. Look a crocus visited by a bumble bee. I felt  good when  I was looking at this priceless creatures this noon time.

 You might be wondering who is always telling the crocus or croci to blossom every spring time?  This is indeed a miracle done by up  above! I always admire the beauty of nature when seeing things like these.  They are like balsam to my soul and spirit. This is also the reason why I love garden works.

I also found out that  other plants such as tulips are slowly growing.  The leaves of the roses, hyacinth, spring roses and other flowers are  also slowly sprouting.  I can't wait to see everything blossoming in our garden.

Here is a brief description of crocus;

The cup-shaped, solitary, salverform flower tapers off into a narrow tube. Their colors vary enormously, although lilac, mauve, yellow, and white are predominant. The grass-like, ensiform leaf  shows generally a white central stripe along the leaf axis. The leaf margin is entire. Crocuses typically have three stamens.

Hello March, Goodbye February!

We are having a perfect winter weather at the moment. For some, it might not be perfect due to lack of snow. I don't need snow anymore and besides when it is not snowing, it is less work. We don't need to clean our pathway and garage. It is not so cold which also means less heating bills. yeey!  Indeed, we are having mild winter months this year.

Blue sky on a winter day in Germany. I love this weather with sunshine!

February will be ending so soon! In some hours, central European time, I will already bid goodbye to this so-called "Love month". I hope you find your true love if ever you were looking for it. lolz! For those who celebrated it with their love ones or sweethearts, I hope you had a memorable one. I also hope that you got what present you wish for last Valentine's Day.

I thought February was not really a good one for me but thanks God, the past days were better. I am thankful for all the blessings.

I am slowly and gladly welcoming the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars which is March. Honestly, I am getting more excited now. Another great travel is about to come. I even have sleepless nights sometimes thinking of this travel.

I just wish that each and everyday is a blissful one for me, my family and friends and for everyone. I am still hoping that my wishes will continue to come true. I am always praying for good health especially for my family and myself. For me, this is the most important treasure we can have.

Lastly, a wonderful and great month of March to come for us all! Take care everyone and God bless!

I  just can't wait for spring to come!  Cheers!

Hello Autumn!

I gladly  say goodbye summer because I can already breath the fresh autumn  air! It is finally here! Our calendar  tells me   that today is  officially the beginning of autumn season. Our American and Canadian friends call it  "fall".

This is one of my favorite time of the year because the surrounding gets  very attractive and colourful. The leaves of the trees turn  to yellow, orange, brown, red, pinkish, gold and other lovely colors you can imagine! I simply love the coloured autumn foliage!

Colorful leaves of a cherry tree during autumn in Germany.

During fall season, the temperature gets slowly cold especially during the night. The days are shorter and the nights get slowly longer. This is also the time when we need to slowly get ready for cold winter.

No matter what season it is we are having at the moment, we should learn to enjoy the beauty that nature has given us!  Enjoy this beautiful autumn season! I will surely do!

A forest near our area.

"The word autumn comes from the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French), and was later normalised to the original Latin word autumnus. There are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but it became common by the 16th century."

It's Getting Cold Again!

Winter is  back!  Did someone ordered a lot of snow again? I never order one  because I don't need snow anymore.  Just kidding  folks. We  are having a winter wonderland again!   This is Europe and winter season  is normal here. There are countries in Europe that are having subtropical weathers and I believed they really don't have a bad winter like in Germany.

Winter in Lupburg, Germany, where my friend lives.

 To keep yourself warm, be sure to wear warm winter clothes and accessories especially when you go out of the house. I don#t complain of the cold outside because I already have enough winter clothing.

Goodbye 2012! Hello 2013!

I don't  have the power to stop the coming of the year 2013!  I have to let go and it is better for me to say goodbye to 2012. Three more hours and  new year is about  to  begin.

There are  a lot of things to be thankful for in 2012. I  am just giving you a quick overview of the many great things that happened this year. Here they are;

I  am thankful for the chances and opportunities to visit  many beautiful cities and countries this year. I was in USA for the second time and visited many states including California, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.. The dream to visit Canada came into reality.  I also landed in the Baltic region and visited Lithuania and Latvia. I have been to the many towns and cities in Germany.  My adventure in Spain and its many historical places were truly amazing. I visited back Switzerland and France.

I am thankful to all the wonderful friends I have and had met along my journeys.

I am thankful for the many accomplishments I  had back home.  Home improvements are getting better and I hope that it will be continued next year.  Our home here in Europe is getting more improved. I am happy to live in a small but mortgage free home.

I am thankful for the many blessings that was given to me and my family.

I am thankful for my  cameras, computer and internet  which help me in sharing my personal experiences especially in my travels.

There are just a lot of things that I am thankful of..Most of all, I am thankful to God for the miracle of waking me up everyday and for the beauty of nature that I witness in my surroundings. Thank you Lord for the gift of life!

LASTLY,  I WOULD   LIKE TO EXTEND MY GREETINGS TO EVERYONE..

A BOUNTIFUL AND MORE PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!

Autumn Snapshots

The weathers is always grey and cold, are only some of the characteristics of autumn season. I am happy when I see sunshine during autumn time. What I love in this season is the colorful surrounding we have.

Here are some autumn snapshots I took last week. I love the beauty of  nature during autumn season.

Goodbye Leap Day!

I am finally saying goodbye to leap day! February 29, 2012 is a leap day. This only happens every four years according to what I learned from my teachers in school. That was a long time ago and over two decades now. I guess your teachers also mentioned leap year to you in one of your subjects. It will be ending in over an hour now...Others might say, so what? I don't really care!

For me, I do care about this. You know why? There are just a lot of great things that have been happening to us since the beginning of leap year 2012. A million thanks is not enough but I am shouting it out, Thank you dear Lord for all your greatness and goodness. Thank you for all your blessings and graces. Thank you too for all the trials especially during the end of 2011. I know you will not leave me and those trials just made me more determined and stronger. Most especially, thank you dear God for the good health and the breath of life and all our talents and faculties and all the gifts of nature that you are always giving us.

I am slowly saying goodbye to leap day now! I wish everyone a better and wonderful start of the month of March. Cheers!

Goodbye Golden October

Goodbye golden October! We are finally in the month of November. The days are getting shorter, darker and colder. This is the sign that winter is about to come. Are you ready for it? It is inevitable and we have to be always ready. This is the time to be more careful and wear warm clothes outside to avoid getting sick especially with colds.

Fall or autumn is the time of the year when the trees in the surroundings are turning to different colors like yellow, red, brown, orange, gold, etcetera. This is the reason why I also love this season of the year...the colorful surroundings especially in our area where you see a lot of woods.

Here are some of the snapshots I took last month.

colorful trees are still in the corners...soon it will vanished because the leaves are slowly falling down.

one of the thick woods nearby our small town. such an amazing beauty of nature!

A Walk in Golden October

It's been some weeks now since I did not had a walk with hubby. We were on a short vacation for one and a half weeks in Turkey and the past weeks were also busy ones. Since the weather was so friendly during the start of golden October, we finally took the chance to go walking around. October is already the start of Autumn in Germany and in most countries in Europe. The leaves on the trees are slowly turning to yellow, orange, red, purple, brown and other colors. This is another season of the year that also I love due to its colorful surroundings.

I am just hoping that we will get more sunny and friendly weather this month. Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful month of October. Enjoy and stay safe all the time.

Here are some images I took during our walk this afternoon and yesterday.

the walking and biking way, far away from the main road. it is safer to walk here.

the surroundings are getting colorful now. I love Bavaria, Germany!

Four Seasons In A Day

Four Seasons In A Day, this is how I call it when we have a crazy weather in a day....rain... sunshine...rain...shine..rain...shine...rain...shine....I can't exactly remember who many times it did happened today. I am very sure that it happened more than five times. This kind of weather in Germany sometimes drives me crazy. You can't do anything outside because it's wet and cold. The worst thing is, I get headache when the weather is like this. I even turned on the heater until now because it gets cold inside the house. The only creatures that are happy during this weather are the plants and flowers in our garden. I see them growing good everyday. Their blooms make my heart smiling. Despite this four seasons weather in a day, some creatures are happy. I guess I'm happy too! Have a lovely week ahead!

the flowers in our garden last summer 2010.

Goodbye May, Hello June

The month of May is finally over. I hope that you all had a good month of May. The last day of May was rainy in our place in Bavaria, Germany. There was a strong rain accompanied with strong wind, lightnings and thunders. It was so far the strongest rain I experienced since living in this country. I guess some people were scared during that natural phenomenon. I heard over the radio that it brought some damages in the nearby places.

The sixth month of the year is finally here. The first day of June was quite rainy and cloudy almost the whole day in our place. I never saw sunshine today compared to the past days in May. The rain yesterday and today made our garden happy. I can almost see the plants and the flowers smiling in our garden..wink!

Don't you know that the month of June was named after the Roman goddess Juno? She is the wife of Jupiter, equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera. June is also known as the month of marriages. Some considered it a good luck to get married during this month.

If you are born in June, your horoscope is Cancer and your birthstones are the pearl, the Moonstone (gemstone), and the Alexandrite which means health and longevity. Its birth flowers are the honeysuckle and the rose.

I wish everyone a good start and overall a great month of June.


Here is my yellow rose for all birthday celebrants for the month of June. This is one of the roses in our garden. All the best to all of you!

Beautiful Winter in Bavaria

The sun is shining outside.
But I still remember the last beautiful winter,
When the surroundings were all white and snowy.
But I am very glad and thankful,
That spring time finally came,
And soon lovely summer too!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

-Ruby Benz.

taken on our way to Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany last January 2011. I love this scenery but but happy that we are having sunshine at the moment.

True Greatness

"Whether on the mountaintop
Or the valley down below,
True greatness is in serving
Wherever we may go."

-D. De Haan

the beautiful Autumn tree and the cloudy sky.
taken last September 2010.

Goden October is Here

Another season of the year is here!
The Autumn in golden October
Colorful surroundings you see
from yellow to red, brown and orange too.
It is simply the golden October
which makes a beautiful season of the year!

-Ruby Benz

This is the road where I always drive especially when I go for grocery shopping.
The beauty of golden October is truly amazing!

Summer is Almost Over

The weather we had today is already a sign that summer is saying goodbye soon. It was raining hard sometimes today and then comes sunshine and vice versa. The temperature is also getting colder. The leaves of the cherry tree in our garden are starting to change its color and also falling down from time to time. I wish I could see more lights when the autumn and winter seasons are here. I wish we can have more sunshine during these times. I also noticed that eight o'clock is slowly getting dark now compared to last month. I also remember that during winter time 4:00 PM can sometimes be very dark. This is the changing season of the year and no matter what season we have, we must be thankful that we see and experience the beauty of nature in each season.

Summer is Finally Here!

Summer is finally here! I just found out in the calendar that yesterday was already the beginning of summer season in our country. Sad to say the weather is still not so nice. It has been raining for the past days and I am hoping that the weather will be friendly soon. Me and some good friends of mine are already planning to go swimming to the pool in the nearby town. One friend said that we can also go swimming to the lake or river in Rotsee. I told her that I wanted to go swimming in a right pool where the water is cleaned and disinfected with swimming pool supplies like chlorine or salt water chlorinator. We are just waiting till the weather will be right friendly and sunny. The weather forecast in our place mentioned that tomorrow will be a sunny one. We will see because summer time is the best time for outdoor! Enjoy your summer folks!