Romance at the Rotorua Lakefront

While waiting for my friend Jing to arrive for an early morning shoot at the Rotorua Lakefront 

I saw this beautiful young woman

 

and her man taking photos of each other.

 They looked so happy and so in love that I asked them if I could take their photos. 

 

They were very happy and obliging 

And it turned out that they were from India and were on their honeymoon

Her feet and hands had henna pictures hand drawn on a day before the wedding.

 They showed me their wedding pictures and the dress was beautiful and so was his costume.

 I love the Indian culture for their flamboyance and  artistic expression

 

How absolutely adorable I  thought, you could just see and feel their love for each other shining through

They were gorgeous inside and out

I asked them if it was an arranged marriage and they said yes.

They had met a number of weeks before and the parents had organised it. 
They had their stars read to see if they would be compatible, a lot of thought and planing  had gone into it and they liked the look of each other immediately.
 So they agreed and it was organised. 

The wedding went on for four days and then they came out with a group for a tour of New Zealand.

So how wonderful I thought and how efficient. 

These people were so well suited and I started to think about our system in the Western world.

Does it make for happier longer marriages where people choose each other because they fall in love?
What about all the women in the Western world who want to get married and have children but can't find a husband because the men are  happy with staying uncommitted and having everything they want without any obligation?
What would happen if women started valuing themselves more and treating themselves like prizes and saying no to men?
In an ideal world I  would advocate this.
Say no more often to men, don't be so willing to cater to their needs and don't put up with their abuse, whether it be mental, emotional or spiritual. 

Creative Quotes of the day 

Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.

George Eliot

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao Tzu

We loved with a love that was more than love.

Edgar Allan Poe

Appreciating plants and bees from the art of being a lovely photographer series by Janet Keen

Granny Bonnet leaves with water droplets after the rain

Sedum head. These plants are succulents and easy to propagate so I have them all around my garden. They form red and pink flowers just before Autumn and the bees love them.   

Bergamont, otherwise known as bee balm 

Fennel Flowers, great honey bee attractors.

Agapanthus, always appreciated by bees in late summer 

It's very difficult 

to get these bees in focus 

they are always fuzzy 

They are so covered in pollen 

You know they are doing a good job 

Chinese or Japanese lanterns or Abulitons are wonderful bee attractors and their displays go right through  to winter 

Lavatera flower long and prolifically and bees want them as well. 

Creative Quote

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.

Ashley Smith

Weta and woolly aphid portraits in the cottage garden of Janet Keen Rotorua from the art of being a lovely photographer series

Many people apart from etymologist's probably look at these guys and shudder

When I saw this Weta crawling in my art studio I did too but I took it and put it on a fern leaf and decided to try to get some  good shots of it with my macro lens

It was remarkably tame and patient with me and I grew to like it

Wooley aphids make most people reach for the spray 


I don't because I'm organic and I believe that they are good food for birds that fly in and my plants are all so healthy they can spare some sap

They are quite beautiful little soft looking creatures when you view them close up

So they are welcome as well as even the ants are that feed off their honey dew. 
An organic garden is a kind, giving natural place where every animal and insect is welcome.

Creative quote of the week 

 “Cultivate clarity, strength, vitality and power from natural,

beautiful and organic living foods.” 
 
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

Lake Rotorua Sulphur Point photos of birds and land