The mountains are a safe haven.

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Silent and stoic the mountains stand to show their strength against the onslaught of the weather over the centuries.
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We simply love to be out here in the fresh and crispy mountain air. A feeling of total peace and also hidden strength enfolds in one's emotions. This is the way it has always been, and can you imagine what stories these mountains can tell? I try to listen to the voices of the peaks when the winds whistle through them, but it is not easy to hear what they are saying. So, all that I can do is to hear the music of the wind.
It is a proven fact that nature is a healer and that is why all of us should make every effort to get outside into nature more often.

Forbidding peaks give the sky the finger.
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But the mountains share their strength with the bird and animal communities in nature.
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Clouds teasing the mountains with shadows.
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A lovely farm setting with beautiful colors.
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The cloud above the mountain was trying to block the sunlight on the mountain. A bit of jealousy perhaps?
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The trees were dancing in the wind.
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Far off, I saw what looked like a glider running along the mountain rim.
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Finally, a pair of Sacred Ibises on their way somewhere.
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As I was writing this post, the thought dawned on me that the mountains also had early beginnings, much the same as The Papillon Foundation aka @papilloncharity in its early days, but in time good things always grow.
I will soon post the Papillon annual report, and as usual we have moved mental mountains in our work in the communities. Yes, it is a hard and difficult road to walk, but we have the real mountains as inspiration to lead us through the trials that we have to face.
That's why we try our best to get out into nature at every opportunity for destressing purposes. Lately things are slowing down a bit as a result of our last burnouts, but we simply soldier on at an easier pace.
Such is life.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post on behalf of @papilloncharity

photography mountains nature landscapes beauty proofofbrain neoxian silverbloggers ecotrain
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87 comments
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Ah the mountains, they remind me of the Misty Mountains in Middle Earth.

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Very pretty as they say and good that it stirs your memories.

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Lovely mountain and scenery photos Sir Stephen. Yes if the mountains could talk they would tell us all the secrets of the earth. Maybe if we listen quietly they will reveal their secrets. 😊

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Beautiful shots, sir. The mountains does remind me that I need to visit nature more instead spending more time in my cubicles all day long. Thanks for sharing.

I am glad your charity has seen her ups and downs but she's still thriving. Well done.

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Thank you and my aim is exactly that, as I want to remind all that there is a different wonderful world out there called nature.

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Nature is the best doctor, I completely agree with you. Always when I feel bad or ill and get out, I feel much better as soon as I feel and smell the fresh air and see the mountains 😀
I wished that Papillon would grow faster and become the highest of all mountains 🗻

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Good evening Hannes,

Nothing like nature to take all one's troubles away, both health wise and business wise, as it also clears the brain in order for one find many solutions for problems. Glad that you agreed with me 😊
A great wish and I thank you for it, but maybe as who knows? Miracles still happen!

Blessings.

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Good morning Zac,

the day started easy - maybe because it's the last work day before Christmas. Everyone seems to be happy and smiling. I wished it could be that way all year long 😀

All my pleasure, my friend, I know that miracles still happen and I do hope this miracle will happen too 😊

PS: I wrote "the day started easy" - right after that my phone rang and I had to leave because the new department had problems with their security system. Problem solved and I'm back - hopefully the phone keeps quiet till I go home 😂 !LOLZ

Have a !PIZZA from me, served with !LUV
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Hi Hannes,

I definitely don't wish that we had this last day of work before Christmas, as it is madness out there. We bought the car and it had no spare key. After a lot of promises that they will find the spare key, they called us yesterday to say that we had to bring the car in at 11am today. They could not find the spare key and they needed the car to do the coding for a new key that they bought.

They said that it would take only 30 minutes to code the new key. Guess what?
We had to wait for 2.5 hours and then we were told that the new key was a wrong one and that it can't accept the codes. In the process of the continued attempts to code the key, the code on the original key also became faulty and so no key could now start our car. I blew my top as the long wait was very aggravating and told them to cancel the new key and to fix the old key. Thankfully I calmed down and they gave us a loan car to come home with.
At 4pm they called to say that they bought another key and that both of the keys work now. Then they delivered our car here and an extra driver took the loan car back.

I have tried to keep this message short, but I just had to tell you how our last working day went.

We wish that people can solve the problems as quick as you do at the head office, as then life will be so much easier.

Cheers and thanks.

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Oh wow, what a day you have had, my friend. Where are the times when you could start a car with a screwdriver, not that I ever had done that 🤣 !LOLZ

Now seriously, I am glad that they delivered your car and didn't want you to get there again and that finally both keys are working.

I do my best and life would be much easier if everybody would do the same.

Have a !PIZZA from me, served with !LUV
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Of course as a senior police officer you have never done that, but I don't know what tricks a young mountain goat could get up to 😁 !LOLZ

All is well with the car again until the next episode my friend 😉

That you get from where? Everybody is too busy chasing money to have other things to think about.

Cheers and thanks.

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well, the young mountain goat has also never done that, but some other things 🤣 !LOLZ

I hope the next episode will be sometime in the far future, if ever.

As always, it's all about the money.

Have a !PIZZA from me, served with !LUV
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Ach yes! The young mountain goat always pleads his innocence, but many others will not agree about his innocence methinks 🤣 !LOLZ

We hope the same and I think that we should find a different agency 😉

And that is exactly what is killing this planet 😡

Cheers and thanks.

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I know, but I will carry on trying until someone believes me 🤣 !LOLZ

I'm not sure if I haven't told you this story before: once I have had a VW Golf that spent more in the VW repair shop than with me. Some day I have had enough of it and replaced it with a Fiat. Well, the guys from Fiat quickly found the main problem and it was easily fixed by them - it's all about the money and I since these days I have never one to one of the big shops again.

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(Edited)

Hahaha, your trying will only impress the man on moon 🤣 !LOLZ

The problem here is that it's all about money and even the backyard mechanics have become expensive.
The car is under a warranty which means that they have to repair or replace all parts that are malfunctioning. So we didn't pay for the spare key.

But you are right, as it is always the experience of the mechanics that counts when it comes to car repairs. So you were lucky to find some at Fiat. Maybe the guys at the VW repair shop wanted you to come back a few times, so that they could get more money at each visit 😉

Cheers and thanks.

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You're very right, the VW guys wanted me to come back a few times, and I did come back a few times and leave a lot money there. Unfortunately, I had already sold the car to Fiat and bought a Fiat before they found the problem 🤣 !LOLZ but I loved the Fiat anyway and it drove quite some years without any problems.

Have a !PIZZA from me, served with !LUV
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It is an old trick that they play and it always brings in a lot of cash. Over here when you take your car in for a service they give a price and they not that it does not include extras. Then the phone you say that this and that needs to be replaced, like the brake discs and the clutch and they end up with a lot of extra cash 😎 !LOLZ

You were really done in with that VW, as I think that it's better than a Fiat, but fortunately the Fiat lasted until you sold it.
You know what I will say here 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Such is life, my friend, and we are so lucky to have friends who love VW and who are great mechanics. So we don't need to call an official VW shop for any repairs or services, but ask our friends when we may come and they hardly charge for their work 😁 !LOLZ

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That is certainly a great move and I also had a friend that was trained at Mercedes and BMW in Germany. But since we moved down here, I have not found a new friend that is an expert in mechanics.
Although I have to say that one of my new friends is a restorer of very old cars and he knows a lot about engines.
Glad that you have friends that can look after your car and they are not bush mechanics 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Oh yes, they are really no bush mechanics. They buy used cars, repair them and use them for themselves for a while. Then they sell the cars for more money they have spent on it 😀 !LOLZ

Yep, from some of your posts I know about this friend of yours who restaurates oldtimers.

Maybe you like a !PIZZA fresh from the Oven 😋
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Sounds like they are real professionals and so you are in good hands with your car 😉

I meant that my friend restores old cars and not old people. If he did restore old people then I will be 16 years old again. Oldtimers over here means old guys 🤣🤣🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Oh yes, and they are real good friends since almost 20 years. In late Summer we will travel to Croatia with them once again after some years.

Here we call cars older than 30 years oldtimers, but maybe you should ask your friend to do some restauration work on you - maybe he's better than the doctors ... machine is machine 😉 !LOLZ

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Wow! Long time friends are treasures and I hope that you guys will enjoy the Croation trip together after so many years 🙏

Ah! So then you guys would call cars older than 60 years grandfathertimers 😜 !LOLZ
Hahaha, my bones are not available in the spares shops, or in the scrap yards anymore, so if he has to make and fit new bones, then my warranty will expire, as it will not be recognized as original parts 🤣

...bone is bone 😉

Cheers and thanks.

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We have become older and the kids have grown up, but I am certain that it still will be great fun ... not so much drunk, of course 🍻 !LOLZ

Nope, oldtimers stay oldtimers, no matter how old they are 🤣
Hape a look at YouTube: there are tons of videos showing you how to bypass that and everything will be fine with your warranty 😉

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Well, time has moved on and you all have eventually come to your senses. I think that they call that wisdom and wisdom cannot be found in a bottle of hooch 🤣 !LOLZ

Okay so then I am an oldtimer 😁
My bones went out of fashion ages ago, even before YouTube was invented and due to a lack of demand it doesn't feature in the media anymore. The same as the old manual telephones and switchboards 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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But you know that while you're having the bottle of hooch or whatever, you feel like the wisest guy on earth 😂 !LOLZ

Yep, you're an oldtimer just as I am also one because I am also over 30 years old 😉

Maybe there's a witch doctor who has some bones in your size left 😁

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Oh yeah and the hooch also convince you that you are the bravest man on earth, only until the next day when you wake up with a humongous headache and any unexpected noise scare you 😁 !LOLZ

Okay, I accept that and then I am a double oldtimer 🤣

My bones were so popular at the time that they were issued, that all of the short people ran to buy them.
The witchdoctors made a fortune by selling them, but then fate stepped in as it was all sold out and the factory closed down 😜

Cheers and thanks.

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So very true - happened many times to me before 😂 !LOLZ

👉😉

So all you have to do is to open the factory again - problem solved 😅

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Oh yes, I am also familiar with that feeling and it was one of the reasons why I stopped drinking a long time ago 🤣

Nope, that factory was banned by the government, as it cost them too much money, to raise all of the door frames for tall people to enter the buildings 😁 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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They wouldn't have had to raise the door frames but just lowering the floor 😂 !LOLZ

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(Edited)

Nope, lowering the floor will mean steps to climb to get through the door and I will still bump my head as I concentrate on the steps. Besides, every entrance will have to have a sign; "Beware the Steps" to warn visitors in order for the owner not to be sued if someone slips and break a leg on the steps 😜 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Hm, in that case tall persons like you will get a wheelchair and their personal wheelchair pusher who pushes you through all the low doors. So, no danger for your head and you can rest while he pushes you around 😂 !LOLZ

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What a wonderful reply. I look so much forward to that as long as the wheelchair pusher is a sexy young 25 year old, as it will make life so much nicer 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Well, she's pushing you from behind and you can't see her anyway unless you use the brakes to make her fall forward over you in your arms 🤣 !LOLZ

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Yep! I know that this will be one of the tricks that you will try with your pusher and washer, but as I said previously. You will be in constant trouble with you wife 😜 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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I'll just tell my wife that the cats are hungry and she'll go feeding them. That will give me some time ... 😂 !LOLZ

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You will risk your life as women are cleverer than men. She will place the cat food at a spot where you can't see her in order to keep an eye on you. So you are right as you will have some time, but you will have to use the time to flee from your angry wife chasing you with a baseball bat 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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👉👉👉👉🏃‍♂️ 😅 !LOLZ

!WINE makes a delicious dinner with !PIZZA :)
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