Saturday, March 26, 2011

My gift to you

This is also one of my favorite blogs Castles, Crowns, Cottages, I can spend hours just browsing. I HoPE YoU enjoy.

Did you go to this blog... it is really stunning isn't it?
I am not in a good space right now and don't want to write depressing stuff today, so I am just enjoying visiting some of the blogs I really enjoy, the ones that take me far away from where I am.

Radu Seu



Nothing else matters.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor

Rest in Peace Dame Elizabeth Taylor.  I watched you when I was a little girl, in National Velvet and all I wanted to do was to grow up and be as beautiful as you. I think you had a blessed but difficult life. Your health was always an issue. Many of us will miss you.
I did this manipulation for fun a few years ago,. wondering if I could go to a fancy dress as her look alike :o)
Dont flatter yourself Caryl !

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

If I was a butterfly


Kimmie you made me think today...If I was a butterfly what colour would I be, and without a doubt I would be blue, turquoise, emerald all in one. Is this not just the most exquisite thing you have ever seen in your life? I want one for my very own. If I had my own butterfly tree how could my heart ever be in turmoil again?
If I could be a butterfly I would be the colour of the universe. I never see black when I look out into the universe, I first see a deep navy blue and the further out into the universe my sight and imagination goes it turns navy, blue, turquoise, purple, lilac..... white.... white.... nothingness.

Transformation

Kimmie, thank you for always leaving such interested comments. I had my ideas as to what Sydelle would become when she transforms into a butterfly and the thought was ... she would be psychedelic. She really has the most infectious personality, vibrant, colourful and full of light. I then asked her what kind of butterfly would she be and she said... all the colours which is LIGHT. How well do I know her.

Photographic Journey

Sharing the work of someone so special. Sydelle has been a friend of my youngest daughter Cera Tan since school. They laugh together, have cried together and they create together. Sydelle comes from an incredibly gifted family. Anyone who follows her will follow the path of someone who is going to make it big in South Africa as a photograher watch this space... she is well on her way already.
Please pay her a visit and leave her a comment, I know that she would really appreciate the visit.
Truely an amazing and talented family.
Yup this is Mom and Dad :o)
The pretty little face behind the camera, with the cutest dimples you have ever seen in your life.
Sydelle and my daughter can't you just love them?

Cas Holmes

I have always kept art journals and they have changed somewhat over the years. My first art journal was done on an overseas trip in about 1980. From England all the way through to the Greek Islands and back I kept notes of everything from the food I ate, the the landscapes, museums, buildings, streets, wrappers, transport tickets, literally everything. In the old days it was called scrapbooking, keeping all the scraps, but art journals have become so much more than that. Recently I have been searching for artists that I enjoy and Cas Homes work fascinated me. I think her sense of design, colour and mixed media is awesome. Follow the links and see her work for yourself. She also gives a lot of tips, I love that.

Interesting

There is something so fascinating about installation art. I have been searching on the internet for some interesting artists and their work, like Cas Holmes
Look at the arches repeated in the fabric. What do you imagine to be behind the curtain? .

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Things I love

I can't wear this type of thing anymore, but I certainly would have when I was younger. Please go over and have a look at some of these cutsy tops, I love them.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Art I really enjoy

My life is a bit topsy turvy at the moment and I am not feeling inspired to write about all the daily things that are causing me to go greyer than grey! So I am going to share some art work that I really enjoy from other blogger friends. Martha is a Calligrapher and I am mad about her work. I have studied calligraphy myself with an excellent teacher some years ago and I have done quite a few corporate jobs, like graduation certificates for a college. I have also done some art work with calligraphy and trust me this is really hard. Like most things, one has to practice and practice ... and practice. I love the way Martha uses her art work as well in her work and I love the journalling style.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Dance When You Want To Cry.



I have a friend who does a lot of public speaking with Toast Masters. She has been doing really well and recently she gave a speech about Dancing When You Want To Cry. In essence what she was trying to say is sometimes when we just can't fight back the tears and heart ache, we should just dance.

This evening I received a message on my Blackberry informing me that a friends husband had passed away. All deaths are sad and none of us are ever prepared but what was so unusual about this one is that the wife, I shall not mention her name, had a very sad romantic relationship in the past and she was on her own for many years. She is beautiful, works hard, and I always wondered if she would find love again. She did, unexpectedly and her new love was so right for her in every way that I can honestly say that their relationship was so beautiful, genuine, pure, they were deeply and passionately in love, but more than that there was a spiritual connection that I have never seen before.

They are both writers, artists and just beautiful people. They were married on the 10th September 2009 and hundreds of people were really and truly happy for them. He had a heart attack on Wednesday ... why?
I am angry and feeling her pain so deeply. I know that tomorrow my anger will subside and I will not question again, but today I am very sad for her. She loved him with all her heart and soul, they were so happy.

I know that many people lose the people they love and adore... it is just so sad.

I have been feeling so down for a while now and I just wanted to find something on You Tube that would cheer me up which is why I am sharing this video... I hope you enjoy it too.

Sometimes questions just don't have answers.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Can things get worse?

When things can't get any worse they often do. The past couple of weeks I haven't been blogging much. I have been packing and moving from Cape Town back to Johannesburg. My heart has been heavy and I have wondered over and over if I was doing the right thing. Around and around my thoughts go in my head, the things I loved about Cape Town compared to the family I missed so much. I must be doing the right thing.
As 'D' day was drawing near, I was surrounded with packed boxes all around the apartment, I was anxious but at the same time looking forward to all the new things that are about to change when I get back.

My eldest daughter, who moved to Cape Town impulsively in December, phoned me to see how the weather was on my side of the mountain. For anyone who doesn't know this Cape Town is really strange, the weather can be raining on one side of the mountain and sun shinning on the other, or windy in Kommetijie and absolutely still in Blouberg, or vice versa. On this particular day it was a beautiful day where she was and very windy in Blouberg where I was living. She called me to suggest we go for a walk on the beach with 'the children', hers and mine, the cousins ! I warned her that the weather was cold and windy and she said she didn't mind she needed to get out.

She arrived with her three little dogs, Chillie who is a dachshund and the oldest of her 3 and the favourite. Moggy who is a Pekineses sweet little dog but doesn't have chillies personality. Then there is Mr. Magoo who is the baby and according to her doesn't have much personality but he is a calm peaceful kind of dog.
Of course I had Bella with me. It was really windy but the dogs chased each other up and down the beach and it really was very sweet to watch.
A few days later Lee decided to take her little doggies to the beach on her own. For some unknown reason, Mr Magoo this little one above suddenly let out a yelp and couldn't move his back legs. She rushed him off to the vet and he had slipped a disc in his back and had to stay at the vet over night. They weren't sure if he would be alright or if he would have to be put down. The cost for an MRI was so expensive Lee just didn't have the cash to pay for it. The following day Mr Magoo was a lot better and over several days he improved considerably. He was staggering a little with his back legs but not crying. Lee just has to keep an eye on him.

About a week later I received a phone call from her to say that she was as the vet with Chillie and he was paralysed in his back legs. He apparently jumped off her bed and let out a scream and exactly the same thing happened to him as what happened to Mr. Magoo only this time not with the same results. I am not sure exactly what went wrong, but the vet said he woudl be paralysed.
 Chillie was put down yesterday morning and Lee is absolutely heart broken.

Can anything more go wrong? There are times for all of us when we ask that question and things can get worse at the worst possible moment. When I was younger it was these out of control moments that would send me into a spiral of depression that would cripple me for weeks, but not anymore. I have learned not to fight and resist but to let things be. These past few months have been tough for me, when my children hurt, I hurt too... a whole lot.  Chillie was not my dog, but my daughter is my child.
Some of my friends have been through really tough times in the past few months and I have often wondered, 'can things get any worse?' I choose not to ponder on that question, but to ride out the storm and wait for it to pass. Things always improve, life does get back to normal, laughter does return... we just have to have FAITH and trust that TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY.