31 December 2013

Taking stock - December


Time to take stock of December - thanks to Pip Lincolne for the idea!


*****

Making the most of some unexpected alone time.

Cooking Preparation underway for sausage casserole - yum!

Drinking water with slice of lemon - my usual tipple :-)

Reading (still!) A Field Guide to NOW by Christina Rosalie, which I can thoroughly recommend!

Wanting the temporary peace and quiet to continue.

Looking forward to seeing Catching Fire at the Showcase this afternoon.

Playing Bastille's All This Bad Blood which I've just bought - a double CD (including instant download)  for £5.00 - crazy!! 

Wasting as little of everything as possible.

Sowing idea seeds in my journal...

Wishing suicide bombers in Volgograd would desist from their attacks...

Enjoying Molly-cat's gentle company.

Waiting for the sun to shine :(

Liking every song on the CD :-)

Wondering if 2014 will be as fun as 2013.

Loving the pretty Christmas lights.

Hoping we'll get to cinema on time...

Marvelling at the fibre-optic small tree in the window-sill (how does it work??)

Needing nothing :-)

Smelling nice and clean (I hope!)

Wearing my favourite snuggly big jumper - it's cold, wet and windy here in the UK.

Following the candle's steady flame when I glance away from my laptop.

Noticing the distant rumble of a plane overhead.

Knowing every moment of awareness is precious.

Thinking Dan Smith is one hell of a songwriter!

Bookmarking Centrepoint - my chosen charity for 2014 - which helps homeless teens.

Opening my soul to the future.

Giggling at Molly still trying to find the perfect spot to settle...

Feeling warm, safe, blessed.

30 December 2013

Today's card...


... is a very timely reminder to me!

I am struggling with the house being full of people...

I'm still getting up at 5.30 am for my quiet time, my Hermit time, my recharging time, but it all changes from about 8 am onwards...

I take a deep breath, and remind myself I love all these people - they are my Dad, my husband, my son, my daughter - THE most important people in my life! But they make noise, they take up space, they deplete my energies...

Then, I beat myself up for not being happy they are here, happy they're in my life  *sigh*

Then I see today's card and remember 'the unlike' is good, 'differences' are good, and I take another deep breath and remember to love, and to see 'the most beautiful harmony' - for it is here, here in this house, with these precious people.

24 December 2013

Wishing you...

... a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

And sharing today's card...

I was hoping for a jolly, celebratory card to suit the mood of Christmas Eve, and instead I pulled this

I guess it's a timely reminder for all of us who find company tiring, to make sure we find enough quiet, alone time over the holidays to recharge our batteries, to draw breath...

... to then be in sparkling form again when required :-)

Sending all love and blessings of the Season, and looking forward to seeing all that 2014 reveals xx




20 December 2013

Today's card...

Not the best photo - sorry!

My heart's instinct is to hibernate... tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, the longest night, the shortest day.

Also, feeling rather cr*p - had my diabetic review on Wednesday, and my numbers aren't great, so totally changing my insulin regime *sigh*

It means I feel nauseous, tired, weepy...

Hence, I want to burrow, to hide, to wait till my body adjusts, which I know it will.

And after tomorrow, the days will get longer, a new year will be born, and life will feel good again!

In the meantime, I sit with an image by a favourite artist, words by a favourite poet and rest in being a hope-filled Romantic, trusting that the diabetic nurse knows what she's doing...

17 December 2013

December Full Moon Dreamboard

(Click on the photo to enlarge and see more detail)

Sadly Jamie Ridler isn't doing her Full Moon Dreamboards any more, so there was no prompt on the New Moon :-(

But I so enjoy doing this practice, I've decided to go it alone...

I discovered December's full moon in the Northern Hemisphere is called the Full Cold Moon. As we approach the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, on the 21st, the focus is on warmth, shelter and family, and I've chosen words and images that reflect that.

Starting top left corner, I found a full moon image from an old We'Moon calender (Drombeg Circle by Kathy Glover 2005), and stuck on top a small poem by Mary Anne Radmacher from her book Lean Forward Into Your Life. I found the book in a charity shop, and once read, I've torn it up to use in journals, etc. (I cannot believe how daring I'm becoming in my old age...!!)

It reads:
as the moon wraps the end
of our day
we sit with the consequences
of our intentions
and pour a warm cup of gratitude 
for our family, our friends,
with such grace 
we prepare for another day.

Below that is another We'Moon image - a painting called Mother and Child by Barb Levine 1999.

To the right of it as an image from Toast's Winter catalogue on which I've stuck the words 'The gift of hope' clipped from a fairtrade catalogue.

On the right-hand page, is a large frosted berries image from World of Interiors, on which I've stuck the words 'Made It' and added, 'through another 12 months' (yay!)

To the left of the berry photo are more words by Mary Anne Radmacher:

i lean forward
full of the
possibility, the
hope of color,
growth, warmed soil
and being loose of
the chill of this
garden's long winter.

And underneath is another page of hers: 'celebrate the holidays that make sense', which I interpret to mean ignore the world's definition of what we should be celebrating, and make your own sense of the holiday season. Hence, my focus on the Winter Solstice, the primal need for warmth, shelter and family, and the chance to gather with loved ones and celebrate their being in my life.

And finally, there's a small picture of a farmhouse on the hillside, lights blazing as the daylight fades and the fog rolls in...

A bit of fun...

I've just submitted a Shelfie to the Guardian...


... much more fun than the ubiquitous selfie - especially for self-conscious bookworms :)

I've shown mine, would you show yours?? *grin*

16 December 2013

Feeling rather flat...

... no more inspiring emails from Susannah :-(

But today's card reminds me of the important things...



... so I'll try and rouse myself to do something creative today. I know I'll feel so much better when I'm done!

I'd forgotten how much I adore Degas - especially his ballet pieces... *sigh*

13 December 2013

Today's card is...

... just lovely for the last day of the Blogging from the Heart course!


I don't usually read the wee booklet that comes with the deck, but this time I love what it says:


Harmony, exuberance, fulfilled wishes

This is exactly what I wish for each of us on this course (and Susannah herself, of course!)

May each of us find 'A happy life... in accordance with its own nature', and as we live it, and blog about it, may we find harmony, exuberance and fulfilled wishes!!

Consider yourself        
****HUGGED****

And I do hope we keep in touch...

12 December 2013

Word for 2014

I have sat with my Word(s) for over a week now, seeing how it 'fits'...

Susannah's questions in the Unravelling workbook helped it crystallize and take shape
If you lived and breathed your Word every day in 2014, 
what would be different for you?...

List some ways you are already being/experiencing this Word...

My Word for this past year has been Be a Vessel and it has, indeed, been a year of learning, filling, receiving, and as the year closes, the truth is My Cup Overfloweth (that's the book/film title for my 2013!). I have been so richly blessed, and challenged!

I know now, my response to Being a vessel throughout 2013, is to actually DO something! 

2014 is to be a year for action - it's the year I turn 50, the year Nick and I celebrate our Silver Wedding anniversary, the year a dear friend visits from the States, the year our son leaves school... 

And it's the year I express a sense of purpose (finally!), it's the year I...


... and I've started by making this for my screensaver and writing this post :-)

As with this year's Word, I have no idea how I will exactly Make known, how the Word will unfold itself, show itself... I just know, from past experience, that it will!

And as the Blogging from the Heart course draws to a close *sigh* I hope we'll keep in touch and share our Words for 2014 as they appear, and our other words, and thoughts and images for many months to come. For it's been fun and I, for one, don't want the fun to stop!

11 December 2013

Taking shape...

I've had a great time this morning - this getting up at 5 am is so the way to go for me!

I've completed Susannah's Unravelling workbook

I've left several sections blank - I'm not a planner by nature, and when you've survived a curve-ball like a stroke, you learn to not plan, but see what life throws at you, and roll with it...

But I have found her prompts enlightening, and several things have crystallized in my mind...

The main thing is the desire/need/urge to write - and write every day!

So I've signed up for this and have added a button on my sidebar.



And today's card is another perfect reminder to see what's right in front of our eyes and embrace it, describe it, share it... For we already have all we need to grow, develop, expand, we just need to really see it.



9 December 2013

Begin...

I know several of us on Susannah's Blogging from the Heart course have begun new blogs (you're reading one!), or are already thinking of the new year and dreaming/planning for what 2014 may hold...

So today's card is just perfect...


Be bold, today; be courageous; begin!!

6 December 2013

Like Barack Obama...


... my first political action, as a 16-year-old, was a march against apartheid...
 
The world has lost a great, and a good, man.

Here's some of my favourite quotes from this most inspiring of human beings...

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
 
For to be free, is not merely to cast off one's chains,
but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
 
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
 
It always seems impossible till it's done.
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nelsonmand178787.html#GVHTUwo82xi1Qkxh.99
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nelsonmand178787.html#GVHTUwo82xi1Qkxh.99

4 December 2013

What a difference...

... a few days make!

Thank you for your lovely comments, advice, empathy for the last post. I so appreciate the support, the connections - so good to know I'm not alone!

Daughter's coping well, guinea-pig session went OK - tried to focus on them, and not me! And Christmas is happening - thanks to pretty good internet connect, hooray :-)

This morning I've spent two hours on this:


If you haven't seen it already on Susannah's blog, go and download it, and print it out, and start - it's a wonderful gift from this wonderfully generous soul!! Bless you, Susannah :)

I've almost finished reviewing 2013 - just need to list the gifts - and there have been many!!

And than I pulled today's card - sorry, but it is just too, too perfect (unlike the photo - I so need a new camera!)


Nuff said :-)







2 December 2013

Monday

It's a very grey, drizzly day today - and it's Monday... *sigh*

I write this with lots of emotions swirling...

Concern for our daughter who starts her GCSE mocks today - she's very bright, but struggles with the exam environment.

Low-level panic - how can Christmas be just over 3 weeks away?? I've done nothing to prepare - no presents, no cards...

Sadness for the families who have lost loved ones in the freak accident in Glasgow over the weekend.

And full-on anxiety for today's events...

I'm going to be a human guinea pig to help out my physiotherapist, who's teaching a course at the hospital. She's asked me to demonstrate how I walk - firstly, without any aids, then with my leg splint on, then with my FES fitted...

I know I want to help, and I'm sure it'll be fine when I get there, but since the stroke, I really struggle with any new situation and meeting new people. And the more anxious I get, the higher the tone in my muscles, and the more unsteady I become *sigh*

In this state, I drew today's card...


... aahhh!

I guess, I'm going to draw a deep, deep, deep breath... and get on with it...

As Mark Twain said,
Courage is resistance to fear,
mastery of fear, not absence of fear.