Experiment gone wrong.

Not only did this technique fail miserably, due to the crappy journal paper I think (which I happened to get for free), but the paint squashed itself through the sewn seams of the journal to the other pages.  So my pages fail to show a 'beautiful translucent glow revealing that which has been stamped earlier' and I now have a teal blue and bronze 'ink blot' strip down the middle of some of my other pages.

I just made a new rule this morning too.  No starting any more new journals before the old one is finished.  Well at least my ink blots match........and after all, teal is my favourite colour!

Welcome to the land of Pod.

It's been crazy - starting early and working into the evening for the last couple of weeks because we have just  moved into our new work space.  I have gone from having my own office......with a window, sunshine, fresh air, and a quiet place to work - to an open plan shared space where there are numerous workstations or 'pods'.  My workstation is situated in a main thoroughfare.  It feels like I'm working on a park bench in a railway station.  The good thing about our move however is that everything is new, even my computer.......I don't think I've ever had anything new before, except maybe stationery and tissues!

I'm staying home this weekend, just spending time to 'be'.

Do trees have feelings?

Last weekend we helped our friends cut down their huge gum tree.

She was a beautiful majestic old gum that has been around since long before our subdivision was even thought of. It was also a very big decision for our friends that has taken them at least couple of years to make.    They eventually decided that she had to go because she was so close to their house which worried them every time the wind blew...........which is just about all the time!

It was 'all hands on deck' for the whole weekend, involving a hired cherry picker, three chainsaws, a very looonnng ladder, several male experts (they think), lots of excited kids, three barking dogs, a couple of concerned 'tree-huggers' (me and my husband), trays of yummy food, several cold beers and one very large cheescake.

At the end of day one when the tree had about half of it's canopy missing I said "Do you think trees have feelings?"

Big mistake.  (I actually know they have feelings and was silently apologising to the tree each time I took a pile of branches away, but I was trying to suss out how everyone else felt).  Well two of us ended up in tears..........sheesh! It was much, much worse than the snail episode.......but that is another story.

Thank you magestic old gum tree, for a fabulous fun weekend, Lots of belly laughs, precious friendships, wood for our fire and amazing cheesecake!

Refresh, Recharge & Uplift.

I love spending time with my family.  They're such cool people.  Recently one of  my daughters and I shared a bottle of champagne while we discussed how we thought we would solve the problems of the world, (and what we would do if we won lotto!)..........and peeled the label off the bottle for future reference because it was so yummy.

The simple words depicted here - Refresh, Recharge & Uplift are perfect for describing how I feel about spending time with my family.  These words seemed especially meaningful when I recently had to go away for work  (again) and I was alone in a motel room, thinking about how some people don't even have a family. I was fossicking about looking for something to add to my journal and I found these words that I cut from some teabag labels.

Aha!  Perfect.  Completely wrecked the teabags though.

Bellydancing

A couple of weeks ago I went away with a fabulous bunch of girls to the WAMED - West Australian Middle Eastern Dance Festival.  It's a weekend full (crammed choc-a-block full) of bellydancing workshops, concerts, dancing, fun, technique, laughter, shopping, the bazaar, more shopping and of course a small drop of fine wine!

I've made a little book to keep safe my momentos from the weekend - business cards, programmes, concert tickets, choreography sheets, costume ideas and a few snapshots.  It's made from folded manilla envelopes and is just perfect for holding all the bits and pieces I seem to forever be picking up!

Yikes!  Don't look at the yukky water in the vase.

Yep, another fun weekend over, but some great memories to keep.