Well, my first English course this academic year is done and dusted, Christmas is come and gone and here we all are in the limbo of January. It's pouring with rain most of the time, a few gales of the howling variety like distant wolves, and two frustrated cats who can't go outside and instead release their pent up energies by having a protracted and vicious war with the bathroom mat.......I am happy to be in a peaceful and sheltered place, though suffering from that incurable 'less is more' syndrome - the more time I have, the less I seem to do, that is. But I've enjoyed spending hours talking to dear friends in the US and in India on Skype, addling my mind on Facebook and the like, doing all sorts of online art and journalling courses and best of all, I have learnt to hook up my iPad to the TV, stream from the main computer and watch Game of Thrones and other delights on the big screen. What joy!
I've had some ups and downs. I can't be alone in that at this time of year, our thoughts naturally turn to those we have lost, and moments of reflection are followed by sadness and some tears. But somehow we manage to jerk back into reality and cope and live our own lives to the absolute full, even if that's a day moving from one inane task to the other. I've managed to keep up with my journalling, finish another Buddha and start quite a few things so I am happy.
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| Second Buddha finished |
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| Bought a book of Graffiti Stencils - love them! |
Christmas was spent in my beloved Silveira with Lynn and John. It was cold and wet outside but we were so warm and cosy indoors with crackling log fires giving us all a rosy glow (or was that the Baileys?) and making sure we kept up all the traditions. We managed to procure parsnips, crackers and Christmas pudding so we could do it all in style and then repeat it the next day but having a pyjama day! I discovered my best friend Lynn has a fantastic singing voice, strong and sweet and full of emotion. She sang to us on Christmas Day evening and tears glistened in all our eyes.
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| Why I love Christmas! |
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| Yoko and Slash add the cute factor |
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| Still beautiful in Silveira |
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| A Sardinian warbler nibbles the last pomegranate |
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| Serendipity - a unique positioning of magazine, tin and the rest make for a brilliant shot! |
So, not very much to report but I am going to Florida on 21st January so I hope to have more to blog about soon. I am going to stay a few days with a girlfriend I made online through our love of art and journals! We have talked on Skype and have discovered that neither of us is a monster alien or possible serial killer. Then I am going to take off alone in a car and do what I do best - explore. Through the Everglades and down to Key West. A few days in Art Deco Miami! I just can't wait!
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| Play with landscape ..... |
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| Just play |
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| Another example from a Jane Davies lesson |
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| Didn't like painting flowers until I realised there were some on my bed! |
I have also decided to take a more serious course - and become a Creativity Coach....I will have lots more to say about this later on. It starts soon........watch this space!
