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Thursday 31 May 2012

finally the sun shone

last week the sun shone. all week. it felt like summer. at the start of the week i was in bed ill. by the end i was walking around a zoo with four little people. it was much needed. all week i had felt cooped up and had wanted to be outside whenever i wasn't working. the barbecue took off it's winter coat. twice. the week had brought with it unexpected reminders of the past. some happy. some sad. some things i could do something about. others i could not.  it was great to see the animals through the eyes of excited little people. not just animals but play parks, boats and monorails. oh the joys of being two. five. six. and four months.













Emma

Monday 28 May 2012

Morning Surprise

A few weeks ago Ellie and I bought a cactus from a church plant sale. It has sat on Ellie's window sill for several weeks and looks like this:


Yesterday morning Ellie drew back the curtains and it looked like this:



It took our breath away -the surprise at the unexpected, the beauty of the flowers. The really special part is that the flowers close in the evening, and then open again in the morning. It is our morning surprise, something small but beautiful waiting as a gift at the start of each day.

Jane

Saturday 26 May 2012

Being spoilt part 2

Today the post arrived. I wasn't expecting anything, but lying on the door mat was an enticing package.

I opened it.

Inside was this:



Inside the tin were these:



Which became these:


Thanks Em, a lovely Saturday surprise.

Jane

Friday 25 May 2012

musings

a couple of weeks ago a person who knows me better than i know myself told me; how i am now is like i was in my early twenties. 

i am now in my early forties. 

it's taken me twice my time to regain the youthful exuberance i had. i never realised i had done a detour. never realised my path was overgrown with hedgrow. it just happened. life crowded in. crowded in with parties then responsibilities. i have no recollection of deciding i was going to do this or that, it just happened. my twenties initially were flighty, fun, adventurous. my thirties brought the realisation that i wasn't where i thought i should be. i forgot about where i wanted to be. in fact i didn't forget, i didn't even think about it. my early forties has brought growth. i can trace it back to where it started:

a digital camera. 

with that brought a whole new world. suddenly images i took were immediate. finally my mac was able to dazzle with it's true colours. no more one hour photo shop with disappointing colour. from that; a confidence to find my voice with pictures. a submission selected and published on a photo blog. the amazement, surprise and humbling acceptance of what i had captured and expressed swelled the confidence further. next a germ of a thought; the idea of starting my own blog. my oldest, bestest friend suggesting we do it together. a year on our friendship is stonger than it has ever been. a friendship that pre-dates my early twenties. through this i have found that words come easy. well maybe not easy but easier than i could ever have imagined. they have become something i want to embrace and find voice for. encouraging stories recollected and shared of comments made by family, who when reading cards i have written have been moved not just to tears but to comment that i have always been a writer. this has helped gain the realisation that this has always been there, lying in abeyance, awaiting just the right time for me to pick up and try, try, try again. 

creativity awakened. 

re-awakened. 

it has been a process. more than that. a discipline. requiring effort, time, thought. on a good day; a stream of conciousness. on a bad; i am back at school working my way through homework. only this time it is set by myself for myself to my own deadline. expressing myself. being aware of and open to life has been the change. what i thought it was about, it is not. 

what have i realised in the simplicity of it? just that. it is simple.

do what you love. 

embrace your talents. 

walk with hope. 

be joyful. 

laugh easily and long.  

take pleasure in the everyday. 

make time. 

simply; love. 

love yourself. 

love others. 

above all be true. 

true to what you have been given. 

you are the only one that can sing your song.

sing with gusto.

Emma

Tuesday 22 May 2012

life's what you make it

illness has been rife for the last couple of weeks. family and friends have been laid low. big style. these past few days it has been my turn to give in to the germs that abound. as i finished my working day it struck me how easy it is to give in to negativity. positivity will always reward you. positivity will keep you warm when negativity sails you down the river.


i have these (and lots of them) in my lawn.




but i also have beautiful bluebells in the border that my lovely neighbour likes to describe as my "wild flower garden".




i've been cooped up in my office all day while the sun shines. but. i'm blessed with evening sun right outside my back door. i throw open the doors. put some music on. sing. loudly. (try not to drown out the birds song).




oh and i caught the wine just before it froze in the freezer.  




so what if i haven't made it to the shops to buy this years sundress. last years will do. i haven't had time to go for the much needed pedicure either. tonight i will sit on my deck and do it myself. in the sunshine. and. i might not yet be comfortable with the darker shade of blonde i am sporting. but. in the sunshine i can see it is not as dark as i think it is. 



life. it's what you make it. it's way to short to give in to negativity. when all else fails. do what i did. whilst listening to the radio, take a five year old by the hand and spin her round (like a lunatic) to this oldie. five year olds have never heard this song before and the idea of living on the ceiling was more than she could bear. laughter. that's the best medicine. 


Emma

Monday 21 May 2012

busy

last week was busy. everything was manic. the week before had been similar and dates had been re-arranged. in the midst of stormy weather relief was gained by meeting friends for dinner. twice. i only had my camera once. it was good. and much needed.








Emma

Friday 18 May 2012

Being spoilt

This week I have been well and truly spoilt.

First of all I was given this:


It is a truly thoughtful gift, handmade and perfect. It brought lots of joy to my Tuesday.

Then I received this:


I first found out about it via a photo on Facebook, it made my day.

Then after avery long day at work I came home to this:


And this:



You may spot the theme -I'm quite excited about a certain event at the beginning of June. But more than that this week I have felt very valued, and very supported. It's reminded me again how we all have the capacity to make a difference to someone's day, this week I have been very fortunate that it's been me on the receiving end.
Happy weekend everyone- time to make bunting?

Jane

Monday 14 May 2012

Pick up

Well.....I promised you a story on Saturday, so here we go.

Saturday was sunny, so we ambled to the school car boot sale. On arrival after an initial look round it didn't look promising. We did a second tour of the stalls; and there lying on a table we spotted it.



My friend and I both looked at each other and smiled; in a second we had another bond between us as we realised we each had common memories from childhood of playing a game with sticks. We spent our 50p and brought them home.

We took them out and got ready to play:


There was much mocking as to how this game could be exciting- you just wait we said.....



Addiction till midnight ensued.....


And at the end of the evening they were left arranged.....



For 50p new shared memories created of the fun and frustration that can be had with sticks......A perfect pick up for the weekend, if you have never tried it I dare you.....

Jane

Saturday 12 May 2012

this week i have

danced around my living room on a friday night to this:




learned to sing this:



and remembered singing this:


it's been a good week.

Emma

Interim

Well, tonight I was going to tell you a story about something that has brought much amusement to our house since mid afternoon. However, my email is failing me, and without the pictures there is no story, so that will have to wait for another day.
So, this is an interim post to catch up, as I haven't posted in over a week. This last week has been a tough one work wise, I've been away on a course which I think was supposed to inspire, but instead has left me feeling flat, and not quite sure what to do next.
We spend so much of our time in work, it can absorb our piece of the world, it can become defining, driving everything.
Today, I woke up and the sun was shining, the rain had finally stopped. In the sunlight today there has been opportunity to enjoy other's company, to drive in shades, to plant sunny geraniums, and to smile.
These are things that have made my day, warmth, light, laughter.

Whilst away I read this:

There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

This is a great poem- and I love it because it reminds me that there is a right time for everything, and thats what are days are for, work is just a small part of that. It doesn't define us,  or make us the person we are. Days are about learning what the right time for everything is and relaxing into that, so we can be the best we can be.
To-day was about restoration.

Tomorrows post will have pictures.

Jane

Wednesday 9 May 2012

...raising a smile this week...

...sharing a "virtual coffee" with a good friend...
...a nephew who realising when he wakes from his sleep that i have gone home, phones me to say bye...
...cucumbers rapidly growing in the greenhouse that is my sisters kitchen...



...receiving an email from an old friend full of compliments and encouragement...
...mistakes made by large companies = receiving pampering gifts. for free...
...hearing this song on the radio this morning and instantly being transported back to christmas and laughing with my brother...

 

...all this and it's only wednesday...
...life is indeed a happy song...

Emma

Saturday 5 May 2012

space for life

after the madness of the week
i relax.
the long weekend beckons.
i run into it,


with open arms.


the to do list
is long.
the distraction, 
welcome.


i clear papers,
magazines, 
recycle.
i make space,


space for life.


i wait.
expectantly.
ready 
to embrace,


embrace future;


without fear,
with hope.
joyful.
with love.


arms outstretched.


open.


Emma

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Moments

Life is too busy. That's a fact. To-day has been stupid busy, lunch consisted of a Twix and a coffee at 2pm as that's all I had time to get, the work pc has just been closed down.
But within that there have been little moments that have made the day. This afternoon I popped to the shops, and there in the charity shop window where these:



Em; that is for you, you would have loved them. This last weekend as you know Em came down to visit. We drank wine, shopped, cooked, gossiped and drank more wine. It was lovely, spending time with Em is like spending time with family, she knows the back story and understands. The magazines reminded me of my friend.

Tonight to help me through the drudge of washing up I switched on Radio 2. Now, I pride myself on being a Radio 1 girl (Radio 2 is for people far older than me:)), but weekday evenings Jo Whiley is on, and I love her. She brightens up the evening and always plays great music. Tonight as I switched on Newton Faulkner was playing.
Immediately, I was transported from the stress of the day to a different place. I love the way music can do that for you, to take you in an instant out of your reality to somewhere else. I was in a world of my dreams, of both angst and hope tumbled into one.
Here's the song:


So, at the end of a long day, peace. Peace in those moments that catch you by surprise.Tomorrow is a new day. I intend to have more than a Twix for lunch.




Jane