[display_podcast] As I sat at my desk this dark cloudy morning and considered the lengths that some will go to in order to be famous and the often twisted results the local legend of John the Painter comes to mind. John Aitken was born in a Scottish slum in the year 1752. He was admitted to an [...]
May 31, 2009
I’m really, really tired tonight after our visit to the New Forest today. Ended up walking for 3 hours because we got lost but more about that later. Back to last week first … sounds a little Michael J. Fox!!! Anyway, it’s been half term here in the UK which means the boys have been home from school. This in turn means trying to keep them somewhat occupied whilst juggling work commitments. Friday we went to Brighton. The sun was shining and we had that Friday feeling. What better way to spend the day than by the sea? Unfortunately, this was the same idea half of Britain had too. We parked about 2 1/2 miles away from the pier and walked. It was a beautiful day with a sea breeze so we didn’t mind the stroll. I underestimated the strength of the sun and am still a little on the red side (everyone else tans in the sun – I go lobster). At the pier we did the usual things. Daniel went on the roller coaster – he went on by himself and ended up being paired with some young girls. He’s the one on the far left! Jake went on the water flume and got drenched. By the time we finished on the pier and got back to the car we were walking for 4 hours. Not a peep from the kids on the back seat all the way back home!! Today we had an adventure in the New Forest. I thought we’d only be out for a couple of hours but it turned out to be a lot longer. This was because we got a lot little lost. We parked the car and set off through underneath the canopy of the trees. It wasn’t long before everyone had foraged a stick to carry (and take home). Tabitha included….. We came to a small stream and while we were trying to work out where to cross with the buggy a dragonfly passed by and posed for me. He was the most gorgeous green. Then we carried on walking, avoiding patches of mud and finding ways to cross the streams littering the forest floor. We came to a clearing where horses were grazing. I took some photos from way back but one horse decided to come and investigate us. We kept our distance from the horse but when he started snorting, and being a coward as far as horses are concerned, we went back into the forest. This is where our lost adventure began. Back under the trees we carried on meandering, stopping occasionally for a lesson in tree hugging! Or tree cuddling as Jake called it. Somehow we managed to get turned around and to make matter worse Paul got stuck in the mud (yes, I did laugh). His shoes got stuck and he went almost knee deep in the boggy mud. This rendered his shoes useless and made him appreciate the prickles of the holly leaves on the floor even more! We were in the forest for 3 hours all in all but during our wandering we saw a herd of deer run through the trees. It was worth the sore feet and aching legs just to see that.
May 27, 2009
I’ve had a break from my lap top which is something unusual for me. I’ve been such a computer addict for years. You know, one of those people who think the world will probably end if emails don’t get checked at least 5 times a day. It felt sort of liberating to let the laptop rest and deal with the emails (and yes, there were many) today. Now I’m back. It’s been a frustrating day in one sense because I’ve had a lot of work to do on websites and they kept going down. So my plans of getting x, y & z completed haven’t come into fruition. I’m looking forward to when mercury retrograde ends!! Going back to emails. One of the best things I found in my box today was a notification that my pendulum chart book had been put on Amazon.com by my publisher!! I was so chuffed. Me as an author on Amazon.com!! The page is basic (and I really mean basic) but I’m going to upload a photo tomorrow. I’m keeping this post short and sweet tonight because Desperate Housewives is on (and Dave is getting just a little too evil, don’t you think?). I’ll leave you with a video of one of my most favourite songs which just happened to be on the radio when I went to pick up my son from Ju Jitsu. Love it (and Sting). Enjoy!!
May 21, 2009
The last month or so I’ve been consumed with craft projects, mainly beading. When I haven’t been actually working on them I’ve been thinking about them and the past few nights I’ve been dreaming of beads. They come to me when I’m asleep in geometric shapes and I know, in my dreamy state, they have a meaning for me. As I’ve driven everyone mad with beads bouncing on the floor and odd threads being found in strange places, I’ve been reconnecting with a part of me mainly forgotten. I never really got the concept of the inner child before. It was a buzz word for a while but I didn’t connect to what it really meant. Through my crafting I’ve found my inner child. I thought she was long gone – lost in a world full of responsibility. Apart from being a little odd in my reading subject matter (ghosts, astrology, dinosaurs and Egypt), I was also the girl most likely to be found in the art room at school. Oh, and I loved to be involved in drama too – I was the girl with the loudest voice!! When I was 7 I had a fab teacher, Mrs. Taylor, who let me and my friend go into the art room every afternoon. This was a world of colour, paint, fabrics, glue and, best of all, pleasure. I would create anything I wanted and in my eyes I was a little artistic genius. Nothing I did was substandard or simply ‘not good enough’ – the thought never even entered my mind. I was a creator and my creations were perfect. Then somewhere along the way I lost my child like innocence and I began to get critical of myself. I’d still draw a lot (I did that throughout my teenage years) but I would convince myself that my artwork was all wrong. I had impossibly high standards and if I couldn’t met them (which of course I couldn’t) I’d lose faith. At high school I wanted to take art and graphic design as part of my GCSE exams but the headteacher thought it would be better to do business studies and IT instead. So that’s what I did. And I kept on doing it. I went to college and spent another 4 years learning IT and business. Then I spent umpteen years working in an IT department. Luckily I got involved in web design back in ‘97 so I had a creative outlet in my dull, dull, dull job. Today Paul’s given me the opportunity to step back a little from our business so I can spend more time crafting. He wants me to spend time doing what my spirit is crying out to do. He’s supporting me so I can craft and create. I’m overwhelmed with love and gratitude for such a generous gift. I’m going to be working on a hand/witch crafted side line to go hand in hand with Wizard & Witch. I’m very excited and it really feels like my 7 year old inner child is ready to return
May 19, 2009
This weekend I wanted to stay home as much as possible. I knew I’d have to go food shopping but that was as far as I’d planned and as much ‘out’ as I wanted. So you can imagine my surprise when Saturday morning at breakfast Paul announces we’re going to ToysRUs. He does this at regular intervals, just throws it into conversation in front of the boys who believe ToysRUs should be the only shop we ever go to. AND we should spend a minimum of half a day there. When those words – “Let’s go to ToysRUs” – are out in the Universe there’s no going back. We picked up the grocery shopping then headed to Portsmouth for our toy shop outing. Daniel wandered around the sports section, Jake was lost in Star Wars and Tabitha just randomly grabbed at anything she could from the trolley. We were there longer than I wanted but I did find a high chair booster seat thing I wanted to get for Tabitha. Here she is trying out the chair for the first time (book is upside down): That evening when we had dinner it really struck home. We are a family of FIVE. It’s not that I didn’t notice (I did give birth to 3 of them and married the other) but there was something very significant seeing all of us eating together actually at the table. It was ‘one of those moments’ for me. And didn’t last very long because I was sitting next to Tabitha who thought her hands belonged in my dinner. I’d forgotten the joys of toddler at the table time. The rest of the weekend I made things. I beaded earrings and a pendulum. I’m turning into a craft addict!
May 13, 2009
I was wondering what to write about this evening when it struck me. I’m actually alone in my sitting room. All by myself. You have no idea how rare this moment is for me and how I cherish these minutes. Don’t get me wrong. I love my family and the hustle, bustle and chaos it brings. I love my husband who I work with every day – he’s my best friend and I know I’m very blessed to be able to say that. BUT to be able to sit here without anyone talking, prodding (Tabitha speciality) or requesting things of me is bliss. Even if it’s only for a short time. Paul is recording some video for his new blog and the kids are in bed (I’m assuming asleep). Just me and the pot plants here. Don’t you ever wish for an hour or two where you can spend it how you want and where you want? My ideal ‘2 hour me time special’ would be spent somewhere historic like Hampton Court or perhaps London where I would play tourist with my camera. I’d look at buildings, people and objects then try to capture their essence on film (well SD card these days). Really, though, I wouldn’t mind where I was as long as I had my camera with me and something to snap. My camera comes with me nearly everywhere these days but I don’t always have the luxury of investing time into photography. I’m usually pushing the buggy or trying to catch up with Paul because he’s got bored waiting for me to take a few photos. It’s not that he’s overly impatient – I just have oodles of patience and can spend a long time trying to get everything just right. So that is definitely what I’d do. Wander off in the big wide world for a few hours with just my camera for company. If I were to give you the opportunity to have a “2 hour me time special” too where would you go and what would you do?
May 12, 2009
After not feeling well on Saturday I didn’t know whether to go the Hampshire Green Fair on Sunday. But I’m not one to miss out so we went and I’m really glad we did. It was a warm day, the sun almost shining and a lovely drive in the country to get to the fair. Of course, the car park was several fields away from the park so I got a good workout pushing Tabitha through the long grass whilst dodging cow pats. I’ll digress a little here. After Tabitha’s mammoth 3 steps last week she has NOT taken a single unaided step since. She’s still eager to walk and tries to grab onto my finger at any opportunity (when I’m sitting down, when she’s at the high chair, in the car seat etc.) so she can toddle about with her mummy support. If I prise her hand away from my finger she sits down in protest. Back to the fair. There were a lot of wood craftsmen there and I learnt about coppices. It’s a word I didn’t even know existed when I was in London! The boys weren’t with us this weekend which was a shame. There were loads of things to get stuck into if you happened to be a kid like pond dipping and making crowns. And then there was the beer tent for adults! On our way back home we passed Old Winchester Hill. I’ve been reading about this place for several weeks in all kinds of unusual places so I knew I was meant to go there. So we did yesterday. The clue, which I didn’t get, is in the words ‘Old Winchester HILL’. I wore shoes. My trainers were left safely by the door at home. Anyway, that didn’t stop us. Nor did the information board which said it was a 2 hour walk to the hill from the car park. BTW, Old Winchester Hill is an iron age hill fort complete with burial barrows (sometimes called fairy mounds!!). This is the view at the beginning of the trail. Stunning! And this is the hill fort. You can see the 3 barrows clearly in this shot. This is what it would have looked like about 2,500 years ago! This is Paul dowsing on top of one of the barrows. It was so windy up there! If you look closely you can make out the pendulum he’s holding – I sort of stole his idea and went on to make my own pendulums. This is how I know they’re great for outdoor work! Tried and tested on a windy iron age fort!! You could feel the energy of the barrows pulse through the pendulum like a heart beat. Wonderful place and we had it all to ourselves. All in all it didn’t take 2 hours. It was about an hour with time at the fort and taking pictures as I walked. And that was in shoes!!
May 12, 2009
I’ve been getting crafty lately and have really enjoyed being creative. So, I’m really proud to reveal my crafted pendulum (I didn’t make the metal bit though). I’ve put together this dowsing pendulum to give a little sparkle when you dowse! You can own one too for only £12.99 - made to order. The pendulum (the actual weight) is metal and started life as a plumb bob. The ancient Egyptians used plumb bobs in their building work so maybe that was the beginning of pendulum dowsing! This pendulum is great for outside work because of it’s weight – it won’t be so easily swayed in the breeze but it’s not so heavy you get arm ache! I’ve hand beaded the design around the base of the pendulum with clear and bright blue beads which look quite good (even if I do say so myself) against the silver coloured metal. I’ve hand beaded the chain too. It’s blue and clear beads interspaced with pink sparklely flat beads. This photo doesn’t do it justice because when you use the pendulum the pink sparkles in the light (and I do love things that sparkle – must have been a magpie in a previous life!!). Instead of a bead or stone to hold the pendulum you have a finger loop. It works really nicely and is quite comfy to use. More designs to come. If you’d like to purchase this pendulum I’m making to order at only £12.99 including p&p (Europe & North America only – other places may incur extra postage charge). I’m aiming to get your pendulum in the post to you within 2 working days – so what’s stopping you? There’s a sparkly pendulum with your name on it!!! ** ORDER your pendulum NOW - Only £12.99 * * Payments via PayPal – safe and secure.
May 12, 2009
I’m really proud to reveal my crafted pendulum (I didn’t make the metal bit though). I’ve put together this dowsing pendulum to give a little sparkle when you dowse! You can own one too for only £12.99 – made to order. The pendulum (the actual weight) is metal and started life as a plumb bob. The [...]
May 31, 2009
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