Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A Balancing Act



Any day that I see my daughter happy, laughing, smiling, playing, showing off her new maneuvers on the balancing rope is  a good day in my book. She got the balancing rope for Christmas and she loves it, she is on it every single day (the pictures where taken on Christmas day).

 I am grateful to be at home and spend our afternoons together, to see her counting her blooming flowers, playing catch with Bella, parking her scooter under the kitchen table before dinner, making a raspberry souffle and ice cream in the bath tub (pretending :-) and then asking; "Mamma, what's a souffle?"

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

I am so blessed

 

 

  PicMonkey Collage20140116_200059_10

….to have the family i have…. without them I would be lost and scared and alone.  I was taken to the trauma unit last night.  At 3am i woke up feeling my arm was restricted and my hand further limited in use… Julia happened to be sharing our bed..i made my way to nev in the dark feeling weak in my leg and told him i think we need to go to the hospital….by this stage i was a nervous wreck and shaking so much i couldn't walk and my arm was glued to my chest  i was absolutely paralysed with fear and all i could say was I love you to both of them…and that if  I had to stay there Id want a drawing from her every day  She was adorable and calm in her little nightie and sheepskin slippers .I got a dose of an anxiolytic and soon felt calm again….i’\id had a massive frightening panic attack re my progressing symptoms…but on examination by the Dr there he felt it was best for me to wait this one last day before my MRI and that there were no signs of brain bleeds or any life threatening events.

I cant even begin to imagine that there are souls out there that are alone and have no support  - imagine waking up alone petrified about what's happening to your body.

I love you Nev, I love you Julia – you both give me so much strength, joy, comfort and love

To Pay Attention






















I am grateful for inspiration and reminders all around us. The notion to first love yourself resonates with me even though it seems to be quite difficult to practice in real life. Awareness is a first step though and it nudges the door open.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Joy


















I am grateful to have found joy in painting.
I am grateful for days when I find joy in a great many things.
I am grateful that we made it to school today, although a bit late, accompanied by giggles and laughter and hopping and skipping and jumping.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Little Animal Lover

A quote from Pooh Bear:

“'How do you spell love?' - Piglet
'You don't spell it...you feel it.' - Pooh”



























G loves animals and it shows. She had a field day in RSA with all the animals. We went to several animal touch farms. The kids spent close to two hours with the guinea pigs, they just couldn't get enough. She fed and touched every animal she could, and if they allowed her, she gave hugs too. I absolute adore Pluto, the Great Dane, that lives next to my parents. He just allowed G to hug him as often as she wanted too. 

Friday, January 24, 2014

Brave Intuitive Painting






















This is my first completed painting for the Bloom True Intuitive Painting Course. Got quite discouraged at one point at layer five or so, but when I started the painting on Sunday I had so much fun, just fell into a groove and enjoyed it so much. Quite like the vibrant colours. While I was working on my painting, G did her own where she painted a planet. I am so incredibly grateful to have the space to paint whenever I feel like it and it is amazing to share the space with G, it's great to be together but to be completely in our own worlds.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Just Add Something Green


















I am enjoying cooking so much more now that I am at home full time. I love cooking for G and I and having lunch and dinner together. It has already had such a positive impact on her trying new foods. She is a picky eater and that won't change any time soon, but at least she can have more interesting meals now and see me eat a greater variety of food.

We made pizza today, a plain cheese and ham for her so added wilted spinach and feta cheese to mine. I took a great picture, unfortunately my CF card was not in the camera :-)


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

A Home Made Christmas


Time to rejuvenate

 

PicMonkey Collage

We can ALWAYS count on Prince Albert providing us with the rest and rejuvenation that we need after a long stressful period.  Its a place that is ever special in our hearts and whenever we come here its like coming home…the Sundowner drives on Marieke Prinsloo drive, Gays Diary for local cheese, yoghurt and milk, local olives and olive oil, local nurseries to stock up on plants at half or quarter the price in Cape Town, art galleries and dinky crafts, the Swartsberg Pass..simply magnificent with its cool stream of water, and our special house we rent every year, Observatory house, it has everything we need.  Bliss.

We’ve been coming here for well on 8 years now!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Amy the Boston

 

PicMonkey Collage

Amy is the new love in my life…. she is our 4 year old Boston Terrier,  we initially adopted her as a companion for Joe our boxer – they don’t play together much but she just slots perfectly into our family…canvas, Joe and her can be found sprawled out on the floor together, chilling out in each others company. 

Its hard to believe that in the 2 week trial of adopting her thru Boston Rescue that I honestly was going to give her back at one point as I felt I wasn't bonding – a lesson in giving things time, well learned in this case. 

Anyway, Julia and I just love her, Nev does too but Joe is still top dog – I am probably her key mum and Julia gets jealous as she wants Amy to follow her everywhere…she is 4 years old and came with the name Amy, which we love and she suits well… I love the fact that she looks like a permanent puppy – her size and face.  She is the new baby in my life and I love how much Julia loves her – even though I think Amy may find it a bit excessive at times, Amy never shows it. 

She is a dog that needs lots of love and companionship and if you have left her for a bit she greets you with what I call her special “baked bean” dance where she bends her body round and wriggles with joy!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Limbs, Hands and Feet

 

easter holiday, ballet girl, 5th bday, sonja visit 395

How grateful we need to be for the use of limbs…they allow us to move, dance, swim, write, walk, balance, and loads more and in doing so provide us with so many joyful memories, swimming in the sea, mountain biking down a pass, slicing the most delicious cheese for a sunset picnic, gardening, kneading clay, mosaicing…

A few months ago a friend of ours bone cancer returned in his right leg after 8 years remission, the Dr's at the time had recommended he amputate to below the knee, but being a surfer he opted for a metal plate fusion of sorts in his ankle instead.

After feeling a lump again that wasn’t quite right he was reviewed and found to have a recurrence.  This time he chose to have the below the knee amputation – he is our age and has 2 kids and lives a life now that is giving him a lot of joy and realised he just can’t muck around with the responsibilities he has by not making such a difficult choice.

We visited him 2 days post his op and I was humbled at his positive attitude…he was upbeat and accepting of what had been done – he is an inspiration..

He has come to mind right now as while I am typing this I am having difficulty with my left hand, its nowhere near as nimble as it used to be, it  feels thick and sluggish on the keyboard and shakes a lot more– I think I would be absolutely devastated if I ever had to lose function in any limb or part of my body…I guess if it ever happened to any of us the only thing we could do is to accept it and continue to live positively and joyously.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

It’s a new year

 

Time for new dreams to be cultivated and manifested,

time to let bygones be bygones or manage them accordingly.

Time to reenergise, move, dance, breathe and laugh,

time to renew, revamp, renovate.

Time to nourish, feed and care for my soul,

time to paint again (yippee), to garden, to craft.

Time to dwell on things, ideas, topics of interest and new learning's.

time to disallow preoccupation with what others may think of me,

Time to love myself as I am and to recognise the beauty of my authentic being,

to understand its the original me that people love to be around, not a false other.

And finally….TIME …to create it.