WishBig eCamp

I am currently taking my very first eCourse.  Oh boy, I could get addicted to this!  I am struggling to fit stuff in everyday, but luckily Mindy from WishStudio who as set it all up, is leaving the classes up for a few weeks yet so I can catch up.  I love the idea that its a camp & that we gather round a 'virtual' fire & share via the comments section.

I love that there are so many fabulous teachers doing their wondrous stuff.  I just know that I am going to want to take each of their in-depth ecourses!  We kicked off the week with Darrah Parkers photography element.  Part of which involved taking pictures of what mattered to us.  The little details around our house.

I then did this exercise with Bini as she was off school for the day.  I loved seeing her pictures... there were rather a few of my ipod!  But also tons of her sweet baby brother who loves to pull a pose or two.

So, if Mindy puts this on again, I can wholeheartedly recommend it.  Am off now to do another workshop!

Point to Point

Well, another Saturday.  Another comfort zone gently expanded. 

We were offered tickets to go to a Point to Point through my Beloved's work.  Instead of lethargically saying no thanks we decided to give a joyful YES.  So dragging along some reluctant children who eventually came round, we drove off to spend the day in the open air.  And guess what?  I had a ball again!  Hurrah for expanding my comfort zone.

We even got to watch from the centre of the circuit.  One of the riders fell off in front of us at a fence which was rather scary.  He closed himself up into the smallest ball whilst the other horses thundered around him.  Then he unfurled slowly and got up.  Boy was I relieved to see that.  Winded but not wounded.
I was busy keeping my boys safe at the time but my daughter managed to catch a slightly blurred picture of the moment of falling.

We inexpertly attempted betting & won one of the races, thanks to this able team.

Thanks guys, you paid for our icecreams! 

Quite an exhilarating day.  Oh and did I mention there was candyfloss.  Candy Floss, people.  That gloriously sticky pink stuff.  How could it have been a bad day?!

All that Jazz...

Saturday night I decided at very last minute to expand my comfort zone and fixed ideas about what I like.  So reading the kids story at breakneck speed, I legged it out the door.  I took myself to an all girls jazz orchestra concert held in a local 13th Century church.  A fund raiser to help with repairs & replacing the lead the thiefs keep stealing. 

Well.  I feel expanded into someone who has danced to a jazz concert.  I had a great time, a total ball.  Not least because I was OUT!  I didn't know anyone there except one of the musicians was a fellow allotmenteer.  I was the only one dancing the entire time, so I suspect they might know me next time!

So I will no longer say that I don't like Jazz.  I think I like it Live.  It won't replace my love affair with a Folky Fiddle band.  Or a scruffy acoustic guitar player to fall in love with.  But it was fabulous energetic fun & I am rather proud of myself for pulling myself out of my small world & making it bigger.

Full moon Dream board

Last night I stayed up rather later than intented making a dream board for the full moon.  It turned out that I had more in me than I expected & made an enormous flipchart sized collage.  Jamie Ridler calls it the Full Worm Moon.  Looking it up in the UK it is also know Celtically as Moon of Winds.  (Which reminds me to make sure the allotment greenhouse is fully tied down!)

As I only made the board last night, it is still seeping into my conciousness.  I have stuck it to the dining room wall to sink into my awareness.  As Jamie suggested I tried to make it fairly intuitively.  The words LIGHT UP gave me a jolt, so they had to go right in the middle.

Here's hoping for some lovely energy coming my way & exploring the depths in a gentle way!

Wishcraft wednesday - wishes for the world

Joining in with Jamie Ridlers Wishcraft wednesday.  Today's prompt.

What do you wish for the world?

Well, this is a huge one isn't it.  Especially at the moment with seizmic activitiy on a geographical level in the Pacific, and politically in the North Africa & the middle East with big shifts going on in so many countries there.  And the status quo holding on so, so very hard to power.

The news is so full of distressing images.  Unbelievable images.  CGI images for real.  Its hard to hold onto what is true for me, right here, right now.  I find myself curiously detatched, whilst watching in fascination.  Not quite beliving or understanding what I see.  And then a small detail.  A human detail.  And it hurts.

What I wish for the world I have to be myself.  World change begins in the heart.

What I wish for the world is compassion for the other person. To see the humanity in anothers eyes.

I wish gentle transition to a free-er society for the countries fighting for it across the Middle East. 

I wish healing for the people of Japan., and all those hurting.

And I wish that those in the position to do something about it, might question the wisdom of placing of nuclear power stations in an area known for earthquakes.  Tsunami is a Japanese word for goodness sake. 

For Tim

Today should have been the 42nd Birthday of our dear friend whose funeral we went to last Saturday.  His was a short battle with cancer, borne with immense strength & humour.  My thoughts are with his mum & brother who bore it with him.

Tim was a friend who was always there.  He would always turn up whenever the clan gathered.  We shall miss his quiet humour and deep spiritual connection.  I am grateful that we had him in our lives.  And for the re-gathering of the clan at his funeral.  It was good to see everyone again.

Farewell Tim, safe journey.

Told you!

I knew this week would be a better one.  For me at least.  Beloved has gone down with the flu on Thursday, but I have re found my energy.  Thank goodness!

This week included a lovely parcel from from the delightful Dee, as I won her cushion cover giveaway.  How could it not be a better week with a tissue wrapped parcel & cupcake card!  Thanks Dee.

The week also held my little Roo man turning from this

to this.  I sooo love the National Health Service!  Thankyou to all the beautiful people who looked after us.

Some swirling and twirling to music. 



Learning how to make a skateboard stay underfoot.

And the rhubarbs finally got moved into their (hopefully!) final resting place.  Roo actually let me do some allotment work yesterday & I felt great! 

Wishcraft Wednesday: Gifts to share

This weeks Wishcraft Wednesday with Jamie Ridler Studios asks:

 What Gifts do you wish to share?

What gifts do I have to share?  My initial reaction to this was one of puzzlement.  What can I offer the world?  Or what do I already offer the world without realising?  I am trying to chase down the essence of how I serve my soul & share it with the world.  My interrogation of my beloved yielded something unprintable and unhelpful to soulsearching, but it made me laugh!  That is his gift of humour that he shares with me.   

The strange thing is I think of myself as a fairly confident person, outgoing & friendly.  And yet, I struggle to name the reasons.  So, to my wishcraft.

I wish to share my gift of time with my children.  Today I sat and read for half an hour to them after school, which was lovely.

I wish to share my Dance.  Its one thing I know I am good at.

I wish to share my home with lovely friends.  The gift of sanctuary and gathering.

I wish to share creativity & humour.

Sunshine

ahhh.  Please tell me sunshine that this week will be a better one.  Last week wasn't very nice!  Hospital visit with toddler to check out why he was limping (irritable hip due to general viral infection), another abnormal smear result after a clear colposcopy, snotty grotty poorly temperaturey toddler, a hefty bout of diahorea, rounding off the week with the funeral of a dear friend who lost his short battle to cancer.  Exhale.

But this week is a shiney new sparkly week & it will be gentle and wonderful.  Its sunny, for goodness sake, how could it not be?

All is well in its beautiful imperfections.  We are all recovering and growing, along with these delightful reminders of spring.  And we won ten quid on the lottery!

Wishcraft Wednesday: setting limits

Right, now I am catching up with the Wednesday wishcrafting with Jamie Ridler Studios.  Todays question:

What limits do you wish to set?

I wish to stop limiting my comfort zone & start re-expanding it instead.

I wish to limit the amount of twaddle tv & computer I waste my time on.

I wish to limit my negative thinking & whining.  And just get on with it!

Wishcraft: what do you wish for your home?

I have just come across Jamie Ridler's Studios Wednesday Wishcraft.  It was very timely, having spent the weekend with a paintbrush in my hand and a grump in my heart.  So I thought I would join in, albeit a bit late.

What do you wish for your home?

My kneejerk reaction to this question was 'I wish for my house to be finished'.  I have been feeling reallllly fed up with living in an uncompleted house.  Writing out our calendar for this month, I realised that in a few weeks is the anniversary of us purchasing our first home.  Five years since we bought this run down, damp and dark little cottage with a small overgrown garden with our empty pockets and big dreams.  Well, to be fair, the vision is almost completely down to my beloved.  I struggled to see past the small garden, after the spacious one our rented house had. 
But in a few months the basic house was transformed into a light and airy house (partly due to a door not fitting properly) and we moved in, kinda camping style.  No carpets and lots to do.
Next came an extension complete with incompetent builders.  I kid you not, Rogie would come home and say to them 'Guys, there should be a window here', where a solid wall had been built.  So they'd take it down and start again.  We found out after they'd left that they'd done the whole thing one brick length shorter than it should have been.
Then, along came our unexpected joy of Roo, and we had to race to get the extension liveable.  Oiling and sanding and painting whilst heavily pregnant.  The age old nesting instinct.
And now the final phase, the conservatory to replace the decrepit glass porch thing that was there.

In all the work that has been done, various things got left undone.  And lived with.  And lived with.  Some I barely see anymore, but others niggle.  I have been very slack in taking responsibility for finishing my home, leaving it mostly to my highly competent husband.  Trouble is,  I just don't enjoy it.  In fact I decided at the weekend, and wrote as much in my journal, I f**king hate painting.  I didn't of course put pretty asterisks in my journal.  I spat the word out onto the page in clear letters.  Well, I like painting big walls with no edges or natural woodwork to worry about.  However, our house is full of small walls and tons of natural woodwork.  It has been done by my brother in law who is an cabinet maker by training & a genius with wood.  No paint is allowed onto the wood.  Just sanded and oiled.  Which makes my slap dash approach to painting show up all the more.  So much easier to hide on white glossed woodwork!

All this makes me realise though, that doesn't really answer the question for what I wish for my home.  The house is just the shell that holds us.  The home is so much more. 

For my home I wish Love, Joy, Growth & Comfort for all who come.  And lots & lots of Creativity! xxx