Inspired

Shared Focus - Bicycles

Our theme this week over at Shared Focus, is Bicycles.  Find out here why we chose this topic and what we had to say about it!

Lens.Us.Together - week 03: Who I See

 

He's the one who laughs (a lot!)

and makes me laugh too

(even when I swear I won't).

He's the one who found me a half a world away

and left home,

and country

to be with me.

He's the one who loves music and movies

and boats and water and travel and people

and oh so many other things.

He's the one who throws a ball

to our obsessive, ball chasing, hairy friend

and

I'm thrilled to say,

he's the one who loves me

as much as I love him!

This weeks topic at Lens-Us-Together is Who I See and was hosted by Dani.  The photograph above of my husband and our "obsessive, ball chasing, hairy friend", otherwise known as Molly...was taken today at Ocean Shores in Washington State.  We're away for some rest and relaxation and other than walking on the beach, we're doing a whole lot of nothing and loving it!

Cyan Sea

I’ve  been having a lot of fun recently, layering my own digital paintings and collage into some of my photographs.  As you know if you’ve been visiting here for awhile, I love photography but there’s just something in me that can’t leave it at that.  I have to take it that one (or two or twenty) steps further.  The contrast of using a fairly intense block of colour on one portion of the canvas with black and white on the other, really interests me.  I’ve done a few more of these but they’re on my laptop which has gone to the computer spa for some R & R …

(in other words, it crashed!).

I’ve learned something interesting recently about the way I approach a creative project and it's come to light through the house building process…I don’t begin the process with a vision of the end product.  I create by taking one step, looking at it and then making a decision about the next step and so on.  It’s a “feeling” thing for me. Things evolve as I go along. 

Our builder, who also happens to be our son-in-law, creates by visualizing the end product and then working backwards to get that vision.  It’s been an interesting process for me to observe his style and I’m sure, a more frustrating experience for him to observe mine!  ;)

We're enjoying a beautiful fall weekend here and getting organized to take off for the better part of a week...a bit of a holiday, shopping for the house and visiting family...south of the border.  We are soooo looking forward to a break.  There have been some major hold ups with the house construction recently but we should be sailing into the home stretch by the end of next month if all goes well.  At any rate we're more than ready right now to take some time for fun!

Play well and be kind to one another.

lens-us-together…week 02 – Abandoned

The theme for week 02 at lens-us-together is abandoned and was suggested by Beth at Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken.  I love Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s beautiful little book Gift From the Sea and it’s theme of ebb and flow…of life’s changes and fluctuations…which she herself came to terms with while spending a week on her own by the ocean, away from her husband and five children. 

The sea abandons the shore every day and then returns.  When we understand the natural rhythms of nature it's somehow easier to come to terms with loss, change and even abandonment in our own lives.

afternoon sunlight at the sea’s edge

"For relationships, too, must be like islands. One must accept them for what they are here and now,

within their limits - islands surrounded and interrupted by the sea,

continuously visited and abandoned by the tides.

One must accept the serenity of the winged life,

of ebb and flow, of intermittency.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh"

Gifts From the Sea

 

Play well and be kind to one another,

Kate

.

An Avalanche of Kindness

 

Slippery slopes are not reserved for negativity.
Positive momentum can also happen
in a manner that feels much like barely controlled falling.
One kind move begins an avalanche.

I found the quote above on “Positively Present” and loved the upbeat take on the old negative phrase of “it’s a slippery slope”.

As you may know if you’ve been reading here for awhile, kindness and gratitude are my “thang”.  That doesn’t mean that I’m  never thoughtless or I never get stuck in negativity and forget to count my blessings, it just means that I really try not to go there and make an effort to catch myself as soon as I can if I do start down that slope! 

Dani at Positively Present lists several things that can be done to gain positive momentum in your life and they’re all great suggestions.  The one that jumped out at me was “do what you do best…a lot”.  If you ever needed permission to take time to create art, write, run…or whatever it is you love to do…here it is.  It’s good for you and if it’s good for you, it’s good for everyone around you.

So on this long weekend (in North America at least) take time to do what you love!

(the photograph of the dill plant above was taken at the community garden on Mayne Island)

lens.us.together - Where I Live

I’ve joined a new group of online photographers here at Lens.Us.Together.  The project will last for 52 weeks and there are about thirty of us participating.  Our first prompt was “Where I Live”.

Where I live,

the water is our highway.

I live on Vancouver Island...a ferry ride

from the mainland of Canada's west coast.

The ocean impacts our lives in so many

ways and to some extent, defines who we are.  We're

islanders and life is a little slower here

and more laid back than on the mainlaned.

Sometimes we're called "tree huggers" and "granola crunchers"

but really, we're just passionate about our beautiful island

...and no, Birkenstocks (with or without socks) do not live in my closet!

My heart loves it here,

and that says it all!

 

 

Play well

and be kind to one another

Change

A bowl of heritage apples, taken at the Mayne Island Saturday Market.

Once again, I’ve done a blog makeover!  I really wanted to challenge myself by learning how to format the design using Typepad but without all the Typepad plug and play headings.  I also wanted the design and materials for this new version to be completely my own, so I used various selections from my own art work.

It was a lot of fun to do, although the learning curve was steep for the first few hours!  Call me crazy but now I’m going to tackle Word Press and attempt to pull something together for a family member.

This weekend I wasn’t feeling great and today a visit to my doctor confirmed that I HAVE SHINGLES!  OUCH!  How does one get shingles you may well ask?  Well first of all, you have to have had the Chicken Pox virus as a child. It’s a reactivation of the same virus. (Check) Then it helps (or hurts) if you’re over fifty (another check).  Then it helps if you’re under stress…do you think two temporary moves, “camping” with family and building a house might put me in that category? (check).  It also helps if your immune system is compromised (check) and if you have trouble sleeping (check once again). 

It showed up on my scalp and forehead and I’m very sore and itchy.  Oh well, it’s not terminal and with any luck it will be gone in a few weeks.  Even as I’m whinging and whining here, I’m very aware that it could be much worse.  I’ll spare you pictures!

Play well, and be kind to one another,

Shared Focus - Reflection

This week’s Shared Focus topic was “reflection” so head on over here to see what we both came up with as a visual response, as well as our thoughts on the topic !  This photograph was taken while I was sitting on a wharf having brunch last weekend.  The different shades of blue’s caught my eye…everything from turquoise and baby blue to dark marine blue.

There’s so much going on in my life…and yet I feel I have so little to say.  Does anyone else find themselves in this situation?  My thoughts feel like they won’t all fit into this small space…they don’t fit into small information “bytes”.  No, there’s no life changing or life altering events happening…I just don’t know how to put these thoughts down in print.  Maybe they feel too precious or too personal.  Or maybe they wouldn’t be understood. Or maybe I haven’t yet found the right words.  I’m feeling very happy and peaceful but also as though I’m in limbo…neither here nor there,  I’m in an odd state of suspended animation.  As a result, I sit here to write but the words that come out seem not to be my words or at least not to reflect what I’m really thinking and feeling.  I’d be interested to know if any of you are having or have ever had, this experience. 

So yes, much of what’s going on for me these days is internal.  There’s an edge of excitement and anticipation that I’ve crossed a major threshold and am now waiting for new direction or insight, to know where this new path will take me.

“Reflection” was such an appropriate word for me to focus on this week!

Play well and be kind to one another,

Prickly Beauty

I found this giant thistle sitting small and insignificant beside a huge painted canvas at an art show this weekend.  The paintings were wonderful and the artist, very talented but it was this thistle that drew me.

Being of Scottish ancestory, I was brought up with the emblem of the thistle front and centre.  My mother and grandmother always wore thistle brooches on their coats and jackets and I had a gigantic (at least 5" across) thistle brooh to pin my fly plaid below my shoulder.  When you're five years old, the whole collection of highland dance parafanalia...kilt, fly plaid, sporran, lace ruffles and velvet jacket...was a little overwhelming and putting it all on was not something I looked forward to!

I recently discovered just why the thistle is such a popular symbol for Scotland.  It became the national emblem after the Battle of Largs in 1263, when it's said that a Norse attack force decided on a stealthy night attack; however their leader stepped on a thistle and his yell alerted the Scots, thus saving Scotland!  I'm not sure if it's true but it's a good story!

Summer is drawing to a close and I think it's safe to say that the long, hot, dog days are over...at least here in my neck of the woods! It's been a good summer and I've enjoyed it all...major changes, upheavals and all.  As with the thistle, there have been "prickly" times that didn't always feel comfortable but the process has led me to enjoy the moments as they come.  I'm aware that the thorns are there but I don't have to grab hold of them!

In the end, that's all we really have...a lifetime of moments and I won't squander those. With each year that passes, they're becoming far too precious.

Play well and be kind to one another.

Queen Anne's Lace

I love Queen Anne's Lace and at this time of year it grows so abundantly in the fields and along the roadsides.  It nudges sweet memories...more "feelings" really, than actual memories...from the far recesses of my childhood.  As a young girl I was allowed to roam and wander freely and spent many a happy hour hidden in the grasses and Queen Anne's Lace of the nearby fields, gazing up at the sky.  I felt safe in these small secret "nests" and spent a large part of my childhood finding places like this to retreat to...places where I could daydream and wonder...oh, I "wondered" a lot!  (I don't think I've changed much either!)

I also had a favourite tree to dream in.  And piles of books...there were always a least three books in progress.  I lived more in my dreams and my imaginings than I did in the "real world".  I didn't have the words to express it at that time but as an adult looking back, I think I found the world a bit too loud, a bit too abrasive and a just a little bit frightening...I was a crab without a shell.  Not too surprising for a Cancer girl!  It's been a long journey over the years to feel at home in my own skin but I still like to retreat from the world now and then.  It's how I regroup and recharge.

Interesting what feelings and memories a wildflower can stir!

As a child, I was told that this plant was called Queen Anne's Lace because Queen Anne's Ladies-in-Waiting washed her lace for her and then laid it out to dry over the tall weeds.  There are many theory's about this but it's my childhood and I'm sticking to it (and this poem supports it...sort of!)

Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace
(She chose a summer's day)
And hung it in a grassy place
To whiten, if it may.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night;
Then waked, to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, is dead and gone
(She died a summer's day),
But left her lace to whiten in
Each weed-entangled way!

Mary Leslie Newton

 

I'm off to play this weekend...We're doing some boating, inter-island hopping, winery visiting, and connecting with old friends.  Sounds absolutely perfect!

Play well and be kind to one another,