There is a severe weather warning for all of the UK this weekend. Well we are still in the middle of the winter and Spring phase you I suppose you can't expect anything else. I have seen photos from all my blogging friends over the last few weeks of their surprise of huge amounds of snowfall, especially in areas of the world where it's just not normal. I must admit I wasn't duly concerned, I just thought..... Oh how wonderful and magical for them. When Ceri started storing up foods, I perhaps thought that they were all getting just a bit too cautious. That was I DID think that until a message came onto a board that I am a member of.
I have known Teri Martin for what must be near enough 15 or more years now and I subscribe to her Quote of the Day, which gives me a large amount of inspiration. I haven't had a Quote for a couple of days and just thought it was a glitch in the sending system.... that was until I received this email!
I have helpers monitoring the list, but when I will get back to you "in person" is still up in the air! I just managed to send this from out of state before returning home.You've probably heard that Arkansas is in bad shape::: NO Internet connection at all. People are freezing in their homes and evacuations are taking place to get them to somewhere with a generator. Electricity is out. Cable is out throughout a widespread area, don't know when it will it be up, so I will be offline when I get home at 10:30 tonight. We have a generator, so at least have have heat and refrigerator. BUT all stores are closed ==
NO food. Jim just told me we've been declared a national disaster.
Please pass this info to this list. Hopefully i will make it home safely.My purse was stolen night before last so it's been a rough 24 hours. I had over $400 in there, not counting my credit cards.. now all cancelled. OY. you can reach me through this earthlink address until 10:30 am pacific time.
hugs, teri
What a worry! And how easy we get complacent and take things for granted. Perhaps all the food hoarding is not suxh a bad idea after all.
Prepare for the worst, expect the best is what we all need to keep in mind I think.
My network of friends are lighting candles Teri, just want you to know we're thinking of you all.
UPDATE: And I've just found this link regarding 9 deaths due to the freezing temperatures http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=79374&catid=2
And more news here http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxyhhC1qV6qWnOdkwks6C1HpYtPAD961JD5O0
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
UFO Footage
way, way behind with my blog updates. bust with work, chasing my arrrr eeerrrm.....but just had to stop on by with this.
To all believers and non believers alike, watch this clip of UFO's caught on camera...IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!
http://itn.co.uk/news/4edb543dc9584e1e6c5f61636c58a359.html
What do you think?
To all believers and non believers alike, watch this clip of UFO's caught on camera...IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!
http://itn.co.uk/news/4edb543dc9584e1e6c5f61636c58a359.html
What do you think?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Amazing People Part 2 - Dave Hindmarsh
Every now and then, but not very often, someone comes into your life who makes a long lasting impression. This happened to me way back in 2000, not long after I had set up the studio in Darlington. His name was Dave Hindmarsh, a qualified chef, but also a fantastic poet with true feeling. He was gentle, caring, kind and with a wonderful sense of humour and positive outlook on life.
I was only reminiscing with a friend a few weeks ago about him, wondering where he was and how he was doing. I didn’t have to wait long….the following week she brought in this newspaper cutting:
Well, so now he was teaching people with learning difficulties at Middlesbrough College! Well, that surprises me not. With his type of personality and generous nature.
I also read that he has faced the challenge of a lifetime and has been involved with the Ben Fogel (who I did work for last year!) an explorer. The programme, Extreme Dreams, is on BBC2 every evening this week at 6.30pm. Dave suffered Trench Foot and was advised to give up….but he didn’t….well that’s no surprise either. He doesn’t do ‘Giving Up’. H’es far too optimistic and positive for that! I’m back in contact with him, looking forward to catching up and have asked his permission to publish a poem that he wrote, which I concerted to book form. So watch this space.
I was only reminiscing with a friend a few weeks ago about him, wondering where he was and how he was doing. I didn’t have to wait long….the following week she brought in this newspaper cutting:
Well, so now he was teaching people with learning difficulties at Middlesbrough College! Well, that surprises me not. With his type of personality and generous nature.I also read that he has faced the challenge of a lifetime and has been involved with the Ben Fogel (who I did work for last year!) an explorer. The programme, Extreme Dreams, is on BBC2 every evening this week at 6.30pm. Dave suffered Trench Foot and was advised to give up….but he didn’t….well that’s no surprise either. He doesn’t do ‘Giving Up’. H’es far too optimistic and positive for that! I’m back in contact with him, looking forward to catching up and have asked his permission to publish a poem that he wrote, which I concerted to book form. So watch this space.
UK visitor to my blog:
Extreme Dreams - BBC 2 Monday to Friday 6.30pm
(Dave's the younger, good looking one - lol)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Lighting a candle
Lighting a candle for my grandmother who will be buried in Hull today. May your journey to the Summerlands be filled with light, for without you I would not be here.
And thinking of my mum at the special time. Love ya xxx
And thinking of my mum at the special time. Love ya xxx
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Earth Hour - March 28th at 8.30 p.m
PEOPLE POWER! Please pass this on....
On Saturday 28th March at 8.30pm millions of people around the world,individuals organisations and communities, will turn off their lightsfor one very important hour. Organised by the World Wildlife Fund, theaim is to inspire one billion people worldwide to give a demonstrationto world leaders of their concern about climate change and to ensurethat those leaders take positive action for the future.
On Saturday 28th March at 8.30pm millions of people around the world,individuals organisations and communities, will turn off their lightsfor one very important hour. Organised by the World Wildlife Fund, theaim is to inspire one billion people worldwide to give a demonstrationto world leaders of their concern about climate change and to ensurethat those leaders take positive action for the future.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Still I Rise
I’m reading a fascinating book at the moment by Dr. Susan Forward and Joan Torres, written way back in 1988 on the subject of mental, emotional and physical abuse. The men who do it and the women who love them. Although this book is aimed at women I know just as many men that suffer at the hands of women, who do virtually the same thing. It’s an emotional journey reading some of the case studies and the verbalisation that these men inflict on their partners to gain control. Quite an eye opener and hopefully it will prevent me from being attracted to this kind of man again.
It took me way back to a piece of work that I did when I first opened the studio in Darlington in 1999. The old studio had the ability to attract people in need of some sort of shoulder to lean on or someone to listen while they one after the other spilled their life stories. I am not a trained counsellor, nor would I want to be, but I have always had time and patience for those in need and I’m there with either the tissues or the cuppa or even a bed for the night.
It was a warm day and the woman fell into the studio in just this way. She looked bewildered, lost and in pain. She stood there (as did many) and shouted out that she could feel waves of energy running up her legs. She said she had never felt this before. We got her a chair, made her a cuppa and started to chat. She had no idea what I did in the studio as I worked upstairs, but as her story unfolded I listened to tell the about the most horrendous acts of mental and physical abuse that I had ever heard. She wept buckets and as the story went on I felt for a woman who was feeling the pain herself so badly, but this was not happening to her, it was happening to her daughter. A mothers pain and anguish that only another mother could understand. Eventually the tears dried up. Her daughter had found the courage to leave this poor excuse for a man (if he could call himself that) and she wanted something for her daughters new house that would give her strength to get over the suffering she had endured. I hugged her and told her to go away and have a think and the hugs and coffees were free at any time.
She returned a few days later, looking 10 years younger and this is what she gave me to write out:
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom? '
Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard '
Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou
It was a huge piece of work. I never got a photograph of it but I did take a print done by a local architect with a scanner and printer large enough to take it.
I really must make an effort to do this piece again and donate copies to Women’s Centres around the country. So many people stay in abusive relationship, thinking that they can make things alright. The tactics used can take many years to heal…. Some never do. A couple of years later and just before I left Darlington, the lady turned up again. Her daughter was fine, had met an amazing guy who put her first, spent many hours building her confidence back up and they were expecting their first child. It just goes to show what is possible with the right man (or woman) behind you. In the wrong hands your life can be fatal!
With love to all victims of abuse and lighting a candle to give you strength to leave it behind and face the future with courage and strength. xxx
Remember - People who use abuse, verbal, emotional, mental or physical are insecure and the only way they can feel important and feed their own ego's is to try to control you and the way you behave. You are not alone. Many of us have fallen victim to this at some time in our lives. Do not feel isolated and do not be intimidated. If you would like the title of the book then please send me a private email where I will be happy to help. Email me at: opalsky2001 (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk
It was printed in 1988 but I'm sure you would still be able to get a copy even if only from the library. I got mine second had and totally a coincidence - I certainly wasn't looking for it. Funny how these things fond you sometimes.
It took me way back to a piece of work that I did when I first opened the studio in Darlington in 1999. The old studio had the ability to attract people in need of some sort of shoulder to lean on or someone to listen while they one after the other spilled their life stories. I am not a trained counsellor, nor would I want to be, but I have always had time and patience for those in need and I’m there with either the tissues or the cuppa or even a bed for the night.
It was a warm day and the woman fell into the studio in just this way. She looked bewildered, lost and in pain. She stood there (as did many) and shouted out that she could feel waves of energy running up her legs. She said she had never felt this before. We got her a chair, made her a cuppa and started to chat. She had no idea what I did in the studio as I worked upstairs, but as her story unfolded I listened to tell the about the most horrendous acts of mental and physical abuse that I had ever heard. She wept buckets and as the story went on I felt for a woman who was feeling the pain herself so badly, but this was not happening to her, it was happening to her daughter. A mothers pain and anguish that only another mother could understand. Eventually the tears dried up. Her daughter had found the courage to leave this poor excuse for a man (if he could call himself that) and she wanted something for her daughters new house that would give her strength to get over the suffering she had endured. I hugged her and told her to go away and have a think and the hugs and coffees were free at any time.
She returned a few days later, looking 10 years younger and this is what she gave me to write out:
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom? '
Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard '
Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou
It was a huge piece of work. I never got a photograph of it but I did take a print done by a local architect with a scanner and printer large enough to take it.
I really must make an effort to do this piece again and donate copies to Women’s Centres around the country. So many people stay in abusive relationship, thinking that they can make things alright. The tactics used can take many years to heal…. Some never do. A couple of years later and just before I left Darlington, the lady turned up again. Her daughter was fine, had met an amazing guy who put her first, spent many hours building her confidence back up and they were expecting their first child. It just goes to show what is possible with the right man (or woman) behind you. In the wrong hands your life can be fatal!
With love to all victims of abuse and lighting a candle to give you strength to leave it behind and face the future with courage and strength. xxx
Remember - People who use abuse, verbal, emotional, mental or physical are insecure and the only way they can feel important and feed their own ego's is to try to control you and the way you behave. You are not alone. Many of us have fallen victim to this at some time in our lives. Do not feel isolated and do not be intimidated. If you would like the title of the book then please send me a private email where I will be happy to help. Email me at: opalsky2001 (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk
It was printed in 1988 but I'm sure you would still be able to get a copy even if only from the library. I got mine second had and totally a coincidence - I certainly wasn't looking for it. Funny how these things fond you sometimes.
My 2009 Wish List
I didn't publish this at the beginning of the year.... but want to share it with you. for all those sceptic that don't believe in what you get is equal to what you put out there....take a look at this. The list consists of some (would prefer to keep a couple private - you never know who's reading this blog - lol) but the ones highlighted in red are the ones that have happened already and the ones in green are semi sorted so far! Ahhhh the joys of positive thinking.
1) Grow my own veg - YEAH! I heard last weekend that me and 4 friends with the same idea have been given a plot FOUR the size of the ground floor area of my house! And all for FREE! We have a couple of strong, fit, guys who are part of this group and who are willing and keen to do the heaviest work, then we're ready to go! We plan to grow organicallyy and as naturally as possible, Should keep me busy!
2) Find and Join 3 local, social networking groups to meet people with the same outlook and interests in life - Well, I;ve joined 2 which fell at my feet, didn't need to look for them. First meeting next month and a lovely guy has given me his mobile in case I get lost - lol
3) Travel Alone more often - One of the greatest difficulties when you loose your sight is the need to have to rely on people. Your self esteem and self confidence takes a sever bashing. Only by facing our fears can we conquer them. Many people do not drive, so I am not alone there, but I really would like to be at least confident enough to go places alone if necessary. Although I still believe that things are better done in two's or as a group. Hopefully my meeting with one of the groups listed in no. 2 above will see me beating this fear.
4) Visit Glastonbury, my spiritual home at least twice this year.
Well already got a visit planned in the near future with a friend who has never been there and is keen to take me there. I'm sure we'll both get a lot out of the experience :o)
5) Reconnect with old friends - How easy we loose touch when in a relationship and focus on that as the most important thing. Ironic, but these people have contacted me, totally out of the blue - It's good to hear from them again, proving that while our lives take very separate paths sometimes, true friends are there for life. We have basically reconnected where we left off. Great news!
6) To decorate the house and shift the crap -I need to have a grand clear out of things from my past lives. At the end of any relationship there are reminders that need to go to make way for the new. I don't want someone elses clutter, clogging up my home and my spirit! Photos, gifts and reminders have to go. I'm on my way with this one. Bad chi in my book!
And I have had offers of help on this one. I used to love decorating, but poor vision makes it impossible to paint without catching the ceiling and skirting boards. I've got help whenever I need it so I figure if I paint the walls myself, then someone will come and do the glossing.
7) Hold an exhibition -
8) Gain 3 new outlets for my work - Well I've got 1
9) Live a more Eco-Friendly and natural way of life, therefor being true to my Pagan Path - This will probably now fit in with my Organic Gardening bit and other projects in the pipeline.
Surely this is what being a Pagan really is? Well, I think so.
10) Make 3 new friends - Well I've made 2 new friends already. we'll have to see how many more come along. I'm a sociable person so people are important to me. My belief is there's no such thing as too many friends but to have a friend you have to be one!
The other wishes are private, and just between me and my closest friends. If I can achieve half the things I set out for this year I will consider it a job well done. Seems like I'm well on the way!
At the moment I feel like I've got a spring in my step, more energy than ever before and more time and freedom to do the things I truly want to do. My focus is on my business and my life....and I'm loving every minute of it. I feel a buzz in the air and it's not even Spring yet! Bring it on!
1) Grow my own veg - YEAH! I heard last weekend that me and 4 friends with the same idea have been given a plot FOUR the size of the ground floor area of my house! And all for FREE! We have a couple of strong, fit, guys who are part of this group and who are willing and keen to do the heaviest work, then we're ready to go! We plan to grow organicallyy and as naturally as possible, Should keep me busy!
2) Find and Join 3 local, social networking groups to meet people with the same outlook and interests in life - Well, I;ve joined 2 which fell at my feet, didn't need to look for them. First meeting next month and a lovely guy has given me his mobile in case I get lost - lol
3) Travel Alone more often - One of the greatest difficulties when you loose your sight is the need to have to rely on people. Your self esteem and self confidence takes a sever bashing. Only by facing our fears can we conquer them. Many people do not drive, so I am not alone there, but I really would like to be at least confident enough to go places alone if necessary. Although I still believe that things are better done in two's or as a group. Hopefully my meeting with one of the groups listed in no. 2 above will see me beating this fear.
4) Visit Glastonbury, my spiritual home at least twice this year.
Well already got a visit planned in the near future with a friend who has never been there and is keen to take me there. I'm sure we'll both get a lot out of the experience :o)
5) Reconnect with old friends - How easy we loose touch when in a relationship and focus on that as the most important thing. Ironic, but these people have contacted me, totally out of the blue - It's good to hear from them again, proving that while our lives take very separate paths sometimes, true friends are there for life. We have basically reconnected where we left off. Great news!
6) To decorate the house and shift the crap -I need to have a grand clear out of things from my past lives. At the end of any relationship there are reminders that need to go to make way for the new. I don't want someone elses clutter, clogging up my home and my spirit! Photos, gifts and reminders have to go. I'm on my way with this one. Bad chi in my book!
And I have had offers of help on this one. I used to love decorating, but poor vision makes it impossible to paint without catching the ceiling and skirting boards. I've got help whenever I need it so I figure if I paint the walls myself, then someone will come and do the glossing.
7) Hold an exhibition -
8) Gain 3 new outlets for my work - Well I've got 1
9) Live a more Eco-Friendly and natural way of life, therefor being true to my Pagan Path - This will probably now fit in with my Organic Gardening bit and other projects in the pipeline.
Surely this is what being a Pagan really is? Well, I think so.
10) Make 3 new friends - Well I've made 2 new friends already. we'll have to see how many more come along. I'm a sociable person so people are important to me. My belief is there's no such thing as too many friends but to have a friend you have to be one!
The other wishes are private, and just between me and my closest friends. If I can achieve half the things I set out for this year I will consider it a job well done. Seems like I'm well on the way!
At the moment I feel like I've got a spring in my step, more energy than ever before and more time and freedom to do the things I truly want to do. My focus is on my business and my life....and I'm loving every minute of it. I feel a buzz in the air and it's not even Spring yet! Bring it on!
Invitation to The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam
What a beautiful painting!
Think I may just have to treat myself.
Moonroot says:
Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading
WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009
WHERE: Your blog
WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day
HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.
RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post, where the Slam originated. Or link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.
Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers. Thanks to Reya, who began what is now an annual event, and Deborah Oak for continuing it.
Blindness Cure in Sight?
Loosing your sight is probably one of the most devastating things to come to terms with., both on a practical and emotional level. I was however heartened by this report found on the http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090119/tuk-trial-seeks-blindness-cure-scientist-a7ad41d.html website.
British scientists will soon begin trialling a cutting-edge treatment using adult stem cells that could help cure certain types of blindness, they announced Monday. The two-year trial, to be conducted at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh and the Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, will begin this month and involve 20 patients with corneal blindness. The treatment being used involves using the stem cells of dead adult donors, rather than the more controversial research involving embryonic stem cells, and if successful could help millions of people around the world who suffer from corneal blindness, around 80 percent of whom are elderly. As part of the process, adult stem cells are cultivated and then transplanted onto the cornea's surface. "This study is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and it is exciting to be involved in such groundbreaking work," said Professor Bal Dhillon, who is heading the trial. "I probably see two or three new cases of corneal disease every month. On a larger scale, it's a significant problem." A similar study by the University of Pennsylvania in the United States last year found that people with inherited blindness saw dramatic improvements in their vision when a corrective gene was injected into their eyes. Scientists believe stem cells, which are capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body, could prove key in finding a cure for a number of serious diseases, including also diabetes and cancer.
It won't cure me and my condition, but offers hope to those who have corneal blindness.. Excellent news!
British scientists will soon begin trialling a cutting-edge treatment using adult stem cells that could help cure certain types of blindness, they announced Monday. The two-year trial, to be conducted at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh and the Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, will begin this month and involve 20 patients with corneal blindness. The treatment being used involves using the stem cells of dead adult donors, rather than the more controversial research involving embryonic stem cells, and if successful could help millions of people around the world who suffer from corneal blindness, around 80 percent of whom are elderly. As part of the process, adult stem cells are cultivated and then transplanted onto the cornea's surface. "This study is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and it is exciting to be involved in such groundbreaking work," said Professor Bal Dhillon, who is heading the trial. "I probably see two or three new cases of corneal disease every month. On a larger scale, it's a significant problem." A similar study by the University of Pennsylvania in the United States last year found that people with inherited blindness saw dramatic improvements in their vision when a corrective gene was injected into their eyes. Scientists believe stem cells, which are capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body, could prove key in finding a cure for a number of serious diseases, including also diabetes and cancer.
It won't cure me and my condition, but offers hope to those who have corneal blindness.. Excellent news!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The 3rd runway has been approved - Fight it!
The 3rd runway has been approved for Heathrow. Once again this damn Government has disregarded the protests of people from all around the world and especially in the UK and done whatever it wants to do....it's going ahead regardless! Well, we'll see. If it does go ahead, it's not going ahead without a fight!
Not only will a whole village be flattened and people loose their homes, but also the graveyard will be buried under a mound of concrete. this is not some old, disused graveyard...one guy on the video only buried hos wife at the end of last year!
Please watch the video here
Looks like the residents of Sipson are not going down without a fight, and you have many more people on your side! One things for sure, I PREDICT A RIOT! It's waaayyy too long since I got involved with serious campaigns, perhaps it's time to get off my butt and get active again!
Mr. Brown you have put the final nail in your coffin. Your so called GREEN Policies stink! You care not a jot for people and the land we live on. The sooner you are out and a REAL green government comes in the better! Heathrow will be the largest producer of CO2 em missions in the UK! Mr. Brown you idiot, YOU ARE POISONING OUR PLANET, OUR KIDS and FUTURE GENERATIONS! Wake up and smell the coffee!
Don't worry about people loosing their homes, village life or the desecration of graves and the fact that you are polluting the planet to death....yeah just think of the money and how many more planes will land - GET A GRIP!
Subscribe to Greenpeace (it's FREE) for updates and details of how you can help. Think of your children and your children's children!
And lobby your local MP. speak up and be counted, it's your human right! Grrrr can you tell I'm steaming????
OK.... jumping off my soapbox to go and do something a little more sedate....off to do a little more digging in my wonderful garden, while the sun shines. I need to connect with the Goddess!
Not only will a whole village be flattened and people loose their homes, but also the graveyard will be buried under a mound of concrete. this is not some old, disused graveyard...one guy on the video only buried hos wife at the end of last year!
Please watch the video here
Looks like the residents of Sipson are not going down without a fight, and you have many more people on your side! One things for sure, I PREDICT A RIOT! It's waaayyy too long since I got involved with serious campaigns, perhaps it's time to get off my butt and get active again!
Mr. Brown you have put the final nail in your coffin. Your so called GREEN Policies stink! You care not a jot for people and the land we live on. The sooner you are out and a REAL green government comes in the better! Heathrow will be the largest producer of CO2 em missions in the UK! Mr. Brown you idiot, YOU ARE POISONING OUR PLANET, OUR KIDS and FUTURE GENERATIONS! Wake up and smell the coffee!
Don't worry about people loosing their homes, village life or the desecration of graves and the fact that you are polluting the planet to death....yeah just think of the money and how many more planes will land - GET A GRIP!
Subscribe to Greenpeace (it's FREE) for updates and details of how you can help. Think of your children and your children's children!
And lobby your local MP. speak up and be counted, it's your human right! Grrrr can you tell I'm steaming????
OK.... jumping off my soapbox to go and do something a little more sedate....off to do a little more digging in my wonderful garden, while the sun shines. I need to connect with the Goddess!
More Synchronicity
Ho hum....seems like Me and Mr. Carr-Goom are working in synchronicity again when I blogged this long blog here on 13th January, and he blogged this on the 17th here. seems a lot of us are thinking on the same lines again. I'm really think that facing a life threatening or altering situation is a good thing to make us change perspective, realise just what is REALLY important, and helps us perhaps take more risks. Most of us think we will live forever and are always putting things off thinking we have plenty of time to do the things that really matter to us. I would not ask people what they would change if they only had a year to live, I would perhaps give them a time of 3 months, that would spur people into action a lot more quickly and things would perhaps become more urgent, perhaps we would not so readily sweat the small stuff!
What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?
And I just love the post by Violette about The Good Wolf and the Bad Wolf, you can read it at this link http://www.violette.ca/blog.html scroll down till you see the heading 'good Wolf, Bad Wolf'
Following is the reply I sent her and my advice....
Hi you glittery people….my 2 penneth worth (or should that now be Euros? – whatever)
WARNING THIS POST IS LONG – And MAY damage your health! At the very least you’ll be as mad as me!
Welcome to my world. hehehe
Great idea to call our two sides Good Wolf, Bad Wolf…Oh I do like that Violette – lol
News, we are bombarded with bad news from all directions. TV, Newspapers and Radio, sometimes seems the world is obsessed and where I think we should be kept ‘aware’ of things (caused usually by power crazed governments and religious leaders) we really should not dwell on them too much. Every now and then I want to run to the hills, live in a cave and come out only when the world seems a bit more sensible. Times are changing. No longer are we stupid enough to swallow these so called ‘leaders’ crap. But put another way, you have to also realise that ‘you’ are not the world. You are you and each and every one of us, I believe can make a difference, just by being ourselves, a little mad, a little crazy, but WE still know how to laugh when it matters, and empathise and sympathies when it matters. What IS important is that we build up a network of supportive people, who will gee us up when we need it and catch us when we fall. The world problems can only be solved one person at a time. What is important is that we realise that we as artists and creative people are probably more sensitive than your average man on the street.
And, I’ve been thinking, if you believe in collective consciousness, then surely putting out negative vibes can just as easily affect the vibration of the earth and this is easily done by the fear caused by the press and the media drip feeding us this rubbish! We should campaign for the right to have only good news! But then as they say, only bad news sells, no wonder the world is in the state it’s in.
PHEW! Have I got a lot to get off my chest girls lol.
Anyway, my advice is – If all else fails and your Bad Wolf is coming out do one of two things.
1) Roll on your back with your arms and legs waving in the airs and scream out – Arrrggghhhh stop the world I wanna get off! (I did this outside my studio once -the lads in the garage next door thought I was having a breakdown – But hey who cares lol)
2) Or the second idea – ala Jack Canfield – Throw your arms up in the air, lean back in your chair, throw your head back and shout – Ohhhh whaaaat the helll!
Try it – it works honestly.
I’m sure I posted on my blog this year on this very same subject.
and anyone who knows me will verify that YES, I really HAVE been known to roll on my back, with my hands and arms in the air, screaming and kicking and shouting...
Arrrrggghhh STOP the world I wanna get off! Great for stress relief when thing get too much....Try it...you 'might' just like it!
OK...It's lvery ate.... and my new feather duvet awaits....so this sleepy Pixie is off to bed.
In love, light and all good thoughts xxx
What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?
And I just love the post by Violette about The Good Wolf and the Bad Wolf, you can read it at this link http://www.violette.ca/blog.html scroll down till you see the heading 'good Wolf, Bad Wolf'
Following is the reply I sent her and my advice....
Hi you glittery people….my 2 penneth worth (or should that now be Euros? – whatever)
WARNING THIS POST IS LONG – And MAY damage your health! At the very least you’ll be as mad as me!
Welcome to my world. hehehe
Great idea to call our two sides Good Wolf, Bad Wolf…Oh I do like that Violette – lol
News, we are bombarded with bad news from all directions. TV, Newspapers and Radio, sometimes seems the world is obsessed and where I think we should be kept ‘aware’ of things (caused usually by power crazed governments and religious leaders) we really should not dwell on them too much. Every now and then I want to run to the hills, live in a cave and come out only when the world seems a bit more sensible. Times are changing. No longer are we stupid enough to swallow these so called ‘leaders’ crap. But put another way, you have to also realise that ‘you’ are not the world. You are you and each and every one of us, I believe can make a difference, just by being ourselves, a little mad, a little crazy, but WE still know how to laugh when it matters, and empathise and sympathies when it matters. What IS important is that we build up a network of supportive people, who will gee us up when we need it and catch us when we fall. The world problems can only be solved one person at a time. What is important is that we realise that we as artists and creative people are probably more sensitive than your average man on the street.
And, I’ve been thinking, if you believe in collective consciousness, then surely putting out negative vibes can just as easily affect the vibration of the earth and this is easily done by the fear caused by the press and the media drip feeding us this rubbish! We should campaign for the right to have only good news! But then as they say, only bad news sells, no wonder the world is in the state it’s in.
PHEW! Have I got a lot to get off my chest girls lol.
Anyway, my advice is – If all else fails and your Bad Wolf is coming out do one of two things.
1) Roll on your back with your arms and legs waving in the airs and scream out – Arrrggghhhh stop the world I wanna get off! (I did this outside my studio once -the lads in the garage next door thought I was having a breakdown – But hey who cares lol)
2) Or the second idea – ala Jack Canfield – Throw your arms up in the air, lean back in your chair, throw your head back and shout – Ohhhh whaaaat the helll!
Try it – it works honestly.
I’m sure I posted on my blog this year on this very same subject.
and anyone who knows me will verify that YES, I really HAVE been known to roll on my back, with my hands and arms in the air, screaming and kicking and shouting...
Arrrrggghhh STOP the world I wanna get off! Great for stress relief when thing get too much....Try it...you 'might' just like it!
OK...It's lvery ate.... and my new feather duvet awaits....so this sleepy Pixie is off to bed.
In love, light and all good thoughts xxx
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Amazing People -Part 1- Martin J. Allen Botanical Artist
In my L O N G blog from last night I was telling you of the people who have some back into my life...people from the past. I was overjoyed when one of those friends paid me a surprise visit to the studio last week. We had a lot of catching up to do! I met Bev....oh must have been almost 20 years ago now....although neither of us would like to admit it. Anyway, we went on a Botanical Illustration course together run by a guy who also turned out to be close to me called Colin Swinton. I went to prove I couldn't paint or draw and actually turned out something that I could hardly believe was mine. Anyway, another chap went on his course called Martin J. Allen. Martin was ill at the time with M.E. and really didn't know if he would manage the two days course. He did, and between bouts of being ill, he painted. He went on to submit work in the R.H.S. show of his paintings and won a Gold Medal! Anyway, I asked Bev how he was doing and he's just put on an exhibition and just to show you how absolutely fantastic this guy is go to his website at
http://www.martinjallen.com/pageID_3967352.html
to see how truly amazing these paintings are go to this link here http://www.martinjallen.com/pageID_3967355.html How anyone can paint in 3 dimensions like this, i'll never know!
Quite by accident I came across this piece of work that I had done some years before. It's a quotation by Georgia O'Keeffe the famous flower painter that painted larger than life flowers, which made you feel oh so small. Sadly she died in 1986 aged 99. The quotation reads:
Nobody sees a flower, really,
http://www.martinjallen.com/pageID_3967352.html
to see how truly amazing these paintings are go to this link here http://www.martinjallen.com/pageID_3967355.html How anyone can paint in 3 dimensions like this, i'll never know!
Quite by accident I came across this piece of work that I had done some years before. It's a quotation by Georgia O'Keeffe the famous flower painter that painted larger than life flowers, which made you feel oh so small. Sadly she died in 1986 aged 99. The quotation reads:
Nobody sees a flower, really,
it is so small. We haven't time -
and to see takes time
like to have a friend takes time.
The quotations continues:
If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers. ...Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't.
I've seen Georgia's work and I have seen Martins catalogue. The catalogue does not do the paintings justice. You can see every little hair on the flower. The painting takes your eyes into the very core of the flower. The picture is in sharp and soft focus as if it has been taken with a camera. Amazing!
2 very different painter with 2 very different styles, but both with the ability to make you connect with nature in a way you never thought possible. Well done Martin! I hope your exhibition is a sell out and I know how very hard you have struggled against your illness to overcome and achieve what you have today! Your a star!
By the way folks, the paintings are selling fast so get your orders in!
Own Some Land - Sign Up Now
Whhheeeyyyy heyyyy! Want to know more?
Click here to go to the Greenpeace Site
and see how you can own some too!
Thank you Ceri and Mrs. Compostbin for pointing me to this cause....now if we girls get together I'm sure there will be enough room for my bell tent. you girls up for it? It's a L-O-N-G time since my activist days! lol
Please everyone, do your bit. Sign the petitions, get involved in your local group and please lobby your MP! The idiots want to cut down on carbon emissions and are taxing everyone left, right and centre....THEN agreeing to more runways!!!! Huh??? Hello you brainless morons that call yourself politicians it;s NOT rocket science is it? Lobby those people who are there to listen to your views and represent your opinions. DO IT NOW!
Click here to go to the Greenpeace Site
and see how you can own some too!
Thank you Ceri and Mrs. Compostbin for pointing me to this cause....now if we girls get together I'm sure there will be enough room for my bell tent. you girls up for it? It's a L-O-N-G time since my activist days! lol
Please everyone, do your bit. Sign the petitions, get involved in your local group and please lobby your MP! The idiots want to cut down on carbon emissions and are taxing everyone left, right and centre....THEN agreeing to more runways!!!! Huh??? Hello you brainless morons that call yourself politicians it;s NOT rocket science is it? Lobby those people who are there to listen to your views and represent your opinions. DO IT NOW!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
What is this life if full of care, I have no time to stand and stare - Words of Wisdom
Much of what we see,
depends on what we are looking for
This X is the sign of Gyfu
the meaning of which can be found at
Is it any wonder it is used as a sign of the kiss?
This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago at the start of the New Year and there was not just one but several of these cross signs in the sky!
It never ceases to amaze me about the enormous amount of synchronicity that happens in my life. How easily one thing can lead to another, one chance meeting or event can lead you in a certain direction, which could not have been planned if you tried. I believe that all events and meeting with people happen for a reason. Perhaps it’s to learn something from that experience or person, sometimes it’s to lead you down a different path than the one you are taking. Events no matter how tragic and hopeless at the time can end up being the start of something very big and important in your life.Do you ever pan right back in your past and think about what has led you to where you are today? How different your life would have been without that synchronicity?
Often I sit and muse about my past and realise that an amazing chain of events led me to where I am today, despite life’s trials and tribulations. We just have to be open to the signs and go with the flow, fighting against something may be the worst decision of your life. This may be your moment for a miracle!24 years ago now I was diagnosed with Cancer of the cervix. For 3 years the hospital did nothing, telling me it was only slight changes and nothing to worry about. 3 years later they had to admit they made a mistake and I was at the stage of CIN3. They wanted to give me a hysterectomy, I refused, I had a young son and although I didn’t want any more children I wasn’t going under the knife without a fight and ONLY as a last resort. The hospital told me it was a stupid decision and I should reconsider. I compromised and told them that I would do it my way for a year, then I would hand over to them. I went to the library and became obsessed with alternative medicines and therapies. I read a book by the title of ‘Does your diet cure cancer’. I turned vegetarian, fed myself a cocktail of vitamins and minerals, took Bach Flower Remedies (which I still swear by today) and hit the self help section in the book store. I was treating not only my body but my mind. It was then that I became interested in my thought process and thinking patterns that had shaped my life up until that point. I learnt about myself, my actions and reactions to things around me. I had to look at how I verbalised my feelings to others, and how I reacted to what they said to me. From there I looked into Buddhism, philosophy and psychology.
I then decided that if I was going to die I may as well do what I wanted to and take more risks in life, and although I am a pragmatist at heart, I still to this day take risks (probably a little more subtle these days), but anyway, I took out a bank loan and started my own business, never thinking I would be around long enough to pay the darn thing off!!!!
(For the record, a year later and with the minimal treatment I was given the all clear and the hospital had to eat their words!)
I took up Quilling and was one of one 3 suppliers of the cut paper in the country. I needed a job that would fit around my sons schooling and started to teach at the local college. It was only when I was asked to teach ‘Quilling’ at my local college the following September and everyone turned up with a pen! Did I take up calligraphy? I basically taught myself out of books all week, top teach the 2 hours a week on an evening. I hadn’t a clue what I was doing, but the students were patent and were adamant that they didn’t want to play with rolled up strip[s of paper called Quilling, they wanted to write! I didn’t know then that it would take me many hours and the next 10 years of my life to actually be anywhere near good at it, and probably if I knew that I wouldn’t have even started.
And can I just add here (for those who are still awake! Lol) if you’re one of those who don’t believe in synchronicity, then how do you explain it when you suddenly get someone in your head and then the phone rings and it’s that person? Possibly someone you haven’t thought about or seen for some years? Or a though comes to you, quite out of the blue and just won’t leave….then something happens that gives you the AHA factor. Quite different to coincidence. When and where and how to so see those signs and symbols?
Strangely enough it took another major health scare to drive me into action again, this time it was to be the loss of my centre vision in one of my eyes which was to propel me into starting my own business again. I decided that time was short and I had nothing to loose but everything to regret if I didn’t use the sight I had and create as much as I could while my other eye was ok. I worked with one ‘good’ eye, 3 days before I opened my new studio I had bleeds on the back of my good eye which made me loose the centre vision in that eye too, although not to the extent of the other. I (somehow – and sometimes with greater difficulty than I care to admit) manage to work with high powered magnification, really frustrating at times when you need to get close to your work and can’t because your fat head is in the way! And there are lots of things I can no longer do. I used to love Gilding and painting, I’m not an artist but could trace and paint if I put my mind to it. Now I can’t paint between 2 lines to save my life! But hey… never say never. Now crazy that this might sound (and its ok to be a crazy thinking when you are an artist – it’s what makes us creative!) but had I never had the cancer I would not be doing what I am doing today and probably on the job scrap heap for the rest of my life (my eyes are really not much use in the conventional world). Yikes! Can you imagine I would actually have to be really good at housework or something like that! The many Philosophers, who’s books I read and words of wisdom gave me hope during my darkest times have put me on my spiritual path and are the life blood of my business, as well as making me the person I am today. How crazy is life?
This year so far has been very odd for me and what I believe in. I have had no less that 6 people come back into my life from waaaayyy back. Then I’ve found work in the studio that I had totally forgotten about….again from waaaayyy back. And there are amazing amounts of stuff going on, like it’s all part of the past and has to be brought to the future. Don’t understand this right now, but I will, things just take time to germinate. Everything becomes clear eventually. If you’re following a road and it happens to be the wrong one, something will happen to make you stop and think. Try to over analyse it and you’re on a looser. Just go with it. Ignore it and sure as eggs is eggs something will happen so big you can’t avoid noticing it.I have said that I don’t make New Year Resolutions. These are something you need to give up. I make wishes to myself. I write them down and practically forget about them. I’m usually amazed by the end of the year how near I am to achieving what I set out for the year, and this is without setting check list and going back over them. If you have read The Secret or The Laws of Attraction, it’s that kind of thing without bombarding yourself with the whys and wherefores. Some of us have been doing this for years…. We just never thought of writing a $1,000,000 best seller!!!!
Anyway, the point of this blog posting is never to give up your dreams. Take more risks, your time on earth is short. Create Art – EVERYONE is creative! Don’t sweat the small stuff. Change what you can and leave the rest alone, it will take care of itself. Be strong, knowing that you are the best person you can be. Above all, just do it now, it’s no good sitting in your rocking chair ‘wishing’ you had done things differently.
I am told that the best bloggers keep on topic and to decide what my blog is about. Is it about my work, my spiritually, my beliefs, animals, nature, philosophy???? Well I hope the above has explained that it's really hard to define where one part of my life starts and the other ends. The above makes up the whole of me. So I guess that this blog is just about that....me, myself and I. A human being with human feelings. It's my opinion that people will only read what they want to read, the decision to turn off and tune out is entirely their decision and nothing is against their free will.
In love and light and brightest blessings,
Sue xxx
Saturday, January 10, 2009
New Year, New Start and Woes
Well, I seem to be just about back in the stride of things at the studio. I was really ill during Christmas and New Year with this wretched flu that seems to have hit almost everyone in the UK. I never really get ill, but everyone was forbidden to come and see me as I didn’t want to pass it on! Ironic really, I live alone and work alone and managed to avoid it, 2 days Christmas shopping and I went down like a ton of bricks, that’s what happens when people who are ill decide to fight on. However, there are always plus points to life’s downers, and it gave me plenty of time to rest, put my feet up and think about the year ahead.
I have made plans both for myself and my business and we will see what happens on that front. Work seems to be picking up nicely and hopefully this year will be a good one.
T and I finally ended the relationship at the beginning of December. After trying for a year and a half after his initial walk out I realised that there was not enough room in his life for me and I really need someone who at least is a big part of my life, not someone who steps in and out at will. In hindsight we are very different people and it’s not fair on either of us to try to fit in with someone who is quite different. Isn't it strange that you can think someone is so perfect for you and then things can turn out quite the opposite. Perhaps we go into a relationship seeing what we want to see and then as time goes on see things as they really are. Ah well, all part of life's learning curve, and we learn more from our failures than we can ever learn from our successes. It's all part of the 'Mystery'.
I had planned to go into the studio between Christmas and New Year to make my sons Wedding Invitations, but could hardly find the energy to get off the settee so I started them this week…..here are the photos……
Outside detail
Inside detail
Invite and RSVP Card
I have made plans both for myself and my business and we will see what happens on that front. Work seems to be picking up nicely and hopefully this year will be a good one.
T and I finally ended the relationship at the beginning of December. After trying for a year and a half after his initial walk out I realised that there was not enough room in his life for me and I really need someone who at least is a big part of my life, not someone who steps in and out at will. In hindsight we are very different people and it’s not fair on either of us to try to fit in with someone who is quite different. Isn't it strange that you can think someone is so perfect for you and then things can turn out quite the opposite. Perhaps we go into a relationship seeing what we want to see and then as time goes on see things as they really are. Ah well, all part of life's learning curve, and we learn more from our failures than we can ever learn from our successes. It's all part of the 'Mystery'.
I had planned to go into the studio between Christmas and New Year to make my sons Wedding Invitations, but could hardly find the energy to get off the settee so I started them this week…..here are the photos……
Envelopes and Invites
Outside detail
Inside detail
Invite and RSVP Card
The only real downer this year is that my Website, which T spent so much time and energy building is due to run out and as I haven’t got the passwords and haven’t the first idea on how to go about renewals etc. it looks like I will disappear. Unfortunately T decided that there was no point in staying friends, so can’t even ring him to ask for help. that's what happen when you don't do something yourself. Hopefully a meeting with my business advisor will come up with some bright ideas, even if I have to pay for it.
Such is life, lol.
Such is life, lol.
But if anyone has any wise suggestions as to self build sites that are user friendly, I would very much appreciate it.
If off to my sons tonight for a takeaway....it's his 28th Birthday! And I', so looking forward to it. Can it really be 28 years since I was lying there wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with that little vulnerable bundle in my arms? My how quickly time flies!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
True Love Never Dies
Awwww.... I'm trying to play catch up with some of my friends blogs and found this on Philip Carr-Gomm's weblog.
WATCH THIS
During my time taking in can caring for waifs and strays of the four legged variety has always left me with a sense of great joy and amusement. They love unconditionally and time spent with them is never wasted. They ask for very little in life, but give so much. Their needs are not based on power or control and they make excellent feet warmers in the Winter.
WATCH THIS
During my time taking in can caring for waifs and strays of the four legged variety has always left me with a sense of great joy and amusement. They love unconditionally and time spent with them is never wasted. They ask for very little in life, but give so much. Their needs are not based on power or control and they make excellent feet warmers in the Winter.
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