A Favourite Place To BE...

Throughout the last 12 years this beach, Middle Cove beach, has been a place I "go to" to BE.

these are taken days before the storm...

I feel me here.

There is something about this place.
The smooth water rounded stones. Granite stones.
It makes me believe in change.
It makes me value where I am from.
-A Newfoundlander-
It makes me breathe deeply.
It is my favourite place to think and plan.
It has many faces.

It makes me calm. It makes me nervous. It makes me excited. It makes me feel.

Really feel.

There was a little storm here this weekend past it caused some beautiful sights.
The seagulls were delighted by the wind, rain and waves. They laughed; screaming and diving the whole time.
I found a live urchin on the beach, the first time I've ever seen a live one. I spoke to him. He opened his mouth and spat salt water at me. I ran to the edge of the water and dropped him in. I hope he made it. The waves caught my heels as I retreated. I was soaked from waist down. The trip was unplanned and Andrew and I were quite wet and salty when we reluctantly left.
It was awesome.
I wish I could send you the smells and sounds with these photos.

Look...

The lessons learned.

When we are learning are we focusing in the right direction?

Learning in a classroom. The teacher is teaching math. She is standing up there in front of 30 unruly teens who are hoped up on a new found addiction to coffee. She is teaching about exponential-binomial-yada-yada...
The guy in the back is talking loudly to his neighbour about the drinking party last weekend. The girl two rows over is doing her nails. There are two people asleep.
A handful are attentive to her teaching.
She sees everything before her and yet, she doesn't. She realizes that she cannot force these kids to learn. She teaches with style, grace and is engaging with those who are listening to her. What one may have learned, aside from the math, was grace under pressure. Choosing battles. Realizing what can be done and what is pointless to even think of doing.

A teacher taught me that being unnecessarily cruel will close the brightest mind.
Another taught me the value of humour in scary and tough situations.
And another taught me about kindness and empathy...
The curriculum?
I only learned the things I wanted to...I enjoyed and learned in literature, art class and Geology. The other teachers taught me things about behaviour and it's consequence in personal interactions.

These thoughts were spawned from a blog post I read today by Sean of The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser. He wrote about his fascinating grandfather and I realized how many times in my life that I am looking so intently at one thing (lesson, inspiration, etc.) that I miss the real lesson that's there.

Be aware. Look wider. Look broader than you usually do.
There is something to be found.

xoxoxo

Oh Me...

An intentional blurry sunset shot. What do you think?

I am feeling somewhat lost for words so far this week...
A little blue, perhaps.
Maybe a little green too.

I feel as though I have so much to do but no will to do it.

So much to learn with no means of learning. (Which is completely false...)

Funny how feelings manipulate whether based on fact or fiction.

Which is why we must be vigilant about analyzing those negative feelings we have.
Are the causes real or imagined?
and
Is it worth feeling bad over if they are real or not?

I will be in peak blogging form soon!
xoxox

Vintage Finds

These are some of the finds of the weekend past...


Andrew and I enjoyed a weekend outside of town and it was fruitful vintage shopping. He came home with a new (1930's) Kodak for the camera collection. I came home with the above and more.
We had a great time even though the camping in a tent was vetoed do to inclement weather. One evening was spent with family playing card games, the next enjoying amusing conversation with wise friends, the next we dared the tent and woke in a puddle of water. It seems the borrowed tent is quite waterproof on the bottom. Not so much on the top! :)
All fun and games, the way a weekend off should be.

B.S.T #9

Beautiful Simple Things #9


Poppies in pots on my patio.
Donning their frilly coral dresses and dancing with the winds.

I've spent the weekend out of town. Slept in a tent last night for the first time in years. Woke up wet. Enjoyed it, but today I am a wee bit flu-ish. A post tomorrow.

Tchotchkes

Yeah.
Those things!
I have a lot...but...
Have you ever tried to pronounce it?
I've always wanted to know how it was said and, yet, never took it upon myself to find out. While being fairly intelligent and well read, pronunciations are not my forte. I tend to say things as the they are spelled. Which led to a rather embarassing announcement at Andrew's family dinner table that "Bruce Cockburn" was coming to town to play...
One of my pronunciation problems solved!
tchotchkes a sweet and interesting blog, especially for creative moms, has a banner explaining it all...
That is NOT how I would've said it. Closer to "T'Hot Chicks"...Thank goodness thats not it!

Swap Returns

Look at what I got today!

A handmade re-usable bag, a crocheted flower pin, Yummy organic lip balm, an art postcard and a vintage Noddy postcard...All sent in return for a measly Antique postcard that I sent Glittery Sah! Wow! Talk about return on investment. :)

Take a peek in her shop, there is an alien over there calling my name!

Thank you so much Sarah. I love everything! The lip balm does have an up lifting effect. The Tangerine scent is awesome!

First Pierce

My boyfriend, Andrew, bought me a jeweler's saw. I've never used one before. I bought an old brass wall plate (with an ugly nautical scene...) and pounded it "flat" to practice cutting shapes.

Here is the first attempt. A wee fishy...

I'm going to make another, add some pretty faceted tourmaline, ear wires and give them to my mom.

I'm also going to try flower petals tonight...

Feet and What We Stand Upon...

I have been invited to post photos on a new website called Foot Earth...The objective is to "create a wide panoramic of the world we stand on" from different people (toes) and places all over the world. Newfoundland is now on that map...My feet and the ground beneath have been added to the hundreds of photos already up on the site. It is quite interesting to see the different things we stand on...beach rocks, beautiful tiles, sand, wooden planks, grass...Such a great idea.

Natural Love

Love shows up in the most unexpected places sometimes...
The heart in this photo wasn't edited into it.
It came naturally, the way love should.

Before House (Metaphor of the Before Me)

*sigh*

Right after posting the "Hi Smile-ly" post last week my mood took a nose dive! So that's the last time I write about being happy! Just kidding.

I feel pretty good about myself lately. I feel "ME". I feel things are coming together the way they "should" be...But...The pace is the killer! I have been living in RENOvation HELL for years (yep, years) now and I have finally had my limit! I have no sinks in my house. It's been like this for a year. Maybe more...How? I use the bathtub faucet for all my water needs and wash dishes the old fashioned way in a dishpan.It's like a permanent camping trip at my house! Here are some photos taken about a month ago...

Here is a little taste of my everyday abode. Though there has been work (and clean-up) done since these were taken. This is what happens when everyone (aka dad, Andrew and my brother, Juan) works a lot and you can't get out of bed...So now that I am feeling better I am pushing to get this finished! My focus all summer was on the outside of the house, because I wanted to enjoy the summer weather. Now moving into fall I am bringing the focus inside. This house, as above, was a metaphor for who I was...My "home to be" is going to reflect who I am today and the person I plan on being in the future.

Calm. Serene. Confident. Colourful. Bright. Creative. Comfortable.

All of these words for my home and for me.

I plan to have a house warming party in September. If all goes well I will.
Wish me loads of luck and a crew of carpenters please! ;)
With the finished house will come the after shots...

Do your surroundings reflect who you were yesterday, who you are today or who you wish to be in the future? Is it, and you, what you want it to be?

*note: posting these photos was harder than posting my before photos on Echo of Me...

I'm not Really Here...

Happy Saturday!

Computer Free Saturdays...

Computer Free Saturdays are in effect!!
Hope you are having a great day.
xoxo

Maybe you can help...?

I just read on Modish about a fire at The Red Thread studio in Virginia. From the looks of their website they housed many artists. This little studio is badly damaged and it's inventory lost. There are several ways you can help, just go to Design for Mankind and see if there's a way that is good for you...
Good Luck Angelia.

Donation Wednesday brought to you on Friday!

I didn't feel like doing much on the computer these last few days so here is what I donated on Wednesday...


I brought tons of magazines to several different places.
The seniors home just a block away got the gardening and general interest mags and some flowers that I picked from my scant garden. The woman's shelter further away got health, lifestyle, yoga mags, some novels and two bags of good clothes and shoes that I never wear. The hospital just over the hill got decorating mags and an odd mixture of what was leftover...
My cat acts really strange when I'm cleaning out. As if she feels she is next to be thrown into the box. I only consider it when I have to clean her litter box!

Hope you have an awesome and fun weekend!
xoxoxo

Tomorrow and tomorrow...

Be here tomorrow to show you "Donation Wednesday" and some shots of the vintage items going into my Etsy shoppe!

Wow. That's the first time anyone...

It is quite astounding the difference a year makes.

Last year around this time I was lying in bed. Unable to get up. Unable to do anything really because I was at the very bottom. My boyfriend came home from work each evening and sat on the end of our bed, on my feet...I liked the weight of him, it made me feel safe...He played Playstation while I slept, cried, read, cried, stared at the ceiling, unable to cry...I can't even begin to describe what I felt inside. I felt so, so heavy and exhausted. So completely depressed.

Forward to last night...

I was out with my father. He plays softball on Monday nights. I usually watch a bit of the game, go to the grocery store nearby and pick up a new magazine and fresh veggies... Last night I was watching the game and one of the players sauntered by, "Hi Smiley!" He said to me. TO ME! I didn't ever think I'd be referred to in such a way! I get "Hi Red" "Hi You" "Hi" but I have never heard "Hi Smiley"! I then realized that I was grinning quite widely as I took some photos and watched the game...

So if you think there is no hope. If you think that things will never change for you. If you think that you will never feel whole again. My advice to you is... Wait... Just wait. Be still. Be crazy. Be hysterical. Just 'be' until it changes because it will.

I hope that no one reading this is going through the type of problems I was last year (and on and off for the last 20 years) but if you are...I am sorry and I wish you healing and happiness.

xoxo

Studio on the Outside

The weather today was fabulous. So I moved out to the deck to paint. I'd like to say the weather inspired a masterpiece but, alas, it was not to be...I will never understand why some days I can paint and sketch anything and others, like today, a stick figure is difficult. I am beginning to understand my growing love for photography. When I couldn't get my mind images unto the canvas I took an artistic shot instead...